Chapter the Fourth

It was the day after Elvina had made her plans to depart, near noon.
Brodie fingered one end of the envelope Elvina had given him. People had begun to notice her absence by now, though no searches had been started, and no one would suspect she had left the castle altogether. Only he and Aiva knew the truth.
He bit the inside of his cheek. Elvina hadn’t told him expressly when to give her parents the letter, so he was depending on his own timing.

Chapter the First

Eighteen years later

Eloa swam into the cave she and her mirree, her mother, had shared all those years ago. She looked at the jars of sea plants on the shelves and the tools carved of shell. They were just the way she remembered them, from that terrible day. So much had changed, yet so little.

Eloa asked herself again- Why? Why? Was it mischance? Was it planned? She knew the Maker planned everything, so it was a silly question.

But why had Seema, her mother, her confidante, her only family, had to die?

Chapter the Twenty-ninth