Princess Elodi's Arc

Chapter 40 of 55

The barrels stood full at the spring, but Elodi could not rest. Chief Manawa knew these waters. He had lived his whole life on this shore. If anyone could tell her where her father's route led, it was him. Yet the words stuck in her throat. These people had fed her crew and asked for nothing. She could not shove a stranger's map at their chief and demand answers. To pry too fast might insult the very hosts who had saved them. She left the fur-and-moss tent and walked inland to think, following a stream that cut through the green slope. The stream led her to a waterfall. Mist hung in the air. Chieftess Valara stood at the pool's edge, gold at her ears, her head wrapped in deep red. She had welcomed Elodi warmly that first day on the sand. Beside her stood a girl Elodi's own age. Vines wound through the girl's long braids, and her dress was woven from palm leaves. She held a spear loosely, as if she had just come from the trees. "Ah, there you are," Valara said. She smiled and drew the girl forward. "Come meet my daughter, Princess Isla." Isla studied Elodi with sharp brown eyes. "You walk far from your ship," she said. "Most sailors sleep the moment their bellies are full." "I couldn't sleep," Elodi admitted. "I'm looking for someone. My father. He sailed these seas eleven years ago and never came home." The words spilled out before she could soften them. Valara's smile faded. She and Isla traded a look. Elodi's stomach dropped. She feared she had said the wrong thing, too fast, too bold. But Isla lowered her spear. "A ship broke apart in a storm past the western reef, long ago," she said. "My father pulled a man from the water. A pale man, half drowned. He stayed one season, then sailed on to find his sister's land." Elodi's breath caught. "You knew him?" "I was a child," Isla said. "But I remember. He drew the stars for me on the sand." Valara touched her daughter's arm. "Isla knows the reefs better than any man on this island. She has sailed to the western shore twice." Elodi's fear turned to hope so sharp it hurt. "Could you show me the way? Could you take word to our captain, guide our course?" Isla was quiet. Water thundered behind her. Then she looked to her mother, who gave a slow nod. "I will speak to Captain Blackwell," Isla said. "The western passage is not kind. Sirens sing there. But if your father lives, that is where he went." She planted her spear in the sand. "I will sail with you." Elodi grasped her hand. She had feared offending her hosts. Instead she had found a guide who had seen her father's face. The last stretch of empty sea now had a path through it, and someone aboard who knew the way.