Camp didn’t take long to set up. Sunny was all too happy to help, busying herself with every task that needed doing, as if desperate to impress her ‘mama.’ Otter pitched in where she could, tending to the fire, but mostly just watched Rua, feeling their bond and checking in to make sure things weren’t too bad.

  There was a hum of… resignation to Rua. And bitterness. Some anger. Resentment. But mostly just loneliness. It all churned within her, and just feeling it made Otter wish she hadn’t intruded. It was all too intimate, too much to share, especially without asking. She’d prided herself on maintaining good boundaries, but using their link like this, even if it was just to do a quick check in, felt wrong, especially without permission.

  “Hey,” Otter said, “if you don’t want to…”

  “I don’t. But I also do. But more importantly, I have to. I can’t let you walk into Ri Oa without knowing what to expect.”

  “Okay.”

  She let it hang there, and then set herself to cooking. And by ‘cooking,’ it mostly meant, ‘helping Sunny cook.’ Now that they were off the death swamp isnd, there were more options avaible beyond small crustaceans and tree moss. Namely, bigger crustaceans and some kind of green melon that grew up on a tree like a coconut would. They were apparently a leftover of ‘Ashborn’s Blessing,’ a gift from the old Mythwalker before the war with the Criobani Empire. The entire isnd of Ri Oa was littered with trees bearing the fruit, which grew quickly and plentiful.

  But cooking with them was… weird. The ‘proper’ way to prepare them was to split them in half, core the flesh out, and then use either half as a small bowl which you set over a fire, and then used it to boil a crab-thing. The remaining fruit, which tasted both sweet and spicy, would be eaten as a side. As they began to eat, each with their own weird bowl, the only thing Otter felt it was missing was some rice.

  They ate in silence, waiting for Rua to find her words. She wasn’t a forthcoming person at the best of times, but this had an edge to it, something that could cut and wound.

  “I have three sisters,” Rua said abruptly. “Three sisters, and an aunt. But none of them are actually reted to me.”

  Had she said three before? For some reason, Otter thought there had only been two. She wanted to ask, but given Rua’s mental state, wisely kept her mouth shut.

  “My aunt is Sureya Asuega. My sisters are Leilynn Kurangi, Jua Moseina, and… Kirhae Maravok. I have a complicated retionship with them. We’re all serving members of the Sunset Council, the ruling body of the Siyan Isnds.”

  “Wait, you’re royalty?” Otter blurted. “Like, a princess or something?”

  “We don’t have queens or princesses in the Isles. But the council positions are hereditary. I represent Seat Hyleah. My family nearly became the first to be… removed from the Council, after my father’s betrayal of the Isnds, but tradition is deep here. It never gained any traction, and so I still have my Seat. But it is publicly known and accepted that I have lesser power than the others. I can’t propose new ws, I can’t sit in judgement, and I cannot represent the Isnds to foreign powers. The only thing I can do is vote on resolutions, and usually only in a tie-breaker capacity.”

  “They’re very mean to her,” Sunny said in a hushed voice, leaning into Otter conspiratorially.

  “Maybe,” Rua said. “But they’re fair. My father got a lot of people killed. And, of course, I’m a half-breed. They don’t like my presence on the council for that alone.”

  “Then why not give the spot to someone else in your family?” Otter asked.

  “Because there is no one else, except my father. And they’d rather have me, than allow her to end her exile.”

  “At least they want you?”

  Otter immediately regretted her words, but Rua paid them no notice.

  “I’m a tool,” Rua said. “The other four Seats are always vying against each other, and I’m treated well by my sisters when they need my vote, and poorly when I am against them. My aunt is usually kind regardless. She knew my father. And Lei is… different.

  “But between Kir and Jua, they treated me like a toy, something to use for their own entertainment at best. At worst, I was a weapon. Someone they both felt they could order around and get to kill their enemies. And sometimes… I let them.

