As if on cue, Nan and Mrefu exchanged a knowing look.
I leaned back to sit on the deck. “Seems like we have some time now. How about someone tell me where this Sword is and what to expect? I get the feeling like you all know.”
“I’ve been to this place before,” said Nan. “It was pretty rough.”
“She was tested,” added Mrefu.
“Tested how? Battle testing?”
“I can’t tell you that.” Nan plunked done on to the deck and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Wish I could.”
Deciding to try another tactic, I focused on Jicho. “Have you had any visions lately?”
“A few.”
“Do you know if we’ll see Rowan and the Casters again before we reach the hiding place of the blade?”
Jicho paused. “No, we won’t. He’s with the Lady now.”
“The Lady of Creation?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Is she hurting him?”
“She’s giving him a choice.”
“And what is that choice, exactly?”
Jicho looked up from his controls. “I can’t tell you that, Elea.” His normally happy face was the definition of miserable. “I’m sorry. It’s how things work when you’re a Seer. You can’t tell everything you want to.” His bottom lip wobbled. “All I can say is that we’re going to a temple, and that Rowan loves you. Let him help you.”
Guilt pressed in around me, tight as a vise. Sweet Jicho. He was being so brave in a terrible situation. I shouldn’t keep pushing. I scanned the ship, seeing how Nan and Mrefu had begun opening the remaining container spaces. Most were damaged and empty, but others still held supplies. Whenever they found some food or equipment, they set it on deck.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll just help Nan and Mrefu for a while.”
Rolling up my sleeves, I began assisting my friends in his work. If nothing else, I knew that I wouldn’t see Rowan again until we reached the temple. That had to count for something.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mrefu and I organized what remained of the MAJE’s supplies. As the hours passed, different animal noises echoed through the jungle, so I suspected that daylight had given way to nighttime.
In other words, one day remained before the Martyr’s Comet disappeared.
A thick nest of vines, ferns, and trees blotted out all but the occasional view of the sky. In fact, most of the time I couldn’t stand up without my hair catching on a branch or fern. I ended up sitting on deck, my legs pulled against my chest, feeling lonely and miserable. No one spoke, and the silence became its own kind of cacophony.
In this way, we all passed through another night. It was still dark out when Jicho broke the quiet. “We’re close.”
I shifted to peep over the edge of the vessel. Sure enough, the jungle outside the boat was changing. Along the shoreline, random clumps of vines now took on a more linear edge. All that natural greenery was covering up something made by humans. Over the past hours, I was starting to suspect that Nan and Mrefu at least knew the name of the temple, but had promised Jicho not to tell me. I decided to test out that theory now.
“That’s a wall,” I said. “We must be getting closer to the temple of—"
I waited for someone to complete the phrase, but Jicho, Nan, and Mrefu merely exchanged sad glances.
That had been happening more and more lately.
I straightened my shoulders. So what did it matter if an awful fate awaited me? I’d faced down my share of evil, and the best approach was simply to get it over with. I turned to my shipmates.
“What’s the fastest way to the temple?” I asked.
No one answered.
I shifted my gaze between Nan and Mrefu. “Come on. I know you both are aware of this place somehow.”
“It’s a sacred spot to the Zaidi,” said Mrefu. “I brought Nan here soon after I owed her my life. It’s where she was tested.”
“Up ahead, there’s a place where we can tie up,” said Nan. “After that, the temple is a short walk away.”
Nan was talking again, so I decided to push for more information. I was nothing if not persistent. “What was your testing like?”
Nan couldn’t meet my gaze. “Not easy.” She exhaled a long breath. “You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
Along the riverside, the ferns and vines receded, revealing a low wall made of brown stone. Heavy loops of bronze had been hammered into the rock, creating many places for vessels to tie up. At one point, this must have been a busy spot. However, those days were long gone. Based on all the overgrowth blocking the river, no one had been here for ages.
Jicho secured the vessel to the pier with loops of heavy rope. From the corner of my eye, I saw a face in the recesses of the jungle. My body froze with excitement.
It was Rowan.
And nothing less than a miracle was taking place, because Rowan was looking right at me while smiling his lopsided grin. My souls felt so light it was as if I could soar to the clouds.
On reflex, I leapt off the boat and onto the muddy shore. Some small part of me thought it was strange that Nan, Jicho, and Mrefu didn’t comment about my running off. In fact, they didn’t even seem surprised that Rowan was here. My three shipmates simply watched me leave, despair dimming their eyes.
I couldn’t find it in myself to care.
“Listen, Elea—” Jicho started to call to me, but Nan shushed him. Normally, I’d stop and ask Jicho what he meant. However this situation was anything but normal. At long last, my mate had recognized me again. Had the Lady returned his memory? A girl could hope.
Still smiling, Rowan waved me toward him. Then he paused, turned, and ran off into the jungle. My mate hadn’t said anything, but the message was clear all the same.
I love you, Elea.
Come follow me.
I took off into the darkened jungle at a run.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I rushed off into the jungle. Long branches tugged at my robes, pulling me backward. Wet earth sloshed around my feet, slowing my every step. From above, thin tendrils of vines snagged my hair. All around, everything seemed focused on a single purpose: keeping me from my pursuit of Rowan.
It wouldn’t work. The more I was impeded, the harder I pushed myself to run. Still, it didn’t matter how quickly I sped forward. Rowan always remained too far ahead to touch.
Even so, I didn’t mind.
This was my love.
And he was smiling.
Some small corner of my mind cried out that this was all an illusion. The sense of magick was thick in the air. Plus, the edges of Rowan’s body shimmered, like this wasn’t his true self so much as his soul. Even so, my heart was too thrilled to bother with reality. And let’s not forget the Lady! She had untold powers. Perhaps she gifted me with the sight of Rowan’s soul for her own purposes.
Whatever the reason, these few moments of magick and love might be all the happiness I had left to share with Rowan.
I was taking them.
Laughing, I kept running after my mate. Each time he glanced over his shoulder and beamed, I soaked up that crooked grin as if it were the last time I’d ever see it.