That night, when the king had drunk himself into a sleepy state, only Mira and Jorn were awake. Even Halvar had found sleep, but Mira’s mind kept wandering back to being a part of Arik’s plans. She left Fell in their furs and took a walk by the shore, stumbling across the soothsayer sitting in the sand, praying.

She turned to leave, to give him privacy, but he stopped his prayer. “You cannot sleep?”

Mira shook her head.

“You are not alone. I also have this trouble tonight.” He smiled. “You feel the shift as well?”

Mira did not know his meaning.

“The world will move more quickly soon. A great change is coming.” He sighed and looked up at the stars. “And, as always, with change there is discomfort.”

Mira understood the pain of change. She took a seat in the sand beside him. “What troubles you?”

“I will not see my home country again.”

“You prefer your home to the North?”

“No. But still, I would like to see it once more before my death.”

“Where is it?”

“To the south and east.”

“What do they worship there?”

“The normal things,” he said, smiling. “Wealth, power, prestige… but they try their best to worship truth. Usually, they fail at this.”

“You were soter?”

“I am still.”

“For how long?”

Jorn knew what Mira was getting at. “Arik will not free me. I know too much of him and his plans. I would not tell his enemies of his mind, but because of his life, he cannot believe this. His mind sees enemies everywhere; this is what it means to be king. To have no true friends—”

“Fell is his friend.”

“Fell and Arik are complicated. Fell hurts him often, as only a son can hurt a father, but since this is not what they are, there is no way to repair what is between them.”

“What do you mean?”

“If they are so close, why do they not raid together? Arik could have Fell on the same ship as him; he is king, but he does not do this. Why do you think?”

Mira had no idea.

“They love each other, yes, but the truth within each of them is too different. If they spend a long time together, they will find their way back to old disagreements. They will argue. And then they will part ways again, and Arik’s heart will be broken as he waits for enough time to pass for them to be friends again.”

Mira could not imagine Fell fighting with a friend; he moved too easily through the world. Nothing bothered him, and even when she was moody or miserable or terrible, he was not offended. “What could they disagree about?”

“There are many layers to it. But at the core, Arik does not believe when Fell says he does not want to be king. He thinks all men want this.”

As soon as she heard the words Mira knew them to be true.

“But when one thing is true, always the other side is somehow true as well. Arik wishes Fell desired to be king, but deep down he knows he does not. He knows that when he grows older and weaker, he will be killed and the crown will go to someone not of his choosing.”

“These things cannot both be true at the same time,” Mira protested.

“And also, this is the truth.” Jorn watched her for a moment, his head tilting a little to the side. He offered his hand. “I am Hehmdi.”

Mira was confused but took his hand all the same.

“Arik has given me a Northern name. He has trouble saying mine.”

It took a quarter of an hour and many attempts, but Mira was able to pronounce Jorn’s true name. Heh-hem-dee. The middle of his name was said with the back of the throat, almost like a cough.

He laughed. “There is so much I wish to tell you, but young beautiful people do not like listening to old ugly ones. So I remind myself that you are clever and you will come to know what you need to without my help.”

“I do not think of myself as clever...” Mira didn’t think of herself as unintelligent either; she did not think about it at all. She cared more for her feelings than her thoughts and so did not much care if she was clever.

He laughed. “You are clever enough to read for Arik twice and not speak of yourself once.”

“I did see myself in the first reading, but I didn’t understand how I fit within the story.”

He studied her face for a few moments before laughing. “I cannot tell if you are speaking true, or if you have decided not to trust me and so you lie.”

When she had no response, the man continued, “You needn’t worry about me, I have not told Arik your part in his life.”

“But you told him of my hand?”

“Only some. I told him of the great performances you will give. I told him of the respect you will have, of those who will think poorly of you, of the ways you will be trapped… but like a river, you will weave around the things that try to hold you in one place for too long.”

“That sounds like a lot.”

He laughed. “It is only the surface I tell him.”

“What if I want to stay in one place?”

“You won’t want this.”

“But I do even now.”

“Something will happen to make you change your mind.”

“What?”

“I do not know such specifics. You will go many places. I think you will see your home again.”

When Mira thought the word home, she thought of Gittenurg but worried the soothsayer meant something different.

“Which home? In the North or the Isle?”

“I do not know.”

A question surfaced in Mira’s mind, and it came out of her mouth before she could stop it. “It is you who will disappoint Arik?”

“No. But again, I think you are clever. This is exactly the question you should be wondering about.”

Halvar stirred and Mira said goodnight, finding a nice private place to feed him. As he settled in her arms she thought no longer of how she would fit into Arik’s plans. Instead, she thought of who would let the king down and what Arik would do about it.