******
The Oldest Fish in the Sea swam to the stone turtle. The sleeping cub on the turtle’s back was bright enough to be seen from the stars. “Don’t you have a job to do, fatso?” the Oldest Fish in the Sea sneered at the turtle. “Every fish in the sea will spot you!”
“That’s only because he brought the whole castle here,” said the Wishfish in defense of the turtle, pointing an accusatory fin.
Singled out, the Coralute scowled. “The Royal Seal is patrolling our perimeter. And if you didn’t think it was a good idea to move the castle, you could have said ‘no’ when I asked to use your arrow!”
The Wishfish rolled his eyes. “Stop the mighty Coralute from getting his way? That’ll be the day!”
“We all have a job to do,” said the Coralute. “Don’t get mad at me just because mine is the most essential to the well-being of th—”
“Ha!” barked the Oldest Fish in the Sea. “Guarding the river is more important than anything either of you morons busy yourselves with.”
The Coralute sighed and shook his head.
“Should we wait for the King and Queen before we go?” asked the Wishfish.
“Let them swim!” said the Oldest Fish in the Sea bitterly. “There are no crowns around those pretty horns yet! And besides, it’s all their fault I lost my new wings!”
“Without them, you wouldn’t have had any wings in the first place!” cried the Coralute in frustration.
The Wishfish cleared his throat. “Three turns of the arrow should do it,” he said to end all digression. “We’ll all go back east together and then head our separate ways after the castle is back where it belongs.”
“Agreed,” said the not-quite-so-dead fish three times. They all cast a last look at the stumps of the river guardian’s white wings as if wondering what could have been.
“And what about the boy and the girl?” asked the stone turtle, blinking sleepily. “What of them?”
“Like I said,” barked the Oldest Fish in the Sea, “let them swim!”
“The Coralute will keep an eye on those two until they settle in,” the Wishfish said to the turtle, “but don’t expect them to come visit us very often. Some things never change.”
“Of course they lived!” said the Wishfish irritably. “Wake up! I still have to grant their wishes, don’t I? They did pay me, after all, and they still haven’t told anyone what they asked for. As if anyone at all couldn’t figure it out.”
“Imagine that,” the turtle said with a prolonged yawn. “And… what did they wish for?”
The fish’s whiskers curled up in a wide grin, but before he could answer, the sea spiraled into the base of the wooden pole to which the spinning, white arrow was affixed, and Coral Wing, the stone turtle, and the pink boat, drifting near enough by, vanished like stars in the light.
Beneath the sun dark days will seep
Into your boat and here you sleep
The world will be reeled to a fight
A battle cast as fire encircles night
When the fountain rises once again
From the mountain, ash will fill the end
Two children in a boat must save the sea?
Who will I tell that it should have been me?
What law can there be in the Land of Lin
If three days of magic rule all herein?
~Saerin Silvermoon
An Ending,
The Year One,
In which a thousand years pass like a dream.
From the Dawn of Time to Dusk of the Last Day in the Land of Lin there has been, there is, and there will always be a boy named Lion and a girl named Lilly, each as beautiful as summerset, sage as time unwound, more magic in their smallest fingers than all the spells of wry old warlocks, wizards wise, or wishing wells.
They made their home in a forest where the sky was forever cast in silver twilight, but the frozen sunset was a curiosity they both ignored and forgot. They stayed in their forest a thousand years and a single night beset them not. In the enchanted evening they passed their time without a care, inseparable but for the running and the hiding of their play, and only once would they succumb to sleep and in so doing lose their never-ending day.
No wheel has an end
Runaways flee to the sea
The dark delivers a friend
One question sparks three
An arrow stands alone
Two ends come together
Water is reduced to stone
Ill-tidings roll in like bad weather
Brewing storms are an unborn beast
The children hasten east
Light swims in a round
A secret ingredient is found
There is a hole in the plan
The children stop to play a game
The key is in the air selfsame
A handful of flowers are not what they seem
Ice is spun into a silver stream
Fire reigns
A shadow wanes
A thousand years pass like a dream
~J. Evans
If you have any questions about the book, I’d love to hear from you. My email address is:
riverlilly@gmail.com