Journey Across the Hidden Islands by Sarah Beth Durst

Author:Sarah Beth Durst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Chapter

Fifteen

CLOSER TO THE river, Ji-Lin caught a glimpse of one of the six-antlered elk through the purple trees. Its antlers ran all the way down its neck, each antler sporting several prongs. The elk carried pouches on either side of its stomach, and a woman wrapped in scarves walked next to it, taking seedlings out of the pouches and planting them in the ground. When she saw the princesses by the water, she left the elk and hurried to watch.

She looked worried, Ji-Lin thought. All of them did. And they didn’t even know about the koji that had slipped through the barrier. Earthquakes and monsters, she mused. Their islands were supposed to be a safe haven. That was the promise of Emperor Himitsu, when he fled from Zemyla. When had their home become so dangerous? We have to finish the Journey.

The villagers fanned out behind them, a silent audience.

Stopping at the edge of the river, the caller knelt, scooped water into his cupped hands, and drank. “Fresh,” he announced. “The waterhorse is near.” Beckoning to one of the little boys, he said, “Run to my house and fetch an apple. You”—​he pointed to Kirro—​“must tell a story. If he is pleased, he will heal you.”

Kirro gulped. “And if he’s not?”

“You will die a painful death when the beetle rot reaches your heart.”

“Oh. Um, I can tell the story I was told about Prince Himitsu and the Hidden Islands. I think it might explain why my father was so surprised to see you.” Kirro climbed onto a rock next to the river. Seika sat behind him, and Ji-Lin stayed with Alejan on the riverbank. The water burbled over the stones and deepened in the center. Craning his neck, Kirro peered into the river. “Uh, do I start? I don’t see a horse.”

“Begin,” the caller commanded. “He will come. Stories draw us all.”

Kirro’s eyes darted around as if he was looking for a direction to run, but he stayed on the rock. “Okay, um, two hundred years ago, the emperor of Zemyla had a brother named Prince Himitsu, who—​”

“He wasn’t his brother,” Seika corrected him. “And he wasn’t a prince. He was a scholar and a servant. ‘A humble man who rose to greatness,’ according to The Dawn of Himitsu, a History.”

“You said to tell a story,” Kirro said. “This is the one I know. It’s not my fault it’s different from yours. It’s the story my dad told me to distract me from all the fish parts I was throwing up because my stomach doesn’t like being at sea and really doesn’t like rotten fish, but I know you don’t want a story about throwing up, so can I talk about Himitsu?”

The caller laid a hand on Seika’s shoulder. She blushed. “Sorry—​the old stories are . . . I’ve read a lot of them.” Understatement of the year, Ji-Lin thought. Seika had memorized most of the traditional tales before she was even old enough to read, and then she’d read every one she was allowed to read in the palace library.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.