Chapter 37
Watching Harshen sink, knowing Lilette was there, I saw myself clearly for the first time—my selfishness and my conceit. I ripped away that part of myself. I was done being used. Done being naive and malleable. I swore I would make them pay. ~Jolin
The crashing wave didn’t touch her, didn’t swallow her whole. Lilette let out a gasp and opened her eyes to see churning black waters surrounding them on all sides. They were sinking into the deep, the barrier a solid line of demarcation between them and water choked with the remainder of the dead city.
The remaining witches had managed to grab one another and sing. Han eased his death grip on her. Together, they watched the sky grow farther and farther away. After what seemed like forever, the island stopped sinking. Lilette could see nothing except a shaft of blue sky above them.
The barrier flickered, and water started to seep in. It was weak because the witches were weak, but it was holding. Feeling crumpled and damp, Lilette struggled to her feet, careful not to put weight on her aching leg.
The witches were humming to keep the barrier up, their faces pale and resigned. “Now what?” Lilette asked.
Han looked up at the distant sky and then back at the choked, black water. Lilette caught sight of a dead water buffalo hitting the barrier before bouncing back into the debris. She looked away before she saw something worse.
“How long can you hold it?” Han asked.
Nassa struggled to sit up, careful not to let go of the witch next to her. “Until we give out.” She craned her neck back to get a good look at the sky. “But eventually we’ll have to let go, and then the sea will come rushing at us.”
Han stared up, as if gauging the distance. “I think we could reach the surface before our air runs out.”
“I can’t swim,” Doranna said, her eyes wide. She seemed to be barely keeping it together.
Han gestured to the fragments littering the ground around them. “We’ll tie you to a board. It will carry you up. Matter of fact, we’ll tie you all to a board.”
Lilette motioned to the wreckage still slamming into the barrier. “I don’t think anyone could survive a swim in that.”
He rubbed his chin. “So we wait—hold the circle until the debris settles. Then we swim for it.”
“Harberd?” Lilette said.
Doranna gave a slight shake of her head. “He was in the city.”
So he was probably dead. Lilette’s body was threatening to collapse. She sank to the ground, her hand wrapping around her leg just above her ankle, the pain hitting her hard now that she wasn’t fighting anymore. “Merlay will see the barrier. She’ll be waiting for us.”
Han knelt before Lilette and pulled up her trousers to inspect her swollen leg. “She won’t dare come close, not with all the wreckage.”
Lilette lay back, resting her palms on her eyes. Her mother had shown her the island sinking. Lilette had thought she’d stopped it when she’d rescued the captive witches from Chen. She had been wrong. And now all those people were dead.
Han went about finding bits of broken wood inside their circle and tying them to the witches with ripped bits of their clothes.
Lilette stared at the blue sky as the debris slowly settled, enough that she caught sight of the palace. Miraculously it still stood.
The stone dragons stood guard at the entrance, their lips pulled back in an eternal snarl. Beyond them, the leaves of trees waving gently in the water. Lilette couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that she was lying on the yellow-brick courtyard—which was now and forever underwater.
Han knelt before her. Using her sash, he tied a board to the front of her robes. “Lilette, look at me.”
She kept staring at the palace, wondering how many were dead now because of her.
He lay both his palms on her shoulders and shook her. “Lilette!” She finally turned to face him.
His face was tight. “The others—they’re not going to be able to hold on much longer. Better to let go now, while they have the strength to swim, than to wait until everyone is too exhausted. And the water is clearing.”
She pushed her head back into the rubble beneath her, the physical pain a relief from the emotional one. “Han, I don’t think—”
“Don’t you give up!” he growled. “I’ve seen battles where men give up. And they die. You have to fight to survive. You have to live!”
She slowly shook her head. “Why? I already failed my purpose.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “Did you? Your mother said you were to save those you could. Maybe that’s just the witches here. Maybe the others who managed to escape. Lilette, if your purpose was over, you wouldn’t have survived this.”