Moonsong Glacier If we run into red full speed

Brave! Ha! he wanted to say, My cousin is brave. I am Dutch.

But he did not really want to talk about his cousin. Or, at least, he did not want to talk about that cousin. He listened for hints of her own lineage instead, and with a sinking feeling, he recognized one word in particular.

Undersea.

"I am sure you will marry quickly in this land, if that is among your desires," Dutch replied, his smile rakish. Then he felt just a little strange; just a little guilty. For there were two connections between their families, and the closest of the two was a bad one. He wavered for a moment, but in the end, he told her: "I know where this island is. Undersea."

He stood, stretching his back after the protracted crouch. His eyes were on the seals, but his mind was turned inward, turbulent.

"You and I are of no relation," he said to her, "But after my grandmother, my grandfather married a spiritwalker. A selkie. Her name was Catori Corten, kin to the island wolves. I have an aunt and two uncles from that union. And the spirtwalker treated my mother like her own child. They visited the island together. It has been pointed out to me."

He looked to Smbelmyne only now to gauge her reaction.