by C B Samet
“Wow, this place is amazing!” Snake Eyes admired the beach.
Radiant sunlight replaced the perpetually gray sky surrounding Mulan. The sea sparkled a breathtaking emerald, with the froth of small waves as it rolled ashore. Clear white sand stretched the distance, and by Abigail's description, was as soft as it looked. Inland, lush green vegetation of date palms, palmettos, and coconut palms stretched to the sky and cast shadows on the sand.
Abigail placed a hand on Andi’s flat head. “Without my star, I might never see you again.”
“The Unideit sets our fate, little one. If we are meant to see each other again, it will be so.”
“Thank you for everything.”
“Yes, thank you,” Baird echoed.
“You’re welcome.” He half-slithered, half-crawled back into the water. His iridescent scales shone a brilliant, blue-green color as they caught the sunlight just before he dove beneath the surface.
Corky gaped in awe at his surroundings as he followed Abigail and Baird inland. “You grew up here?”
“My mother lives here, but no, I grew up on Crithos. My mother shipwrecked on Mulan when I was a child, and Andi brought her safely here.”
“Whoa. And then the same thing happened to you?”
“Yeah. A couple of times,” Abigail said.
Corky gave her a quizzical glance before returning his attention to the foliage.
When they reached the village, surprised villagers gasped at their appearance.
“Castaways,” one woman gasped.
“No, that’s Abigail,” a man replied.
“Fetch Nadine!” someone cried.
Commotion spread through the village from the market square and through all of the bungalows. The islanders, accustomed to Andi dropping off the occasional ship-wrecked traveler, brought water and dried meat.
Abigail drank the water and thanked them before continuing her trek to her mother’s house. Despite her wind-blown hair and ragged clothing, she carried herself with dignity.
Snake Eyes and I followed.
When a large burly man embraced Abigail, she shed tears. “Bellok.” She hugged her step-father and buried her face in her shoulder.
“Mother Moon, Abigail! What’ve you been through?”
She didn’t answer. She wouldn’t—not in an open square where the entire village would overhear.
“Mama!” Rebekah’s sweet voice called to her mother.
My heart quickened when I saw the child. Although she didn’t belong to me, I’d seen her grow up since birth. I knew every birthday, every new discovery that had captivated her, every moment of joy and despair, and her deep love of the family pet wolf—Fury.
Abigail fell to her knees to embrace Rebekah.
“Are you crying?” Snake Eyes asked me.
“Don’t be absurd.” I turned away from him.
“Mama, you were gone so long. What happened to your star?”
“It’s okay, baby. I’m here now.” Abigail stroked the girl’s hair.
Nadine, Abigail’s mother, pushed through the crowd forming around the Avant Champion. She tugged Abigail to her feet while Rebekah’s arms clung tightly around her mother’s neck. They clustered together as they walked to Nadine’s bungalow.
En route, Baird exchanged a brief handshake and hug with Bellok. Baird appeared inexorably exhausted and aged. His tattered clothing, starved, sinewy body, and unshaven face made him look like a beggar rather than a monk. Despite his beating, captivity, and food deprivation, he walked with a calm steadiness.
Baird introduced Cornelius to Abigail’s parents. The young man nodded and followed as he ate dried, salted beef. His eyes darted around the village as though simultaneously enthralled and calculating where he could steal his next meal.
Inside Nadine’s house, the group gathered in the sitting room—Abigail in a plush chair with Rebekah in her lap, Baird and Corky on the sofa, Nadine standing near one open window, and Bellok pacing.
Trad, Abigail’s half-brother, startled as he entered the room. He was tall and lanky with a boyish, round face.
“Trad, can you fix everyone some tea?” Nadine asked.
He observed the tattered men on the sofa and his thin, pale sister in the chair. “Uh, sure.” He walked back into the kitchen.
“Cheese and meat snacks, too,” Nadine called after him.
“Okay.”
