“Any luck?” She shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. The sea serpent’s iridescent scales were sparkling in the morning light.
He executed a complicated twisting maneuver, breaching out of the water and then crashing down in the shallows before retreating to swim upside down farther offshore.
Beside her—he seemed to be always beside her, and she couldn’t bring herself to move away—Dax asked, “What did he say?”
“Um… He found… a problem?” Calling to the sea serpent, she said, “Perri, I don’t understand! Did you find the boat?”
He signaled yes.
Yes!
“Is it seaworthy?”
That was the complicated part. It was beached somewhere. Possibly damaged? Definitely damaged. He couldn’t determine how badly.
“Is it on this island?”
No, it was not.
“Is it far?”
It was… a distance. Not an impossible distance.
“Less than a day swim?” she asked.
Yes.
Okay, they could do that, even if Ree hadn’t yet found a reasonable container for water. All they’d really need was the vine cordage, which Dax had finished. And Perri’s cooperation. She hesitated, fully aware that she was asking something that most likely no human in history had ever asked a sea serpent. He might not want two people and a plant on his back. He might not like ropes wrapped around his body to secure them. He might not be able to swim with them strapped to his back without accidentally drowning them—actually, she was certain that last worry wasn’t an issue. He was an excellent swimmer, and she’d seen him swim at the water’s surface for days at a time when he chose to. “Perri…”
Before she could finish the question, he swam toward them, twisted to point his snout at his back, and then twisted again to look directly at them.
Dax laid his arm on Marin’s shoulder. “I think he’s offering to carry us.”
Marin thought so too. In fact, he was being quite emphatic about it. It was funny—when she’d taken to the sea onSilver, fresh fromthe pain and humiliation of Iovar’s betrayal, she’d sworn to never trust anyone again, least of all herself. But here she was, relying not only on herself but also completely trusting a sea serpent, a plant, and a musician who hadn’t even known how to swim when she’d met him. So much had changed, and she’d barely even noticed it happening. For the first time, she felt like a captain, despite the fact that she didn’t even have her ship. “Is that right, Perri? Will you swim us there?”
Yes, he would.
She laughed. “Okay, crew, let’s do this. Unless you need to rest, Perri?” He shook his fins to say no. “Do you want to take us now?” He did. Still smiling, she and Dax gathered up the rope he’d made. She knotted it around her waist and around Dax’s, and she wrapped it around Ree as well, though she planned to hold him on her lap for the journey.
At the edge of the forest, the marmoose watched them. It sat on the clover and nibbled on a crystal leaf. The leaf crackled as the marmoose munched.
“Thank you!” Ree called to it.
Marin and Dax waved.
The marmoose lifted its paw in a languid wave, and then it pushed itself onto all four paws and ambled back into the forest. Its massive antlers brushed against the crystal leaves, and the red-feathered birds sang as they circled above.
Carrying Dax’s rope, Marin waded into the surf. She kept her boots on—they’d fill with water, but that was preferable to leaving them behind. Her pants were instantly soaked.
Perri swam as close to shore as he could until his tender stomach brushed against the sand. Frothy waves crashed against him, but he planted himself firmly and stayed stationary while Marin wrapped the cordage around him.
Dax climbed on board, carrying Ree, and she secured them both, then she climbed up onto his back. His scales were as smooth as metal and cool to the touch. “Is that too tight?” she asked Perri.
He chirped that he was fine.
“Dax? Ree? Are you both secure?” Marin asked.
Perri made a noise as if to say he wouldn’t let any of them fall and was extremely offended that they ever thought he would.
