“Look, mommy! It’s a mermaid.”
I angled my head, spotting a woman and a child seated on a picnic blanket a short distance away.
“No, sweetie. It’s just a young lady. Mermaids are only a myth.” The woman climbed to her feet and walked through the sand until she stood over me. Her body blocked the sun, casting me in shadow. “Are you all right? Do you need help?”
“What kingdom is this?” I asked, struggling to my knees.
The woman offered her hand. I flinched, afraid to touch it. Her act of kindness felt foreign and suspect, as if her fingers were a net waiting to drag me back to the sea. My gaze trailed along her fine-boned wrist, the smooth unblemished skin, and I tucked my hands behind my back, horrified she might see the scrapes and bruises covering them.
Her gaze softened. I bit the inside of my cheek, hard enough for the pain to join the rest of the aches in my body. The last thing I wanted was anyone’s pity. Ignoring the fatigue weighing down my arms, I planted my palms into the sand and pushed myself up. I staggered as I regained my feet.
A light breeze could have knocked me over, and it almost did as the air gusted off the water. The surf swirled around my toes, then drained out to sea. But the ground felt solid and secure. Itrusted it more than the stranger in front of me.
“It’s okay to go slow. You might have hit your head. You’re in the Kingdom of Ever.”
Home.
Fresh tears swelled, and it took everything in me not to crumple to my knees.
“Do you know your name?” The woman’s eyes widened as she looked over my shoulder at the horizon. “Were you in a shipwreck?”
I shook my head with a rueful smile. She wouldn’t believe me if I told her the truth.
“I’m fine, just disoriented. I went for a swim and got stuck in the current.”
“The sea is rough today. You should take better care of yourself. You might have drowned.”
Most days, I wish I had.
Giving her a placating nod, I brushed the sand from my skin. I took a wobbly step, testing my weight against my newly transformed legs. When I didn’t pitch into the sand, I took another step, inching my way up the beach.
The queen gave me three weeks to find the shard, and by the feel of it, I'd take three weeks just to walk properly. I should have bargained for more time.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” she called after me. “I have a carriage waiting beyond the dunes, and we’re just about finished with our picnic. You look unwell. I can take you home.”
I hesitated and glanced at the woman over my shoulder. A feverish shudder wracked my body. The thought of stepping into a confined carriage made me recoil, but the practicality was tempting. At my rate, I’d keel over before I walked halfwayto my destination. If I died in a ditch after surviving three years of captivity, the joke would be on me.
“Are you familiar with the Moreland estate?”
The woman’s brow pinched. “You mean, Lord Moreland? You don’t want to go there.” Her gaze dipped to the filmy cloth gathered around my legs. “Not dressed like that. He’s a wicked man.”
I made a sound in the back of my throat.
Define wicked.
“I’m looking for his sister, Cassandra Moreland. It’s likely a fool’s errand. She’s hardly in residence.”
“Oh.” The woman’s voice dropped as if the wind might steal her gossip. “You mean, the lady who lives in the house of glass? She’s there, toiling away in her exotic garden. I hear she’s eccentric. Some call her a witch.”
Cass?I frowned at the picture the woman painted. She had the plants right, but a reclusive witch? I’d been gone too long, apparently.
“I’ll drop you outside the gate. You’ll have to find your way from there.”
“That’s more than enough.” I eyed her warily, then reached for the words that scraped like rusted nails inside my throat. “Thank you.”
The woman gathered her things and linked hands with her daughter. The simple gesture made something tighten in my chest, a flare of longing I hadn’t felt in years. It burned out quickly, the ash of hope whisking away on the wind.
My fingers curled into a loose fist. Any thoughts beyond my current mission could wait.
