Page 49 of Seaspoken

“At least you will never find me boring.” Evya tucks her legs under her and cups her hands around the warm bowl of stew. “I grew up watching Raith’s atrocities unfold and saw our peoples grow more and more at odds. My mother wanted to put as much distance between the merroc and the rest of the world as possible, but I persuaded her it would be wise for at least one among our tribe to know the languages and ways of the elves. Lirana and I went to Lanta Koriashen together and studied there for over a decade.”

“It’s a long way to the greater continent.” I glance at the wall between the room’s two open windows, where a large parchment map details the continents and seas of Tandith. My gaze traces the distance between Kara Davonashi, where it sits on the eastern coast of the smaller continent, to the northern steppes of the greater continent where the city of Lanta Koriashen once stood as a last bastion against Raith. A vast ocean stretches between the two lands. “Why did you study there, when you could have chosen a university closer to your home?

“Hostilities between our peoples were already high in those days, and most of the universities weren’t so welcoming. Lanta Koriashen was the only one that did not pressure tuath to give up our customs in order to study, and so that was where I went. I didn’t care much for the icy waters, but the snow-covered plains were beautiful.” She pauses, as if gathering her courage. “Do you know if the university and the temple still stand?”

I shake my head. “I can’t say one way or another. I used to go there frequently—back when the city was in the keeping of my kinswoman Mae’thara and her husband. I haven’t set foot on the greater continent in many years, though.”

Evya nods, her head drooping. “I had friends among the elven students there. One in particular—an acolyte of the star-singers. She would be a priestess by now, if ...”

She doesn’t finish the sentence, but she doesn’t need to.If she escaped Raith’s slaughter of the priests.

“Someday, after this ruin is sorted out, we should go there and find out their fate. There was so much magic entrenched in the city, it might have survived Raith.”

“Someday,” she echoes heavily. She downs the last of her stew and settles back on the cushions, resting her head on my shoulder. “If there is a someday.”

“There will be.” My assurance sounds hollow. I reach for the hope I felt during the Shantura celebration last night, but my mind is eclipsed by memories of murky water and a flashing blade. I can’t find the words to lift Evya from sadness. Instead, I offer her the only solace I can, even as weariness and lingering pain enfold me in a haze. “Let’s rest while we have the chance.”

We will both need all our strength to face the coming trials.

Chapter 15

Keliveth

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The afternoon fadesinto a peaceful blur. We doze off, curled up together on the cushions and lulled to sleep by the quiet chatter of the children and the splash of waves against the cliffs. The tangy-sweet smell of incense pulls me from a dreamless sleep some time later, and I hear the soft murmur of Nehanir’s voice as he intones his afternoon prayers out on the balcony. Then the world fades again.

The next time I awaken, the pain in my side is duller and I can sit up without flinching. Outside, the sun is dipping low in the sky. Nehanir and the children are still out on the balcony, now stacking their lesson books and gathering their parchments and quills.

A chorus of delighted cries rings from them, and I realize Evya is among them. She sits cross-legged on the ground with a bowl of water in front of her. As she moves her fingers in the air above the bowl, shapes of fish and sea dragons form from the water and leap up and down. The children watch with eyes alight, their wariness of the strange sea-woman forgotten.

I watch the scene play out, feeling I’ve strayed into a pleasant dream. If only we could stay in this haven, perhaps everything would be all right. But Evya’s words from earlier circle in my mind like looming vultures.

If there is a someday.

Nehanir enters, clutching a stack of books he rescued from the splashing water.

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