I sat beside Abigail and slipped my hand into hers. I hoped the warmth of my touch would let her know I was here for her, even though I remained invisible to her.
“What happened?” Bellok asked.
“Honey, patience.” Nadine waved a hand. “Do you need to eat first?” She glanced at her granddaughter as though asking if Rebekah needed to be excluded from the conversation.
Corky sat straighter at the mention of food.
“It’s okay. I’ll explain,” Abigail said. “We arrived in Bellos—in Victoria—for peace talks. Initially, we were treated with a respectful distain. They gave each of us our room and amenities. We dined with them, and it seemed amicable. But that very night they betrayed us.
“They poisoned the Queen. I failed my one task on this trip—protect the Queen.” Abigail shuddered. “Bellosian forces took out the Queen’s guard while simultaneously attacking Baird and me. They knew precisely how to defeat us—cut our stars and take the Warrior Stone.”
“But they kept you alive.” Trad briefly interrupted the conversation as he distributed cups of tea.
I reflexively inhaled, but couldn’t tell what type of tea it was. Orange? Chamomile? Basil?
Abigail glanced up at Trad. “Yes. Me for their pet Champion and Baird for his vast knowledge of the continent.”
Bellok’s gaze snapped to Baird as he took in his haggard appearance and seemed to look for new scars.
After he finished distributing tea, Trad placed a plate of meat and cheese on the small center table. He took a seat on a stool he’d brought from the kitchen.
Corky helped himself to half the tray, prompting Trad to go back to the kitchen to fix more food.
Abigail continued, “They loaded us on a ship, intending to arrive on Crithos with us in captivity. They’d show the ministers that not only was the Queen dead, but the Champion and the monk had been incapacitated.”
Rebekah snuggled closer to her mother as Abigail drank her tea.
“How did you escape?” Nadine asked.
“If there’s one thing reliable about the sea, it’s her bottomless appetite to devour ships in a storm. We took advantage of our capsizing ship. Andi saved us, and you can guess the rest.”
Abigail accepted a plate of dried fish and cheese from Trad. She ate slowly.
Nadine regarded her daughter through narrowed eyes, probably rightfully concluding that Abigail over-simplified a horrific series of events. Her brief tale didn’t fill in the gaps of the weeks that had passed.
“Your stone is missing?”
Abigail shook her head. “I stole it back. It’s in my pack.” She turned to look at Baird. “I also have your Language Stone.”
He nodded in grateful silence.
“Are we going home, Mama?” Rebekah asked.
Abigail swallowed. She couldn’t whisk her family home in the blink of an eye. Not that she could go home. Crithos had been invaded, and the country needed not Abigail the mother, but Cross, the Avant Champion.
“Not yet, sweetie. We’re going to be here a little while.”
“You’re staying with me?”
“I am for a little while.”
“What about Paul and Natalie?”
“Natalie is safe in the castle. Paul is safe at home.”
“How do you know that if you can’t travel to see them?”
“I have a secret helper.” She winked at Rebekah. “My guardian’s been helping me. He sent the wizard to watch over Natalie, and he checked on Paul and knows he’s safe.”
“Mal?” Rebekah asked.
“Yes, Mal.”
The
wrinkled lines on Rebekah’s forehead smoothed at her mother’s reassuring words. I chose to remain invisible to Rebekah, too. Perhaps later we could reunite but not in a room full of people who couldn’t see me.
“If your star is broken, how will we see Natalie and Paul again?”
“We’ll find a way to be together as a family again.”
“Will Mal help?”
She kissed Rebekah’s forehead. “I’m sure he will.”
After everyone ate, hydrated, and bathed, they went to bed early. Abigail slept with Rebekah, while Baird and Corky each took the beds usually reserved for Natalie and Paul. Trad slept in a hammock outside.
Nadine and Bellok huddled in the kitchen, talking quietly. A jar of bioluminescent algae glowed aqua on one of the countertops.
“I wish she would’ve never gone to Bellos.” Nadine gripped her tea cup without drinking it—as though the simple act of holding something might steady her.
