Cryssa walked over to him. Grandpa Po held out the pendant, spreading its chain wide in his hands.
"To be a queen," said Grandpa Po, "you must first be an adult. I believe that you have finally reached this goal. Do you agree?"
Staring at the gleaming, black pendant, Cryssa nodded. "I agree."
"Then here," said Po, raising the pendant high. "I present you with the Talisman of Maturity, so that all who see you will know that you are an adult."
Cryssa bowed, and Grandpa Po slipped the pendant around her neck. When she straightened, he was grinning proudly at her.
"Your childhood is over," he said, clapping his hands together.
"Thank you," said Cryssa. "Now can I go to Shark Island?"
Grandpa Po sighed. "I wish you wouldn't," he said, "but honestly, I never thought I could stop you."
Cryssa shook her head. She was glad that he apparently wasn't going to try to stop her, but she was surprised to hear him admit that he had never expected to.
"You're not going to run off without being prepared, though," said Grandpa Po. "In fact, I've already made some preparations for your trip."
Again, Cryssa was surprised. "Preparations?"
Grandpa Po nodded. "I've given it a lot of thought," he said. "Just in case this is a trap, I think we still might be able to get you and Seek home safely."
"How?" said Cryssa.
"Well, my queen," said Grandpa Po, eyes twinkling again. "Will you allow your humble advisor, Po, to suggest a plan for your consideration?"
Cryssa laughed and nodded.
Grandpa Po bowed. "Thank you, my queen," he said. "Here is my plan..."
*****
Chapter Thirty-One
When the green and brown hump of Shark Island first shouldered up on the horizon, Cryssa signaled Leed to slow down by patting his head three times. Immediately, the Kee knight surfaced and cut his speed, giving her a view that was uninterrupted by submerging under the waves.
Cryssa relaxed her grip on Leed's harness strap and peered at the distant piece of land. The last time she had seen it, she had been terrified, fleeing for her life in a tiny boat. Now, as she returned, she was terrified again, wondering what awaited her there.
Leed, who had carried her on the long trip from Kee Island, stopped swimming. "Do you want to go home?" he said, as if he had sensed Cryssa's rising fear.
"No," said Cryssa, though the frightened part of her was tempted to take him up on his offer. "I won't go home without Seek."
"You are very brave," said Leed. "I'm honored to be your brother."
Cryssa patted his head appreciatively as she stared at the ominous island. In many ways, it was more familiar to her than Kee Island; after all, she had spent fifteen years of her life on Shark Island and knew every inch of the place. At the same time, however, since learning that so much of her life there had been tainted by lies and secrets, she felt as if she hardly knew Shark Island at all.
"We'd better get going," said Cryssa. Though she and Leed were still a long way from Shark Island, her heart was already racing.
"Remember your grandpa's preparations," said Leed.
"I will," said Cryssa.
"No matter what, don't lose your pendant," said Leed.
Automatically, Cryssa touched the pendant that hung on a silver chain from her throat...the Talisman of Maturity, carved in the shape of a leaping Kee.
"I won't lose it," said Cryssa.
"Everything will be fine," said Leed.
"I hope so," said Cryssa.
"I know so," said Leed.
And with that, he started swimming again, whisking Cryssa ever closer to the distant hump of land. She held on tight to his harness, trying hard not to imagine all the things that could go wrong on Shark Island.
*****
Soon, Leed and Cryssa had raced close enough to the island that it filled the horizon. Details became visible in what had looked from a distance like a smooth swell of color rising from ocean blue. Cryssa spotted familiar cliffs and beaches...green jungle lowlands...grassy foothills thinning into brown bands of earth that gave way to the bare black knob of the island's central mountain.
As familiar as the island was, Cryssa saw it now as more stark and forbidding than it had ever seemed when she had lived there. Just the look of the place made it seem more severe and forbidding than Kee Island, which was lush with greenery from peak to shoreline. Cryssa's knowledge of the crimes of its inhabitants--and her memory of her own Rebirth Day ordeal--made Shark Island seem even more stark and sinister. From far away, Cryssa had even thought that the black mountain rising from its heart looked like the back fin of a shark jutting up into the gray sky.
