by Cait Marie
“She loves apples,” Kal said from behind them.
“Thanks, buddy,” Lee replied, looking over his shoulder.
Ada carefully lowered the girl back down. She swept her matted blond hair away from her face and left an apple and bread beside her. She also left a couple bananas for both children before looking around the room. The couple, Brienne, Phillip, and a few other adults who had trickled in, helped the children in similar manners.
“Not what you were expecting, huh?” Lee whispered, leaning in close enough they wouldn’t be overheard.
Ada’s vision blurred. Lee entwined his fingers with hers and pulled her to her feet. When he didn’t let go of her hand, she curled into him, laying her head against his chest as she wrapped an arm around his middle. He gently rubbed her back.
“I’m sorry.” There weren’t any other words she could say. She held onto him, speechless.
“That book you keep of mine,” Lee said. “I told you it meant a lot to me.”
She shook her head with a soft laugh. When she leaned back to look at him, her hand raised to his jaw—her palm cupping his face.
“You stole for them. All of it was for them.”
“Well, for the whole village.”
Playfully rolling her eyes, Ada stepped back. He looked around and nodded. Satisfied that the rest of the children were taken care of, he pulled her outside. The village was livelier now as the crew moved from home to home delivering supplies. Ada held his hand between both of hers and leaned against his shoulder.
“This sickness reached them almost a year ago,” Lee said. “We’ve been bringing food here for a lot longer though. Whatever the illness is keeps popping back up; nothing is curing it. The people don’t have a way to get proper medicines… Most of these children lost their families to it.”
“Lee, I…” She didn’t have the words.
Sensing her hesitation, he turned to face her. His free hand went to the side of her neck. He slowly closed the distance, giving her a chance to back away. When she didn’t, his lips met hers. She breathed him in, clutching at his shirt, while parting her lips. They broke apart just slightly, and he put his forehead to hers. Neither opened their eyes as they took heavy breaths.
Lee pulled away, but before Ada could ask why, Phillip appeared. He told them the children were taken care of and that the crew was about ready to leave. He glanced down at their joined hands but didn’t say anything.
“Ada, there’s something you should know,” Phillip said. He waited, looking between them.
“What?” she asked. “I trust him. Just tell me.”
Phillip took a deep breath. “It’s the Kald… and this isn’t the only place it’s been found. Before I left, Shane and I stumbled upon some who were sick and dying from it in Detmarya.”
He launched into his story, explaining that it wasn’t airborne, but that they weren’t sure how it spread. He told her about the underground rebels wanting her father off the throne, and when he got to their theory about the king’s possible involvement, Ada’s face drained of color. Lee squeezed her hand, and she leaned into the comforting touch.
“He’s planning much more than what we heard,” she said. “The Kald… he’s going to use it against the other kingdoms in this war he is so desperate to start.”
“You think it’s true, then? That he’s behind the experiments and spreading the disease?” Phillip asked.
Ada raised her eyes to Phillip’s. He knew the king just as well—how he had spiraled out of control since the death of her mother. “Yes, I do.”
“Whatever he’s doing to create it again is different than last time. There’s no cure for this strand that the rebels have been able to find,” Phillip explained.
Ada cursed under her breath. Phillip excused himself, and Lee thanked him, saying they would be in momentarily to say goodbye to the children. When left alone, they stood watching the small village in silence. She didn’t want to believe that her own father was behind the suffering of these people—of children like Kal and Kasy.
When Lee finally looked back to Ada, her breath caught. In the setting sunlight, his green eyes seemed to shift to a bluer hue. She couldn’t help but stare. The color almost matched the bright waters around them. The intensity of his gaze made her stomach flip. The color disappeared as he closed his eyes and kissed her again.
“Your love for that story makes sense now.” Ada pulled back. “And I’m assuming you grew up with the story of the Nihryst since you seem to know it better than I do.”
“They might have had a bit of an influence on my life,” he said with a quiet laugh.
“You know, you could have just told me,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of the orphanage.
“Because you’ve been so open and honest with me?”
“Well, you know everything now,” she said. “Are there anymore secrets?”
A pained look filled his eyes, but before she could question it, he was kissing her again. It felt more desperate, urgent. She stood on her toes to get closer, but his hands moved to her shoulders, and he pushed away gently.
“Lee—”
“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” A sadness laced his quiet tone. “This doesn’t change anything.”
“What?”
“You’re the princess. We can’t…”
Knowing he was right didn’t make the words hurt any less. She clenched her jaw and nodded. After finding Cyfrin, he would take her home and they’d part ways, never to see each other again. The thought shot a pang of regret through her chest.
“You’re a good man, Lee,” she said. “I’m sorry I assumed the worst. Truly.”
He smiled in response, shrugging it off as not a big deal.
The next part hurt, but she needed to say it. “Can we at least be friends? Try to get along?”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her back inside with a chuckle. Her heart ached as he said, “We can certainly try.”
