“So you trust Queen Eagala?” Carina said. “Her word doesn’t mean anything.”

“Simber said it too,” Alex offered. “But I don’t know if he meant there are only seven islands in the world, or just seven in this chain.”

Sean grinned. “I happen to know that Simber said there were seven in this chain. He doesn’t know if there’s anything beyond it.”

“I can hearrr you,” muttered Simber from somewhere in the darkness. But he didn’t deny the claim.

“And?” Carina prompted Sean. She turned on her side next to Sean in the chair, wearing a playful grin.

“And so I was thinking that we could maybe just go that way and see if anything appears on the horizon. Head west for a day, and if Simber still can’t detect anything, then we’ll turn around and head back home. Whaddya think, Al?”

“Come on, Alex. Please,” Lani said. “We’re right here—when will Samheed ever have this chance to prove me wrong again?”

Samheed laughed and tugged at Lani’s hair. “Hey, you’re cute and funny,” he said. “I like you. Even if you drive me crazy.”

“Same to you,” Lani said. The two affectionately touched their foreheads together, grinning.

Alex thought about going farther west. It seemed like a fine time to check it out, since they were out this way anyway. At most it would only add two days to their trip home, and they really hadn’t been gone long, though it felt like a lifetime with all that had happened. “I think it sounds good,” Alex said. “I’ll check with Simber to see if he has any concerns. If he feels good about it, we’ll do it.”

“Sounds fine,” came Simber’s response.

“Hooray!” Lani said.

“Do what?” said a voice from behind them. It was Florence. She and Talon came walking toward them. “What are we doing?”

“We’d like to go west to see if there’s anything else out there,” Alex told her. “If we don’t see anything by the end of the day, we’ll turn around. But I thought it would be nice to check since we’re out this far already.”

“Hmm,” Florence said with a grin. “Interesting. I’ve always wondered too.”

Lani beamed at Samheed.

“Stop already,” he said, feigning annoyance this time.

Florence turned to Talon. “Do you know if there are any more islands in that direction?”

“I have never explored it,” Talon said. “Nor have I seen any ships coming from that way—only from the other direction, as you came.”

“Which doesn’t mean there aren’t civilizations that way,” Carina mused. “They might be like you—having no means or desire to leave their island. And maybe not even knowing anyone else exists, like the people of Quill thought for so long.” Her growing excitement for the adventure was clear in her voice.

“Well, then,” Talon said, “I see no reason why you shouldn’t explore it. If anyone is well equipped to handle any situation, it is your team from Artimé.”

» » « «

It was a melancholy departure on a cloudy morning. Best wishes were exchanged between the inhabitants of Artimé and Karkinos, and both Florence and Alex stooped down near Karkinos’s face to say good-bye and thank you, silently wondering if they’d see him again.

When they could think of nothing more to do, Alex called, “All aboard!” and everyone assembled on the ship and stood at the railing, except for Florence, who stood centered on the new portion of the deck, and Simber and the squirrelicorns, who flew above. Captain Ahab directed the ship out of the crab-claw lagoon and into new waters to the west, with Spike alongside. Lhasa blew kisses from shore, while Talon, stoic, held one hand on his bronze chest. His eyes were locked with Florence’s.

Florence put her hand up to signal her farewell, while Simber made sure to fly off to the side so he wouldn’t block her view. At last, with Talon but a speck on the red-rimmed lump of an island, Florence lowered her hand. She looked down at the deck and emitted a sigh, and then sat down carefully and stared straight ahead. Alex stood next to her and, after a moment, reached up and put his hand on her shoulder, vowing once more to himself that he’d do anything in his power to help the Island of Legends survive.

A Chilling Turn

Eva Fathom, who had made herself scarce recently even though she continued spying on the high priest, stopped Aaron in the hallway on his way down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” she demanded.

“It’s not your business,” Aaron said.

“What happened to your shoulder?”

“What? Nothing.” He shifted it and barely winced at the pain.

“You’ve been holding it funny for days.”

“I must have hurt it putting the block wall back up.”

Eva glared. She knew he was lying. She also knew he still had the two heart attack spells in his pocket. And that he’d been going into Haluki’s house a lot lately . . . and most certainly using the tube to Artimé. But she didn’t know why, or what he was doing during the hours he was away. All she knew was that Artimé was vulnerable right now and she had to hold Aaron off from doing anything there until Matilda let her know that the ship was back.

“I’m warning you, Aaron,” Eva said, her voice hushed, “if you rush into . . . into doing something to harm Artimé, you will risk losing Quill’s loyalty. You’ll look like you’ve lost your head. It took Justine years and years to get everyone so thoroughly behind her. One false move for you, and it’s—”