Several days after Tross returned, I found Trevor on the platform. His shoulders relaxed as he turned back around to face the sea, gripping the small piece of cloth in his hands. “Do you think it came from a ship?”
“I do,” he answered abruptly, leaving no room for doubt or argument.
“I wonder how long he flew to get that, and how far he flew back.”
“I don’t think he flew all the way to Galder, if that’s what you’re wondering. There’s a ship out there.” He patted the stone next to him, so I sat down. “It could be a week before they get close.”
The days of that week came and went, but maybe the seas were rough, or maybe in the spring with the shifts in the wind, the journey would take longer. “What if they don’t come close enough to see our fire?”
“Then we keep preparing until someone does. Eventually a ship will come here. Mine did.”
Because of a storm. Because it was blown off course, I didn’t say. Arguing was pointless, and it was easier to be happy and think of what life could be like if we weren’t stuck here like this.
Trevor reached over and grabbed my hand. I tried to pull it away when the butterflies in my stomach fluttered uncontrollably, but he held tight until I relaxed. With my hand in his, he rubbed circles over my palm, the back of my hand, and even the tips of my fingers. “They’re coming for us. It’s going to be okay, Ray.”
Ray. He’d given me a nickname. And I loved it.
I shouldn’t love it, though. I fought hard to ignore the warmth of his hands, the way they felt rough now that we’d been working so hard, and how gently but firmly he pressed against my flesh and bones, rubbing the tension away.
It was such a simple thing: the touch of another person. But it never ceased to amaze me. It made me want to wallow in it and pull away at the same time. Maybe my reaction meant something in me was broken.
Instead of letting go, he intertwined his fingers with mine and pulled the back of my hand to his lips, placing a kiss on it. The wind cooled my skin where his mouth had been. I couldn’t stop my lashes from fluttering at the feel of his lips on me. We sat together, holding hands until darkness fell and the stars peeked out, each winking down upon the sea and reflecting off the water as the waves rolled across its surface.
“What’s your favorite season?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.
“This one.”
“Spring,” he echoed. I could hear the smile in his voice.
I didn’t have a favorite season or time of day. In truth, the only time I felt at peace was when Trevor was near me. If he was beside me in winter or spring, fall or summer, it didn’t matter. Because he was there. And not just because I wasn’t alone anymore, but because he made things better. He made me better. He was my favorite.
It was getting cold. I couldn’t help but shiver, and Trevor noticed. “You should go inside. I’ll stay and keep watch,” he offered.
“I can get a blanket. I’ll be right back,” I added, unwilling to relinquish our peaceful moment.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
He watched over his shoulder as I descended, a contemplative look on his face. It was one I hadn’t sketched, but my fingers itched to capture it before the memory faded away. That was why I drew… to remember. To keep a single, important moment in my mind. I could look at a sketch of him years from now and remember this very moment in time; how desperate we were, how he worried the torn piece of fabric so tightly between his fingers, I thought it might split down the middle from the strain, and how he kissed the back of my hand tenderly and watched me walk away from him.
Tross was asleep just inside the window sill. I grabbed a blanket big enough for both of us and headed back up to the platform.
As I sat, I noticed the stone I’d been sitting on had cooled. Trevor wrapped the blanket around our shoulders. “You’re my closest friend,” he offered out of the blue.
“I’m the only one here, so...”
He chuckled. “No, in Galder and then in Aelawyn, even when I was surrounded by people, I didn’t have a real friend.”
I repositioned my legs. “Not even Ella?”
He gave a heavy sigh at her name. “Ella was complicated. When she left, she left entirely. She didn’t look back.”
“That must have stung. Not only because you loved her, but because you lost her friendship, too.”
“It did, though I understand why she did it. She needed a clean break from her past responsibility, which included me and my father. She wanted to move on, and she did what she had to do. I respect her for knowing what she wanted and not being afraid to take hold of it. Not that it didn’t sting. But back to you… Thank you, Raya.”
