Page 108 of Wicked Tides
“And you’ve been doing this all along?”
Her gaze was unblinking, so dark I could see myself looking back.
“Your people have been at war with men for generations,” she said. “Which life would you prefer? If it is war you want, you’d have killed the men you came with before ever arriving on these shores.”
The statement made me pause. I knew no other life. Fighting hunters had been the focus of my people—what used to be my people—since I was born. Of all the daughters of the sea, the Kroan were the most spiteful. Since before I was born, it had been the way of things. Trying to imagine a life absent conflict made me wonder if I would even know how to function without the violence.
“What’s your name?” Meridan finally asked.
“Teles,” she answered.
Though it was hard to know exactly where she was looking, I sensed she was staring past us. Her head cocked and she blinked, her shoulders relaxing.
“They are finished with their goodbyes,” she said. “There will be a celebration now.”
“A celebration?”
“They will celebrate Sakari’s return to the sea and the time they had with her.” Teles stepped in close, looking up at me. “I smell blood on you, Kroan. Shed any here and it will not go unnoticed.”
Her head snapped toward Meridan for a moment and then she slowly backed away, inching toward the water’s edge just past the rocks. I watched her slide her loose-fitting dress off her shoulders, letting it fold to the ground. She stepped delicately out of it, unaffected by the biting cold, and glided into the water off the edge of a slate of ice. As if she never existed, she was gone.
As Teles said, the tribe began celebrations as soon as the sun began to descend its peak. There was a large fire in the courtyard where tables were full of salted fish, milky drinks, and fruits. Boil was eager to help make the food and Billy seemed tied to him at the hip. There was even music. Flutes, drums, and upbeat singing filled the air as people seemed to forget about the sadness of the morning and replace it with joy.
Whatever the milky drink was, it was strong smelling. Something fermented, I gathered. The men enjoyed it and after a while, they were laughing and singing boisterously. Sea shanties being sung off-key replaced the drums. Mullins and James were making fools of themselves, stumbling about with wide smiles on their faces. They were trying to dance in unison, but each time they lifted one foot, their other would fail them and they’d stagger. Some villagers laughed attheir clumsiness while others tried to teach them how to dance properly.
It was a wonderful mess.
Even Ahnah had taken on the task of getting scrawny Billy to dance with her. She had a smile that stretched from ear to ear and poor Billy was doing his best to seem unenthused.
I was snacking on a handful of berries that were so sweet, they made my jaw hurt. I wasn’t accustomed to sweet foods. Or foods that did not come from something that once had a beating heart, for that matter.
Meridan was enjoying the fruit as well while she watched the festivities. Neither of us had ever been a part of something so… blissful. The Kroan did not have feasts or celebrations. Not like that. I knew the Naros were even more elusive. It was all so different and yet, I didn’t hate it.
From the longhouse, I saw Vidar with one of the male village elders and Taupek. He and the elder shook hands and I wondered what it was that they’d been discussing inside while the others were getting rowdy. I watched him from afar as a young woman strode up to him with a cup of the strange drink. He smiled at her and she inclined her head bashfully as if asking a question.
I bristled at the sight. Her mannerisms suggested she was attracted to him. Her shyness. The way she lowered her head with a smile. It all seemed so transparent.
When Vidar took a sip of the drink, the young woman giggled and then set the cup down on a table before boldly dragging him into the courtyard where people were dancing around the firepit.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. They were joined by Mullins and David, who was smiling for the first time since Vidar had taken him from the other ship. One of the young girls was trying to keep up with his rapid foot movements and laughing at her inability to.
The dance was in good spirits. Everyone was switching partners and enjoying themselves, but time and time again, the woman found her way back to Vidar, her hands touching his body every chance shegot. And she was beautiful. There was an innocence to her youthful face that put light in her eyes. A light I knew I didn’t have. Long, umber hair was braided to her waist and she had a round face untainted by scars and violence.
I took a deep breath and snatched a piece of salted fish off a platter in front of me, tearing into it with my teeth. Meridan’s hand came out to touch my arm and I glanced at her, realizing my emotions were getting the better of me.
I’d never wanted to claim Vidar in any way besides a fatal one. For eighteen years, I imagined what he looked like and I saw myself killing him in so many ways. I prayed to Lune that I would one day get that chance and hoped another wouldn’t steal the opportunity away. Now, seeing a young woman practically parading herself in front of him was making me seeth. She was touching him, offering him drinks, and it all made my teeth gnash. It shouldn’t have… but it did.
Whether I wanted to destroy him or not, he was mine. A very possessive, overwhelming part of me knew it and it burned in my chest like a pit of flames. I didn’t want to look at the young woman for fear of imagining terrible things. One last glimpse in their direction and I saw Vidar pulling her close and teaching her the foot movements of some dance that matched the rhythm of the music. The woman was stumbling and both were amused. The big smiles on their faces fed the flames of my jealousy.
It was so easy for me to see myself sinking my nails into the woman’s eyes, plucking them out, and popping the orbs between my molars. How simple it would be to bite into her throat and drown her in her own blood. I wondered what one so innocent would taste like.
No.
It was my nature to wonder.
What wasn’t my nature was the desire to cage those urges so that I did not disrupt the happiness unfolding around me. I didn’t want to ruin it. I didn’t want to be the reason everything fell apart nor did I want to be the reason another blameless child’s life was destroyed.
So I watched Vidar and the woman have their fun. I watched until both were out of breath and they finally parted ways. Beside me, even Meridan had a smile on her face and that was something I never thought I would see. Eventually, Mullins swayed his way toward us, gulping down another cup of the fermented drink, and held a hand out to her. Meridan hesitated and then giggled—giggled—at Mullins and took his offer.
