Theyre just wondering how a disease like this can affect a princess, the girl said. And how a king would send his daughter to a place like this.

She was probably Nerras age, a little shorter but broader and stronger, with round, almost heart-shaped features. The scale sickness, dragon sickness, Nerra corrected herself, had been particularly cruel with her, not in what it had done, but in what it had left alone. On her left side, this girl was a vision of perfect loveliness, untouched by the marks of the illness. Dark hair fell in waves past her shoulder, while a one-sided smile quirked across her features.

On the other, the black lines of the sickness spread everywhere, leaving only scarred skin on that side of her head, while half of her face was twisted and almost inhuman.

He didnt send me, Nerra said, thinking of all the things that her father had done to try to save her. He hadnt even been able to bring himself to order her death, the way the law, and his nobles, demanded. I left myself, and then… a dragon brought me here.

A dragon?

Nerra would have expected most people to scoff at that, or to call her a liar, but most people didnt have the circling forms in the far distance, over the continent.

Im Lina, the girl said.

Nerra, Nerra replied, even though it was clear that the girl knew who she was. How long have you been here?

Since I was little, Lina said. My parents saw that I had the sickness, and they couldnt bring themselves to… to kill me, so they brought me here.

They brought you here and just left you? Nerra asked. They havent come back?

Lina shook her head. They send money sometimes, to help Kleos maintain this place. They havent returned.

Nerra couldnt understand how a parent could do that. Her own parents had done everything they could to help her, to protect her. How could someone just send a child… here?

Youve been here all your life? Nerra said. And youll stay here until… until you die?

It was the kindest way to put it, because what else could Nerra do? Remind Lina that she might transform into a monster, or that Kleos might eventually thrust a knife into her heart?

Well, Lina said, with a surprising smile. Unless I go up to the temple fountain to drink the waters, of course.

She laughed as if it were a joke.

Nerra stared at her. I dont understand.

No one has told you about the temple waters? Lina said. Its an old story here. Theres a temple up on the far side of the volcano. She nodded to the peaks that dominated the island. Theres a fountain there whose waters are supposed to be able to cure the sickness.

She said it casually, as if it were nothing, but the words struck inside Nerra like a hammer.