Page 5 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

“Ah, Captain,” my father said, waving him over and, to my horror, gesturing to the empty seat next to mine. “Join us. We were just telling Marina the happy news.”

“Indeed,” the Captain said, giving me a steady, appraising look. “I am honored to be chosen for you, Princess.”

“I’m sure you can call her Marina, Captain,” my mother said, smiling warmly at Vitulus and giving me a not-so-subtle nod. If she wanted me to thank him for his noble sacrifice in agreeing to the match, she would be sorely disappointed. “Vitulus was informed this morning, my dear,” she added by way of explanation.

“I—” I started again, trying to find the words to protest. To argue that I didn’t want this. Didn’t want him. That I wanted time to choose someone I liked. My lungs felt like they were constricting in my panic, and the words died in my throat.

“Come now, Marina,” Father said, giving me a pointed look. “Where are your manners?”

I swallowed, really looking at the Captain as a possible partner for my future. He was handsome, that was undeniable. He had a strong jaw and frame, and he was the most skilled warrior in the archipelago. As a future king and commander, he was absolutely the wisest choice, and his family and clan were powerful and influential. He was, by all accounts, a good match.

But I didn’t like him, not even as a friend. He wasn’t cruel, but he also wasn’t particularly kind or funny or warm, and he had never treated me as an equal. I knew what he would expect of me as his mate, and the idea of spending my life imprisoned in this stone fortress made my blood run cold as panic writhed in my gut.

“Marina,” my mother pressed, clearly reading the conflict in my face. “Your future happiness is important to us. Captain Vitulus has assured us that he cares greatly for your well-being and happiness too, is that not so, Captain?”

I met Vitulus’ eyes, the same shade of brown as his skin, and tried, really tried, to give him a chance.

“I vow to protect you, Marina,” he said quietly. “And care for you. Your happiness shall be mine, and your troubles mine as well. I hope we can be friends.”

I tried to swallow, to breathe, to calm my raging heart.

“Marina?” my mother said, reaching for my hand and squeezing. “Are you alright, darling?”

I sucked in a rasping breath, gasping through the tightness in my lungs, meeting my mother’s panicked gaze with my own.

“Breathe, Marina!” my mother cried, rising from the table and rushing to my side as my vision began to blacken around the edges. “Nereus, send for the healers,” she added, commanding my father as easily as he did his warriors. “Marina!”

I had the vague sense of falling as my vision darkened, of struggling to breathe as I was carried by strong arms against a broad, warm chest.

And then I felt nothing.

“Sheshouldbefineby the evening, Captain,” I heard the voice of my mother say, fuzzy and far off as if she were a great distance away. “I’m sure she would appreciate you coming to see her then.”

“Of course,” I heard Vitulus reply. I groaned, remembering that we were to be mated, but my mother clearly took this as a sign that I was trying to communicate something. “I’ll return at sundown,” he added, before a door clicked shut and a weight settled on the bed next to me.

“Always scaring me,” my mother clucked, pushing the hair back from my face as I cracked an eye open at her. She looked tired and concerned, and she pushed a cup of tea into my hands. “How is your breathing?”

“Tight,” I replied, trying to picture the calming waves in my mind as I took the tea. It smelled faintly of peppermint, my favorite, and aniseed, my least favorite. “But a little easier.”

“Good,” Mother said, waiting as I breathed in the steam before taking a sip of tea. It wasn’t the best flavor, but it did help. “Now, Marina,” my mother said gently, speaking to me in the tone she used when she was about to discuss duty and honor. I groaned.

“My love,” she laughed, stroking my hair as she took the teacup from me. “I know you are a free spirit, wild like the tempest-tossed sea. But you have responsibilities. Duties to uphold. You can’t be running around and risking yourself, especially with your condition.”

“I know that, Mother,” I rasped, taking another calming breath as my lungs gradually loosened. I sank back into the pillows, trying to blink back tears of frustration and disappointment. I was so tired of being told I was weak. Of being told I had a duty. Of denying whatIwanted.

“Is he cruel?” Mother asked seriously, giving me a hard look. “The captain. Has he assaulted the maids, or made you uncomfortable? Is he rude? Because we can find someone else if he is really so objectionable.”

“No,” I sighed, knowing my mother wouldn’t understand. “He’s none of those things. He just…” I pursed my lips. “I don’t love him. I don’t even know him. And I know that’s not enough of a reason for you and Father, but if I’m to be mated to a male for the rest of my life, which could be several centuries if the seas bless me, then I want to at leastlikehim.”

“When I first met your father,” she said, beginning a story I had heard a hundred times, “I thought he was very boring.”

“And then you got to know him and he showed you a different side of himself. I know,” I said, frowning up at her and feeling my frustration burn in my chest. “You were lucky.”

“Luck had very little to do with it, Marina,” my mother laughed, handing me the cup of steaming tea again. I took another sip, raising my brows at her over the pearl rim. “We worked hard, once we were betrothed, to get to know each other. To fall and stay in love with one another. The passion came later.”

“I’m not sure Vitulus is capable of passion,” I said wryly, picturing the solemn face of the warrior. I coughed, almost sending scalding tea splashing across my bed.

Mother rescued the cup and placed it on my side table again. “Butyouare, my dear,“ she said, cupping my face with her hand as she looked at me with all the hope of a mother planning the perfect future for her child. “You can teach him. And he will steady you. Center you. He will balance your…wilder tendencies.”