The closer she got to the island, the less she wanted to be there. Though she was eager to reunite with Seek and imagined a friendly welcome from Bey, she dreaded the thought of facing Ikaz and Perza again. Her fear of being trapped there, a fear that had been pushed aside by her concern for Seek, crackled through her like lightning. It would be much worse to be trapped on Shark Island, she thought, now that she had had a taste of life on the paradise of Kee Island.
Cryssa's fear flared brighter than ever when she and Leed were met by a pack of sharks and riders at the mouth of the island's main bay. Each of the dozen riders wore an armored breastplate and carried a spear or a club or a knife; each of the dozen sharks was a big bull shark, the breed renowned for its viciousness, speed, and strength.
Cryssa shivered as they approached. She had not seen so many sharks and Sharkites together since her escape from the island.
When the riders had closed to within a few shark lengths of Cryssa and Leed, one of the Shark Men raised his spear in the air. At the signal, the riders and sharks stopped and held their positions, arranged in a staggered "V" pointing at Cryssa and Leed.
The man with the upraised spear was at the point of the "V" and seemed to be the leader of the group. While the other riders stayed back, he lowered his spear and eased forward alone.
"Welcome," he said, nodding respectfully. "You have been granted safe passage to Shark Island."
Cryssa nodded once, working hard to conceal her fear. She recognized the man as Stok, the island's chief guardsman, a cold, no-nonsense warrior with a reputation as the fiercest of the fierce. He had a huge scar running diagonally from his shoulder to his waist, and his skin was black with the special tattoos that symbolized his many kills in battle.
"You must leave the grayfish," said Stok. "My mount will carry you ashore."
Inwardly, Cryssa recoiled at the thought of climbing on the back of the bull shark that Stok rode. Though she didn't want to jeopardize her mission by defying the Sharkites, she considered insisting on riding Leed all the way to the beach.
Before she could make up her mind to take a stand, however, Leed glided up alongside the bull shark. "Do you guarantee safe passage?" Leed said to Stok.
The guardsman looked down at Leed with disgust. "Tell your talking grayfish that passage is guaranteed," Stok said to Cryssa, refusing to speak directly to the Kee.
Cryssa again considered trying to take Leed with her, then decided that he had been right in going along with the change of mounts. As much as she hated the idea of riding the shark, she didn't think it would be wise to provoke the Sharkites yet...not with Seek still at their mercy.
There was one thing, however, on which she would insist.
"Do you guarantee safe passage for the grayfish?" she said to Stok.
Stok sneered with contempt, revealing his jagged teeth like the teeth of a shark. "All right," he said. "Your fish may go in peace."
Instead of thanking the guardsman, Cryssa leaned down and kissed Leed's head. "Be careful, brother," she whispered.
"I will," Leed said softly, bobbing his head. "You, too."
Cryssa gently patted his back, then sat up. Stok extended a muscular arm, and she took hold of it.
Her legs slipped free of the harness loops as Stok hoisted her into the air. With no visible eff
ort, he hauled her over and dropped her right behind him on the bull shark's back.
As soon as she landed, Cryssa had to fight the impulse to leap right off the shark. Its hide was uncomfortably rough and cold, not at all like a Kee's...not to mention the fact that unlike a Kee, the shark could easily kill and eat her.
Still, Cryssa stayed on the creature's back. The shark was her only way to get to Seek, so she fought back her fear and clamped her legs against the killer fish's sides to keep from falling off. When Stok told her to hold on to him, she looped her arms around his middle and clasped her hands tightly together.
As the shark carried her toward the shore, Cryssa closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts on Seek instead of the monster that was taking her to him.
