A wind was blowing as they stepped onto the quay. It was a warm wind, but tinged with enough ocean moisture to take the edge off the heat. Even now, barely past dawn, the day was already burning up. Meleng wouldn’t miss the heat of the island. That was for certain.

He would miss the library, though. Maneshka had been understanding about the damage he’d caused. It had been life or death, after all. Nevertheless, he felt guilty about it. Part of him wished Maneshka had been angry. He deserved to be yelled at. Although that wasn’t so much guilt about the library. It was guilt about all the people who had died. No one seemed to think that was his fault, but the library was, whether it was justified or not. Being told off about that might...he wasn’t sure, but it felt appropriate.

The ship the Ninifins were travelling on was docked at the near end of the quay, so they didn’t have to travel far to reach it. Neither did they need to push through the crowds heading to, and readying their own transportation, something Meleng was glad about. The quicker he could find a place to hide away below decks, the better.

It wasn’t a big ship, and Meleng knew it was going to be crowded on board. He was going to be berthed with a dozen Ninifin warriors, both male and female, and Garet in a cabin that apparently only had half a dozen bunks. That was not going to be fun. He expected to be sleeping on the floor a lot.

The ship was an Arnorin vessel from Lockanith, which Meleng had been surprised to learn.

“We’re a landlocked nation,” Akna had told him. “We don’t have ships capable of ocean travel. So we hired one of yours. Got a problem with that?”

He didn’t have a problem with that, especially as it was the only method he and Felitïa had of getting off Scovese and back to Arnor. Considering they needed to go to Ninifin now anyway, it was also convenient that they travel with the Ninifins. The ship would take them to Lockanith and then they would walk from there.

Finding a place to vanish below decks was going to have wait, though. Upon reaching the ship, they learned they couldn’t board right away. They had to wait for the crew to finish loading supplies.

“It’s probably easier to say goodbye to people here, anyway,” Felitïa said. She was leaning on her crutches and sweating more than the rest of them. The bruising on her face, arms, and legs had diminished a bit. However, the bruising on her neck remained heavy, which wasn’t surprising. Her voice was sounding a lot better, though.

“Will you be all right standing?” Akna asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Felitïa said.

They had hired a cart from the village so Felitïa could keep off her ankle, but it had not been able to come onto the quay, so she said she’d walk the short distance remaining. Meleng had said it would be okay, but he hadn’t expected to be stuck waiting.

“Really, I’ll be fine,” Felitïa repeated, looking directly at Meleng.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said.

“You didn’t need to.”

Akna nudged him in the side with her elbow. “She reads minds, remember?”

“It’s not that precise,” Meleng said.

“It doesn’t need to be,” Felitïa said. She smiled at him. “Don’t worry. As soon as we’re on board, I’ll put the leg up, okay?”

“It’s more than just the ankle,” he said. “You overtaxed yourself. You should be resting.”

“And I will. I slept on the cart here, and I’ll sleep some more on board. Believe me, there’s nothing I want to do more right now, but I don’t really have a choice.”

He nodded. “You’re right. Sorry.”

Felitïa shook her head. “That’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong. We’re all just still on edge after everything that’s happened. How about you, Nin-Akna? How are you doing?”

Akna turned aside in that way Meleng had noticed she did whenever she didn’t want to admit something. “Me? Fine. Never better.”

“Uh huh,” Felitïa said. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m—”

“I’m fine, honest.”

“All right then. I’ll...” Felitïa straightened up and looked past Meleng and Akna. A smile spread across her face.

Ses-Inhuan, Fra-Chan, and Ses-Iktan—he’d made a point of learning her name—had arrived on the quay with Maneshka. Behind them were the others from the Ninifin delegation—the other warriors and servants.

Felitïa moved towards the new arrivals—towards Maneshka. She hopped more than walked with her crutches along the wet quay. Meleng grimaced, hoping she didn’t slip.

“She knows I’m lying, doesn’t she?” Akna said. “She can read my mind.”

“I told you, her abilities are not that precise,” Meleng said. “But yes, she knows you’re lying. You’re not very good at it.”

“I see her every time I close my eyes. Not the Will-Breaker. Ses-Tlacotl. I see her kill Chica over and over. And I see what I did to her.”

“Yeah,” Meleng said. “I see similar things. I guess it’s normal.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Okay.”

Akna touched his arm. “Tell me, Meleng. You and the Will-Breaker...Felitïa...you’re not...together, are you?”

“What? No. No we’re not.”

“What about the younger sister?”

“Sinitïa? No.” He had an uncomfortable idea where this conversation was headed.

“That’s good,” Akna said. “Because I was wondering...I mean, Ses-Inhuan has already given away my thoughts...um...”

Gods, he hated these kinds of situations. Luckily, he rarely had to deal with them—okay, he pretty much never had to deal with them, but that just made a moment like now all the worse.

