His own workspace. His own job. Suddenly, Dyraien’s reasons for building the castle didn’t seem important. This was the start of a new life. A life he’d made on his own without his father’s influence.
As he started to plan where he’d place his table and tools, Gale stomped in. Her gray hair had been pulled into a tight bun, and her eyes narrowed in on him.
“Good morning, Gale,” Tahki said.
“Good morning, my ass. You and I need to talk. Now.”
Tahki frowned. Gale grabbed his wrist and yanked him down the steps with frightening strength.
“What’s going on?” Tahki asked.
She didn’t answer. They left the castle, traveling at an urgent pace. Low clouds hung in the sky. They started down the path off the cliff. In the distance, a mile or so away, he could see the gray ocean. The cliffside was covered in clumps of long brown grass. He nearly jogged as she strode on. How a woman old enough to be his grandmother could walk so fast he didn’t know. Her short legs were covered in blue veins that popped as she sped into the mist. He tripped over a few rocks in the dirt before reaching the wet sand fields. Gale’s house had been built at the base of the cliff and looked less like a house and more like a shoddy wooden shack. Two, maybe three rooms wide.
He yanked his arm away when they reached her porch. “Gale, I really insist you tell me what this is about.” Tahki panted. “I should be working, and—” Tahki cut short when she shoved open the door.
There, sitting at a small wooden table with a teacup in his hands, was Sornjia.
Chapter 6
TAHKI STARED at his brother’s face. Sornjia should have been far away, in another world. But here he was, sitting in Gale’s kitchen, clutching a cup of tea like it was just another lazy afternoon in the palace lounge.
“I don’t understand,” Tahki said aloud. It wasn’t to Gale or Sornjia, but to himself.
“I found him wandering around Edgewater,” Gale said. The wrinkles on her face twisted as she scowled. She looked a little scary. “He was walking around asking if anyone had seen someone who looked exactly like him. Thought it was you and you’d lost your mind.”
“She hit me over the head with a limp fish,” Sornjia said.
“What?” Tahki said.
Sornjia shrugged. “She slapped me across the back of the head with a trout.”
“You didn’t tell me you had a twin,” Gale said.
Tahki’s mouth felt dry. “I didn’t think I’d have to.”
“You’re angry,” Sornjia said. He spoke so matter-of-factly. Tahki wished he had a trout to smack him across the back of the head with too. Sornjia acted so casual, so innocent.
“Sornjia, why are you here?”
Sornjia set his cup down. “I was worried about you.”
“Worried? I’m an adult. I can take care of myself.”
Sornjia hugged himself and leaned forward in his chair. “After you left, my body felt like dust caught in a shadow. A bell rang in my head, the sound the sky makes right before it rains.” He looked at Tahki. “When I closed my eyes at night, I could see dark spiders skittering across my brain, and I knew I had to save you.”
“Is he ill?” Gale’s eyes narrowed. “Brain fever? Damaged nerves? You’d better be straight with me, Tahki. I put my neck on the line for you.” Her tone sounded dangerous, and despite her age, Tahki realized Gale wasn’t someone he wanted to cross.
“He isn’t ill,” Tahki said. “He just talks strange. But he’s harmless, I promise.”
“Harmless?” Gale scooped up a wooden spoon and shook it threateningly at Tahki. “Do you have any idea what would happen to both of you if Dyraien found out you brought your brother, who clearly isn’t right in the head, to a place that he has sacrificed so much to keep secret?”
“I’m perfectly fine in the head,” Sornjia said. “But sometimes, places and people and things visit me inside my mind. They show me things. They don’t stay long, and when they leave, everything goes back to normal.”
Gale stared at Sornjia.
“I didn’t bring him here,” Tahki said. “I don’t even know how he got here.”
“I traveled east and hid on a boat,” Sornjia said. He spoke like it was simple, like he wouldn’t have been imprisoned or put to death had someone seen him. “Much easier than forging documents. If you weren’t so afraid of water, you wouldn’t have had to go through the effort of creating a fake passport.”
Tahki thought Gale looked frightening before, but now, he thought for sure she’d ram that wooden spoon down his throat.
Instead, she eased herself into a chair across from Sornjia. “You’re going to tell me everything, or I swear, I’ll drag both your bodies out to sea and drown you.”
Tahki shuddered. He could think of no lie to cover up the mess Sornjia had made. So, over the next twenty minutes, he explained everything to her. He expected some kind of outburst from Gale, but she remained still, her hands folded together, contemplating.
“So you’re from Dhaulen’aii.” She shook her head. “I should have known. Your skin isn’t dark enough to be from the south islands, and it’s a little too golden.”
“I’ll send Sornjia home,” Tahki said. “No one will know he was here. Please, don’t tell Dyraien where I’m from. Let me keep this job.”
Gale’s head snapped up. “Of course you’ll keep your job. Telling Dyraien would only cause me trouble. I don’t exactly have a clean reputation.” Though Tahki didn’t ask, Gale went on. “I was once a renowned architect, you know. Unfortunately, my love for the bottle was greater than my desire to hold down a job. I’ve been fired eight times for working drunk. When I couldn’t land architectural work, I became a judge. Things went fine
