Page 76 of I Summon the Sea

Still, the distance separating the human winners of the first trial and the king is nothing short of ridiculous.

I hesitate, and Tru places a hand on the small of my back. “Allow me,” he says.

What is he doing?

The other humans stare at him, as do some of the fae, as he guides me to a seat and pulls it back for me. I want to know if Jai told him to act with such chivalry or if this is just how Tru normally acts.

I have so many questions.

Pen and paper it is. I have to get hold of some. A nice plume and good ink, but really, at this point I’d use my own blood to write down my inquiries, whether they be important for my mission or not.

Curiosity is eating at me.

It always has, a voice whispers in my mind, and it doesn’t sound like mine.You’ve always been too curious, and you could get hurt.

I hiss. It’s a memory.

I see myself walking down to the river shore, flaunting my parents’ rules, nearing the fence surrounding the beach to keep the eldritch merfolk out.My feet are bare, toes burying themselves in the fine black sand.

There he is.

The boy. The young man I’ve seen from my balcony a few times. Tall, with broad shoulders, he’s on the cusp of adulthood, like me, with hair pale like silver and eyes gray like the sky.

“Who are you?” I ask, delighted to find someone my age to talk to.

Someone so pretty.

“Hello, princess,” he says, and my face heats at his bright smile.

He’s been drawing patterns in the black sand, but now he stops and looks up at my approach. He’s dressed in peasant garb—a brown tunic and leggings, low boots on his feet—and his pale hair is uncombed and curling at his neck.

“I’ve never seen you around here before,” I say.

“I’m new. The Dariens have taken me in. Their estate is that way.” He points.

“Taken you in?”

“Yes. They… found me.” He frowns.

“Where, in a field?”

“Believe it or not.”

My turn to frown, but he looks so forlorn I don’t want to push. “I’m here. If you ever want to talk about it.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you more. I’m trying to remember,” he says softly, squinting down at his artwork on the sand.

“Remember what?”

“The past.”

I walk around to study his drawings. Spirals, stars, curlicues, circles. “What does this mean?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s all I can recall,” he whispers, “and it makes no sense at all…”

“Will you be seated?” a male voice booms in my ear, shattering the memory. I blink and find Tru standing beside me,an exasperated look on his handsome face. “Rae, can you hear me?”

I blink, and I’m back in the long hall, the long black-clad table and chairs, the still empty dais at its over end. Everyone is staring at me.

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