*****
Chapter Thirty-Two
When Cryssa climbed off the back of Stok's shark and stepped into the shallows close to shore, she was surprised to see what looked like the entire population of Shark Island waiting for her.
Until then, as she had ridden behind Stok with her eyes shut, she had not glimpsed the crowd on the beach. She had been so focused on getting through the ride astride the fearsome bull shark that she had not even thought to try to catch a glimpse of what lay ahead.
Now that she finally saw the dozens of Sharkites massed on the shore, she was stunned. They were all there for her, they had to be...but had they come to welcome or hurt her? She had left the island under bad circumstances, fleeing in disgrace; even before her escape, most of the Sharkites had avoided her as if she were a freak because of her red hair and lack of gills.
Now that she had returned, she didn't seem to be getting much of a warm welcome. No one was smiling...not a single man, woman, or child.
At first, Cryssa thought that the Sharkites were glaring at her with hostility. The longer she looked at them, however, the more she became convinced that there was no anger directed at her.
If anything, the Sharkites looked tired and sad. The expressions on their faces were uniformly glum. Their eyes and cheeks were sunken.
The people seemed to lack the aggressive vitality that Cryssa remembered. Instead of standing tall, they all slouched and slumped. Everyone looked bony and haggard; some of them looked downright skeletal.
The luster was gone from the women's long, dark hair. The men's shaved and tattooed flesh seemed wasted and slack. Instead of fidgeting with the wild energy of youth, the children stood motionlessly and stared at Cryssa from hollow eyes.
Clearly, something had happened to the Sharkites. Something had changed them.
In one way, however, they were still the same...and it didn't make Cryssa feel hopeful about Seek.
Every single person on the beach wore clothes made of grayfish skin. Kee skin. As somber and defeated as the Sharkites looked, they still had little regard for the lives of the Kee.
Cryssa wondered if people like that could have possibly kept Seek alive for all this time.
The one person on whom Cryssa pinned her hopes for Seek's survival--Bey--pushed to the front of the crowd and waved. He was the only person on the beach with a smile on his face. Cryssa hoped that it wasn't a bad sign that he was wearing Kee-skin like all the other Sharkites around him.
"Raka!" shouted Bey, striding into the surf to meet her. "You made it!"
As worried and tense as she was, Cryssa managed a small smile of her own and walked toward Bey. "Hello," she said. "I came as soon as I could."
Bey nodded, still smiling. "It's great to see you," he said warmly, extending a hand toward her. "It's been a long time."
Cryssa took his hand in her own. "Yes, it has," she said. "Thank you for taking care of Seek."
"I'll take you to him shortly," said Bey. "First, let's say hello to everyone."
As Bey led her by the hand out of the water, Cryssa did her best to hide her disappointment at the delay. She also tried not to think about the fact that she was setting foot on an island that she had never wanted to come back to for the rest of her life.
When Bey and Cryssa emerged from the water, Bey held her hand overhead by the fingertips. "She has returned!" he said grandly to the silent, staring crowd.
Bey released Cryssa's hand and bowed deeply to her in one smooth movement. "Raka, daughter of Ikaz and Perza," he said. "We welcome you and await your command, my queen."
At that, everyone on the beach except Cryssa bowed their heads and dropped to one knee.
As Cryssa looked around, her worry and confusion quickly mounted. Even when she had lived as a princess among the Sharkites, no one had ever bowed or kneeled before her.
"Your queen?" she whispered to Bey, who was still bowing down.
Bey looked up at her with a solemn expression on his face. "Ikaz and Perza are dead," he whispered. "You're the heir to the throne."
*****
Chapter Thirty-Three
Bey straightened and reached out his hand, but Cryssa didn't take it this time. Her mind was still reeling from what he had said.
You are the heir to the throne.
The other Sharkites were still kneeling in the sand with heads bowed. The same people who had treated Cryssa like a freak so long ago were now acknowledging her as their ruler.
Though Cryssa had expected surprises on Shark Island, she had never expected this.
