The Dyscovera and the Al-Orizin

In the dark hours before dawn, Kjelnar came to Criston’s cabin, dripping wet. He didn’t look cold, but his expression was grim. “We’ve found something, Captain…something you must see.”

Criston felt a dread in his chest. He stepped out into the starlit air, fully awake, to see other mer-Saedrans climbing up the side of the ship and gathering on deck. The undersea people carried something with them.

King Sonhir crossed his arms over his bare chest as two mer-Saedrans spread a body on the deck—a woman’s body, still wrapped in bright red robes. “We found the missing priestess, Captain,” Kjelnar said. “The body was weighted down.”

“Did she…kill herself?” Criston knew that Prester Hannes’s faith had been disturbed by recent events; had the Urecari priestess been unable to cope with the revelations?

Sonhir let out a humorless snort. “Not unless she found some way to plunge a dagger into her own heart, then tie the weight-stone around her ankles and jump overboard.”

The mer-Saedrans pulled aside the red robes to expose the knife wound over her heart. Fyiri’s skin was gray and puckered, her face bloated and ugly. Parts of her fingers, lips, and nose were already missing from where undersea creatures had fed.

The slowly awakening truth was far uglier than the corpse. “Go to the Al-Orizin and send for Captain Saan immediately.” He clenched his fists, then released them. “And somebody bring Prester Hannes out here, now. I have questions for him.”

Saan wore a tense, contradictory expression; Criston knew that his son had clashed with the Urecari priestess, just as he himself had often disagreed with Prester Hannes. “My crew is not going to like this,” Saan muttered.

Mia came running back to them, her expression curdled. “The prester isn’t in his cabin, Captain—and I can’t find Javian, either. What if he’s done something to Javian?” She looked down at the sikara’s corpse. “It’s obvious he killed that woman.”

Ystya was distraught. “I did not think you came to Terravitae for murder.”

Criston wanted to stop the situation from growing into a deadly clash. “If Hannes did this, I will not defend his actions. We have to find him.”

Another crewman ran up. “Captain, one of the ship’s boats is gone.”

Criston swore out loud, immediately knowing the answer. “Hannes must have gone back to the grotto himself, and he took Javian with him.”

Saan gave a grim nod. “We’d better put a stop to whatever your prester is doing.”

When King Sonhir looked from the sikara’s body to Criston, he spoke no accusations, though his thoughts were clearly judgmental. Kjelnar said, “The mer-Saedrans will pull you along—that’ll be fastest. Take one boat from each ship. No telling how long the prester has been about his mischief.”

Criston indicated Fyiri’s body. “Get some canvas to wrap her up and take her below until we get this solved.”

The captains climbed into the pair of boats at water level, followed by Ystya and the two Saedrans, as well as Grigovar and Yal Dolicar. Mia insisted on going along, concerned for Javian, and Criston didn’t have the time or inclination to argue with her. “Javian isn’t part of it,” she said.

“That remains to be seen.” King Sonhir dove into the water in front of the two boats. When everyone was situated, a group of mer-Saedrans grasped the tow lines and took off, pulling the boats at a fast pace toward the sacred grotto on Terravitae.