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A pang shoots through my heart. If only it were that simple.
A wave swells before me, rising so much higher than the rest of the breakers that the stone outcroppings that dot the shallows are buried. I grip the rock I hide behind as the water rushes over my head. All thoughts are chased away by the sight of the wave as it arcs above me and crests in glittering white foam.
The Seamother has found me.
The wave crashes down, slamming me against the rock and driving spikes of pain through my ribs. I brace for the inevitable—for the currents to take hold of me and drag me down to where the Seamother surely waits with a curse on her lips. A dozen explanations swarm in my mind. I could claim I was speaking with the singer for the sake of gathering information, or that he’d tried to cast a spell on the waters and I’d stopped him, or—
The water rolls off me, leaving me drenched and shivering but still safely clinging to the rock. I suck in air and brush the water from my eyes.
An eerie calm has fallen over the sea.
“Keliveth?” His name bursts from me in a frantic breath. Either the wave was a warning ... or it wasn’t meant for me.
A faint splash answers me, then a strangled cry.
Silence. No silhouette stands in the water now. Only clear, unbroken moonlight.
“Keliveth!” My heart pounds as I dive beneath the surface.
I catch sight of him, a dark form struggling against a current dragging him deeper and deeper into the sea. I rush forward, ignoring the ocean’s surging fury.
I catch him from behind and pull him into my arms. Holding him tightly, I yank him from the current and speed back toward the surface. The waves swirl around us, carrying the Seamother’s anger, eager to rip him from my arms and force the last breath from his lungs. Keliveth is still conscious, and he holds fast to me, but each second his grip grows looser and his body heavier in my arms.
Not him! You don’t need to take him!I let the thoughts flow into the water around me. The sea is wild with my mother’s commands, but this time my voice quiets it just a little. Just enough to hear me, and to answer.
He is fire and blood. He is death. Let us sweep him away, drown out his memory, cleanse the shore!
What has he done to offend us tonight?I send back. Every inch of me is shaking. What if my mother overhears me and realizes I oppose her commands to the waters?
I set my jaw and swim harder. I can’t worry about the Seamother now. If I give in to my fear of her, Keliveth will perish, and there will be nothing left in the world except battle and blood and death.Save your rage for the next time he assaults you with his magic.
Your mother is angry,the ocean says with a groan.
My mother is always angry. You need not be. You have fought well today, and your waves are tired. Rest, and leave us be.
For a sickening moment, Keliveth and I hang suspended just below the surface, caught in a web of furious streams. Then the currents unwind their grip from us. We rise to the surface so fast my head spins and spots fill my vision. Keliveth coughs water from his lungs. He’s dazed and shaking but alive. My relief wells up in a strangled sob.
We wind our way through the outcroppings of rock and toward the shore. I still have one arm around Keliveth when we reach the shore and drag ourselves up onto the rocky beach. Clouds roll over the moons, cloaking us in shadows. I shift to my land-dwelling form and pull him farther inland. At last we sink to the ground beyond reach of the waves. The rescue was too easy. The ocean has never gone against the Seamother’s commands so readily. The sea wouldn’t even heed my simple pleas for peace an hour ago. Surely it will snatch us back and carry us down to face the Seamother’s wrath at any second.
But the ocean remains calm. Each breath I draw makes me more certain of our escape. Each second that passes tells me that this isn’t a trick or a dream. Somehow the ocean heeded me. But why now, and not earlier?
As moments pass and the danger seems further away, I grow more aware of Keliveth. I feel his warmth and nearness, the firm grasp of his hand around mine, the spicy-sweet smell of incense that clings to him.
Then the clouds roll away from the moons, and silver light pours over us. I draw a sharp breath as I finally get a close look at the elven prophet. He’s beautiful, with elegant features that are at once strong and winsome. His waist-length hair, dark as ocean depths, is braided back to reveal his lightly pointed ears. His gray eyes glint as if they hold pain and hope and secrets I can barely imagine. The waves have torn away his robes, leaving him in only his trousers. The moonlight outlines the muscled planes of his bare chest. I stare ... and realize he’s staring too.
Suddenly, I’m conscious of my disheveled garments and dripping tangles of hair. The scars on my bare arms. The cut of my wrap top, which reveals far more skin than any elf would deem proper. Keliveth’s gaze seems to pierce right through me, right down to my deepest fears and dreams. My heart thuds.
Slowly, I untangle myself from his hold and stand on unsteady feet, unnerved by my reaction to him even as part of me wants to keep gazing at him forever.
“Will you at least tell me your name now?” he asks, his voice almost reverent.
I hold his gaze a moment longer. We’ve seen the other’s face. I’ve risked my mother’s wrath to save him. What do names matter now?
“I am Evya Atathari, Seamother’s daughter.”
His eyes widen. Presumably with a thousand thoughts and questions.
I don’t wait for him to find his voice. I run back to the water’s edge, and I dive. Night-black water rushes past me in icy currents as I plunge down into the depths. My heart pounds in my ears, beating out a rhythm of impending doom.