“I mean, if you’re not interested, that’s okay.”

“Sorry,” he said, feeling very small.

“Oh, okay, then.”

“I’m just not into that sort of thing. Not with you. Not Felitïa, Sinitïa, anybody really.”

“Men then? I don’t have any brothers to recommend to you.”

He shook his head. “No, not men either. No one.”

“I apologise then.”

“It’s okay,” Meleng said. “I’m fine with being friends though. We’re friends, right?”

“I gave you permission to address me without my honorific. Yes, we’re friends.”

From nearby, Felitïa made a... Meleng wasn’t sure how to describe it. A squeal? He had never heard anything like it from her before. Both he and Akna turned to see what was happening.

“They’re absolutely amazing! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Felitïa was holding a small cage with two rats up to her face and wobbling on her unsteady supports. Maneshka was attempting to hold her steady.

“Felitïa, you really need to be more careful,” Meleng called.

She turned towards him and held up the cage. “Look what Maneshka gave me! I’m calling the white one Lon. Lon the Fiftieth. I think that’s where I left off. I’ll call the other one Nesh, after Maneshka.” She let go of her crutches, which clattered onto the quay, and put her arms around Maneshka. They kissed.

Meleng groaned and started forward to pick up the crutches for her. Why did people always seem to lose control of their common sense whenever they got involved in these relationships? He had always thought that Felitïa would be an exception to that. She seemed much more level-headed.

Ses-Inhuan beat him to the crutches, picking both up with her good arm. Her other arm was still wrapped in the sling he’d made for her. She handed the crutches back to Felitïa as soon as Felitïa and Maneshka finished their embrace.

“I’ll miss you,” Felitïa said to Maneshka. “And I promise the next time I see you, I am going to learn to speak your language.”

Meleng had to admit, he was going to miss Maneshka too. He’d gotten used to working with her on the translations. Indeed, they would never have made the progress they had if she hadn’t been helping. He wouldn’t have found the reference to the child that was not a Volg, but still of the Volgs. And she was the one who discovered the Ninifin link in the same passage.

The morning after the fight with Ses-Tlacotl—the morning after so many died—Meleng had been sitting in the entrance hall leafing through the books they had been studying. He hadn’t slept at all during the night. He hadn’t even tried. He didn’t want to face the nightmares he knew would come—the ones that had since come.

Maneshka sat down across from him. “I thought you might like some good news.” She placed several pages of writing on the table. “I finished my translation of the Volganth piece you found. It is incomplete and probably imprecise, but it does have an interesting revelation. Near the end, it refers to the child’s tenth birthday. Something called the end will happen then.”

“End?” Meleng said.

“I cannot be sure of that translation,” Maneshka said, “or what exactly it means. Something stopping, or a completion of something. It is definitely something in relation to the child.”

“Death?”

Maneshka flipped through the pages, and took several seconds to answer. “It is possible, yes. At any rate, it also references a location.”

Meleng perked up for the first time in what seemed like months or years. He almost leapt out of his seat. “Where?”

“At the confluence of two rivers in the central lands of the continent of Arnor. The rivers are named, one after an animal that I thought might be tiger, but Felitïa suggested jaguar, an animal I have never heard of, but does apparently have a word in my language.”

“The Jaguar is a major river that runs through most of Ninifin,” Meleng said. “It meets with the Toucan. I didn’t realise the names were that old though.”

“It would appear they are.”

And so everything pointed to Ninifin. It was a fascinating idea. How could someone over two thousand years ago predict something now? It was also worrying though. What Felitïa had said to him about the implications of accurate prophecies had lain heavy on his mind. He was starting to understand her concerns. If an event could be pre-ordained, what did that say about free will?

Of course, there was no proof this ancient writing was trustworthy. But the locket with the portrait of the Ninifin High Priest of Magic also pointed to a Ninifin connection. Akna said, after Ses-Tlacotl’s betrayal, she could no longer be sure Ses-Xipil wasn’t a traitor also. It created the disturbing possibility Ses-Tlacotl was working under orders and whoever she was working for did not expect Akna or any of the other Ninifins to return home. However, whether Ses-Xipil was a traitor or not, the locket definitely showed a connection between the Volgs, Darkers, and Ninifin.

“Felitïa!”

The sound of Sinitïa’s voice brought Meleng out of his reveries. Sinitïa ran up and threw her arms around Felitïa, who stumbled back and almost lost her crutches again.

“Careful,” Felitïa said. “I’m still store and can’t stand very well.”

“Oh sorry,” Sinitïa said. “I just wanted to see you before you left.”

“How did you get away?” Felitïa asked.

“I snuck out!”

“With a little help,” Cerus said, coming up behind Sinitïa. He was carrying a large, rolled-up piece of canvas. Garet and Quilla were a short distance behind him.

