“Take me home,” Jade murmurs into my chest,and I wanna tell her we will, but I can’t get the words out, whichis stranger’n tugs sprouting wings and flying, stranger’n Perry thePrickler having something nice to say.

But Skye covers me, says, “We’re takin’ youhome, Jade, you can bet yer life on that. We’re all goin’home.”

I hear a gasp and finally pull my face outtaJade’s hair to see the Soaker boy staring out across the big ol’pond everyone keeps calling “the ocean.”

And there it is, a sight I swear to you Iain’t never seen. Almost as big as the sky itself, arcing ’crossthe waters, full of so many colors I couldn’t count ’em withouttaking my moccasins off, there’s this thing, hanging in the air,lit by the sun, which is fiery and red and breaking through theclouds.

“A rainbow,” the boy murmurs.

“No—our rainbow,” Jade says, hugging me evenharder.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sadie

A week after thelargest—and strangest—Soaker/Stormer battle, the first evermulti-tribe peace conference is held in storm country, whichprobably isn’t the best idea considering the dark clouds that areswirling overhead, always threatening rain.

But the boy—Huck Jones—and his friend Caininsisted on it.

Everyone is invited. Every last livingSoaker, Stormer, and the visitors from fire and ice country. TheHeater children who survived the battle sit at the very front ofthe crowd, their legs crossed underneath them.

Inviting everyone was also Huck’s idea. Hesaid we all need to know the truth. It turns out there’s a lot moreto the boy whose life I spared than I ever could have imagined.Even now, the thought that everything might’ve been different had Ilet my lust for vengeance move my hand to kill him tingles throughme.

But you didn’t kill him. You chose not to.You chose right.

My father’s voice in my head calms me. “Ilove you, Father,” I whisper.

“What was that?” Remy asks from besideme.

“Nothing,” I say, taking his hand. “Nothingto worry about.”

He smiles, squeezes my palm.

Gard stands to address the audience. Althoughboth tribes’ numbers have been decimated, and now the women,children, and elderly outnumber the young and the strong, there aremany more than there could have been. We should count ourselveslucky.

“For the first time in any of our lifetimes,we are here to discuss peace,” Gard says.

An uneasy cheer rises up, but falls silentwhen someone shouts, “How can there ever be peace?”

Gard raises a hand. “I understand. When allyou’ve ever done is fight, you know no different. I know nodifferent. But I’m willing to listen, and so should all of you.Please, I implore you all, listen to what he has to say.”

Gard steps back and motions for Huck to takehis place.

Huck takes an uncertain step forward. I hearwhispers slide through the crowd like rustling leaves. “They say hekilled his father during the battle.” “No, I heard he tried to killGard.” “Did you?” “Definitely.”

Huck clears his throat. “We were wrong,” hesays. “All of us. Although my father’s leadership took the Soakersin a direction we never should have gone, we followed him. I don’tknow why the leaders of the Heaters and the Icers let themselves beused by him—I can’t speak for them. All I know is that we have noexcuses. We can’t bring back the dead. We can’t apologize for theirdeaths, because, although we are deeply sorry, we know words aremeaningless when our actions have spoken so loudly.”

The audience is silent, craning their necksforward, hanging on his every word, recognizing the wisdom in them.He’s not saying what I expected him to, not making excuses orlaying the blame solely on his father.

“We can only say that we want things tochange. Those who refuse to be a part of it will be sent away. Wedon’t need them. It will take time, but we will try, if you will.We want peace. I want peace. What say you?”

Silence. Heads turn, looking at neighbors,looking at friends, at husbands and wives and children. No onespeaks. No one.

And then…

A sound pierces the silence, but not a voice.The scuffling of feet, moving fast, scraping across the plains,skimming past the edges of the tents. No one is on guard, becausewho would they guard against? Every last Soaker is here, except forthe injured.

The crowd shifts as one, gazing in thedirection of the sound. Behind us, a form bursts into the center ofcamp, stopping suddenly when she sees us.

“I’m here to request your help,” she says,panting, sweat streaming from her brown-skinned forehead. Her voicehas a musical quality to it, like the tinkle of a stream, or thepitch-perfect sound of a reedpipe.

The four Heaters stand, followed closely byBuff and Dazz. “Wilde?” Skye says.

Huck

The arrival of the new Heater has createdquite a stir and temporarily stopped the peace process. I’ve beencalled into a private meeting to discuss what’s happening.

I sit next to Jade, who her sisters refuse tolet out of their sight. From the Stormers are the war leader, Gard,and Sadie, the girl who spared my life. The four Heaters are here,too, along with the newcomer, who they call Wilde. The two Icersround out the group. A strange and unexpected assortment ofparties.

Taking control of the meeting, Gard says,“Tell us why you are here, Wilde.”

She shakes her head. “Tell me everythingfirst. I need the whole picture before I can move forward.”

I’m surprised at how boldly she refuses theStormer leader, but her tone is strong, commanding attention andobedience. If I had to guess, I’d say this woman is a leader in herown land.

Gard stares at her for a moment, and thenshrugs, an expression that looks funny on such a large man. “As youwish,” he says. He begins, telling her about the long strugglebetween the peoples of storm and water country. He tells of how theRiders discovered my father’s slave trade, how witnesses saw thebags of dried seaweed. How the Stormers never understood what theywere for until the Heaters and Icers showed up. To his credit, hisstory is balanced. It’s interesting to hear it from anotherperspective.

“The Cure,” Wilde says.

“Yes and no,” Gard says. “The sea plants weresold as a cure, but they never really were. It was all an act offraud by a master of deception, used only to get what he wanted:the children. There was never really a cure.”

Wilde nods, as if she could have guessed asmuch.

Jade’s sister, Siena, says, “Don’t make nosearin’ sense. Why did my father and King Goff go to so muchtrouble for something that wasn’t even real? It’s wooloo if you askme.”

Wilde looks at her. “We may never know forcertain, but I have a guess. The fear of death is a great fearindeed, a major motivator; it drives even the best men tomadness.”

Between Wilde and Siena, Jade’s other sister,Skye, says, “And our father wasn’t the best of men, I can ’sure youof that.”

Siena scrapes her toe along the rug, stillshaking her head. “No sense,” she repeats. “How could everyone beso stupid?”

Wilde says only, “Men believe what they wantto believe.”

Dazz, one of the Icers, turns to me and says,“Did you know more was being traded for than just slaves?”

“I…” I don’t want to admit it, but I must.The only way this—this peace—can work, is with honesty. “I foundout not long ago. My father was attempting to trade the fake Curefor an Icer girl.” I pause, wary of Jade’s eyes, which I can feelstaring from beside me. “He wanted me to take her as my wife.”

Dazz is up and moving across the room sosuddenly that I don’t even have time to raise an arm in my defense.And then she’s in front of me: Jade.