Wind at your back / Promises freedom falsely. / Shackles are more free.

Kay whistled softly to himself. The tune was one of those annoying ones that tended to get stuck in your head until you sang it out. One of the women had been humming it—an Island tune he hadn’t heard for years. It made him feel like a child again.

Stretching his arms above his head, Kay looked up at the deep blue sky. It always seemed odd to him how blue it could be sometimes. At sea the contrast was even more noticeable against the deep red waves. He had heard a story once that the sky was the mirror of the ocean. That was back when there were still fish and other creatures in the water. They were good stories. Maybe he’d get Helen to tell him one over dinner.

The road narrowed, dodging between the houses until it became an alley. Kay liked sneaking in the back door. Helen was always so surprised to see him, even though she shouldn’t be seeing as it was her fault he had a respectable job now. He had even managed to get her and Luis presents from Dymouth.

Kay eased open the worn door. It groaned slightly. He’d have to fix that, along with that new hole in the far wall. The mortar must’ve been bad there. He glanced around the dim room. No sign of Helen or even Luis. They must be upstairs.

“Hello,” called Kay. His voice echoing through the house. A shriek, followed by a thump on the ceiling proved his guess correct.

“He’s back! He’s back! Hurry up, Grandma.” Luis slid down the steep staircase and barreled into Kay. “You’ve been gone for ages!”

Kay laughed. “Is that how you count four days now? What’s a week then?”

Luis’ black eyes sparkled from under her dark bangs as she started going through his pockets. “We start plannin’ your funeral at that point.”

The stairs creaked as Helen joined them by the door. “She might. I just expect something nice to make up for it.” She patted Kay’s cheek. “It’s always good to see you, Kay.”

“Look what he brought us!” Luis held up the discoveries she had made. “What are they? They look like shriveled grapes and rocks.”

“They’re seeds,” said Kay. “I happened to be walking around Dymouth when I found some beautiful blue flowers—those are the ‘shriveled grapes’—and the most delicious fruit bush—those would be the ‘rocks’. You can add them to the rest of your garden.”

“Are they useful?” Helen took the seeds and rolled them around in her palm.

“Of course,” said Kay. “I wouldn’t bring you something that was just pretty.”

“I hope the plants weren’t in someone’s garden,” said Helen, returning the seeds to Luis.

Kay shrugged. “Even if they were, Dymouth is still part of Birai so it wouldn’t be stealing.”

“Don’t turn this into one of your arguments about leaving Luer. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’m not about to move.” Helen opened a cabinet and poked around among the contents. “It may be bad but I prefer the bad stuff I know to the ones I don’t. Now wash up while I get some dinner cooking.”

While Helen cooked, Kay told about all the people and places he had seen. The Islands’ ferry wasn’t anything like the sloops he’d sailed on with his old captain, but it was certainly much safer. Kay didn’t mind the trade because Luis was always so eager to hear his stories. She was particularly interested in the ones about “the really stupid people.”

“There was an unusual boy on the last leg of the trip.” Kay grabbed the mess of papers off the table and shoved them under a chair. “He called himself Tristan and said he was an orphan.”

“That’s not so unusual,” said Helen.

Kay shook his head. “He said he was on a quest to become a hero and some other strange things. He insisted he was dying of seasickness at one point, even though he refused to accept any of the remedies we offered. I finally got him to take some ginger root just before we put into port.”

“Oh, he’s one of those.” Luis smiled knowingly.

“I think he must not be quite right in the head. He’d be talking like a cicada one minute and then go silent the next while staring off with a half grin on his face.”

Helen turned from the stove and folded her arms. “And where is he now? I hope you invited him here like I taught you.”

“I did,” said Kay. “He insisted that he’d only ‘bring the wrath of his enemies’ down on whoever he stayed with or something like that. I last saw him wandering down the main road still smiling to himself.”

Helen frowned. “Luis says there are Fae in town looking for someone. I hope he doesn’t come to grief because of them.”

Kay nodded. The last thing Tristan needed was to get on the wrong side of a Fae. Of course, which Fae he met would make all the difference. He’d have a chance if it was one of the Higher Fae like Fae Isolde. They could be partially reasoned with, and usually had little interest in humans.

“I’ll look for him again after we eat,” said Kay.

Helen beamed. “That’s an excellent idea. Insist he has to come back with you—unless he has people to look after him. I’m sure we could put him up for a few nights if he needs us.”

Kay rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling. Helen would never change.