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Once our feet land on sand, Nenneh Kadeh and Lamin suddenly stop, as do the retinue of godsworn trailing them like white-robed ducklings following their parents.
“This is where all of us must leave you, Angoro Deka,” Nenneh Kadeh says. “You must walk the rest of your path alone.”
As I sigh, Belcalis humphs beside me. “Now, doesn’t that sound familiar…”
Britta, meanwhile, turns abruptly to her, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Wha do ye mean, ‘all of us’? We’re goin’ with her.”
Nenneh Kadeh shakes her head. “While I greatly admire your loyalty, young alaki, there are places even you cannot go. You must leave Deka’s side, as must we all.”
“Must we?” Keita rumbles, flames sparking at the sides of his eyes. He’s ready to fight, as he has been from the moment we entered Maiwuri. “Because that’s certainly not happening.”
Nenneh Kadeh sighs. “I don’t think I’m explaining properly. Perhaps it’s better if I show you.” She gestures toward the water.
A low roar sounds as the sea suddenly parts, the waters in front of us splitting into two to reveal a sandy floor covered in glistening coral, bedraggled sponges, swiftly moving crabs, and, strangest of all, what appears to be a gleaming mother-of-pearl path, which wends its way from the sandy shore to the steep incline below.
Britta gapes at it. “Is that—”
“The path to the Hall of the Gods,” Nenneh Kadeh says softly. “Sarla has opened it for you, Deka. But once you enter, it will close around you.”
I whirl to her. “Wait, so you mean the water will—”
“Fall in around you? Yes,” Nenneh Kadeh confirms.
“But that will kill her!” Britta sputters. “Ye know that will kill her!”
At these words, Nenneh Kadeh turns to her, looking stern. “She is the Angoro. This path is made precisely for her. She will be safe, as will her godsworn.” She looks pointedly at Ixa as she says this. “We, however, will not. And that is why we cannot walk the path with her.”
I turn from the water back to her, mulling over this information. “You can guarantee my safety?”
At my question, Nenneh Kadeh blinks, her eyes suddenly far away. Finally, she answers. “Sarla informs me that this will not be the first time you’ve had a meeting with the gods underwater.”
I shiver, remembering the time nearly half a year ago now, when I met underwater with Anok, the wisest of the Oteran goddesses and my only ally among them. That meeting sent me down the path to uncovering the truth about the Oteran gods and their depravity.
And it was one that only Anok and I were privy to.
I frown at Nenneh Kadeh. “How did you know that?” No one else should have been able to see through the spell Anok cast, but then, everyone else there was a citizen of Otera.
The Maiwurians, apparently, are different.
She taps the side of her nose, back to being herself again. “As I said, we have watchers everywhere.”
When she glances pointedly at Lamin, he flushes and looks away. So it was him. Of course it was him. How much more has he seen over the years and shown Sarla? How much more has he been privy to?
“Once a spy, always a spy,” Li sniffs dismissively, causing Lamin’s flush to spread. No matter how he protests, he knows exactly what he’s done.
Nenneh Kadeh glances between the two and then back to me. “Perhaps while you have your meeting, the others will have one of their own. It seems they have things to sort out.”
As Li and Belcalis continue glaring at Lamin, Britta and Keita walk over to me.
“What do you want to do?” Keita asks in a low voice, glancing at the path, which is still open, waiting for me to enter.
“Ye don’t have to go if ye don’t want to,” Britta adds. “I know we’re on a mythical floating island surrounded by eerie people with the power of unknown gods—”
“That’s quite the scene you’ve laid out,” Keita mutters.
“I’m just tryin’ to paint an accurate representation of wha we’re up against,” Britta huffs before turning back to me. “I know we’re basically surrounded, but we’ve faced worse. We faced worse just yesterday. We can do it again.”
Keita nods as he reaches out, squeezes my hands. “I think what Britta is trying to say is that all you have to do is say the word. We’ll topple all those pretty little buildings if we have to—destroy the entire place, if it’s what you wish.”