“You’re my only friend, too, silly.”
He leaned in close, looking at my lips intently. My heart raced as he bent in further. “Don’t let Tross hear you,” he whispered into my ear. His mouth grazed the shell of my ear, sending prickles down my back. “Are you cold?” he asked innocently, wrapping an arm around me and sharing his warmth.
As I looked over the water, I hoped the ship, if it was coming, took its time.
Chapter eleven
TREVOR
Raya eventually fell asleep on my shoulder. The wind became bitterly cold once again, so I wrapped her in the blanket and carried her downstairs, careful not to knock her head or feet on the way down. I laid her on the cot, covered her, and from the south-facing window sill, watched her sleep.
There were no wrinkles marring her face. She was completely at peace. Occasionally, when she turned onto her side and changed positions, she let out a soft sigh. I loved hearing the little sounds she made; innocent, like she didn’t have a care in the world.
I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t get settled down. The ship was coming for us. I could feel it.
We needed to keep our eyes open and be ready to light the wood pile at any moment.
Days turned into weeks, and I lost track of how long it had been since Tross brought the shred of flag to us. I didn’t give up, but it was beginning to feel hopeless. Adding to the feeling of despair was the fact that I hadn’t slept longer than an hour or so at a time, too nervous that I’d miss the ship and with it, our only chance of escape.
We watched the ocean to the south and west in shifts. I took the nights so she could sleep, and slept as much as my body and mind would allow during the daylight hours.
Tross recovered from his trip, and now was gone more often than he was at the tower. When he came back, he didn’t bring anything with him.
Doubt constantly whispered in my ear. A ship won’t come this far north. The captains will stay as close to the coast as possible, because it’s what they would assume our ship had done. There is no storm pushing them farther out to sea. Unless the weather changes, and every variable that pushed my ship into the Sea of Bones is exactly the same, the ships aren’t coming.
The ships would’ve already been here if they were on their way, but they don’t know where to find us. They know this sea is treacherous, too dangerous to sail into.
I needed to think and clear my mind, so I decided a swim was just the answer. I needed to wear my body out so it could relax. The waves were calmer than I’d seen in a month, even at high tide. I was swimming on the western side of the island when I heard Raya scream from the tower. Tross was squawking and flapping his wings, and then he dove down and swooped at my head.
“What’s gotten into you?” I yelled, ducking just in time to keep him from colliding with my face. He turned and doubled back as I walked out of the waves and onto the sand.
“Trevor!”
“What?”
“SHIP!”
Ship? I turned toward the south to face the direction she was pointing. There, on the horizon, was the unmistakable sight of dark purple sails. Slogging out of the water, I sprinted to the door. Water pooled on the steps as I took them two at a time, and then I ran through her room and up to the platform. Raya had already made a makeshift t
orch with fabric and a long piece of wood.
“I got fire from the hearth like you said,” she panted, smoothing her free hand down the skirt of her dress.
The dried planks caught, and soon the whole platform was ablaze. “We need more smoke!” I yelled over the crackling, roaring fire. I ran below, grabbing the chairs and adding them to the fire, before returning below to scavenge for more kindling.
Raya stood at the platform entrance with her hands out to block me, but I nudged my way around her. “We need these things! You can’t burn my furniture or my…” Raya’s mouth popped open and her words froze as I threw her blanket on the blaze.
“We need them to see us, Raya. This might be our only chance! This is it.”
She stopped moving, staring at the stones at her feet with her brows pinched together and lips parted. I felt the same way, but this was real, it was happening, and I needed her help. I ran to her and gently took hold of her upper arms. She finally glanced up, her eyes searching mine.
“Help me,” I pleaded. “Help me, and we can get off this island. Once and for all.”
She swallowed, but nodded and obediently followed me below. She grabbed two of the furs, carried them back to the platform, and threw them on the flames. The smoke turned dark.
