The pounding of her heart was unbearable. She could hardly follow Hazel-Boy’s shadow. She struggled to keep her head above water. Feed her lungs with air. Her strokes were beginning to weaken. Rough scales scraped her skin. Pain flamed up through her body. The sharks had found her. She struggled to keep afloat. A surge under her agitated the water and raised the odor of algae. The fish were gathering force. She filled her lungs with air and shut her eyes.

The waters settled around her. She opened her eyes and felt her legs. They were intact. Had the ointment worked? Surely the sharks would be back. What could there be in some green oil to deter sharks? Three consecutive hoots came from the woods beyond, another, then another.

Struggling to muster the last vestiges of her strength, she fought the river. Hazel-Boy’s specter vanished and she felt even more alone in this massive, frozen universe. A spinning force gripped her and began dragging her down under. Had the allotted five minutes elapsed? The river tasted bitter. Her lungs were about to explode.

Her body scraped against sand, stone, solid ground. She was hauled out of the water. They had survived. The ointment had worked.

She stood lost and shivering in Hazel-Boy’s arms. On the horizon clouds carved a smile into the moon as it began its descent. Hoots punctuated the calm of dawn. They walked toward the sound.

Hazel-Boy wondered if the king would find compassion in his heart for the two lovers he had cherished. Love had become a weapon of destruction between partners, between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. He did not care where he went from here and what his future held. If not for Rebekah and Gold Dust, he would have surrendered to the River of Dreams.

Sawgrass cut into Gold Dust’s toes. Sadness replaced fear. She should not have left the harem. She should have accepted her fate with dignity. Then she would have been mentioned with respect in history. Now she was nothing but a coward with silent bones.

She hooked her arm in Hazel-Boy’s, her faithful ally banished from his home because of her. He had been her companion in Pearl Hall, and now in this lonely universe. Her cheek brushed against his bare shoulder. She became aware of her nakedness.

She repeated his teaching of years ago: “‘Don’t smile too broadly, lest it be taken for brashness.’ Look at us now, completely naked.”

“And never stare, lest it be taken for arrogance, and not even Allah would forgive that.” He gazed down at her, remembering a time when a direct stare or a broad smile mattered.

Their laughter rang out into the night.

“Gold Dust.” A whisper among the trees.

“Madar?” Gold Dust hurried toward the voice.

Rebekah gasped with delight at the sight of her daughter. “It took us longer than expected to assemble the raft. We were beginning to lose hope.”