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

(21) Taiki: Whoever Helps

I expected Makeba to try and recruit new Sandsingers from whatever allies me and Ande have gathered. But I'm also not sure what unspoken conditions might be layered over her question, so I venture, "Among the Shalda-Kels?"

"Doesn't matter."

I don't know how to answer that. Only Ande could tell what might still lurk beneath that statement, or how genuine it is. If I take it at face value, it means Makeba is open to having even Karu-Kels join the Sandsingers. While that might be specific to the Karu-Kels her people live with, she must know they—like most of their deep-sea Karu-kin—can't tolerate the surface waters any better than most Sami can tolerate the deep.

I need to know for sure. "Doesn't matter at all?" I sign. "Or do you have any preference?"

This time, Makeba actually looks annoyed. "I mean, they have to be able to work with us. I can't battle-train someone from scratch, and they need to survive at the surface. But beyond that, no, I couldn't care less. Send us islanders. Send us Shalda. Send us Karu if they're not spies." She flicks both hands up. "Send us Sami for all I care, if they're willing to commit to saving islanders. We can't really afford to be picky here."

She can't mean that genuinely. But the more I actually think about it, the more memories begin to surface in support of Makeba's words. Someone in the Sandsingers knows the Sami-Karu trade language, and must have learned it somewhere. The group has contacts all over the ocean, including—especially—through the Sami- and Karu-sana. And then there are the Sandsingers themselves.

Makeba had a Glauclin as her right-hand woman for almost as long as the Sandsingers have existed. Ruka's kind are still Shalda, but most mid-water Shalda don't see them that way. The same goes for Qiv like Keshko, or red signal squid like Devir. Yaz even told me Devir's family has a particular hatred for the islanders, and complimented him for getting over that enough to work with the Sandsingers. To my knowledge, Makeba never treated him any differently from the rest. If anything, his fighting prowess meant she trusted him with more, not less.

Makeba doesn't care. If someone or something helps her save more islanders, she approves of it. If it doesn't, she doesn't. I already knew her motives were straightforward, but I've never actually stopped to think about the implications. Does this apply to the war, too? If Makeba only cares about that insofar as it helps her save more islanders, that means she has no specific hatred for Sami- or Karu-Kels outside the ones who've attacked the Sandsingers on their raids. But I don't want to make that full assumption without her saying so herself. The stakes for someone like Sar are too high.

Makeba might also be alone in her not-caring.

"We are not accepting Sami-Kels," snaps another pair of hands. "Do not handle this so flippantly."

Fera and Ushi, the silver-tailed sisters, are glaring at their leader from across the camp. They're both mid-water Shalda, and they've been with the Sandsingers for longer than I can remember. They're two of the only original members who're still here.

"I meant what I said," signs Makeba. "If you have an issue with my stance, name it."

"Gladly."

Ushi, the older sister, rises from her seat against the wall. I drift back until I reach stone. I don't like having stone—not water—beneath me.

"You want to know my issue?" signs Ushi. She's halfway across the camp now. "Let's start from the basics, then. Sami-Kels killed half my people in the three-moon deep when Fera and I were children. A second round of Kels then trapped us in a seamount cave until we agreed to sing for our Risi, which those Kels immediately decimated. They wouldn't believe us when we said we had no more food. They kept us there until we nearly starved."