“You’re brilliant!” I smiled, pulling her into a hug. Her hands tensed on my back, and I could feel them trembling.
“Do you think they see the fire?” she asked. “They’re heading northwest. We need them to turn to the northeast.”
“They’ll see it. They have to.” I grinned, nudging her arm, “As much fun as I’ve had with you, I’d like to go home. I want my father to know I made it, and I know I could spend a lifetime trying and never come close, but I want to find a way to make it up to the families of the sailors.”
“The storm wasn’t your fault,” she argued.
“We wouldn’t have been in the storm if it wasn’t for me, Raya. They wouldn’t have died, because the ship wouldn’t have sunk if I didn’t insist on leaving when I did. It is my fault.”
Tross began to circle the tower, screeching loudly as he flew. His squawking, along with the dark smoke, must have gotten their attention, because the ship changed course and began blazing a path through the water directly toward the lighthouse.
“They’re changing direction!” I yelled. “They’re heading right for us.”
“What about the shallows?” she asked anxiously.
“They’ll stay in the deeper water and send a skiff to reach us. Grab what you want to bring with you, and we’ll head down to the beach together.”
She rushed down the steps and I heard her shuffling things around. Taking one last look at our saving grace, I ran down to help Raya.
The portfolio that held her sketches was on the bed and she was searching frantically for a sack. The room was torn apart from where I’d ransacked it for materials to make the fire bigger.
“Raya, I think I may have burned the sack you had. I’m sorry.”
Her fingers stilled on the cabinet door that was hanging by the bottom hinge now. Her shoulders crumbled. She swiped her face.
“Are you crying?”
She shook her head rapidly, but wouldn’t turn around.
“Ray? Are you okay?”
She shook her head again.
I knew it. I walked to her and waited until she turned around, and then wrapped my arms around her. “Talk to me.”
“I’m scared,” she cried. “This is almost all I’ve ever known. This is my home. I have no idea what to expect in Galder, and everyone and everything I loved before is dead. The life I was supposed to lead isn’t there now. I’m scared, Trevor.”
Her confession filled me with anguish, but I tried to comfort her the only way I knew how. “This is for the best, Ray, and I promise I’ll be at your side through it all. If you’d rather go to Paruth, I’ll take you there. If you want to stay in Galder, we’ll stay. I’ll be with you…every step of the way. We’ll find our way together.”
“Oh, yes,” she snorted sarcastically. “We can swing by Paruth on your way to Roane to find a wife. I’m sure she’ll love it if I’m there tagging along.”
My body tensed. I didn’t want a wife. I only wanted Raya to be comfortable and happy. I wanted her to have the best life she could, and that didn’t include being stuck here.
“I’m not worried about finding a wife, Ray. Not now. Let’s just focus on one thing at a time. Other than your drawings, what would you like to take with you?”
She pulled away from me and turned to look at the room. “There’s nothing else.”
“Okay.” I grabbed the sketches and extended my hand. “Are you ready to come with me?”
She glanced from her sketches to my eyes, released a shuddering breath, and then put her hand in mine. “Okay.”
I gave her hand a squeeze, and together we walked to the hatch and descended the spiral staircase for the last time. The waves were crashing onto the shore with more force than when I’d been swimming, or maybe they just seemed gentler earlier because I was beyond the break. The ship continued to creep closer, finally dropping the anchor as it approached the shallows.
“See? They just dropped their anchor. Next, we’ll see a skiff.”
“The waves are so rough right now,” she whispered, watching the ship bob up and down.
“We’ll be fine. It’s warm and we can both swim. If anything happens, we’ll be okay. The captain is merely being cautious. Before long we’ll be on that ship, heading toward the mainland.”
Raya held her drawings to her chest protectively and bit her thumbnail as we waited.
We watched the ocean until we could clearly see the skiff and then watched as it battled the waves. “I should tell you something before we get on this thing,” I started.
