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The simple words fill me with boldness and chase away the last trace of my fear. I hold her close, standing taller as I stare out to sea and look my fate in the eye. If this is my destiny as a Dalzana, then I will embrace it with all my heart.
Even if it ends in my death.
Chapter 11
Evya
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You lead him to hisdoom.The ocean’s voice resounds around me, heavy with certainty.
I try to shut my ears to the sea’s words, but they seep into my soul, stirring the deep fears I’ve been burying these past few days. I set my face to the horizon and grip the strap of the shark-leather satchel I carry, swimming hard. If only I could outrun the foreboding I feel.
I don’t think you will drown him, I say to the ocean.You know he isn’t your enemy.
I glance over at Keliveth where he swims on a fast current, almost keeping pace with me and Lirana and the rest of our company. We’re a large group, more than forty, and we weave in playful patterns through the water. Keliveth’s movements are weary, but still he swims with determined strokes as if our journey to the maraseya islands is a race he can’t afford to lose.
It has been six days since I brought him back to the palace, and he’s barely had a moment to rest. Every member of the tribe has plied him with questions, challenged him to fights, laughed at him as he fumbled through the small rituals of our daily life.
To make matters worse, Atathari scouts returned last night with reports of elven soldiers and mages gathering along the shore of the mainland. Keliveth swears that Falamar has given his word not to launch an attack until after the mate challenge has taken place. The promise of an elven king means little to the Seamother, however. Her suspicion of Keliveth has only grown sharper. She has loomed over him at every turn, as if waiting with anticipation for him to fail and earn death at her hands.
My elf has borne these trials with quick smiles and stubborn refusal to shirk from any challenge. But tonight will be his greatest test yet. It’s the eighth night of the Shantura festival, when we go to the outlying islands to dance and feast among the flowering maraseya trees. It will be the first time Keliveth is in the presence of the entire tribe at once—not to mention that he will be alone with the other contenders for part of the evening. I try not to think of all the ways this night could go wrong, but my mind whirls with unsettling possibilities.
Keliveth glances over at me, grinning as he cuts through the water. The guileless expression chips away at my dark mood and sends a flutter through my heart. I smile back, and he veers off course and collides with Cirali. She shoves him away. Laughter ripples through our group. Keliveth’s smile turns sheepish, but he laughs too as he falls back in formation with the others.
He wants to be here,I remind the sea.He’s chosen his path.
His blood is in your keeping, and the Seamother will not constrain her rage against him for long.The words come like the rumble of distant thunder.What price would you pay for him, Seamother’s daughter?
I will ...I cut my answer short as doubt unfurls within me. I want to say I will do anything—defy my mother, go against the tribe, whatever it takes to protect the man I have come to love—but our conversation on the cliffs by the maelstrom still rings too clearly in my mind. Keliveth would have left everything behind and run away with me. I refused without a second thought, letting him continue to put himself in danger for my sake.
I don’t know, I say.I cannot turn my back on the Atathari. I cannot stop being the Seamother’s daughter.
The sea is silent.
A chill creeps over me as I turn its words over in my mind. I don’t want to think about having to choose between Keliveth and my people.
