Page 105 of Salt in the Seas
Aeliana smiled in her relief. “Velden or Sylmar?”
“Maybe both,” Kendalyhn muttered. As she headed up the shore, squeezing water from her blouse, Iris, Holm, and Riveran followed, but Cyrus seemed frozen in shock, his face pale and his body still being buoyed by the waves. Aeliana tugged on his hands, bringing him farther up the shore to ensure he wouldn’t be pulled out again by a rogue wave.
“It’s all right, Cyrus. You’re fine.”
He nodded, not really looking at her, and she suspected he was back in Lovers’ Falls, drowning all over again. She put her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look at her.
“Take a deep breath. You are surrounded by air. You will not drown.” She emphasized each word like she was speaking to a child, and this time his nod was a bit more sure, his freckles no longer standing out so intensely against his pale skin.
“I won’t drown,” he repeated. Then he seemed to truly see her for the first time. “Did you see me riding the dolphin? I rode a dolphin.”
A laugh burst from her throat, and she hugged him even tighter than she had when he’d first ridden in. “You were an amazing dolphin rider.”
Another flash of lightning revealed the others arriving, this time led by the Sayhleens themselves. As the dolphins dropped off Sylmar, Lukai, and Gaeren, Aeliana finally breathed easier. She saw her relief reflected on Gaeren’s face as he came to check her over, but Lukai beat him to her, sweeping Aeliana up in a hug that felt more smothering than comforting.
Velden was suspiciously absent, and while Aeliana wasn’t concerned for his safety, she wondered why he held back. Was hismother’s tail dragging him to the sea’s floor? Or was he using it as an opportunity to put her in her final resting place?
The Sayhleens who had escorted them to safety rose from the water, their fins and tails morphing into legs and feet. Aqua and amethyst scales remained on their skin, and gills still flapped at their necks, as if they had no intention of staying on land for long.
“Why, Nori?” Deep disappointment laced the older male Sayhleen’s voice as he frowned down at the younger one who’d found Aeliana. He made harsh hand motions that brought the woman’s head low in shame.
“I’m so sorry, Father,” she whispered, her own hand motions much more subdued, but clearly communicating far more than they were saying. Her hands paused in hesitation, her gaze taking in all the Vendarans in confusion.
“It’s rude for us to use Water Words in front of guests.” The other female Sayhleen’s voice held a bit more softness. “What did you think you saw?”
“I thought I saw…” Nori tucked her hands behind her back, then stood a little straighter. “I thought I saw Rhoda’s scales.”
The older woman sighed. “You’ve never even met her.”
“But I’ve heard you describe her,” Nori rushed on. “Scales that bright are unusual. But… perhaps it was the storm’s light that confused me. I’m sorry, Mother.” Her head bowed once more.
The woman frowned. “I barely remember her scales. It was more fanciful daydreaming, and one of these days it’s going to get you killed.”
Nori’s chin rose a fraction. “Perhaps it was the sprites calling me up to save these people.”
Before her parents could respond, a final figure rose from the sea, weighed down by the heavy burden he carried in both his arms and heart. A flash of lightning revealed a glimmer of orange and mauve, brilliant scales and full fins.
Both of the older Sayhleens gasped.
“I knew it,” Nori breathed out.
But as Velden drew closer and it became apparent he carried only half the body, all three of the Sayhleens stiffened, and the man snarled.
Chaos ensued as a net shot out from the belt at the man’s waist, encompassing half of the Vendarans, who immediately drew weapons to defend themselves. Another came from the woman’s, effectively trapping the rest of them with a substance that seemed impervious to their daggers. When Sylmar’s staff turned molten, singeing the net even as the rain sizzled against it, the older Sayhleen pulled a three-pronged dagger out from his belt, snarling once more.
He held the dagger against Sylmar’s neck. “What have you done to my sister?”
CHAPTER 40
Gaeren steppedin front of Aeliana, attempting to shield her even though the Sayhleen man threatened Sylmar under the opposite net. As Velden drew closer, Nori released her own net, easily ensnaring him because he made no move to run. Instead, he lay his mother’s tail down and kneeled as though presenting an offering.
“Your sister?” Gaeren asked. “Then you would be Velden’s uncle?”
Velden’s head snapped up at this, his eyes holding a mix of hope and confusion.
But the Sayhleen kept his trident and focus on Sylmar, waiting for an answer.
“We brought your sister here for a proper burial,” Sylmar said, his tone more even and placating than Gaeren had ever heard it. “We mean her no disrespect.”