“What?” she asked, her eyes widening.
“I get seasick,” I admitted. “I’ll be vomiting over the ship’s side for the duration of our voyage.”
“What about the skiff? Will it make you sick?” she asked.
“We’re about to find out.” We were quiet for a moment. “Do you get sick, Ray?”
“I was flown here, so I don’t know. We’re about to find that out, too.”
RAYA
The men on the skiff rowed right up to shore, jumped out of the small, wooden boat and into the rushing waves, and dragged the boat out of the water. “Prince Trevor?” one shouted, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Is that you?”
“Yes!” Trevor ran to shake their hands. “I’m so glad you found us.”
They peered at me over his shoulder. “If it weren’t for the fire and the huge bird circlin’ overhead, we wouldn’t have known anyone was ‘ere. This place hasn’t been manned in fifty years.”
They were wrong. It had been ‘manned’ for the past ten, but they had no idea. No one did.
One of the men was taller and young. The other was shorter with graying hair, but both looked fit. “You ready to go home?” the younger one asked jokingly.
“More than ready,” Trevor replied. He smiled over his shoulder at me. “Raya, it’s time to go.”
Tross landed on the sand beside me. I gave him kisses, but he seemed as distraught as I was about our departure. “Follow us, Tross.” I petted him. “Follow us home.”
He walked to Trevor, who gave him kisses and parroted what I suggested. “Follow us. Land on the ship when you need to. It’s okay, friend.”
Tross took to the sky, flying overhead in circles as we were helped onto the skiff. As the skiff crested each wave and dropped into their troughs, he followed us. The sailors rowed together while Trevor sat at the back of the boat and I held tightly to the front. Poor Trevor vomited before we even made it to the ship, and again when the sailors attached a rope to each end of the skiff and hoisted us into the air.
A mountain of a man lifted me onto the deck and then helped the Prince aboard. “Been lookin’ for you for weeks,” he greeted Trevor. “Never imagined you�
��d be out ‘ere, but I’m glad the captain knew ‘ese waters. Said there was a storm ‘bout a week after ye set sail, and ‘dat it coulda blowed ya off course.”
“Captain Emry’s ship sank during the storm. I washed up on shore and she saved me,” Trevor explained, ticking his head toward me.
The giant nodded, tilting his head as if sizing me up. “I see. Anyone else survive?”
I could see the sorrow and guilt wash over Trevor’s face. His skin was ashen after having been sick, and I wasn’t sure the question itself wasn’t making him sick again. “No. No one else survived,” I answered for him.
The sailors stilled, placing hands over their hearts and lowering their heads to honor those lost to the sea.
Chapter twelve
RAYA
I didn’t get seasick, but poor Trevor was sick most days. I thought that eventually he would get used to being on the ship and his seasickness would subside, but it never did. Barely able to keep broth down, he was wasting away.
The Captain, a man who answered only to Cap, with grizzly hair and a long, salt and pepper colored beard, was surprisingly kind. I wasn’t sure what to think of him at first. He took one look at the shortness of my skirts and made a joke about the waves being high on sections of my beach. The men had stifled their laughter for a moment, but when they saw the quizzical look on my face, they couldn’t hold back. Each laughed heartily and I looked down at my dress, which fell at my calves, and laughed with them. “Ha,” I teased.
Since then, Cap found me a pair of boots, socks, and trousers. The pants fit me perfectly and made life aboard a ship much easier. I tried to help Cap with any tasks he’d throw my way. Each time he gave me a new task, he spent several minutes rocking back on his heels, lecturing me how important the job was, and then threw the simplest chore on the boat my way.
Patting Trevor on the back as he heaved over the rail, the wind blew my hair in every direction. Even pulled back, it was too long. When one of the sailors passed, I asked him for a knife. He glanced between me and the Prince. “I’m not going to hurt him,” I assured him. The man pulled his knife from its scabbard and held it out for me.
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