He wasn’t sure how much he should say, but Rune looked over her shoulder with her brows furrowed. Her eyes met his, and somehow he could tell that she knew what he meant without him needing to say it. After a moment, she turned away once more.
“Sorry to hear that,” she said simply, and thereafter didn’t comment on it again.
Florian had been expecting a short walk, but they’d gone nearly a mile before he could make out the actual structures of a village up ahead, though he’d been able to see the smoke from various fires from the moment that they’d arrived on the island. The village consisted of many single-story buildings made of dark stone on either side of a meandering path, the summit rising up on the left and sloping down into another shoreline on the right. Some buildings went all the way up to the beach, so close that Florian was certain the high tide would reach their floorboards.
The path went further into the hills, but Rune led them off the main thoroughfare almost immediately, winding through a few clusters of homes. Most of them had small, fenced-in yards with various livestock animals—two goats bleated at them as they walked by, their heads poking out between the boards of a low fence, while on the other side Florian could hear chickens clucking softly.
“Here we are,” Rune said, opening a wooden gate into one of the larger cottages. “This is my house. I’ll get the fire going for you both, then I’ll go find Torsten for you. Sounds good? Either of you hungry?”
“I’m okay,” Florian said quickly, though the mention of food made his stomach gurgle. “I mean—we’ll accept whatever you’d like to offer us, of course.”
Rune snickered again. “So polite. I’ll see what I can throw together for you.”
She led them to a sitting room and pulled two chairs close to a fireplace that glowed with embers. Florian sat and watched as she got the fire started again, before leaving with the promise that she’d soon return with food. He glanced at Koji once she was gone, who looked entirely nonplussed.
“I think this is going well so far,” Florian said, and Koji chuckled.
“Considering howstrangedealing with Carl was, I agree with you there,” he said.
“Maybe Torsten won’t be so bad,” Florian said. Koji grimaced in response.
“Hopefully,” he replied, sounding cautious. “That would make things a lot easier, wouldn’t it?”
Rune stepped back into the room before Florian could reply. She had a platter with bread, cheese, and a few slices of cured meats balanced in one hand, and two mugs of cold water in the other.
“Here you go,” she said, setting the platter between them. “I’ll see if I can find Torsten. He might be in the water, though.”
“In the water?” Florian repeated, frowning. Rune laughed.
“I guess you wouldn’t know,” she said, then gestured in the sea’s direction. “This is only half the village. Not even, really. The rest is all underwater. We have to be shifted to get to it.”
“Wow,” Koji said softly, echoing Florian’s sentiment. “Are... people don’t live in the water, though, do they? Sleeping and eating while shifted?”
Rune cocked her head, raising an eyebrow. “Some do, if they prefer it. Why? Not something dragons do?”
Koji shook his head. “I can’t imagine staying shifted that long.”
“Me neither,” Florian said, though he supposed the way he shifted was not necessarily the same as the way Koji or Rune shifted. The thought of staying shifted indefinitely sounded exhausting, but maybe it was easier if shifting was innate. Still, Koji seemed utterly bewildered by the idea, so it couldn’t be that different for him.
Rune only shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Some of us like it. Torsten spends a lot of time in the water, but his house is on the land. I’ll let him know you’re here, King Florian, but no promises as to how long he might be.”
“No worries,” Florian replied. “No rush. We’re good here.”
Rune’s smirk softened. “I’ll see about setting up a guest cottage for you both, too, since I doubt you’ll be leaving before sunset. And I’m happy to play hostess for a little while, but an overnight stay is a bit much. No offense.”
“None taken,” Koji said, and Florian nodded in agreement. “We’re unexpected visitors, so we’ll be grateful for anything.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Rune said. “Feel free to look around.” With that, she turned and headed back out the door.
For a few moments, Koji and Florian sat in silence, snacking on the tray Rune had brought out for them. Now that he had a moment to reflect, Florian found his thoughts returning to Kade—he wondered how much Kade knew about the kraken kingdom, and how differently things might have gone if Kade was with them. It made his heart hurt to dwell on it.
“I really can’t imagine staying shifted so long,” Koji mused, pulling Florian from his thoughts. “I mean, there are parts of the dragon kingdom that you can only get to by flying, of course, but for them tolivein the water...”
Florian chuckled. “Seems exhausting, right?”
They sat and ate and chatted for a while longer, then finally Florian’s curiosity got the better of him, and he walked around the house to take things in. The sitting room they were in was the largest in the home, though the kitchen beside it was by no means cramped. A wood-burning stove was the centerpiece, and beneath a window facing the sea was a small trap-door—probably some sort of ice cellar, Florian guessed. Herbs hung drying from the rafters, and the kitchen overall smelled warm and homey, especially with the salt of the ocean breeze coming in through the window. It made him miss Coral Shores.
On the other side of the kitchen was a narrow set of stairs, which Florian went up carefully. A closed door was to his right, and a small bathroom was on the left. All the plumbing looked a lot like the bathroom setups in the Winter Court, which he was relieved to see. He had been unsure how modern everything would be from the rustic appearance of the structures they’d seen so far.
