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Rise and protect him yourself.
The ocean’s reply bobs on the surface of my mind. I let the words float away. I must have heard wrong. I wait for the sea to fade from my awareness, for death to claim me completely.
At last, the taste of blood fades from my senses. The water around me feels light. Even the memory of war and death are washing away.
I smile. After so many battles, I am at peace.
Then the ocean speaks again.
By a sacrifice made in love was the Seamother’s power granted, and by the same means has her power now been broken.The words ring through me like the toll of temple bells, even as my mind races to comprehend them.Arise, Seamother. The ocean answers to your call.
Raw power ignites within me, burning through me like ice and fire and storms all at once. I barely hear my own scream as pain flares through me. But not the pain of death this time.
The pain of healing. The magic of the water pours into me, transforming and channeling into the deep gash in my chest as my own power rises up to meet it. This shouldn’t be possible. It has been so long since anyone has been able to use the waters to heal. But a moment later my heart is beating its true rhythm again and the blood is gone from my mouth.
My awareness comes rushing back. I feel the sea around me again—the familiar currents, the smell of salt and seaweed, the play of sunlight on the surface above.
Then, my senses explode as every secret of the ocean bursts upon me at once.
All is light and color and splendor. I feel the rise and fall of every wave. Each creature within the waters is known to me, all blazing with their own life force and magic. I know every contour of the islands and shores, each rise and fall of the sea floor, each root and blossom of the maraseyas.
All of it, given into my protection. My command. The shining awareness of the world settles into my soul as though it was always meant to dwell there. I give myself to it, as surely as it was given to me.
Last of all, I feel arms around me, lifting me. Keliveth’s voice cuts through the haze in my mind, pleading with me to come back to him. I open my eyes and gasp in a breath as we break through the surface of the waves.
I’m alive. I choke back sobs as the realization sets in. Keliveth is weeping too, and for a moment I’m aware of nothing but holding him, kissing him.
The pain is gone as suddenly as it came. Only a faint scar over my heart marks the stab wound. Even my head has stopped throbbing. I look to Keliveth, and find that the waters are healing him too. His bruises fade and the knife wounds knit shut again. Magic races through my veins with bold, glorious strength. The water still hums with warm, joyful energy, and its movement echoes in my awareness.
My gaze shifts to the clifftop. My mother is a gaunt silhouette against the midday sun. She waves her arms wildly, gesturing to the sea in motions that should rile the waves into deadly breakers and send them crashing over Keliveth and me. But the ocean will not heed her. Beneath her vantage point, the waves rise and fall in harmless, jubilant swells, dancing like a prisoner set free.
Her power over the sea has been broken.
She shrieks, splitting the air and shaking the stones. Then she leaps from the cliffs, as if in a desperate plea to get the ocean to answer her. The waves pile over her, pushing her down into the ruthless currents below.
She’s gone. Swallowed up as if she never existed. The water beneath her vantage point spreads out in calm ripples.
I stare in shock, not sure what to think or feel. Keliveth’s arms tighten around me, and he cradles me gently against his chest. “What just happened?” His hand rests over my heart, and he looks in wonder at the healed wound. “How—?”
A smile spreads over my face, which turns to a laugh. It’s not possible ... but I dare to hope. I reach out into the water and call up my magic in the same moment.
I don’t even need to speak to the waves. They swell around us and carry us gently toward shore, setting us on the rocks carefully. I step ashore in a daze.
I fumble for words to explain what is happening. But when I look to Keliveth again, I see the realization dawn on him. He already understands.
I am the Seamother now. Of course he recognizes one who bears a shard of Ruwa’s power.
Along the cliffs, the tribes watch in astonishment.Mytribes, as much as the ocean is mine.
Hand in hand, Keliveth and I rush up the rocky slope, our steps filled with strength where we had stumbled only a few minutes ago. Lirana rushes up to me first, throwing her arms around me. Then she lets go—and sinks to her knees, touching her forehead to the earth.
“Seamother,” she says reverently.
Beside her, Arcorlan does the same. Then my warriors kneel, and the rest of the Atathari—and suddenly Keliveth and I are the only ones on our feet. I stare in shock at the bowing tribes. All of it is too much.
I fold into Keliveth’s embrace and let him hold me, suddenly wanting more than anything to be alone with him. We are now truly free to be together. There will be endless nights beneath the maraseyas.
But not quite yet.