  “It was all for the good of the Isnds. That’s what I told myself. And sometimes it was true. But they’re both very good at lying while telling the truth, and… I’m not good at reading that. So I never really knew if what I was doing was right or not. And I had so much doubt. Almost as much doubt as I had blood on my hands.”

  Rua took in a sharp breath, and then put down her bowl. She poked at the campfire with an errant stick.

  “I just wanted to be useful. To prove I wasn’t my father. And I got exploited.”

  “Yeah, by a pair of bitches,” Sunny muttered.

  “Language,” Otter said, half-shocked, half-amused.

  “Sorry, I meant cunts.”

  “Sunny! Normally I’m the one that, you know, you’re way too young to be taking my role. We need a swear jar.”

  “I’m half you, dummy. Kind of.”

  “Still, you’re like, a week old, tops. I dunno. I lost track of a few days there. I’m recently concussed.”

  “I’m way older than both of you combined. I just, you know, can’t remember all the years. Because somebody threw away the person I used to be.”

  Oh. That didn’t sound happy. There was a glint in Sunny’s eyes, as if the normally happy girl had now discovered something ugly.

  “To be fair, the person you used to be seemed to be kind of a cunt. Why are we suddenly saying that word all the time? Oh, hey, look, a distraction, Rua, you want to continue your story?”

  Rua gave a small smile, but Otter wasn’t sure how genuine it was.

  “There’s not a lot more to it. I don’t want to get into the details. I did a lot of bad things at the behest of both Jua and Kir. At the time, I thought it was the only good thing I could bring to the Isnds. But I was wrong. You can’t bring good by doing bad things.”

  “You want me to beat them up?”

  “You… they… they’re Sunset Council members. They’re the most honoured people in the Isnds.”

  “So? I’m not Siyan. I don’t give a rat’s ass what their position is. They hurt you. So, you want me to listen to your pain, or try to avenge it?”

  Rua took one of Otter’s hands and gave it a quick squeeze. “Just listen to it, for now. I don’t need vengeance. What I needed was healing. Lei gave it to me. She told me about the cabin on Ashborne’s isnd. Gave me the supplies I’d need to survive until I became self-sufficient. Or that was the theory anyway. She said I’d return some day. ‘Sooner than I wanted, ter than I expected, and just in time for when I would be needed.’ Lei always talks like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “She’s Dream-touched.”

  “Is that a Pact? Did the Dreamer touch her in her no-no spot? That thing needs to learn boundaries.”

  “No… it’s… I don’t know how to expin it. The Dreamers see time differently than we do.”

  “Oh, trust me, I know all about that clusterfuck. The Dreamer expined it to me when I got clobbered over the head.”

  “Wait, the Dreamer spoke to you? Outside of the Pact?”

  There was a note of panic to Rua’s voice, and a quick check-in with their link confirmed it.

  “Is… is that bad?”

  “I don’t know. It’s unheard of. They… they don’t do that.”

  “Huh. Weird. I don’t know, I kind of got the impression she was going to do it again. Something about sometimes I can touch on her realm, and sometimes she can do it in reverse. I was able to talk to her because I had brain damage–”

  Sunny giggled at that.

  “--but she kind of made it seem like she’d use that door in the other direction at some point without saying it outright. I don’t know. Like I said, I was kind of brain damaged at the time.” Sunny giggled again, so Otter poked her freckled nose. “Maybe you shouldn’t be ughing so much at that since half your brain is made up of me.”

  Sunny looked about to say something, but Rua’s voice cut through their bickering. “Regardless. Something the Dreamer said to you was true. Sometimes, our minds can touch on the Dreamers’ territory. It usually happens in the case of madness or brain injury, but sometimes, people are born Dream-touched. They see time like a Dreamer does. Not all the time, and not as clearly. But they’ll sometimes viewpoints of their lives in… non-sequential order.”

  “So Lei sees the future?” Otter asked.

  “Sometimes. And not perfectly. And sometimes she sees the past. She can’t control it. And it makes her… odd. Not bad odd. Just… different. You’ll see. Just don’t tease her about it.”

