Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(35) War

Taiki lets me pull him all the way back to the Sandsinger camp. I think he's still waiting for me to turn on him, but I'm done with that until he does anything genuinely stupid. I'm done blaming people for things they didn't do, or dealing them threats they don't deserve. I don't think saying it will do anything, so I resolve to prove it from now on instead.

Makeba looks up as I enter the camp. Every Sandsinger in the place stares at us, like they didn't expect me to come back, much less with Taiki in tow. He tries to shift behind me under the pressure of so many eyes. I squeeze his hand tighter. He grips it back.

Makeba is lounged against the wall opposite us, inspecting my dagger. Now she rises lazily. She twirls it around her fingers, watching it spin. "This is a good weapon. Where did you find it?"

"In a dead Karu village."

I feel Taiki's surprise through his hand. I lied to him about that, didn't I.

Makeba registers the barest hint of surprise. "Dead as in murdered?"

"Dead as in destroyed. It was completely empty. I found a prayer written on the wall."

She looks at me with a calculating glint in her eye. I let my face show that I'm not lying.

"I didn't know they had weapons like this," she signs. "We'll have to watch out for it on our next raid."

She swims towards us. Taiki moves further behind me, and I shift in front of him, though my heart is pounding. If this is the same instinct that motivated me to attack two Saru to rescue Seiko from a paralysis spell, at least I can trust it to serve me well.

I still flinch as Makeba's arm twitches up next to me. She sinks the dagger deep between the rocks with one graceful, powerful slam. "They were sheltering below the drop-off offshore of Osogo last time I saw them," she signs. "Don't come back if you don't remember what I said."

Her hand is still on the dagger hilt. I know exactly what she means, and I plan to remember it.

I think she sees that. She releases my weapon and carries on past me. "Good luck."

I take the dagger handle, fully aware that every eye in the camp is on me. In a burst of anger, I wrench the dagger from the rocks. It's not even scratched. I sheathe it, but don't move. There's still more I want to learn here. The Sandsingers have been all up and down the island chain, from what Makeba's told me, and I've already vowed to become more competent in these waters. That starts with figuring out how to keep Taiki and I safe.

The other Sandsinger leader is still watching me. I lock eyes with him. "What happened to Kuna?"

Surprise ripples out through the assembled Sandsingers. Several glance at each other, and the leader's eyes narrow.

"What do you mean?" he signs slowly.

"Kuna is a Saru stronghold now. They're not facing any opposition. What happened?"

The water vibrates as he says something quick and low to the nearest Sandsinger. She shoots off, probably to retrieve Makeba.

He turns back to me. "What did you see?"

I can't sign efficiently with only one hand, so I move to the nearest nook in the wall in the hope that Taiki will feel safer there. He doesn't let go of my hand until I sit down with him, then shifts close enough for me to feel the warm eddies of his body heat against my back. I notice several of the Sandsingers moving to keep watch as the rest shift closer, the other leader among them.

I tell them what we saw around Kuna, starting with the moon-shaped fish and the patrol-Kel that swam with it. The two patrol-Kels that swam back. I stop after recounting the jellyfish we found as we tried to escape the seamount, but there's still more I have a feeling the Sandsingers may want to know. Evidence of the Alliance didn't stop there.