Page 23 of Reign of Light
“Now that there’s no choice but to coexist together,” he says, “I expect there will be no issue with us being out on the island.”
Her brows scrunch together as she processes what he says. “What do you mean, out on the island?”
“I mean, we will be free to be on the island.” His voice is firm, but he gives nothing else up. All of us know he means we can actually step foot on land again, but to Mara, it must sound absurd.
She rubs her temples, and her eyes fall closed. “I have so many questions. I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Until I can trust that you and the rest of the Voyagers stay true to your word, you won’t have them answered. You weren’t the ones hunted. We were. So until you hold up your end of this agreement and prove that you can be trustworthy, I won’t be answering any of them.”
Now it’s Mara’s turn to look irritated, but Gauge cuts in.
“We all have to live here now. There’s no reason you can’t be here too.”
Weston nods once and continues. “Any of the Castaways who want to return to camp will be able to do so, agreed?”
“I’ll have to escort them there,” Mara says, and I hear Stass snort a laugh from where she stands across the plateau. Even with the revelations of Dane’s lies, they are still just as ingrained in her as they were to me, so much so that she can’t reason through one of the most obvious tells.
“We all know where it is, Mara,” Veck says, and her eyebrows furrow.
“Right. I guess…yeah, right.”
Watching someone else piece together the false narratives and lies makes Dane’s deceptions so obvious now. It is still hard to fathom how I so blindly followed everything he said, and for what reason? Because he said he wanted to be with me? Because he gave me someone else to fear? At least watching her and Gauge understand means I wasn’t the only one so deeply invested.
“What about any of us that want to see where you live?” Mara asks.
“That won’t happen. Not yet anyway.” Weston’s declaration is firm, and unmoving, and Mara’s mouth snaps shut.
“So to review,” Weston says, crossing his arms and taking a step closer to them. “Dane is gone, and so is the dust, trapping us all here to live together, which we will do. The Voyagers will no longer hunt anyof the Castaways, and we are all free to roam the island.Safely. Any of the Castaways who want to return to camp are free to do so, and we will live for the rest of our days peacefully.”
“Yeah. Sure. Agreed. But why do we have to follow everything you say? Who put you in charge?” Mara snaps.
A chorus of Castaway voices rings out around us. “He’s in charge.”
Mara glances around at all of them, taking in the faces she knows and, I assume, some she doesn’t, before turning back to Weston.
“Fine. Whatever,” Mara says, rolling her eyes.
“Good,” Weston says. “Fin wants to see Roley. We can meet him tomorrow.”
“Sure, yeah, I’ll tell him.”
“We’re done here. Head home, everyone.” Weston turns and settles his hand on the small of my back, urging me forward as we walk past Mara and Gauge toward the path off the plateau. The crew shuffles out of the foliage, following closely behind, and weaves around Mara and Gauge, who still look shocked to see they are not the monsters they were made out to be.
Veck walks up to Mara, arms extended, and wraps her in a tight embrace, lifting her off the ground with a smile. He speaks to her quickly, his voice low, but I catch a few words of reassurance and another promise that Weston is telling the truth. Gauge waves to Stassia as she passes by, but the tension in her shoulders is still tight, and she only gives him a curt nod as she stomps down the path.
Once we are in the safety of the tunnels again, the relief of the crew is palpable, but even though I feel like we can breathe again, Weston’s tense voice rings out over the crowd.
“No one is to say anything about the healing waters until I give the clear, understood?”
A chorus of ayes echoes off the walls, and Weston nods us forward.
“Do you really think we should keep it from them?” I ask once we’ve fallen into step at the back of the group.
He lets out a deep sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “I honestly don’t know. They can’t go anywhere, whether or not they have it, but there are too many other possibilities to account for. We’ll talk to Sig and see what she thinks.”
I finally let the tension in my shoulders relax, my head drooping with the weight of the afternoon. “Is it wrong that somewhere deep down, I was holding onto hope that it actually was a trap, and that the dust wasn’t gone?”
“Having hope is never wrong, sweetheart,” he says, and weaves his fingers through mine. “Hard? Yes. But never wrong. Hope is the only thing that’s gotten me through all this time.”
