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Hand in hand, we dash down the bridge to the safety of the solid ground beyond it. Lamin follows at a more leisurely pace, his white robes trailing behind him.
Once we reach the entrance to the temple, a small circular structure that arches high above us, he stops and waves me on. “This is where I leave you,” he says quietly. “You will find Queen Ayo at the bottom of the stairs.”
Britta sends him an arch look. Unlike me, she neither forgives nor forgets. “I’ll lead the way,” she sniffs, walking ahead.
I swiftly follow behind her.
The moment I approach the entrance, I stiffen. It’s quiet. Too quiet.
Suddenly, every one of my alarms are raised.
From the moment we arrived, this island has been a constant hum of activity. The footsteps of the godsworn as they go about their daily tasks, the calls of the monkeybirds and the insects flitting around the trees. The island is always alive with sound and movement.
Here, however, there is nothing. No noises, no movements I can discern. Just the rushing of waves and the bubbling of the stream. And a low, echoing hum from somewhere deep inside the structure—a sound I can’t quite make out.
If this is a temple, where are all the priests? Where are all the worshippers?
Britta must have the same concerns, because she turns to Lamin, a thin, insincere smile suddenly slicing her face. “Ye know, I’d rather you go first, if it’s all the same to you,” she says.
Lamin steps back, hurt on his face. “You think I’d betray you?”
“Again?” I remind him dryly, stepping closer. “You’ve done it once before, which is why I’d also like you to go into that dark, strangely quiet temple first.” I smile insincerely as well. “Fool me once and all that.”
Lamin sighs, that hurt blossoming across his entire face. For a moment, I’m almost swayed by it. Swayed by my former companion’s visible pain.
Then he looks up. “Unfortunately, I cannot obey that request. Queen Ayo allows only an honored few to see her in her current form.”
I shrug. “Then I suppose this means you are now one of those few.”
Lamin sighs again. “I don’t think you understand, Deka, I—”
Deka? A familiar chirping call sounds in my mind. When I turn toward the entrance, a blue snout is poking through it. Ixa’s back in his adolescent form, and he prances out to nudge at my legs. Deka, Mother waiting. You come! Come!
As I blink at Ixa, stunned that I never even felt his presence, Lamin smiles sadly at me. “As I said, all is well. The queen is waiting for you.”
“Then I suppose we have to get going. We’ll see ye back at the stables,” Britta says, waving him off.
Lamin just looks at us, pain in his eyes, then sets off across the bridge, his robes once again trailing behind him. Britta and I watch until he disappears down the hill.
The moment he’s gone, I glance at Britta. “Think I was too harsh?”
She shakes her head. “Not harsh enough. If this was the Warthu Bera, he’d have been flayed to death for what he did. Spying is one of the worst betrayals, no matter how pretty the excuse.” She squeezes my hand. “Stay the course, Deka.”
I nod. “I know,” I say, then I cross the threshold into the temple.
The moment I enter, my brows gather. This temple is not at all what I expected. But then, it was never a temple in the first place. I just assumed it was from its exterior. What it actually is, is a dark, circular library, its walls filled with shelves of scrolls and adorned with giant mosaic-tile murals of the ebiki. Floating orbs shine a wafting blue light on those murals, giving the illusion that the ebiki are underwater, their blue scales gleaming in the near darkness. I want to take a moment to just admire them, but then Ixa bounds to the center of the room, where a staircase beckons, its steps descending into the darkness below. He glances at me excitedly.
Deka come, Mother wait for us below!
Nodding, I make my way carefully to the staircase. That strange hum I heard is echoing up from it. As is the sound of water.
“Looks to be a cavern,” Britta announces as she marches down after Ixa.
I follow behind, my eyes swiftly adjusting to the darkness, which increases as we descend until it’s almost all-encompassing.
“I still don’t understand how Queen Ayo can be here, though,” I muse, watching as a shimmering blue light begins playing on the walls. “If it’s a cavern, the water will be too shallow.”
Britta shrugs. “Maybe we’re meant to take a boat out?” Then she brightens. “Or maybe the gift is the boat—but no, that would be inconvenient. I’d rather Bala take us straight to Irfut.” Then she glances at me. “How are ye doin’ on creatin’ doors again?”