“Your daughter won’t be idle if she thinks she can help. Based on her prior activities, she usually helps.”
“She’s so thin. Did you see how hollowed her eyes look? Even the blue glow looks dull. They did something to her. And Baird,” she added. “Did you see his gaunt body? They tortured him.” Her face twisted in anguish.
“I’ve always known my father was a bastard, but I didn’t know he’d commit such atrocities.”
Snake Eye’s turned to me. “Didn’t Emerald say one of Artemis’ sons died at sea.”
I nodded. “I’m sure they think Bellos is dead. Decades ago Bellok was sailing to Crithos and shipwrecked on my volcano island. Andi brought him here.” I realized for the first time that Bellok had been on Misty Isle so long that he spoke like a Crithian, not a Bellosian.
“He’s a prince like you,” Snake Eyes said.
“He is.” Neither one of us had a kingdom. Mine was extinct, and he’d long since departed from a throne he had no interest in possessing. “He doesn’t invoke any privileges here—not that he has any on this island. Technically it’s part of Crithos, not Bellos.”
“He never went home?”
“No one leaves Misty Isles. The currents sweep ships back to the Serpent island. Some form of sail boat or row boat could work if you had an adept navigator.”
“So, everyone who comes here, dies here?”
I laughed. “You make it sound dismal. Honestly, Snake Eyes, you saw the magnificence of this place. Could you imagine a more serene place to grow old and die?”
“I guess not.”
I could see his mind churning.
“So, Abigail is stuck here?”
I snorted. “Have you been paying attention these last weeks? Abigail doesn’t get stuck anywhere. She knows she has a battle left to fight.”
“But how will she leave the island?” Snake Eyes asked.
“You know she won’t stay here,” Bellok was saying.
“She won’t,” Nadine agreed. “Even if she didn’t want to fight the Bellosian army, she’ll want to bring her family back together. How she succeeds in leaving will be another matter.”
Bellos’ face tightened. I wondered if he was considering that such a trip would be one-way without her ability to star travel. She may be saying goodbye to her parents forever.
“She has her stone,” Bellok offered. “We know she’s defeated giants with that thing. She could probably swim to Crithos.”
Nadine nodded. “She would be able to row a boat through the wind and currents.”
“She needs a boat.”
26
ABIGAIL
“Baird and I are on Misty Isle,” I told Coco, once again barging into her tranquil dream. “We escaped when the ship we were on capsized.”
“That’s delightful news. Can you get here?”
“I need a ship. Can you send a ship?”
“Abigail, I don’t have anything to spare. I’ve an army bearing down on us. Our navy needs all five of our ships to defend the port.”
Five? I hadn’t realized we had so few, but then we’d only been building substantial defenses over the last eighteen months. In a world dominated by peace, the Queen didn’t need a navy. The world had changed.
“Well, can you send a fishing boat?”
“You want me to find a captain who’ll agree to a one-way trip to Misty Isle? When your ship arrives, how do you propose to leave the island when wind and water currents will take it to Mulan?”
“We have to row.”
“Precisely. You won’t find a fishing boat equipped to row—and you can’t have one of mine.”
“I’m your greatest asset. You can’t send for me?”
Coco tugged on her short, blonde hair. “You were our greatest asset, Abigail. Without your powers, you’re another soldier. As Captain, I have to consider if I’d send one of my few defensive ships to rescue you, or use my resources to defend Crithos.”
I heard the struggle in her tone. She was making a leadership decision and taking friendship out of the equation. Her ability to do so was the reason she made an excellent captain. It was also the reason Joshua had died, and thousands of lives had been saved.
“I have my stone back,” I offered weakly.
“It’s something, but without your star, you’re less formidable.”
I glowered at her. “You might have phrased that a little kinder.”
“I’m being truthful. Tell me you can defeat half of King Artemis’ army with what you have, and I’ll send a ship for you.”
I breathed out for long moment. “I can’t.”