It took a little over a day to get to Cyfrin from Obaith, according to Lee. Ada woke to clear skies and a calm sea. She groaned as she raised up on her elbows. She climbed out of bed, quickly found a sweater and pulled it on, grinning when she realized it smelled like Lee.
Shaking her head, she moved about the room, using the water basin to freshen up. She would not think of him that way. With a new determination and the need for a distraction, she brushed her fingers through her tangled hair and almost skipped to the door. The ship rocked steadily as they sailed southeast. Water glittered all around them from the bright sun as she made her way up the steps to stand beside the captain at the wheel.
So much for a distraction, she thought.
“Please tell me you slept,” she teased him, trying to get things back to normal. Even going back to their banter would be better than the awkwardness that started after leaving the orphanage. The crew had stayed up late again the night before, drinking and dancing. It seemed to be a normal occurrence among them, and Ada loved it. When she’d finally decided to retire for the evening, she had waved up to Lee at the wheel before entering the cabin.
“Worried I’ll wreck us into something?” He laughed, motioning a hand out to the vast open waters. “Yes, Brienne let me sleep this morning.”
“Great, so you’re in a good mood?” she asked, relieved.
“Sleep determines my happiness?”
Ada shrugged, stepping away. “You’re cranky when you don’t get your beauty rest.”
Ren chuckled as he came up to join them. Lee shot him a glare, daring him to say more.
“What is it you want, Princess?” Lee asked.
Ada smiled at the returned snark in his voice. “Let me steer the ship,” she said with a lifted chin. “You had me watch Ren and read all the books for over a week. Put the knowledge to use.”
“She has a point,” Ren agreed. “She probably knows more about sailing than we do now.”
“Thank you, Ren, I knew I liked you.” Her smile wi
dened as she held a hand in his direction and he winked.
Lee looked at Ada with a gleam of pride. “Fine. Ren, it looks like we’re switching shifts.”
Ren mumbled something about going to sleep off the celebration from the night before. Ada patted his shoulder as he passed, then looked to Lee. He stepped back and presented the wheel to her.
With a grin, she took his spot and gripped the handles. He came up behind her and repositioned her hands. His hands moved to her waist, then quickly dropped away as he cleared his throat and stepped up next to her.
“We should be there a little before sunset.” A hand rubbed the back of his neck. “You’ll have time to look around before it gets dark; it’s not a large island.”
She nodded while anxiety built up within her. Regardless of what she did or did not find, her life was about to change.
Lee looked alarmed at her silence. “Ada, love, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just focused.” Her steady voice surprised her.
“We’re in the middle of a calm ocean, you don’t need to focus that much.” He turned her around. “What?”
She smiled, trying to fool herself as much as him. “I like that much more than Princess—when you call me love.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t change the subject.”
A question had nagged at the back of her mind since he told her he knew where to find Cyfrin. “How do you know it’s the right island?”
Lee seemed to hesitate, but said, “There’s an abandoned little village of sorts. Huts and little else. The symbols you saw on the cards and in your book were carved into different places.”
Ada stared at him in wonder. She knew he told the truth—that he had found it. Somehow, this man had done the impossible. “You never told anyone about it?”
His expression changed into something she couldn’t quite recognize. He blinked, shrugging it off. “I’m a pirate. Who would’ve believed me? Besides, who am I to ruin the story for all the children dreaming that the immortals are still out there to be found?”
She heard the sincerity in his voice, saw the guilt in his gaze. With a sigh, she whispered, “Either way, it is all about to change. If I find the Nihryst, I’ll need to convince them to help me. If I don’t find them… everything I’ve dreamed of my whole life will just be over.”
Her words were choked off by emotion. Lee pulled her to him. “It will be all right. Whatever happens, it’ll be all right. I promise.”
She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wanted to believe his words, needed to believe them. Instead, she let him hold and comfort her for a brief moment.
They spent the rest of the day together, mostly at the wheel and mostly arguing. He kept her busy, distracting them both from what was to come. Occasionally, Phillip or Brienne joined them. Sometimes they appeared together, Brienne still dragging him around everywhere, much like she did with Ada the first few days. He didn’t seem to mind at all.
Before she knew it, a small mass obscured the horizon. Slowly, they approached the island. Trees became distinct, as well as a cluster of small huts. Ada left the wheel to Lee and Ren, then ran to the bow of the ship, grabbing Phillip along the way. She covered her mouth to stop a squeal from erupting out of her.
“You did it,” Phillip squeezed her shoulders. “You got us to Cyfrin. It’s real.”
“It’s real,” she echoed.
“I told you I knew where it was.”
Ada whirled around. She launched herself into Lee’s open arms. He lifted her up, spinning once—her excitement contagious.
“Come on.” He motioned for them to follow after setting her back down. “This is as close as the ship can get. We have to row the rest of the way in.”
The anchor dropped, and the crew prepared a few dinghies. Ada watched the commotion in amazement. She was still in shock as Lee came to stand beside her.
“Regardless of what this island holds,” he said, placing a hand on the back of her shoulder, “remember that it’s here. You found it. You made it here and can see that it truly does exist.”
