Chapter 17

Awakened by thunder on the small fishing boat, Brynn checks Acker’s improving condition and spots a distant storm. She improvises a rain-catching line from the mast to a livewell, then rouses Acker to help re-raise the sails. Together they set the jib and mainsail, harness the storm’s outer winds, and make speed northeast.

As the boat steadies, Acker praises Brynn’s seamanship, and their guarded banter turns to his past. He admits he joined the army at thirteen and fought early, explaining Kenta’s long conflicts despite the market’s appearance. Tension spikes when Brynn challenges why he didn’t escape sooner; he says he needed to gauge her ties to Kai and earn her trust.

A rogue wave aggravates Acker’s wound, prompting Brynn to retie the tiller and redress him. Discovering contraband mead, she cleans the gash and sutures it with a fishing hook and line while sharing her childhood in Alaha—training as a guard and finding purpose despite loneliness. Acker acknowledges he once hoped she was dead rather than suffering, softening the distance between them.

They revisit the stone test at the Market. Acker reveals he provoked Brynn’s touch to confirm her identity and late awakening, explaining the pain as a compressed development that isn’t finished. He warns her true powers will emerge after a brief but intense completion of the awakening, beyond simply calling her forged blade.

As they resume their course, Acker outlines the broader stakes: Osiris falsely confessed to Brynn’s abduction and died for it, while his brother Chryse—sympathetic to Wren—now stokes revolution. The chapter closes with mutual apologies and a fragile movement toward trust as they sail toward Kenta and Brynn’s impending, painful awakening.