"Come with me now, Queen Raka," said Bey, still holding out his hand. "We must prepare for your coronation. This very day, you will be crowned as queen of the Sharkites."
As Cryssa's shock faded, her mind quickly returned to her mission. Her reason for being on the island had nothing to do with being queen of the Sharkites.
"Take me to Seek," she said firmly. "I want to see him."
Bey nodded and smiled. "As you wish," he said with a bow. "Follow me."
*****
A short distance from the place where Cryssa had come ashore, Bey led her to a rocky cove that she remembered from when she had lived on the island. As she followed him up the side of an outcropping of black rock, her heart pounded so hard that it felt like three hearts slamming in her chest instead of one.
She was about to see Seek for the first time in months...the first time since she had driven him away.
As Cryssa thought about the reunion that was just moments away, she was filled with a jumble of excitement and apprehension. She couldn't wait to be together with Seek again...but at the same time, she worried about how he would react to her. The last time they had seen each other, she had said things that had made him run away; would he even want to talk to her now? If he did say anything, would it be friendly...or angry?
Then, there was the matter of his physical condition. Since first hearing that he had been badly injured, Cryssa had conjured a million terrible images of what he might look like. All those million images flashed through her mind as she followed Bey to the top of the outcropping, dreading what she was about to see.
When they reached the top, Bey pointed down into the cove. "There he is," he said.
When Cryssa looked where Bey was pointing, she felt sick to her stomach at what she saw.
The unmistakable gray body of a Kee floated in a circular pool at the base of the outcropping. Except for a narrow gap, the pool was surrounded by a wall of rock...and the gap itself was blocked by a bamboo gate.
Not only was the Kee trapped in the pool, but the pool was under guard. Just outside the rock wall, three bull sharks glided back and forth, watching and waiting.
Suddenly, Cryssa realized that the situation wasn't as simple as she had hoped it would be. The Kee in the pool wasn't just a guest; he was a prisoner.
Without waiting for Bey to lead her, Cryssa climbed down the outcropping to the beach near the pool. Standing there, she couldn't see over the rock wall that penned in the captive Kee.
Her impulse was to jump in the water immediately and swim around to the gate, but she held back because of the bull sharks. Instead, she turned to Bey, who had followed her down the outcropping and was standing behind her.
"I want to go see him," she said firmly. "Tell the sharks to move away."
Bey smiled. "Sure," he said, and then he ambled past her into the water.
When Bey swam up to the sharks, they gathered around him. He drummed on their heads, fingers fluttering in the quick rhythm of shark-speak that Cryssa remembered. When he had finished, the three sharks turned and glided away from the walled-in pool, moving toward the ocean.
"All clear," shouted Bey as the sharks moved off, dark gray back fins cutting through the waves. "Come on out!"
Cryssa hesitated for a moment, still worrying about what the reunion would bring. Then, her pent-up impatience overruled her fears. She glanced at the departing bull sharks to reassure herself that they were far away, and then she stepped into the water.
Heart hammering, Cryssa swam around to the bamboo gate. Bey moved aside to let her look through the bars.
And she saw him.
As nervous as she was, Cryssa couldn't keep the smile from leaping onto her face. "Seek!" she said, happier than she had felt in months, rushing with pure joy at the sight of him.
Seek cocked his head to one side, looking puzzled. "Cryssa?" he said. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get you!" said Cryssa. "I'm here to bring you home!"
Seek stared at her for a moment, then shook his snout from side to side. "You should not have come," he said.
Cryssa was disappointed that he didn't seem more enthusiastic about seeing her, but she was determined to lift his spirits. "I came as soon as I knew where to find you," she said. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"I'm sorry you came here because of me," said Seek. "I'm so sorry."
Cryssa turned to Bey. "Open the gate," she said.
"Okay," said Bey, "but only if you promise that you and I can have a talk when you're done visiting."
"Talk?" said Cryssa, frowning. "Talk about what?"
Bey shrugged. "A lot of things," he said. "Important things."
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