Meruse lifted her chin. “It wasn’t up to me. I vowed to protect the drakens, my friends. You are not my only friends. It was their wish to remain hidden and safe. Just as I respected your decision to remain hidden and safe.”
My mouth opened but nothing came out.
“You agreed to hide an entire branch of drakens?” Wren’s voice rose, sharp as broken glass. “You let us think we were the last!”
“Wren,” I said softly, reaching for her arm, but she shook me off.
“They let our people suffer, rebuild from ash, thinkingwe were alone. And for what? To keep balance?” Her voice cracked. “To play gods over who deserves to live?”
Nerissa crossed her arms. “Don’t yell at her, Queen. She only did what she was told.”
“By whom?” I asked.
“By me,” Nerissa said simply. “And the leader of the bloodwitches, Alkdama. Titles change. Legacies don’t.”
I looked between the two of them: the seawitch and the blood witch standing before the ashes and clearing smoke of the pyre. For the first time in years, I felt small.
Wren’s voice softened, trembling at the edge of fury. “So all this time, we’ve been guarding ashes while the world is still burning beyond the horizon.”
Nerissa crossed her arms over her chest. “What is done, is done. We are here now on this lost island of drakens.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, unconsciously mimicking her. “We are not lost. Your island is lost.”
Wren sighed loudly.
“Either way,” Nerissa began again, suddenly serious, “I would like to lay him to rest here. I do not think he’d want to be buried on the island he did everything to get away from.”
The beach went quiet, the wind whispering through the tall grass the only sound. The smell of salt and smoke clung to us all.
“He will have a funeral with all the respect of a king,” I said, bowing my head to her.
Nerissa’s chin wobbled.
“C-can I do it?” she asked softly.
I lifted my hand to my throat, nicking the delicate bloodmagick there once again. Heat and fire welled in my chest, the bloodmagick helping me reach my dragon ancestry to send Anar off properly. I breathed fire onto the torch in my hand, and handed it to Nerissa.
Silent tears streaming down her cheeks, she walked to the pyre and set fire to it. We stood back and the drakens along the shore began singing.
“Ah, you do have voicemagicks. I suspected,” Nerissa sniffed, watching his body burn.
When the last note hung in the air, dissonant, the body was naught more than ash. Everyone slowly dispersed, going back to their homes and lives.
“Come with us,” I said to Nerissa.
She cast a longing look back at the pyre, but nodded.
The way up the beach and into the jungle toward our treehouse was slow, but Wren insisted that walking was better for her. She grabbed my arm, using me for support. Kieran led the way with Ronan behind us. Nerissa trailed all of us, her gaze far away.
“Are we going to go visit her island and see these drakens? Or maybe invite them here?” Wren asked, voice laced with excitement.
I shot her a look.
“I’m serious!” Her chin made that stubborn tilt I knew so well. “If there are other drakens alive on her island, we owe them more than suspicion. We owe them kinship and friendship. And playdates. How adorable would that be?”
Kieran groaned under his breath. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
“Yes,” Wren said. “Someone has to meet these others, see what kind of lives they’ve built, and at least offer friendship. And trade. That’s something kingdoms do with each other, right?”
