We traipse over the slick, moss covered river rocks, searching the bank for any sort of symbol or clue. I press my hands onto surfaces and take wary steps. With as many portals as the Castaways travel through, I’m even more cautious than before that I might stumble onto a new one.
The rushing water and chirping insects are the only sounds tonight, the conversations between us like last shift nonexistent. It’s too quiet. Stassia isn’t her usual rambling self, and I need everyone talking in order to have an opportunity to bring up the dust without seeming suspicious. I decide on the first thing that comes to my mind, and honestly, something Iamcurious about since the moment I saw him open the door.
“So you and Jorn,” I say to Sig. She’s become my shift partner, so while we hover around each other searching on our own, she stays fairly close. She stands from a crouch and dusts her hands off.
“Me and Jorn,” she says.
“How long has that been going on?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Who really knows? A while. Even though we’re all together on the ship every day, and it can feel small and stifling some days, the thought of spending eternity here is hard. Having…someone…makes it a little easier.”
I feel a pang in my chest. Getting to know the Castaways has made hating them harder and harder each day. I’m starting to really see them as people, Voyagers who are trapped here because of Weston and his deception, and my heart breaks for them. They have to live here forever, knowing that they can’t say goodbye to their loved ones, and were denied the ability to help them. But this isn’t only a Castaway issue. This very soon could be the reality for every person on this island.
“Why don’t you just go back to Dane? Ask him to send you back? Why are you staying with Weston if you really want to go home?” Years of manipulation might not let her answer this question the way she would have before, but I ask it anyway. I watched Sig push back against Weston; she’s the only one who has. If anyone can think through the situation and see that following Weston’s lead isn’t the only way, it’s her.
“It’s not that simple,” she says, her gaze falling to the ground at her feet.
Why isn’t it that simple? Why can’t they go back to the person who brought them all here, the one who helped them and housed them, who cares about them finding the cure?
I think about Auralie, here to save her betrothed, and Stassia, who with her attitude probably had suitors lining up at her door. They don’t have a Jorn, and who knows if they ever will. They don’t have someone to pass the years with and, like Sig said, make it easier. Keeping them on Dawnlin is depriving them of the ability to be loved like they want to be, and is just another thing on the list of what Weston is taking from everyone in his crew.
“I think it’s really simple,” I say, a twinge of irritation in my voice. “You found the healing waters, and you weren’t granted them. You just need to tell Dane you want to go home, and he will bring you. He’s the Guardian. His entire purpose is to protect the waters and bring people to and from the island. He can’t keep you captive like Weston has been.”
She heaves a sigh and reaches down, picking up a rock and chucking it into the river, keeping her eyes averted the entire time. I’m not trying to upset her, but I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. I can’t lose my opportune moment, so I need to drop it and move on to something she can talk about.
“Does everyone know about you and Jorn?” I ask.
“Of course,” she says. “Can’t hide much on a ship. Especially after this long.”
“Are there more? Couples, I mean,” I ask.
“I think Fern and Eirlik have been together on and off for a while. Some of the others do the same. It’s not serious, but it tends to be committed. It’s not like we can escape each other.”
Not Weston, though.
“That’s all?” I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me.
“Are you asking about anyone specific?” she says with a smirk.
I roll my eyes. “Well, I mean, I’m sleeping in his bed. I think it might be pertinent information to know if I’m making enemies on the ship for something that’s completely out of my control.”
She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, Cap hasn’t been with anyone. At least not since I’ve known him.”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t want to. Stassia is clearly interested,” I say, glancing down the riverbank toward where she and Auralie are searching.
Why do I sound jealous?
I’m not. I’m with Dane. It’s just odd that if the Castaways don’t care about having relationships on the ship, that he hasn’t.Maybe the thought of having a woman is too distracting from his need to be in control of everything.
Sig shrugs. “Don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”
I huff a laugh. I will never talk to Weston about relationships, let alone any women he’s taken to bed.
I don’t need that mental picture.
“So how are there not, you know, babies running around everywhere?” My cheeks heat and Sig breaks into a smile at my obvious embarrassment.
“There’s no time, remember? We’re frozen here, and that includes making babies. At least there hasn’t been a baby in twenty years, and there has definitely been enough fucking to make one.”
