The goddess looks over my shoulder, and I follow her gaze. The rain is so thick that for a moment I don’t recognize the young woman walking through the downpour.
Shim Cheong.
24
Shim Cheong is dressed in an elaborate bridal gown. Her long sleeves drag on the ground, and red circles are painted onto her pale cheeks. Her black hair is swept back and knotted beneath a headpiece of jade and gold. Why is she here? A bride is only sent down once a year. Until the storms begin again next summer, there should be no need for another bride, let alone Shim Cheong, who I hoped to spare with my own sacrifice.
I turn, but the goddess is no longer beside me to answer my questions. There’s a sharp cry of pain as Cheong stumbles on her long gown.
“Cheong!” I rush over to where she’s fallen.
She gasps. “Mina?”
I help her stand, tucking the paper boat into the jacket of my dress and hauling her up by the arms. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
She stares at me through dark, luminous eyes that shimmer with tears. “Oh, Mina, I’m so glad to see you. Joon was devastated when you jumped into the sea.”
“Cheong, why are you here?”
A ghostly pallor steals over her face. “I was sacrificed.”
For a moment, I just stare at her, unable to form words. “But … but why?”
“We had thought they had ended…” Her beautiful eyes glaze over, terror-stricken. “But then the storms began anew, more terrible than before. Whole villages have been swept away into the sea. Husbands separated from their wives, children from their mothers. The council of village elders met and determined that we angered the Sea God when you went in place of me. They ordered soldiers to storm our home. Your family fought bravely to protect me. Brother-in-law. Sister-in-law. Your grandmother, who was the fiercest of them all. And Joon.”
Cheong chokes on his name, and I don’t think she’ll be able to go on, but then she takes a steadying breath and continues. “But I was taken away, dressed as you see, and thrown into the water. Though even as I was caught and pulled beneath the waves, I knew it was a mistake. A wrath such as this cannot be appeased with just one life. The Sea God’s anger is too great, too powerful. I fear, this time, the storm will destroy us all.”
I stare at her, wanting only to deny her words, but know she wouldn’t speak such terrible forebodings if she didn’t believe them. I think of Namgi and Kirin, who, earlier this morning, said the storm appeared otherworldly, arriving over the eastern mountains where the human world ends and the river begins.
I’m struck with a terrible thought.
“Mina?” Cheong says.
“Wait here,” I say. I don’t want to leave her, but I have to know for sure. Picking up my skirts, I sprint toward the river.
Soon, I hear the roar of raging rapids. Out of the mist, the river looms loud and furious. Shiki stands at the water’s edge, his eyes hollow with grief. I see whole families caught in the rapids—mothers, fathers, and children. Unlike the girl from the night before, none of the dead struggle against the current. They lie still, as if they’ve given up all hope. Why is this happening? Why have the storms returned?
The Sea God. Fury sweeps through my body.
I head back in the direction of the palace, sprinting up the steps to the open gate. Cheong cries out my name, but I don’t stop. I run past one courtyard after another. The rain is less here, but still it falls. I feel it sliding down my face in droplets that burn across my lips. It tastes of the sea. I reach the last courtyard and enter the hall.
Rain falls through cracks in the ceiling, battering against the cold stone. The Sea God is on the floor beside the throne, his hand gripping his chest. It’s the same motion he made when he left the pavilion in a hurry. There’s a tugging at my soul. Was it the pull of the Red String of Fate? But his wrist is bare, as was Shim Cheong’s. Had they shared a true fate, it would have been visible to her and strange enough that she would have remarked upon it.
The Sea God lets out an agonized cry. I rush over to him, hesitating as I reach out. Last I touched him, I was pulled into his memories. I take a deep breath and grab his shoulder. A blinding light rises up to swallow me whole.
There’s a wall of sound, like a forest of trees in the wind, and then I’m released abruptly.
I stand on the edge of a cliff facing the sea at dusk. The setting sun casts a golden pathway of light across the darkening water.
I turn slowly, taking in my surroundings. The air smells of fresh honeysuckle. A warm breeze brushes against my skin, blowing the hair from my cheek.