14Early the next morning, Raka was awakened by the sound of birds singing in the trees around the village. Her grandpa's house, where she had slept, glowed with the first dim light of dawn that flowed through the windows and doorway.
At first, Raka didn't know where she was. For a moment, she thought she was back in her bedroom on Shark Island, with King Ikaz and Queen Perza in the room next door. With the birdsong, the dim light, and the familiar, sweet smell of the jungle, it could have been just another day at home, just another morning no different from any other.
Then, Raka saw her mother's Kee pendant hanging on the wall above the foot of her sleeping mat. Grandpa Po had placed it there after the feast the night before, just as he had said that he would.
All at once, Raka's me
