Page 31 of Nyall

Serving as a kitchen scullery at Dun Ard didn’t permit Fiacail a great deal of free time, but gave her ample opportunity to observe the MacMar Clan and learn her way around the stronghold. Thus far everyone believed her story that she was Kai, a young castaway male who had jumped ship to avoid being sold as a slave, and had no idea she was a shape shifter who had once been Cait Sith. Some weeks previous Fiacail had been stabbed by her own Cait Sith sister, Dearg, and cast into the sea to drown. Before she could, a shark had attacked her. Then came the wholly bizarre turn, when a strange immortal named Duxor had saved her by somehow merging her body with the shark’s.

No one would believe the truth of that. Sometimes even she wondered if it had actually happened to her, or if she abided in some strange afterlife.

Since being saved and transformed, Fiacail had pledged to serve the immortal that had rescued her, and believed she would go on doing so for a time. She had much to think on regarding her sovereign, Derdrui, who had so easily sentenced her to die. Since killing the real Kai and taking his memories, she had shifted into his form so she could disguise herself while on the island, as her master Duxor had demanded.

Spend a moon among them and learn all you may of their troubles with the Selseus. Look for any weakness in their defenses.

The clan maintained their rather extensive defenses at the stronghold with the readiness of an army expecting an attack, which impressed her. Every guard on duty watched her closely, and even the humblest vassals seemed always prepared for trouble. Even Worth, the clumsy scullery who couldn’t seem to accomplish the simplest task without creating a minor disaster, advised her to report anything she saw out of the ordinary.

“’Tis the truce with the Finfolk the laird says he ever wishes preserve,” the scullery said. “Only I reckon he worries more on these shark attacks.”

Erskin, a mortal her master had transformed like her, had been foolish enough to capture and eat some young lambs.

“’Tis why none walk the shores, and warn me stay away?” Fiacail asked him.

The lad nodded. “They found the hand of a mortal killed by a white-mouth—only the hand—with a tooth left in the flesh.”

The approach of the full moon had been Fiacail’s only true worry, so much so that she had left the stronghold to hide herself in the forest that night. As a Cait Sith she had been unable to stop changing into her true form for a night whenever the full moon’s light touched her, but this time nothing had happened. By melding her with the shark, Duxor had somehow eliminated the spontaneous shift that she had suffered each month. Unlike Erskin, Fiacail was able to shift into other forms, and could remain out of the sea indefinitely. She’d suspected there would be a price for these boons, and it came over her whenever she saw Caroline Parish.

The shark wanted to hunt the dark-haired wench, so much so that it writhed inside her like some giant worm each time Fiacail saw the diver, as if trying to free itself from their blended body.

She had no particular desire to kill the diver, and suspected even a successful attack would only result in revealing herself to the MacMar. To appease the beast she pretended to stalk Caroline by following her now and again, at the same time taking care to stay well away from the woman in the event she lost control of her other half. That game both amused her and tormented the shark inside, and gave her the chance to wander along the shore as she watched Caroline dive. She even considered entering the water, shifting into her merged form and following the diver as she worked, but the chance of being discovered by the aquatics seemed too great.

After finishing her work for the day Fiacail walked down the cliff stairs to roam the shore, and saw the dark mortal woman swimming out in the deeper part of the shallows. She frowned, wondering what Caroline was doing as she submerged. After several moments she should have surfaced, but she remained under water. Soon Fiacail sensed something was wrong, and nearly rushed into the water after her. Only the sight of the MacMar’s Captain of the Guard walking the stone path reserved for his use by the cliffs made her change her mind and hurry over to him.

“Maister,” she said, remembering to lower her voice, and touch her brow as the other male vassals did to show respect. “The dark lady, she’s no’ come up for air.” She pointed in the direction of where she had seen Caroline submerge.

Nyall sprinted across the sand, leaving oddly deep footprints before he dove into the water. At the same time Fiacail saw the white-haired Selseus commander emerge from the waves, changing direction as he followed the captain. It made her smile to see how quickly they went to the aid of the diver, but then, everything these people did amused her. As if the life of one female meant more than their own.

No one shall ever treasure me thus. No’ my master, my intended mate, or my sovereign. Even my own sisters didnae care enough to save me.

A bright flash of white as if from lightning made Fiacail cringe, but when she looked up she only saw clear skies.

“Fack me,” she muttered as she saw lightning arc across the bay, seemingly out of nowhere, without disappearing. Then she looked down and saw the men, and from their position wondered if one of them had caused the strange bolt, for it seemed to be following them. Then the light spread in all directions, and dark clouds began to appear, closing around the island.

How could such a thing happen? Was she losing her mind?

Fiacail no longer experienced fear, anger or even sadness about the way her previous life had ended. With the shark inside her all of her emotions had flattened into shadows of what had been, vague and blurred. She rather enjoyed this cold-blooded thing she had become, for nothing plagued her. All her former worries and troubles seemed gone now. If she walked across the sands and found the dead bodies of her sisters rotting in the setting sun, she’d simply step over them. Yet this strangeness in the sky disturbed her.

The shark silently twisted inside her, wanting to pursue the men and kill them as well as Caroline.

“Need you another lesson, you toothy monster?” Fiacail murmured as the beast’s urges abruptly receded. “Och, you’re no’ fun.”

She stopped in her tracks as a green glow flared in the water near one of the islets on the opposite side of the bay, the agreed-upon signal summoning her to her master.

Chapter Ten

Amuffled sound made Caroline turn to see what looked like a short figure dressed like Merrick darting between two sections of the reef. At the same time, she noticed two other shapes speeding toward her, and got ready to defend herself until she recognized Nyall’s dark red hair and Jamaran’s white braid.

I’m not alone this time.

She shoved her free hand through the kelp weave, making a stop gesture as they drew close. When they did she pointed down to where the net had been tethered. Jamaran and Nyall glanced at each other, and the commander drew a long dagger and dove down. The captain swam closer to her, using his blade to cut a hole in the kelp in front of her face. The seaweed stuck to his dagger, making it hard for him to slice apart.

Stop everything.

The kelp trap and water stopped moving around her, but Jamaran remained in motion. She’d given him a few minutes to work, but that wasn’t going to help her breathe. She couldn’t understand why he darted to the surface and then came back down to her. Did he want her to drown? Then, just as he cut a large hole in the trap, he reached in with his other hand and pulled her against the gap, and put his mouth on hers.

Above them white light flashed, and thunder boomed so loudly the sea seemed to shake around them, but nothing else moved.