“Can you build a boat there?”
“We have a boat maker. I’m not optimistic about how long it will take to build something strong enough to withstand ocean travel.”
“Stop dreaming and get to work.”
After a full day of rest, Baird and I met with the island boat maker and his apprentice. The barrel-chested man was Bellok’s age—sixty perhaps—with weather-beaten skin and beefy hands. He kept his beard clipped short, and it hugged a bow-shaped mouth. I’d met the man previously when he’d asked for tar from the mainland to use to waterproof his boats. I introduced Fortus—the boat maker—to Baird.
“You need what kind of boat?” Fortus crinkled his nose.
Baird answered, “An ocean canoe. Big, with two hulls.”
“How many people does it need to carry?”
“Probably three.”
“And you want to sail the open ocean?”
“Sail. Row. Whatever it takes to make it to Crithos.”
Fortus frowned.
“Let us worry about the risks,” Baird added. “Build us a boat sturdy for sea travel.”
Fortus focused earnestly. “Okay. The sail material and tar I have. We’ve some scraps from a junk ship marooned on Mulan.” He drew out a sketch as he ran his tongue along a crooked, jagged tooth. “Lookin’ at supplies plus drying and treating the wood, it’s probably a twelve-month project.”
I paced the room. “We don’t have that kind of time.” I glanced at Mal, who was scrutinizing the sketch of the boat. “We’ve less than a tenth of that time. When Artemis Stout lands on Crithos, every day we stay here is a day he solidifies his hold on the continent.”
Fortus shrugged with a helpless look on his face.
“Abigail,” Mal began, “the island has a dozen single canoes. Strap two together and bridge them with a deck.”
I stopped pacing and faced Fortus. “Can we use two existing canoes?”
He bit his lip. “Yeah. They’ll need to be in good condition to take to the open ocean.”
Baird stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder while talking to the boat maker. “If you have two good base canoes, how much time do you need to build the bridge and mount the sail?”
“The bridge’ll be just flat planks. I’ve probably got enough of those in storage, already treated, for this project. Sails take a few hundred meters of rope. You should be able to find that at the feed and tack store. With all of those parts, p
robably two weeks to assemble and pitch it.”
“Pitch it?” I asked.
“Waterproof it,” Baird and Mal said in unison.
I grinned. “Two weeks.”
As Baird and I left the boat shop and walked toward my mother’s home, we discussed the issue of payment. We possessed nothing of value on the island, yet we would need items to barter—for the canoes, rope, planks, sail, and assembly of it all.
Baird left to ponder this on a walk while I went in search of my mom. I found her, Rebekah, and Trad picking peaches and pineapples from the garden.
“What news?” Nadine asked.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
She straightened. “Out with all of it.”
“The good news is that when we have all of the parts for Fortus, he estimates build time is two weeks for an ocean-faring canoe. The bad news is I don’t know how we’re going to pay for any of it. I can’t promise future favors when I don’t know if or when I’ll make it back.”
“We’ll sort it out.”
I frowned. I didn’t want my mother in debt to half the village either. I joined her picking peaches.
“You don’t need to do that. Why don’t you go have lunch? Bellok should be done preparing it by now.”
Since I’d returned, she’d been constantly throwing food at me.
“I’m still full from breakfast. And I need to build muscle strength back if I’m going to row to Crithos.” Languishing in the hull of the ship had stripped me of muscle. When I saw myself in my mother’s mirror, I wondered how my bony skeleton had defeated the Prince. Sheer animalistic will, I supposed.
“Well, Jacob is looking to clear a wooded spot for growing pineapples. I’m sure he’d accept your help. Be back by dusk. We’re having a town meeting.”
“Oh?”
“People are worried about what it means that you arrived in your condition. Somebody is spreading rumors that Stout’s army will invade here. I need to address everyone’s concerns in an open forum.”
“I’ll be there.”
As I made my way to Jacob’s house, Baird caught up with me and walked beside me. I explained where I was going.