Page 9 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

“I’m fine,” I shouted back, swimming out to the rocks. I truly was fine. My lungs felt clear—well, clearish—and I could make this swim in my sleep. I coaxed the currents around me, helping me slip through the water faster as I swam to meet the seals.

I heard a faint curse and a splash from the shore as Vitulus entered the water after me. I wondered how much more I could crack the cold exterior of the captain, hauling myself up onto the rock with the seals.

“Good morning,” I said, stroking the closest seal’s silky body as it barked in welcome. I wondered if the seals thought it strange or barbaric that we wore their skins. Seals were revered creatures, and they were only skinned after a natural death, the rest of their bodies used for food and insulation, or buried and blessed if they were too far gone. Sealskins were carefully cleaned and oiled and passed down over time to prevent unnecessary wear and tear.

The seal barked happily, such macabre thoughts seemingly far from his mind.

“Marina,” Vitulus growled, surfacing before me. “Seas below,” he groaned, turning around. My breasts were on full display, and I smirked a little at my victory. Being incapable of much exercise had given me a figure that was soft and curvy, rather than strong and lithe. I had very nice breasts—and hips and other parts—or so I had been told by one of the younger guards I’d had a short dalliance with a few years before. He’d been transferred to another island, and I had always wondered if it was because someone found out about our affair.

“I told you, I’m fine,” I said, trying to sound sweetly innocent as I scratched the seal’s head. “And I’m not bothered by nakedness. You may as well look.”

“That would be—” he choked out his reply, stumbling over himself. “I think we should go back.”

“Seas below, Captain,” I sighed.

“No, Marina,” Vitulus said, pointing. “We should go back.”

I followed his finger to a ship emerging from the mists, much closer than the sirens usually came. The faint outline of ropes and masts and wings made my stomach leap with fear. Or maybe excitement. It was hard to be sure.

“Now, Marina,” Vitulus said, grabbing my waist and pulling me from the rock, suddenly not nearly as concerned about my bare breasts as he was the siren ship. “I need to alert the guards.”

For once, I didn’t argue, following Vitulus’ instructions and making for shore. He surfaced behind me, pushing me ahead of him as I scrambled out of the waves. My tail split back into legs as I pulled on my skins, again while I was soaking wet.

A drumbeat sounded in the distance, the warning alarm that danger was near, and Vitulus pushed me toward the stairs.

“Go straight back to the fortress,” he commanded, pulling on his kilt as I looked away. NowIwas the one blushing, but he was too focused to notice.

“Where are you going?” I asked, feeling a foreign pang of worry. Could I actually be starting to care what happened to this male? Or was this just fear and adrenaline?

“To the garrison,” he answered, nodding to another stone building on a rocky outcropping a few miles away. “Go now.”

He was running in the opposite direction before I made it to the first step, and he was far out of sight when I finally made it to the top of the stairs, my lungs burning with the exertion of the climb.

My father was already shouting orders at his men when I entered the dining hall, clearly having spotted the ship from our cliff. He didn’t notice me as I made my way back to my room, still wet and shivering from my swim.

“Seas below, Marina,” Sereia protested when I entered, dripping water all over the stone floor. She had been waiting for me, and she looked irritated that I’d gone off without her. “You’re supposed to have a guard.”

“Vitulus was with me,” I said, pulling off my wet things and wrapping a dry sealskin around me as I sat before the fire.

“Really?” Sereia asked, suddenly very interested in my morning as she came to sit next to me.

“But a siren ship appeared, and he sent me back,” I added, still shivering a bit.

Sereia looked at me in alarm. “And you obeyed?” she asked incredulously, placing a hand on my forehead. “Are you ill?”

I laughed, pushing her hand away. “I told you, I’m trying,” I said, giving her a pointed look.

“And is it working?” she asked, nudging me with a shoulder.

“Hard to say,” I answered, grimacing a bit. “It’s clear that he’s trying too, but he’s such a stickler for tradition and caution.”

“Very much the opposite of you,” Sereia agreed. “Theydosay that opposites attract.”

“If that’s true, then we are probably soulmates,” I joked.

I didn’t see or hear from Vitulus or my father for the rest of the day. Sereia helped me prepare for the feast, which apparently was still to go on, despite the excitement of the morning.

The feast was to be held on the beach at low tide. Most selkie festivities took place near the water, and I had seen the long tables and garlands of shells and bonfires being prepared from my window.