Page 55 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

Unless Marina would support us. She knew a little of the true history now. Maybe with time…

But the skies knew, we didn’t have time.

I toyed with the idea as I followed her map, trying to figure out how I could even ask her for such a thing.

The most obvious idea was one I absolutely couldn’t entertain. She’d never agree to marry me, even if it was clear she felt something for me. A political alliance like that, one bound in marriage, might force her father’s hand. But I wouldn’t do that to her. Wouldn’t force her into another betrothal she didn’t want, regardless of her personal feelings for me.

And she had told me she didn’t want to be a queen. She craved freedom and exploration, and who was I to deny her that?

Why was I even contemplating this? A marriage to my people’s enemy would never be approved by the council, no matter my argument of its political merit.

Skies above, why was I even thinking about marriage?

I was so distracted by the idea, the mental image of Marina in a white gown, the two of us being handfasted in the old ways beneath a setting sun, theremovalof that white gown, that I didn’t hear the rustling until it had surrounded me.

I paused, bracing myself in the soft earth and pulling Marina’s makeshift knife from my pocket.

“Who’s there?” I asked, turning in a slow circle. I could hear running water in the distance and realized I must have made it to Marina’s stream.

But something didn’t want me to approach it.

I spun as a crunch sounded, the terrain bare but for moss and rocks and a few spindly trees. Where could a beast even be hiding?

Another crunch and I turned, the most bizarre sight before me in the little clearing before the stream.

A horse stood there, its body entirely composed of water. It was a faintly translucent blue-green of swampy stream water, and it regarded me steadily as I lowered my shell.

“Hello,” I said, straightening before the fae creature. I had heard of horses made of water, water spirits that lived in lakes and streams in the more magical parts of the world, but I couldn’t remember anything specific about the legends. They were selkie tales mostly, and few had remained with us after the Exile.

The horse canted its head, watching me as I slowly approached.

“I’m looking for water,” I told the creature. “For my…friend. She is sick, and needs help.”

I wasn’t sure if the creature could understand me. It snorted as I approached, taking a cautious step back.

“I’m going to walk past you to the stream,” I told it, feeling a little ridiculous about speaking to a horse. “I mean you no harm.”

The horse stood there, watching me silently as I passed it and moved toward the stream.

I let out a breath of relief right before the creature barreled into me and dragged me into the water.

I thrashed, trying to twist out of its grip as I shouted, but suddenly there were water horses all around me, surrounding me in a bubble of water and pulling me down by my wings.

I hadn’t taken a deep breath before the air had been pushed out of me by the violence of the attack, and my will power gave out as I opened my mouth and let water flow in.

My last thought was of Marina, and how disappointed she would be that I had drowned after all, despite her hard work rescuing me.

Chapter 21

Caspiandidn’treturn.

After a few hours, I became annoyed.

When the sun began to set, I started to worry.

When night had fallen fully, and the wind was howling against the tiny hut, I progressed from worry to full blown panic.

“Seas below,” I growled, pulling one of the sealskins around my shoulders. If I could find some rope, I could maybe fashion one of them into boots to give my feet a little protection, but that would have to wait. I pushed out into the night, the rickety door slamming behind me in the harsh wind.