He pulled out her book from behind his back. She took the familiar weight but looked up. “I think I found a lot more than the island.”
His eyes crinkled with a smile before they were called over to the boats. Lee grabbed her hand and led the way. A few crew members stayed behind with the ship, and they lowered the others to the water. Ada’s chest tightened as they rowed closer to the place she imagined her entire life.
The boats hit the sand and, after they all climbed out, a few of the crew members pulled them farther up the beach. Ada hugged the book to her chest and looked around. Palm trees grew taller than she ever thought possible. The white sand led to a jungle hiding the huts she saw from the ship.
A hand braced her lower back. “Ready?” Phillip asked.
She looked at the people surrounding them. They all waited for her. It was all for her. Lee nodded from where he stood a few feet back, encouraging her to go. She turned toward fronds and overgrown plants she couldn’t identify and held out a hand to Phillip.
Together, they walked through the trees. Phillip held back a large fern leaf and there it was. A small village just as Lee described was laid out in a half-circle. The individual stone huts still stood with their closed wooden doors. Some of the grassy roofs had blown off, but most were still intact. Over a century old.
And completely silent.
She knew before even looking that Lee told the truth. There was no one on the island. It was completely abandoned. She looked in each of the huts anyway. The couple dozen huts surrounded a large fire pit, with some staggered to make a second row. Most had hammocks made of woven grasses and fronds with sparse hand carved furniture, but a couple appeared to be large enough for the Nihryst to all to converge.
After searching, Ada collapsed on one of the logs around the pit. The others had already started to sit and talk. Merta worked to start a fire while Brienne and Phillip sorted through a bag of food supplies they’d brought along. Lee stood leaning against one of the huts with his arms crossed. He looked as disappointed as she felt, like he’d hoped to be wrong.
The sun slowly lowered, changing the sky into shades of orange and pink. Brienne and Phillip sat beside her, offering food, but she waved it away. She tapped a hand against the wood beneath her, looking around the island she’d vowed to find so long ago. Her friends tried comforting her, telling her she found the island and proved that the Nihryst did exist at one point. She tried and failed to smile.
“I’m going to take a walk,” Ada said, claiming the need to be alone.
She knew he’d follow though, just as he always did. Sure enough, when she sat on the beach and placed the book beside her, footsteps shuffled through the sand. Lee sat next to her, draping his arms across his knees, and she leaned into him.
“Ada…”
“I know this proves they were here,” she repeated the words she’d been told all evening. “But they’re not here now. What do I do?”
They sat in silence, watching the colors bleed together as the sun began its descent toward the ocean. She pulled the book onto her lap.
“My entire life has been about one day setting them free. I've dreamed about finding them—finding Loxley—almost every night for as long as I can remember. What am I supposed to do now?”
“Now you find something else.” Lee shifted, straightening his legs out in front of him. He turned her face toward him. “You find a new dream.”
She smiled at his words.
He seemed hesitant as he said, “Can I ask you a question? Something has been bugging me since you told me everything.”
“Of course.” She didn’t have any more secrets.
“You came to ask the Nihryst for help, how was that going to work?”
Her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re the supposed descendant of the woman who cursed them. You’re the princess of the kingdom that ban
ished them here after taking everything from them. Did you really think they would just willingly help you?”
“I knew it was unlikely, but I had to try. I don’t know what else to do—who else could stop my father. He has the biggest navy on this side of the world. No one is powerful enough to stop him. I thought maybe a group of immortals could…”
Ada trailed off, knowing how ridiculous she sounded. After hearing her father, she had to leave Detmarya; there wasn’t another option. And she hadn’t known where else to go. Rayerna’s forces were strong, but with their fragile treaty on the line, she didn’t want to be the one to send them into war prematurely. She pulled out the cards and sighed.
“The cards. They’re the real ones, aren’t they?” Lee sounded amused but didn’t wait for an answer. “You were going to blackmail them into helping you. Now it makes sense.”
“What? No!”
He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. “Ada.”
“Don’t look at me like that. I might be desperate, but I’m not cruel. Yes, I’d hoped that the cards would be a peace offering and maybe it’d show that I’m not the same as my ancestors.”
“But?” he asked after her hesitation.
“But the cards are theirs. Even if they said no, I would’ve given them the cards to break the curse.”
“Truly?” he asked with a crease forming between his brows.
“Yes.” Sighing, she offered them to him. “They’re yours now, I guess. It was our deal after all.”
Lee looked at the cards. He trailed a finger over the symbols, then gently pushed them away. “Hold them for me?”
“Sure.” She smiled. As she went to reach for him, he stood abruptly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He raked a hand through his dark hair, a nervous habit Ada was all too aware of at that point. “I want to tell you a story now, more about the Nihryst that I know.”
She nodded, eager to hear more. He began pacing, grains of sand lifting with each step. The seconds ticked by before he spoke.
“There’s another rumor, a lesser known one,” he said. “People whispered in nearby villages that the Nihryst had eventually escaped. They were found, then took over the ship after being rescued.”