Sinitïa wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, Cerus and Garet helped me. They distracted Annai and I got away. I’m probably going to get in a lot of trouble, but that’s okay. This was more important.” She began looking around her, but stopped when her eyes fell on Meleng. “Meleng!”

She ran over to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely for several seconds. Meleng thought it might soon get difficult to breathe, she was almost smothering him. “I brought you something,” she said when she finally let go. “Cerus!”

“Ardon sends his best wishes,” Cerus was telling Felitïa. “One moment, Sinitïa,” he said without looking towards her. “He also says he will do everything he can to convince Father to overturn your banishment. And I promise you I will do similarly.”

Sinitïa tapped her feet and fidgeted. “Come on, come on. I want him to have it!”

“I suspect it won’t take long,” Cerus continued. “By the time you’re finished in Ninifin, it should be possible for you to come home.”

“We’ll see if I want to,” Felitïa said.

“Come on!” Sinitïa called.

“Excuse me a moment,” Cerus said, and came over to join Sinitïa. “You could have carried it yourself, you know.”

Sinitïa snatched the canvas he was holding. “I didn’t want to smoosh it when I hugged them.” She held it out to Meleng. “It’s the painting of you I did. I finished it.”

Meleng took the canvas. He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond. “Thank you. Yes, thank you.” He had never received a gift like this before. He started to unroll it.

“No, don’t look at it yet. I had to finish it from memory, so it’s not very good, but I did my best. Look at it when there’s no one else around. You can show Felitïa if you want, but no one else.”

Meleng nodded. “Of course. I’ll treasure it.”

Sinitïa’s face tightened and her eyes scrunched. She put her arms around him again and he only just got the painting out of the way of the smooshing she had wanted to avoid. “I’ll miss you.”

“Me too,” he said.

She stood back again, sniffled, and wiped a few tears from her eyes. She looked at Akna, who had been standing in quiet beside Meleng. “I thought you were scary at first, but you turned out to be nice. Look after him, will you? He’s the only friend I’ve ever had.”

Akna glanced at Meleng, then bowed to Sinitïa. “You have my word, your Highness. I’ll see that he comes to no harm and you get to see him again.”

Sinitïa sniffled some more, then hugged Akna. “You can see the painting, too, if you want. Meleng, it’s okay to show her the painting. But no one else.”

Meleng nodded.

“Except Felitïa. You, her, and Felitïa. No one else.”

“I promise,” Meleng said.

Sinitïa fidgeted for a few moments, shifting her weight from one foot to another. Then she leaned forward, kissed Meleng on the cheek, turned around, and ran off.

“I’d better go make sure she’s all right,” Cerus said. “Take care, Meleng. I’ll miss your companionship on the trip home.” He gave Meleng a quick hug, then turned to find Sinitïa, pausing to hug Felitïa on the way.

With Maneshka supporting her, Felitïa hobbled over to Meleng and Akna. Quilla, Garet, Ses-Inhuan, and the other Ninifins followed. “Looks like they’re about ready for us to board,” Felitïa said.

Garet looked at the ship and shook his head. “What a piece of junk. We’re sailing on that?”

“You could always go back to Arnor City with the rest of the family,” Felitïa said.

“Yeah, fuck that, Brains.”

Garet had made it clear there was no way he wasn’t going with them, as much as Felitïa had tried to suggest he shouldn’t. He had said something about not letting Felitïa take all the glory, and that she needed someone who could smash Volg heads in. Meleng started tuning him out at that point. Having seen what Akna did to Ses-Tlacotl, the images Garet was evoking did not sit well with his stomach.

“The ship is seaworthy,” Akna said, “the crew competent. We made it here. We’ll make it back.”

“I hope so,” Garet said.

“Ses-Inhuan,” Akna called. “Start the boarding.”

Ses-Inhuan nodded and slowly, the Ninifins began making their way onto the ship.

“What did you tell them?” Quilla asked. “About everything that happened, I mean.”

“The truth,” Akna replied. “They deserved to know of Ses-Tlacotl’s treachery. They also know that we could be returning to people who did not expect us to come back alive, and who may try to finish what Ses-Tlacotl started. They are rightly scared, but what else can we do?”

Quilla nodded. “Believe me, I understand.”

“We shouldn’t delay any longer,” Felitïa said. She kissed Maneshka. “We’ll see each other again. Eventually. I still have to speak to your husband.”

Maneshka just nodded and smiled.

“Quilla, I might need your help getting up the gangplank.” Felitïa took Quilla’s arm and they proceeded towards the ship.

“Come on, pipsqueak,” Garet said and followed them.

“Did he mean me?” Meleng asked.

Akna shrugged. “I can’t imagine he meant me, and if he did, I might have to teach him a lesson.”

“No, he meant me.” Meleng sighed. “Goodbye,” he said to Maneshka, who just nodded.

Akna took his hand and they followed the others.