  “Is that a little bit of overprotectiveness I’m hearing? Aw, does someone have a crush on their adopted sister?”

  Rua gnced away, her cheeks heating up.

  “Oh my sweet Chernobog on a mountain, you do. I was just kidding. Also, not judging. If she ain’t blood reted, it’s all good, right?”

  “I… I don’t…”

  “Lie,” both Sunny and Otter said at the same time, both competing to leap forward and flick her nose. Rua just sat there and took it.

  “It’s okay,” Otter said. “I don’t care if you want to shag your sister. She’s hot, right? Are you going to share? No, never mind, that one’s a little mean. As long as you don’t have a crush on one of the bitch sisters.”

  “She does,” Sunny said.

  “Sunny!” Rua said, giving her a startled look.

  “What? You were never going to act on it, mama, and if Otter gets involved, she’ll either get you id or make her hate you so much that the bridge will officially be burned.”

  “Which of the bitches is it?” Otter asked. “No, wait, I want to be surprised. I want to figure it out myself.”

  “I do not have a crush on… I… why do I put up with either of you? I have two hands, and a lot of excess soul power dumped into enhancing my physical strength. I can easily throw you both into the ocean at the same time.”

  “Sorry,” Sunny said, but Otter ughed.

  “I’m trying to be a supportive girlfriend, really I am. But I thought my romantic decisions were bad. I am officially the better at retionships one of the two of us.”

  “You? You can barely even talk to Sami without her wanting to stab you.”

  “Yeah, but have you seen how hot she is? And I used to tap that on the regur. Also, you know, I nded you. I’m not much of a catch, but you? You’re a solid eleven out of ten, even if you’re apparently terrible at picking people.”

  “I tell you that I used to kill people because I wanted to please my sisters, and you still think I’m a catch?”

  Otter wasn’t sure if Rua’s voice was more incredulous or amused.

  “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Well, no–”

  “Would you do it again?”

  “No, but–”

  “Do you feel bad about it?”

  “Yes, but–”

  “Then it’s in the past,” Otter said with a wave of her hand. “I know it sucks. I know it hurts. And by Buddha’s merciful rd, I will make the two bitch sisters suffer for it, but I don’t think you’re the problem in that story. If they didn’t use you, they would’ve just used someone else. Unless the entire point was to get you to do it, in which case, that’s still on them.”

  “I’m not a good person.”

  “Lie,” Otter said, flicking Rua’s nose. “And you can tell I genuinely believe that. So I want you to believe it, too.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “That’s fair. It’s not gonna be an overnight thing. And that’s fine.”

  “You really don’t care, do you? About what I did?”

  “I try not to get wrapped up in that kind of thing. I don’t like judging.”

  Rua sniffed, and Otter realized she was crying, or would be if she weren’t trying so hard to fight it off.

  “I’m going to go for a walk,” Rua said, standing up and disappearing into the darkness outside of their little camp site.

  “Well, that went a little better than I thought it would,” Otter said. “How much of that did you know?”

  “Most of it,” Sunny said. “Not all. And I know some of what she hasn’t said. When we get in town… don’t fight Kirhae.”

  “One of the bitch sisters? Why not?”

  “You won’t win,” Sunny said grimly. “From what I know from mama’s memories, Kir hasn’t lost a fight since she picked up her Pact. Even before then, she was a terror on the practice field.”

  Otter shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ll figure something out. I always do. But no way is her face going unpunched if she hurts Rua again. Even one word out of turn.”

  Sunny gave Otter a weird look. “Why are you still here, talking to me?”

  “Huh?”

  “You know her ‘going for a walk’ was code, right? For sex? Away from me, since you’re both so worried I’m impressionable and still a child?”

  “Oh,” Otter said. “Oh.”

  She quickly got to her feet and scrambled after Rua.

  “Have good sex,” Sunny called after her.

  DorenWinslowe