Chapter 11
The winds had been good. The swell had been intense.
Even though he had moved fast, Santiago had continuously bailed out his boat to avoid being swamped.
Occasionally, he had caught sight of sails on the horizon behind him, but he knew there was no one ahead of him.
As the chieftain of the Clan of Wind, he was a sailor born and bred, and no prince of Kydon was outsailing a son of the Clan of Wind.
The trickiest part of the entire quest was to make landfall on the small island.
They had been briefed by the sailors of Kataria about how the greatest danger was missing it altogether and sailing far beyond, where the next landfall would be the Land of the Sun—over a full week’s sail away from Kataria.
When land appeared on the horizon on the third day, he knew his prayers had been answered, and he was almost there. As he sailed closer, palm trees and a beach became clearer.
All I must do is take a prize from St. Sela that is fit for a queen.
And yet he remembered her words. “Waste no time searching the island for a prize to give me. You alone are enough for me. Turn around as soon as you get there.”
To honor the contest, he must touch the beach, which meant making landfall, and then immediately push his boat back out to sea.
His supplies should last him all the way home, but if there was a coconut palm or banana tree within easy reach, he would resupply for quick energy that would be welcome on the return journey.
After he sighted land, it still took until the sun was high in the sky to reach the beach. As soon as his feet hit the sand, Santiago drew in a grateful breath. He secured the boat, grabbed a net bag, and scoured the island with his gaze.
At his feet, a translucent shell that glistened pink, blue, green, and gold was the perfect token for the queen.
He picked it up and slid it into his pocket.
Beyond the shoreline were palms, heavy with coconuts.
He pulled the machete from the scabbard on his waist and strode toward them.
Crabs scurried across the sand, and if he had more time, a crab dinner would have been welcome, but time was of the essence.
The coconuts would do. He scanned the shoreline for any other supplies or tokens for his queen, and his gaze caught on a tree of fruit he didn’t recognize, so he decided to leave it alone.
No bananas were in sight, so he headed back to the boat with a net full of coconuts and a pocketful of shells for the queen and her sons.
As he pushed the boat back into open water, he scanned for signs of the other contestants, but saw none. He paddled for an hour until the winds blew in his favor, and he set his course for Kataria.
When the sun was dipping toward the horizon, he saw the outline of sails ahead of him.
Ahhh … another who has yet to touch the beach.
He knew he would finish first in this challenge, but all who returned within seven days would move on to the final round of the contest.
It took until the sun was touching the water for Santiago to realize that he was not gaining on the boat as quickly as he should have been if they were sailing in opposite directions.
They should already have crossed, but instead, he seemed to be gaining very slowly on the vessel.
No one had passed him on the way. There had been no marks on the beach from other boats or feet.
But if someone had seen him sailing back … that man could have turned and set his course to return as well, although he would be breaching the rules of the contest to come in first when first did not even matter.
If Santiago had to guess, he knew who would do such a thing. A prince who hated to lose.
It did not matter to him. He set his focus on returning safely to his Katarine as quickly as possible.