And then, at some unseen command from her, the water droplets fell, those around me slipping over my skin like a tiny burst of rain.
The light dimmed without them, and I went for the torch on the wall, scraping my hand as I grabbed it. I struck the flint. When it flared to life, I saw Kata skimming out of her desert clothes, tossing them to the side as she dove into the water.
I put the torch back in its holder and followed her, jumping into the water with a massive splash, the sound mixing with our laughter and skittering around the whole cavern.
“Oh,” I said, standing in the shallow water as I saw red blooming in the water.
“What did you do?” Kata said, looking at the blood coming from a short gash on my hand.
“I thought I just scratched myself,” I told her.
“Here,” she said, but before the word was even out, her hand touched my hand, and I watched the small wound close up and fade, the scar turning pink to white in the space of a breath.
“How do you do that?” I whispered.
“It’s the water,” she told me. “I can feel the water in your skin, in your blood. I can make it answer my command.”
I had known Kata so very long, and yet I understood so little about her abilities still. “Thank you,” I said as her hand fell away.
She waved at me. “I love this place,” Kata said, shifting to float on her back. I kicked my way over to her, floating on my back beside her, looking up at the long mineral spines that hung above us like wet, shining teeth.
“I know you do,” I told her. “Now tell me about your trip. Did you find the earth temple?”
“It’s called an Aede,” she said. “And yes.”
I looked at her, my heart suddenly aching. “So they’re all open now, and you can rest.” I looked away. “But I won’t be here anymore.”
“Rest.” She stared at the ceiling. “All the powers have come back to the world, yes. But I can’t rest, Shalia. Can’t you tell? There’s nothing different? Nothing happened to you when I opened the earth element?”
I put my legs down so I could look over at her. “Not this again.”
She did the same. “You have the potential for an elemental power. I know that you do. And nothing changed when I opened the other elements, so it has to be earth.”
“Just because I think of you as my sister doesn’t mean we actually are.”
She drew a breath like my mother did when we were being difficult. “Shalia, it’s not about families. Maybe it was, years ago, but when my people were murdered, the elements—they found places of extreme power and hid. Until I let the elements out again, no one could use them.”
“I know all this,” I told her. “I know that’s why you left, to go find these temples and crack the elements open like an egg. But it doesn’t mean I’m an islander.”
“No,” she said hotly. “It means everything changed when my people died. It means that anyone can have these powers now. I have no control over who receives them. They’re everywhere in the world, not just in the islands. And I can feel it in you, as certain as whether or not you’re breathing, that you have a power. The elements have been awakened. This was the last Aede, so you should be able to use your power by now.” She frowned, looking into the water. “If I did it right. No. I’m sure I did it right.”
When she first told me I had the potential for an elemental power, I had been thrilled. She could control water, and over time she had even developed the ability to heal things. I was in awe of her, and it would have been so exciting to share that with her.
But I couldn’t, not ever. I’d accepted that—probably around the time she kept leaving me, kept choosing these temples over our friendship. “I don’t have a power,” I said again. “And it doesn’t even matter.”
“It does,” she told me. “Now more than ever. Your future husband has declared the Elementae to be traitors, and their powers illegal. More than that, he’s persecuted them.”
“All the better that I don’t have it, then,” I told her. “Can’t you just stop? Can’t we just swim and enjoy being home?”
Kata looked so hurt that I immediately regretted my words.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately. I shook my head, scattering droplets in the water. “I knew this wouldn’t be easy for you.”
“Easy?” she said softly. “Aside from the fact that his father murdered my people and he doesn’t seem to have very different beliefs, I might not ever see you again.”
“No,” I said solemnly. “Don’t say that. We’ll see each other again.”
“I’ve been helping Rian,” she admitted softly. “With the Resistance. Do you know about your brother’s cause?”
“Only what I can manage to overhear from Father yelling. But I do know that whatever Rian is doing in the Trifectate, the king thinks this marriage will stop Rian from doing violence to him and the king will stop doing violence to the desert people.”
“By putting you between them,” she said. “Don’t you see that?”
“Yes,” I told her. “Of course I do. But better between them than standing to the side as they burn another one of my brothers in the sand. Because next time it could be Rian or Kairos in Torrin’s place.” She looked at me like I was foolish and young, and I huffed out a sigh that rippled the water. “Kata, I would have been married soon anyway. I could have married some d’Skorpios boy, or I could marry this king. I could protect my family for once. I could have my marriage mean something.”
“You’re just as fierce as your brothers,” she told me. “I’m not faulting you for that. I just don’t think you know how dangerous this will be.”
“Peace is always dangerous,” I said.
“Maybe,” she said. “But have you even wondered why he wants a desert bride? He was supposed to marry a rich princess across the sea. Why is it more essential to form peace with the desert than with them?”
My mouth drew tight, and I returned to floating on my back.
“Shalia,” Kata said suspiciously. “You know something.”
“You won’t like it,” I said.
“Shalia,” she insisted.
“I think he’s looking for this,” I told her. “The lake.”
I couldn’t hear her moving in the water anymore. “What makes you think that?”
“As part of the marriage agreement, they’re sending some men to pore over Jitra and the mountains,” I said. “They said they believe the desert is sheltering Trifectate dissenters and want to search it, but I think they’re looking for something else. And this is the only thing I can imagine they’re looking for.”
“You can’t let them do that,” she said, gripping my arm.
I raised my head. “Don’t worry,” I insisted. “No clansman would ever willingly let this place be discovered. The only things that could threaten us are lack of water and the spirits turning on us,” I said. “They’ll hide this reserve as best they can. Even you can’t find your way down here, and the water pulls you.” I looked at her. “If something happened to the lake—would that hurt your power?”
“No,” she said, shaking her hair. “This water is pure and powerful, but the Water Aede is in the islands.”