“Can’t your side negotiate with the Pact? The stakes are higher than you realise. The Elementals have told me that a war here could break the Balance!”

“The Balance!” Mer gave a soft laugh. “I had forgotten: you come from the edge of the world. The ‘Balance’ is a tale told to children, to make them behave.”

“But the Unknowable One—”

“Does not exist! Or, if it does, it has travelled too far away to have anything to do with us now. The Pact is in charge because it took power, not because it deserves to rule! The only ‘balance’ is the one we make!”

“Does that apply even to the Drowned Ones?” Storm watched Mer’s eyes for any flicker of guilt, any sign that she was in league with the enemy.

“You mean we should blame them for their own misfortune?” Mer gave a chilly smile. “It’s a bit convenient to think that an island sinks because the people living on it are evil.”

Storm sighed; Mer had given away nothing. “But surely you acknowledge that the Balance can be broken by the Elementals?”

Mer shrugged. “I told you, I don’t believe in the ‘Balance’. And as for the Elemental spirits, I am not sure they exist.”

Storm stared. “Then where does magic come from?”

“Perhaps from inside witches themselves. Who knows? It doesn’t matter.”

Storm shook her head, shocked to her core. “Whose Child are you?”

Mer laughed again, as though Storm had said something very funny. “I did not undergo the ritual! No member of the Fifteen undertakes the Choosing. Why would we? We will never be apprentices. We rule, we do not make.”

“But I have seen the Albatross, the Dolphin. The Tortoise speaks to me. The Salamander…” Her words dried on her lips. She would not confide about the Fire-witch to this girl full of hate.

Mer shrugged. “Perhaps you are right and I wrong. I don’t know … or care. But you must leave my island tonight. Promise!”

There was a fanatical glint in Mer’s eyes. The threat in her voice was real. Yet Storm found there was still something about the other girl she liked. And it was moon-clear now that Weather-witch or no, she would never be able to influence the rebels. She could only save the Balance by hunting down the Drowned Ones and defeating them. Any civil war could be contained on this island. The Salamander would not win.

“I promise,” said Storm. “I shall seek out my uncle and return to Yanlin.”

Mer’s face sagged with relief. “I am glad! Go, with my good wishes. This path leads to the harbour.” After a last, considering look, the older girl turned on her heel and strode back the way they had come. The bamboo swallowed her with a shudder.

19