“Mother you can’t die, I can’t run this whole town alone,” I say, holding her tightly in my arms on the bed. She looks up to me, smiling.

“I must tell you the secret the king left here when he was a young man, before I die. You must save everyone here before it’s too late,” she says and I shake my head, tears falling down my eyes. I look over at the door, knowing my husbands are outside and I want to run into their arms, not be strong for my mother like I need to be right now.

“Eowynn, you know the white cliffs on the other side of the island? The ones I used to take you to as a child to see the sea?” she says, and I nod my head, meeting her eyes that are so much like mine. The cliffs are high on one side that fall into the sea, but there’s another side to them that has a deep pool of icy water. My mother always told me that someone could survive a jump in the pool, but not so much the sea. The pool has a small beach on the other side, one that you could swim out of.

“Jump into it, swim down and there’s a cave at the bottom. In the cave is the secret, the map to a crown that can give a changed one the power to kill the king,” she says and I watch her in silence as her words run around my mind.

“The war, the whispers of war and the changed one that could win it, it’s all true? You believe this story?” I ask her.

“Yes, find the map and take our people to the mountains. Take them to the princes and the changed one. Help them win this war because they will need you. The war must be won, there is nothing left good in this world if it isn’t. The old gods will rise, and the true heir needs to be on the throne for when that happens. Everything will be lost Eowynn, everything,” She says desperately as I wonder where she has heard this from. Old gods rising? What gods? I look down when she starts squeezing my hand tightly enough to hurt me.

“Promise me you will jump,” she says and I nod.

“Say it Eowynn, I need this promise,” she demands, still the strong women I know even as she dies.

“I promise,” I say, choking on my tears as the light leaves her eyes and her grip on my hand loosens until it drops into my lap. I sob quietly as I lie her body down on the bed, lifting the sheets and pulling them over her body before getting off the bed. I pace next to her body, harshly wiping the tears away as I think about what she said. War is coming and it’s up to me, the last council member to decide which side we are on. The evil king, who has murdered and rules with fear, or the whispers of a changed one. A girl who faced the king, almost killed him and escaped. A girl who has the heart of the princes and an army behind her.

“Eowynn, I’m so sorry my treasure,” Fen says, looking at my mother’s body and back to me. He goes to walk over and I let him hold me as I cry my eyes out. I eventually pull away, straightening my spine and lifting my head.

“Call everyone to the town, I need an emergency meeting,” I say, and he nods, walking back out.

“I will deliver my promise,” I tell my mother, before looking away and walking out the hut.

“Is she alive? Eowynn? Wake up?” I hear Fen demand, as the hands on my arms start lightly shaking me. I open my eyes to see I’m on the table, lying down and my husbands are all around me.

“I remember everything,” I say, sitting up quickly as they look at me in shock.

“Fen, Diego, Cullen and Shan…we need a big meeting once more,” I say, and they all give me equal looks of relief and love. I look around, seeing the heads of most the families watching me before locking eyes with Neil.

“Can you arrange this for me, in an hour? I have somewhere we need to go first,” I tell Neil, my cousin, who nods before running away. I slide off the table, walking over to my mother’s seat and remembering the last time I sat here, telling the entire town the plan. My husband’s follow me over, watching as I stoke a hand over my mother’s seat and look to my father’s.

“We need to go to the cliffs,” I tell them, waiting for the bad reaction I know they will all have.

“No way, you nearly died there!” Fen protests and I shake my head.

“I was pushed, when I wanted to jump,” I say and they all look at me like I’m mad.

“We need to jump in, swim to the cave at the bottom and get something from there. It’s important and we need it before we leave. I went last time, but I got into a fight with Smith. He didn’t want me to get the map from the cave, he wanted to side with the king. So, he pushed me, and I banged my head on the cliffs as I was too close to them,” I say, and Shan growls lightly.

“We should have killed him slower,” he says, and my husbands all nod.

“So, we are going for a swim?” Diego says, stroking his beard, and stepping closer to me.

“Yes,” I say as he links his hand with mine.

“Let’s go,” he replies. We all walk out the council hut, straight to the right side of town and towards the cliff that isn’t far from the town. I walk straight up to the top with my husbands by my side and look down at the pool below.

“You don’t have to jump, we can do this for you,” Shan says, stepping next to me and I look up at him.

“I will wait with the clothes, as I can’t swim,” Fen says, and I walk over, kissing his cheek.

“Thank you,” I tell him, knowing how scared he is of the water.

“As much as I love you for offering, this is something I promised my mother,” I say and he understands, not needing to ask me anything else. I pull all my clothes off, standing in just my white lacy vest top. Shan, Diego and Cullen are all in just their trousers as we walk to the edge. The cold wind blows against my ears, as I look around and I swear I can feel my parents with me. Helping me have the courage I need to do this.

“For my mother,” I say before jumping straight down. I hear the air whistle past my ears and my heart pounding in my chest as I straighten my arms out above my head just before I hit the water. I swim straight down when I hit the water, trying my hardest not to let the cold freeze me like last time. I feel a push of water next to me, and I turn to see Diego and Shan on my left, and I turn my head to the right, as I swim further down to see Cullen. He points to the left of him, and I see the light he is pointing to. I turn, swimming after him and towards the light. I swim into the light, gasping for air when I break out of the cold water into the warm air of the cave.

“Why is it warm?” I ask, coughing and wiping my eyes from the water. I look up to see steam coming from the walls of the cave. I look behind me as Shan and Diego pop out of the water near me. The water is slightly warm here as well.

“Come on, we need to get what we came for and get out,” Cullen shouts, and I turn to see him climbing out the water on the other side. I swim over to him, grabbing his offered hand and letting him pull me out. I stand up, shivering from the cold water dripping down my clothes as I look around. Its empty in here, other than the water and one box I spot on the other side of the room. I run over to it, pulling the lid open. Inside is another box, a water tight one with a silver case. I snap the latch open, seeing an old map resting in the middle of it.

“What is the map for?” Shan says behind me.

“To win a war,” I say, snapping the box shut.