Page 63 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

We are not friends. You are Little Goddess because you speak to us as no others have.

I raised a brow at the horse, surprised and confused by this statement, but I decided not to push him on it. Kelpie beliefs were something I did not have time to worry about.

“Regardless,” I said, shivering slightly as Caspian reached out to squeeze my thigh. Now that whatever was between us was out in the open, he kept finding small ways to touch me. “Is that not a nickname?”

I suppose it is.The kelpie gave me a look that felt like the horse equivalent of a raised brow.Is this how friends act, then, in your world?He nodded to Caspian’s roaming hand, and I blushed.

Caspian sat up in a fluid movement so we were side by side, one wing wrapping around me.

“What is he saying?” Caspian murmured, his breath skating over my ear. Warmth flooded me, and, seas below, it was going to be a struggle to control my breathing for completely different reasons now.

“Nothing important,” I said, giving Ran a pointed look. He made a watery neigh of annoyance, diving below the river and out of sight.

“Where did he go?” Caspian asked irritably. “I thought he wanted us to repay him for not successfully drowning me?”

“You should try to play nice,” I replied with a nudge against his shoulder. “He’s threatened to try again.”

“Trying is not succeeding,” Caspian growled, his eyes flicking to my lips as if he’d quite like to distract himself from his frustration.

We hadn’t spoken about last night, but there was a clear understanding between us that things had both changed and not. I met his eyes, the gold sparking there as he looked at me hungrily, and I wished that it could be like this forever.

That I didn’t have to go back.

A burbling whinny told me that Ran had returned, and I broke my gaze away from Caspian’s, looking sheepish.

Friends, is it?

“Yes,” I said emphatically, trying to put a bit of distance between myself and the Siren King by getting to my feet.

There is no shame in admitting your feelings, Little Goddess, Ran said with a tilt of his head—the equivalent of a horsey shrug.Kelpies do not quibble over desire as you seem to.

“Are you ready to tell us what favor we owe you yet?” Caspian asked, glaring between us as he stood with me. It was hard to remember that he couldn’t hear the kelpies as I could, and I was grateful for the interruption.

Not you,Ran said pointedly, snorting at Caspian despite knowing perfectly well that the siren couldn’t understand him.Her.

“What can I do for you, then?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest as if the stance would help me face whatever trial the herd wanted me to complete. “We are trying toleavethis island, so this favor can’t take very long.”

The herd pawed at the stream angrily, clearly feeling that this did not align with the terms of our bargain.

You will stay until the task is complete,Ran commanded, his neigh both silencing the herd and reminding me that he was not a creature to be trifled with.Or his life is forfeit.

“Whattask?“ I asked, feeling increasingly irritated at the kelpie’s circular way of speaking. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me how.”

The voice that answered in my head wasn’t just Rannoch’s. It was as if all the kelpies cried out together, their singular plea ringing through my skull so loudly that I staggered. Caspian caught me, his voice drowned out by the cacophony of the water spirits as he mouthed, “What’s wrong?”

As one, the water horses repeated their command.

YOU MUST SAVE OUR LAKE.

Chapter 24

“Surviveamaelstrom,defeata kraken, get shipwrecked and drowned, save an enchanted lake,” Caspian grumbled. “Believe it or not, I didnotsign up for any of this when I decided to kidnap you.”

“I’m sorry for being so highly inconvenient for you,” I drawled, looking at him with mock contrition. “Next time you kidnap me, I’ll try to be better behaved.”

“Doubtful,” Caspian quipped, giving me a lopsided smirk that made my heart stutter.

“Although to be fair,” I continued as we picked our way up the bank of the stream toward the lake we were supposed to save, “I believe I am the only one who is supposed to save the enchanted lake.”