Page 129 of Salt in the Seas
“So you’re running,” Felk said.
Orra weighed his words, not quite sure she could say yes or no to the accusation. “We’re traveling to warn Aeliana. But yes, we don’t want to be here when she returns.”
Felk and Lilik exchanged a glance, both reflexively leaning in closer to the eggs. “You’re all leaving?” he asked.
Orra shook her head. “The army is staying behind. I suspect General Nels will give each soldier the option, and many might go home to protect their families and avoid a worse fate.”
“But some will stay,” Felk said.
Orra nodded. “However, they have not invited you to stay with them.”
A flash of pain crossed Felk’s face, but he quickly schooled his features. “They never wanted us here.”
“Some of us did,” Orra corrected softly.
“It’s not our way.” Lilik placed a hand on Felk’s arm, her serenity crossing through to him until he visibly drooped.
“I understand,” he said. “I wanted to meet Aeliana. The memories… confused me. I think she would have wanted to say goodbye.”
Orra hesitated, then pulled the paper from her pocket. “I know you’ve worked on your letters in past cycles, but this one, we didn’t spend enough time on them. I wrote this for you in case it helped.”
Felk took the parchment, opening it and scanning the words. He’dmaintained the ability to read ever since the first time Aeliana had taught him, but each cycle he had to regain the dexterity of forming the letters himself. It was one more way in which their rebirth each moon fascinated Orra.
“It will be your choice,” she said. “You can place the letter in your nest on your last night and retain a connection to us, or you can throw the letter in the sea and move on. Aeliana will not blame you for living the life the Sun created you for. You were not meant for these walls.” She glanced at the minimal trees around them, the atmosphere they’d hoped would be enough like the woods to appease the winex. But it hadn’t been enough, and the winex could not be forced to be something they were not.
“The decision I make on my last night might not be the decision I make next cycle.” Felk dug his toe in the dirt at their feet, looking far younger than one week shy of his rebirth.
Lilik wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“It’s not fair to my future self if I make the wrong choice,” he added.
Orra smiled. “I could say the same of each of my lifetimes. It doesn’t matter that I remember my past experiences. I still make different decisions, and I still have to live with the consequences. We each have to make the best of what we’re given. I know you’ll make the right choice, because neither choice is wrong, Felk. It’s less about which choice you make in this moment and more about who you are in each of your lifetimes.” She stepped forward, tapping him on the chest. “Aeliana sensed something in you that has carried through every lifetime she’s known you. That’s what matters.”
His face flickered through a number of emotions as he and Lilik exchanged a glance. When he regained control of his mask, Orra stepped back, clasping her empty hands behind her.
“If you’d like to say goodbye to the others, we’ll be gathered at the gates in the morning. But if you choose to leave during the night, I’ll understand. Regardless of which choice you make, may the Sun’s light always guide you.”
Felk nodded but didn’t return the farewell. It wasn’t his way, and she didn’t expect him to.
The next morning, when the soldiers gathered at the gates to send her off with Rildan, Emeris, and Marnok, the winex were nowhere to be found.
CHAPTER 49
The two daysspent walking across Sayhla Island felt endless to Gaeren. The misty plateaus and valleys were easy enough to cross with their web of creeks and soft grass fields pockmarked with candlenut and breadfruit trees. But the unnatural silence that fell over the group was both daunting and exhausting.
Whenever the Vendarans tried asking the Sayhleens about the Seer’s Sanctuary, they were met with distrustful, monosyllabic answers. Even Nori, who occasionally attempted to give answers, was often cut off by her peers’ glares.
Gaeren hadn’t expected all the elders to travel with them. But according to Nori, during one of her rare slips, it was tradition for at least one elder to accompany someone who had invoked their right to visit the Seer. They made it sound like they’d all come because of Nori’s unique position as the daughter of an elder. But Gaeren suspected it was more to keep an eye on the Vendarans.
Gellen and six soldiers came along with the elders and their wives, making Gaeren feel like they’d come to ensure his and Riveran’s doom.
“If we weren’t with you, would it have been faster for you to swim?” Gaeren asked the second day, hoping if he didn’t directly mention the Seer, his questions might seem harmless enough.
Nori glanced at her father, who walked ahead with his wife, theirheads bent in conversation. She shook her head. “If we swam, we’d have to go all the way around the island. Tideholm is on the southern side of Sayhla Island, and the Seer’s Sanctuary is across the northern coast. This is the narrowest part of the island, and it’s a two-day walk from south to north. We’ll travel by water up the channel to the east to enter the Seer’s Sanctuary on the third day. I suspect it will be slower with all of you in tow, but we do have some small boats to help you along.”
He pulled up the memory of the maps he’d seen in Orra’s copy ofThe Sins of the Stars, wondering if any of the cities labeled on her map were still around one thousand years later. “Is Tideholm your capital?”
She frowned. “All the villages are equal in Paelen’s waters, regardless of their size. Most have fewer elders than ours, but a couple of them have more. For every thousand people, one elder is chosen.”
