my hand.
“You did well.” She keeps her eyes on her grandson, never looking directly at me. “You have done more for my people in two seasons than any High Animancer has done for us in their lifetime.” I try to draw my hand back, an argument burning my tongue, but she holds tight. “My son and his wife were killed in a storm. Their house and everything in it was destroyed; only Armin made it. He was buried beneath their bodies, crying, when I found him.” She nods to the boy on the shore, who falls back into the sand as the water he was attempting to control smacks him hard in the face.
“But as well as you’re doing, I’m afraid Kerost cannot forgive you so easily,” Lady Tost continues. “All it would have taken was someone who was willing to give us the tools necessary to take care of ourselves. This is why I couldn’t come to Arida. While I appreciate that you were finally the one to give us those tools, we don’t want instructions on how we must use them. I know all about your reason for being here, and about the husband you must find. But I invited you here to this island so you could see our progress, not to celebrate you after what we’ve endured. While you parade around with bachelors, our efforts will be focused on restoring our island. Kerost wants no part in this charade.”
Every word stings like venom seeping into my skin. I finally manage to slide my hand away from hers, knots of nerves coiled like snakes in my throat.
I understand where she’s coming from—we took too long, and left Kerost with too much pain because of it. If I were in her position, I’d do the same for my island. I’d demand better, just as she is.
But I’m not Ephra. I am Visidia’s queen, and already my plans of traveling the islands and finding this legendary artifact are being interrupted. And we haven’t even been ashore for an hour.
If I’m to continue this journey, I can’t let the rest of Visidia see that I was turned away by Kerost, or let them believe they can get away with the same treatment. And I certainly can’t let myself get kicked off the island until I find out more about Ornell, the only person with the information on the artifact I’m to find.
“I don’t expect your forgiveness so easily.” The tension tightening my muscles has me tripping over my words. “And I understand you not wanting to participate, though I assure you, I’ve no intention to parade. But if you invited me here to see the progress of this island, surely you can allow my crew and me at least the night here? I’d like to see how Kerost is faring.”
Ephra’s snort is a rueful sound. “I can’t stop the queen from staying however long she wishes; we haven’t seceded from Visidia, yet. Do whatever you’d like. But know that Kerost isn’t the home I once knew, and I expect you’ll find it’s a different island entirely. I dare say that Blarthe’s influence on our island actually left us with something good.”
My brows crease. “What do you mean?”
She pats my thigh before drawing her hand back into her own lap. “Go and pay a visit to Vice.” She says it with such finality that one might think she herself was queen. I leave only after thanking her, and head back down the cliffs to rejoin the others.
Vataea’s the first one I see waiting for me. Her eyes flit back and forth over the beach, body coiled and ready to spring. Though she’s said nothing, I imagine that being back on the island she was forced to live on for so long against her will is a torment.
“Are you all right?” I ask her quietly. “No one will think anything of it if you need to wait on Keel Haul.”
She only shakes her head and says, “If that bastard’s still hiding here, I want to be the first to find him.”
Ferrick’s throat bobs as he swallows, and I cut him a quick look to remind him not to say anything. I’ll tell Vataea the truth about Blarthe soon. Just … not until after I find the artifact.
“If you change your mind, you can leave any time. But for now, it sounds like we’re headed to Vice.”
* * *
Kerost is far from the easiest island to navigate to. Tucked at the southwest edge