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What have I done?
Chapter 3
Evya
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The lights of the palaceshine in cold hues, beckoning me back with promises of a long night and a bleak morning. The same world I’ve known for the past five years. The only way the world could possibly exist since the day the first dragon riders landed on the shores of our ocean uninvited.
Any other life is an illusion.
I swim faster, at the same time shifting my course downward toward the shelter of the kelp forest that lies on the western side of the palace. The towering kelp stand sentry over the entrances to the palace, grown over centuries to shield our most ancient stronghold from the eyes of warring tribes. When I left my tower I swam above it, thinking only of speed. Now I want to return without attracting any more attention than necessary.
But though the kelp can hide me from the watching eyes of palace sentries, it can’t shield me from my mother—not after I snatched an enemy from her grasp. The vast leaves sway with the currents, and I find myself flinching at every shifting shadow. Even here, the Seamother’s eyes might be on me, watching my every move as I dart through the kelp.
What have I done?
I can’t afford to let the question take root in my mind, but it does anyway. I don’t regret saving Keliveth—but maybe I should be regretting it. I might have put myself and my entire tribe in more danger.
As I near the palace, lights began to flicker between the swaying fronds. The palace shines even brighter than before. I shove through the thick kelp leaves as quickly as I can, taking out my anger and fear on the sturdy old branches. I feel the currents of my fate have shifted somehow, and I can’t tell where they’re flowing.
I break through the forest into the open expanse of water around the fortress and breathe out with relief. I have chosen my path through the kelp well. My tower rises above me, only a few dozen strokes away. I have only to swim up to my chambers again.
A pulse of fury echoes through the water. My stomach clenches. I quickly glance around, expecting to see my mother lurking nearby.
Nothing. Still, I quicken my pace, all the more eager to reach my tower.
The waters surge around me, and the fear within me explodes. I cry out as the current catches me and spins me in a sickening spiral, down, down toward the base of the tower. Pain bursts across my head and chest as I slam into the stone wall. I sink onto the sandy ocean floor and lay still, stunned by the blow.
I fight back sickening dread and open my eyes, blinking through stars. The Seamother’s sinewy form hovers over me, her pale green eyes and the abalone tip of her spear glinting in the sickly light. Her long gray hair fans out like dead seaweed, framing a gaunt face and sallow skin sliced with scars. The fins along her iron-hued tail are razor sharp, and she lashes them back and forth, reminding me how easily she could make me bleed.
The sight of her freezes me in place. My mother is more wraith than woman. Sorrow and warfare consume her harsh features and empty eyes. The sea feeds on her bloodlust, and she revels in its frenzy, and the rest of our people are caught in that endless storm.
“Evya, my daughter.” Her quiet voice reverberates through me like an eerie lullaby, sending a chill through my aching body. “There are so many dangers in these waters, cunning foes that would lure my people in and snatch them away. Why did you stray so far from the palace, tonight of all nights?”
“I do not need your leave to swim in our own waters.” I force steel into my tone. “I only sought a few moments of reprieve before the festivities began.”
