“You saved me,” he said, frowning.
Hearing him say the words made her realize how absurd it was. Oro was the most powerful person in all the realms ... andshe,a powerless ruler, had saved him.
Perhaps she really wasn’t as powerless as she thought.
She gave him a look. “I’m not as weak as you think I am.”
He didn’t return the glare. “I’ve never thought you were weak.”
She blinked. He couldn’t mean that. “Well, now we’re even, I suppose.” That day on the balcony seemed realms away.
“I suppose we are.” Oro took in the cave. They were at its mouth, buttery sunlight spilling inside, just a few feet away. Those streaks of gold had nearly seared him through. She had pulled him to safety with a second to spare.
Oro turned his attention to the other side of the cave, the tunnels that led through the underground. Pretty blue lights illuminated the ceiling like a constellation of stars.
“We’re beneath a Skyling graveyard,” he said gruffly. He nodded toward the bright blue. “Glowworms. They eat the bones.”
Isla scowled, the mysticism of the place ripped away. But she remembered the winged man’s words. “Is it a place where darkness meets light?”
He nodded and winced. “One of the few on Sky Isle. Once the sun goes down, I’ll search it.” He seemed to sense her confusion about the winged man’s information, because he said, “Nightshades did build the island, along with Sunlings. When they were banished from Lightlark, their lands were built over. But some parts, and some creatures, still dwell in the in-between.”
“So, this is our plan,” she said, needing confirmation. “We’re going to check all the places on the island where Nightshade and Lightlark meet? That’s where the heart is?”
He bowed his golden head. His crown was covered in mud. Both of them were caked in dirt and blood. “There aren’t many. Especially with Star Isle off the list, thanks to the specter’s information.” He stretched. “Besides the graveyard, there is only one other place on Sky Isle that qualifies.”
“How about Sun Isle?”
“I will search those locations myself.”
Isla gave him a look. “Yourself?”
Oro sighed. “Do you truly not trust me yet?”
She frowned. “Do you trust me?”
Oro did not answer her question. Instead, he said, “I never break promises. I do not break deals on a whim.” He looked at her pointedly.
Isla rolled her eyes. “And what about Moon Isle?”
“There are a few. But that’s the last place we check.”
“Why?”
“Because Cleo has her isle heavily monitored, and if she thinks we’re looking for something there, she’ll try to find it herself.”
Oro was being unusually forthcoming. She needed to get every detail out of him that she could. “How many total places are left, then, where darkness meets light?”
“Eight.”
Eight.That wasn’t a large number at all. Hope bloomed Isla’s chest.
“Don’t get too excited,” he said, frowning. “There are risks.”
Isla didn’t care. They had a firm strategy and a manageable number of places left to search. Still, something made her uneasy. “The plan is entirely based on what others have told you. The specter. The winged man.” She swallowed. “Did it ever occur to you that they could be lying?”
“They can’t lie to me,” Oro said simply.
Isla didn’t know what that meant. Was it because he was king of Lightlark? Could all his subjects not lie to him? She certainly could. And she had.
