Chapter 8: The Window

Velun came up out of the pool so fast he sent a wave over the boards.

"Turn it up," he said.

I turned the dial on the relay.

The woman's voice repeated, slow and cool, a message on a loop.

"Velun of the Deep. The recall was not answered. The spring tide opens in six days. The ship rises off the headland at moonset."

A pause, and the hum of the water.

"Be ready, cousin."

The relay went dark.

For a moment nobody spoke.

Maya had stopped in the doorway, her hand on the frame.

"Cousin," she said.

"Sethra," Velun said. He sounded very tired. "She is my father's sister's daughter."

"And she's from your..."

"The Deep. My people."

"Your people are coming to get you," I said.

I meant it to sound brave.

It came out as a whisper.

Velun looked at me from the water.

The gold in his eyes had gone dim.

"They are sending a ship," he said.

"It only rises once at the spring tide. After that, the way is shut for forty of your years."

"So it's your way home."

"It is a way," he said carefully.

"You've been stranded for two years."

"That is what I told you."

"Then this is good news," I said, and my voice shook. "This is the best news. You wanted to go home."

"Sorcha."

"You said it in the chat, over and over. You said you missed the warm water, and the lights, and the songs."

"I did say that."

"So go."

I turned my face away, because I did not want him to see it.

I looked at the rafters, and my father's boat, and the oilskin hanging by the door.

Maya came and put her arm around my shoulders.

Behind me, I heard the pool shift.

Velun's wet hand closed around my wrist.

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