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A couple of weeks That’s far too long Ximena and Tristán can’t keep up a pretense with decoy Elisa forever Our ruse is sure to be discovered, and a queen can only go enerates into chaos, before a for power in the wake of est problem," Felix says, "is supplies Looks like we’ll have plenty of fresh water, but we lost an entire barrel of salted pork, and one of the grain bins is soaked We’ll have to forage and fish, not just for our stay here, but for the return journey"

I’m about to ask after his wounded crehen Hector saunters up and leans against the railing "It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" he says

I nod, gazing at a sparkling streale and into the sea Froreen velvet "All that water! The place looks alive It’s unnatural"

He laughs "You’ve been in the desert too long"

I grin up at him "I look at those waterfalls and see the wealth of a thousand nations"

"Maybe that’s exactly what they are Do you sense anything? Is it still guiding you?" He glances toward my navel, and my stomach does a little flip to re now," I tell him "And when I healed Mara, it was a lot easier The poas right there when I called it, even thougheven thoughI"

He studies h the need was not as great?" he offers softly "She wasn’t injured as badly"

I nod

A crewht and a half fatho"

"Drop anchor!" Felix booo ashore?" Hector asks

I stare at the island; it’s so wild and foreign and foreboding "Ready," I lie

Chapter 26

I hurry back to the captain’s quarters to grab my pack I peek inside and find, to my immense relief, that my bottle of lady’s shroud is intact Mara holds up her satchel and nods, which I take to hy was lost to the hurricane, but by some miracle our trawler stayed tied down on the quarterdeck I’ another group go first "Let theree reluctantly

I pace back and forth across the deck as a group of eight men with supplies roard the beach Once they are close enough, they jump out and pull the boat onto shore, unload, and then disappear into the jungle It seenal that all is well Finally twothe rest behind to start setting up a camp

Mara, Belén, Storroup to ferry over As we settle in the boat, the tug on my Godstone is so insistent as to be nearly painful To distract ers in the warm, clear water as we skiold, flashes of red, even Godstone blue I’m tempted to dive in for a swim

Once we reach the shallows, I juthe boat onto the sand, and I’s waver, as if the land leaps and rolls like an ocean

Hector notices round soon enough"

The sailors who dise up a haphazard camp They’ve already lined a fire pit and erected one tent--but they’re doing it all wrong I suppose that, as seaanize encampments on land On the other hand, I’ve had plenty

"You there," I call "Haul the supplies farther into the trees We need shelter from wind and surf And you, would you move the fire pit, please? Find a spot where sparks won’t catch on dried palers to my lips If we’re to be here for weeks, then we need a latrine pit, far away froood spot for digging a--"

"Latrine? Against the cliff face, there," he says, pointing "It’s doind and far enough froesture toward a man I’ve seen in Felix’s confidence on several occasions "Do you read and write?"

"Yes, Your Majesty"

"Coear, foodstuffs, tools,you can think of"

"Yes, Your Majesty"

I eye the stream critically The silt has created a small sandbar that protects it at low tide and keeps the h unda to stretch all the way across, which would take care of our fishing needs even if we come up short on other tackle"

I look up to find Hector staring at ht of yet?" I ask him

He closes the distance between us My breath catches as he grasps my upper arm In a low voice meant for my ears only, he says, "If you were like this, with this kind of confidence, this clarity of thought, while in Brisadulce, no one would dare challenge your rule"

My heart sinks a little He e across s because he’s right A whole country is so e of desert refugees or a temporary island ca h

"Perhaps I spoke out of turn," Hector says "But I truly believe you have it in you to be a great queen"

I lift et started on that latrine" He turns to go

"Hector, wait"

He whirls Sand clings to the bottom of his soaked breeches, and the moisture in the air has turned his hair into atoof a different moment entirely, for he allows himself a slow, satisfied s

I add, "I expect honesty and truth from you always"

He nods once, fir ca well back from shore, where the coconut palainvillea bushes and thick banyan trees with sprawling roots Morning-glory vines wind up their trunks, dripping purple flowers Their close cousins, the yellow night bloomers, twine in sync with theins But when evening falls, the ht blooht

After a late-afternoon o, I announce that I will begin searching for the zafira first thing in the , while Felix’s o?" Hector asks