Page 7 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

I had just about given up engaging him in conversation when he said very seriously, “Marina.”

“Yes?” I asked, trying to look interested and not bored to literal tears.

“I know—” He cleared his throat, looking for the right words. “I know you do not want to be mated to me.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling both horrible and relieved that it wasn’t a secret.

He scooted his chair closer to the bed, leaning on his knees as he bent forward. “I know we are not friends. But I hope—I hope you will let me try. I think you are beautiful, and kind, and I would very much like for us to be happy together.”

“Oh,” I said again, feeling a flush creep up my cheeks. A tiny spark of warmth lit in my stomach at his words. Not passion by any means, but…well…he thought I was beautiful. It was something.

“I would like that as well,” I said, wishing it to be true more than believing it. If this match would please my parents and the kingdom, then maybe the seas would smile upon it.

Vitulus took my hand, a little hesitantly, squeezing it between his much larger ones. They were strong hands, and I wondered if I would like them roaming over my body when we were mated. My stomach made an odd, twisting lurch at the thought.

“I know you are a free spirit,” Vitulus said. “I promise I will let you have as much freedom as possible when we are mated.”

I pulled my hand back sharply. “You willletme?“ I asked incredulously, the warm feeling dying a sudden, violent death. “How exactly will youletme?”

Vitulus frowned, as if not understanding how he had upset me. “I will be your mate,” he said slowly. “The king. You will be my queen.”

“And I will do as I wish,” I replied coldly. “With or without your blessing.”

Vitulus pursed his lips. “I’ve clearly misspoken. I didn’t mean—”

“I am not yours to control,” I cut in, feeling rage boiling inside me. “If this is to work, then you must understand that before anything else.”

Vitulus sighed, looking tired and frustrated. “I have kept you up too late,” he said, rising and ignoring everything I had just said. “I hope you will honor me with a dance at the feast tomorrow.”

“The feast?” I asked, not remembering being told about any such event.

Vitulus nodded. “To celebrate our betrothal. The clan leaders will be attending. My parents…” he trailed off, his concern unspoken. He didn’t wish to dishonor them by having them think I objected to our match.

I groaned, pressing my hands to my face. This was all going wrong, and I had no idea how to fix it.

“Are you well?” Vitulus asked, kneeling swiftly by the bed and peeling my hands from my face. “Should I fetch the healers?”

“No,” I said, “I’m fine. Just realizing that we are both stuck in this arrangement, and you want it about as much as I do.”

Vitulus gave me a look that I wasn’t sure I understood. “I believe that, in time, we will both want it,” he said, meeting my gaze steadily. “I already do.”

Again, I felt something that could perhaps be a spark as I searched his face. Something that might, with patience and tending and gentle coaxing, grow into a flame.

“I’ll try,” I said, nodding. It was the most I could promise, and I saw a rare smile glimmer across his face, just for a moment.

“As will I,” he said, kissing my hand and rising from my side. “Goodnight, Marina.”

He left my room without another word or glance, and I suddenly felt too tight and confined in my own skin. I wanted to swim, to feel the cold ocean and shift into my selkie tail, and play in the currents. Despite my fear of drowning, the terror that my lungs would one day betray me, the sea always felt like the place where I was the most myself. The most free.

But five hundred stairs were between me and the sea, and my lungs seized at the idea of trying to climb them at the end of a swim.

So instead, I gazed out of my window at the moon, trying to picture the waves as I let the sound of the ocean lull me to sleep.

Chapter 3

Morningdawnedcoldandclear, and my lungs felt well enough that I decided I could brave the stairs and sneak out for a swim. My father had forbidden me from leaving without an escort, but I reasoned that it was unlikely the sirens would raid in broad daylight, and my soul was itching with the need for the sea.

She was calling to me, and I was nothing if not her obedient servant.