Page 75 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

“Luckily, the walk to the hut is fairly short,” I joked, patting his neck. It was an odd sensation, and my hand came away wet.

You misunderstand me, Little Goddess,Ran said, flicking his ears agitatedly.I mean to your selkie home. Your island. It is far, but I could make the journey in a day.

“Oh,” I said, my stomach plummeting. I hadn’t decided what to do about Caspian’s offer yet, and it hadn’t even occurred to me to ask the kelpies to take me home, but it would certainly solve the problem of transportation.

The sea had been calling to me since we had moved up to the hut, and a swim would be the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

You do not wish to go home, Ran said. It wasn’t a question, and I sighed.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I wasn’t happy with the choices my parents made for me. But I have a duty. A responsibility.”

Duty is important, Ran agreed somberly.But it can be fulfilled in many ways.

“What do you know of my duties, Ran?” I asked, giving the kelpie a skeptical look.

He shuddered, the horse equivalent of a shrug.You wish to serve your people. To lead. There are many ways to do so.

“But only one my father would approve of,” I sighed, thinking of Vitulus, and then immediately replacing his form with Caspian’s in my mind.

Your father is only your keeper if you allow him to be so,Ran said, nosing me on the shoulder.But you, Little Goddess, are your own keeper.

“Caspian asked me to go with him,” I confessed, looking down at the beach to see if I could spot him. “To try to unite our peoples.”

That is not a surprise, since he is in love with you.

“Seas below, Ran,” I exclaimed, warmth and panic warring in me. “First of all, you can’t know that. And second of all, you can’tsaythings like that.”

Why not?Ran asked, as if genuinely confused by this non-kelpie convention.It is the truth.

“Gods, I amnotarguing about my love life with a horse,“ I exclaimed, shaking my head in disbelief. “We’ve only known each other for a few weeks. And he kidnapped me! That’s not exactly an auspicious beginning to a relationship.”

He feels for you as you do for him,Ran proclaimed. He sounded so smugly confident that I seriously considered evaporating him to teach him a lesson.As it should be with mates.

“What do you know, Ran?” I asked, tired of circling around this question. “Why do you keep calling us mates?”

Ran tilted his head to look at me, as if not quite sure if I was being purposefully stupid.Some bonds can be forged,he said slowly, giving me a penetrating look.And some are known. Yours is the latter.

Before I could demand a further explanation, Rannoch had turned and was cantering back up the hill toward his stream.

“Meddlesome pony!” I shouted after him. I knew he heard, a snort that sounded like a laugh wafting to me from the distance, but he didn’t deign to respond.

I sighed. The day I got a straight answer from the kelpie would be a miracle. If I ever managed to complete my bargain with him and get off this island. And if I could decide where to go after that.

What if there was truth in what Ran said? Sometimes mates were fated, although it wasn’t usually the case among the selkies.

But no. Mates felt what each other felt. Knew the other intimately as if seeing their thoughts and soul. I liked Caspian a great deal, probably far more than I should after the previous night, but I couldn’t sense his feelings. Didn’t feel what he did.

And even if we were, something between us couldn’t work. It would only end in death or heartbreak.

I tried and failed to ignore the wave of disappointment I felt.

The beginning of a headache was forming between my brows, and I winced, deciding that a swim could wait until after a nap.

The day was cold, but Caspian had left the fire smoldering in the hearth, and the hut was gloriously warm. The scent of medicinal herbs wafted from the steam in the pot, and I both sighed and melted at the other meddlesome male in my life. Clearly, he didn’t believe my morning coughing was nothing to worry about.

What might it be like to accept his offer? To ally with him politically, yes, but also be with him in all the other ways that came with marriage? The idea made my heart thump a little unevenly.

Father and Mother could never forgive me, though. To go against their wishes not only in my choice of mate, but in my allegiance. I might gain the love of a single male and acceptance by some of his people, but I might lose everything else.