How Shadows Turn to Ash

Chapter 31: Antonia

The sea turned from gold to cobalt blue.

Antonia leaned as far as she could over the railing, letting the diamond droplets of water spray high against her face. Cambria was growing close enough to make out the land's outline. Dozens of other ships had joined them, all splitting the water in front of them as they raced to port. Antonia bit back a smile and raised a hand. The feeling of string slipped through her fingers. When she pulled back, the boats stuttered.

"You shouldn't do that when you don't know what will happen," Nema said, head tilted to the sun. Her eyes weren't open, but somehow she knew what Antonia was doing.

Antonia lowered her hand. "I feel it sometimes. I... I know I can do something, but..." She squeezed the air in front of her.

Nema cracked open an eye. "It's a dangerous game."

Antonia sighed and glanced again at the other ships floating by.

Nema was right that it was dangerous. Not long ago, she couldn't even call upon her power. It was hard to say what changed, but it was even harder to say how much control she had over it.

Maybe it was seeing what she did with the mermaids. Maybe it was the knowledge that her secret was out in the open. Either way, Antonia felt a confidence she hadn't known before. Maybe even freedom. It was odd to step out of a cage you hadn't known you were in. For years, she thought the world was simply bars instead of skies.

"Have you been to Cambria before?" Antonia asked, hopping from the front of the boat until she was directly in front of her.

Nema tilted her head. "Why would I have visited Cambria?"

"I don't know," Antonia said, mimicking her posture with a slow smile. "Until recently, I wouldn't have guessed you were born in Htraeh or traveled the Forgotten Sea. Clearly, your life before becoming a druid was eventful."

Nema scoffed. She reached out, lightly tugging one of Antonia's curls.

"I have not been to Cambria," she said. "It looks like Elbon has, though," she added, jerking her head to the Htraehean dressing head-to-toe in thick cloth. At Antonia's confusion, Nema laughed. "Htraeheans can't touch magic, remember? At all."

Antonia's head whipped around. "At all?"

"At all," Nema repeated. "If I were of the Htraehean religion," she said, running a finger over Antonia's arm and leaning in with a scandalous voice. "I would have already been forsaken." Something about that sent Antonia's heart fluttering. "But maybe the rules are different if you're a Reformer," she added as if her only sin might have been touching Antonia. Nema had used magic plenty of times. Still, the idea that she was Nema's temptation felt stirring in a way that left her jumpy.

"That sounds like a very stressful religion," she said.

Nema chuckled. "My father would pray every single night. But my mother...." Her gaze flicked to the ocean. "My mother was complicated."

Antonia said nothing. It was the first Nema had ever mentioned her parents. Antonia had broached the subject a few times before, but Nema always pursed her lips and changed the subject. Now, Antonia found the words lulling her in, holding her breath as if it might disrupt the story.

"You know the king and queen made a deal with Cambria, right?" Nema asked. Antonia looked back at her blankly. "It's what they were talking about before...about Octavia."

Ah. Antonia's previous excitement faltered. She didn't know anything about Octavia and the Chosen Family. It sounded like a lie as far as she was concerned. Nema raised a hand, shielding her face from the sun as it peaked between the clouds.