“I never imagined this.”

Her jacket is spread out on the black stone. There is a story of a queen who won a kingdom by claiming as much as her shawl could cover, and then unraveling it to threads. Her jacket does not need to cover more than the space around the two of them, but it is the same principle of fashion. Clothing, for the children of Tellus, is a wonder which may do anything.

“Stars. I imagined them.” She gestures at the lantern-lights flickering in the sea of color, each one tinted pink by the gash across the sky. Pink is a nice color in moderation, but here it is oppressive, almost painful. “I didn’t know how many colors there would be, though. I thought it would be like velvet studded with diamonds, and instead the sea is drenched in Uncle’s colors. And I never could have imagined this… this wound. Not healing. Not relenting. Not…”

She nestles into Bella, hugging the pale blue-and-white shark closer to her chest. “I knew there was going to be peril. But I didn’t think the gods could have… would have done anything like this. Would have left it here raw. Would need us to go through. And Hades won’t give us any treasure to protect us, and Poseidon won’t split the rift with a torrent, and once we’re in there… it will just be us. Alone. Hoping we remember what we need to do.”

She does not ask Bella to stay. Not again. Not ever again. And she does not imagine staying here, telling her other uncle that he was right, that some injustices are just too big to make right. Impossible. She cannot back down and remain Redana.

But will Redana come out the other side?