After the Bewlah had sunk, Hasu had used her spatial Lore to portal each of them to the closest inhabited island, the Isle of Veir. It had been the most power she’d ever used, and even after a full night’s sleep, her eyes still drooped as she sat in the chair beside Ulick, and Bitti was fast asleep on her nose. Without the pair of them, their friends would certainly have been eaten by Hooksharks.

“I’m sorry about the Bewlah,” Barclay said to Ulick.

“Don’t be! That was the Bewlah VII. Seems about time for the Bewlah VIII.”

“What do you mean?”

“My ships sink all the time! But Bewlah and I always find a way back out on the water.”

Considering Ulick’s excitement to sail during all manner of storms and Beastly frenzies, this made a lot of sense.

“Still, if we’d figured out why the underwater rivers changed,” Barclay told him, “this never would’ve happened.”

“Ah! I think I might have an answer for ya,” Ulick said. “Ol’ Maedigan traveled underwater ‘when the night sky was brightest.’ Well, that’s obvious! The brightest night is the night of a full moon.”

“It’s like the riddle!” Viola said, so excited she practically squealed. “ ‘Not even the sun knows where it lies, and the stars won’t spill the secret.’ The underwater rivers only travel to Roane on the full moon.”

“There was a full moon the night we found it,” Tadg said, nodding.

Ulick beamed. “See? Don’t need a Scholar to tell ya stuff! Us sailors know the ways of the Sea just fine.”

“All right, all right, that’s enough from you. Go back to resting,” Orla said. Then she took Shazi and Tadg by the shoulders and ushered everyone to the Guild House’s spiral staircase.

The other Guardians awaited them on the ground floor. Now that Lochmordra’s attacks had finally come to an end, the Guild House boomed with the ruckus of celebration. Musicians played. Drinking mugs clattered on tabletops. Beasts chittered, cawed, honked, and hissed.

Runa and Cyril were the only ones who didn’t join the merriment. Last night, when Tadg, Viola, and Barclay had ridden Mar-Mar back to Munsey, they told the two Lore Masters and the High Keeper everything. About how Edwyn Lusk had really been Audrian Keyes. How he’d kept his stone Lore secret and used it to shift the sea vents and warm the water and make the weeping tide bloom. How he’d lured Lochmordra out each time hoping to bond with him.

For two people who’d spent so much time arguing with each other, Runa and Cyril had been shocked into silence. Runa hadn’t even punished Tadg for sneaking out on his own or Barclay and the others for running after him without telling anyone. But now they each wore dour expressions, and Barclay braced himself for the worst.