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Before I can blink, we’re speeding farther away from the shore. We pass over a field of sea plants, and I watch entranced as their long green and red fronds sway gracefully.
The water turns to midnight blue as we descend deeper. A slight pang of fear hits me as darkness and pressure close in around me. Evya tightens her hold on me, interlocking her fingers with mine. Her firm touch steadies me, and my apprehension ebbs. Still, I can’t imagine what she brought me here to see.
Evya’s face is alight with anticipation as she pulls a small shark-skin pouch from beneath her wrap top and retrieves a tiny rune-lantern from within it. The small glass sphere blazes to life at her touch, and my jaw drops in astonishment as the light falls on our surroundings.
Colors burst around us—coral and anemones in every hue imaginable, growing in massive hills that stretch as far as I can see. Fish with sparkling scales dart among the living sculptures, dodging the claws of great blue crabs and tiny sea dragons that nestle among the crags of the reef. I stare, elation filling me as I take it in.
We plunge deeper into the beautiful chaos. Evya seems to know its every secret, and at every turn she points out another wonder. We hunt for the small, crystalline gouri snails that hide among the crags of the reef, and wind through tall fronds of coral that wave like feathery fans. She navigates the mazelike reef with practiced ease, strong and elegant on the currents. Surrounded by the ocean’s life, with her golden hair fanning out around her and the pearlescent scales of her long tail catching the colors of her surroundings, she might have sprung from the coral itself. This is her world, and she has given it to me without reserve. I take it all in and let its beauty seep into my soul.
We speed on and on through the reef, over mountains of purple and pink and valleys of sea plants that sway with the motion of the currents. I lose track of time, of distance, of everything but the feel of the sea around me. The runes hum with quiet, unfailing power. I feel calm and content far below the surface of the water.
At last, Evya steers me away from the coral and back up toward the distant sunlight. The sandy floor seems to rise with us, until suddenly I’m walking rather than swimming. Evya shifts in the space of a heartbeat. The fins on her forearms vanish as well, and the gills on her neck smooth over with skin. I watch her in wonder, amazed at the effortless workings of her magic.
A pang of jealousy hits me as I try to imagine having such an ability, but I quickly stifle it. I will never belong to the sea in the same way she does, but I am already closer to her world than I’d once believed possible. I only hope the magic in my runes will prove enough to compete with warriors who have fins and gills.
As we emerge from the water, my lungs stir to life, and I gasp in a breath. Air feels foreign and the wind around me is harsh compared to the currents below. We emerge onto another beach, this one strewn with rocks and sparse patches of seagrass.
My head is still spinning. I run my fingers over the runes beneath my collarbone, amazed by their magic and hungry for more of the sea.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” I breathe. “I almost don’t want to go back to the land.”
Hand in hand, we leave the water behind. I feel stronger, at peace with myself in a way unfamiliar to me. My dread over losing my old life has grown small and powerless. When I glance at Evya, she’s smiling in triumph. Her eyes fix on me, and I see the secrets and wonders of the ocean in their blue depths. I’ve glimpsed part of her soul as we explored the reef together—a part of her I would never have understood through our shared songs.
“Thank you.” I turn and wrap her in an embrace. She returns it, her hold on me strong and determined. The embrace not merely of a lover, but of a friend and an ally, of someone who gives freely and withholds nothing. And suddenly, I’m finished holding back from her.
“There’s more I need to tell you,” I say. “About my past, and about my family. I want you to know everything.”
“And I want to hear,” she says. “But you can speak while we walk. I need to show you something.”
She steps out of the embrace. My mind is spinning with everything I want to tell her, but I hold my tongue as I take in the expression on her face. Pensive worry marks furrows on her countenance, replacing the joy that lit her features only moments before. She turns away and starts walking inland. I follow, about to ask what is bothering her.
Then I lift my gaze and take in the scene before us. I halt in my tracks and stare, all speech fleeing me.
Chapter 10
Keliveth
