Page 1 of The Ocean's Heart
ChapterOne
There was a dead man between my thighs, and I was too weak to move him. At least his blood would keep me warm for a while, his body providing a blanket against the icy sea spray that stabbed like needles every time the wind howled and the ship rocked. A respite until my mortal wound ended me, for there was no cause to live now. Not when they’d taken everything from me.
Churning gray clouds moved across the late afternoon sky like distant voyeurs, and I ached to rise from my bruised and battered body and join them. But Death was taking his sweet time in coming to collect.
The clatter of wood on wood, followed by the rise of urgent voices in a language I didn’t recognize, chilled what little warmth was left in my blood.
More invaders?
There was nothing left to reap. Nothing except me.
Damn you, Death.
Salt burned my eyes, useless tears slipping down my stiff cheeks because all was lost.
The thud of boots approached, and the body was rolled off me. I sucked in an icy breath, eyes at half-mast as I stared up at the monolith crouching over me.
Dark tendrils of hair lashed at his high cheekbones, and storm-gray eyes raked over my bloody form, snagging on the emblem pinned to my chest and flaring with recognition.
Who knew that death could be so beautiful? I would have closed my eyes to surrender to it if my lids hadn’t been frozen in place.
He reached for his weapons belt, and my chest rattled on a breath, hungry for the final gasps of air before they were taken from me. But instead of the cold kiss of a blade, I felt the soft caress of cotton as he wiped at my face, cleaning it of blood and ice.
“Ah, there you are,” he said, his tone gruff with pity. “I am sorry we did not arrive in time to save your virtue and your entourage.” He hauled me into his arms like I was nothing but a ragdoll and cradled me to his wide chest. My head flopped against his neck, against skin that smelled like a raging sea of thunderstorms.
His voice boomed across the deck, sending orders to his party even as he moved across it with swift, sure strides unimpeded by the sway of the ship and the lash of the elements.
A whimper of pain slid from my frozen mouth, and he pressed his warm lips to my temple, speaking close to rival the storm.
“Worry not now,” he whispered to me. “You’re safe, Little Princess.”
I was safe, yes. He was right about that.
But he was wrong about the rest.
I wasn’t the princess that he was looking for.
ChapterTwo
48 hours earlier
Bryony dry-heaved over the side of the ship as the deck rocked. I held back her hair and made circles on her back in a manner which I hoped provided some comfort.
“Urgh.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I think I’m dying.”
I bit back a smile, used to her exaggerations. “You’ll be fine once the storm passes.”
“And when, pray Thalor, will that be, considering it isn’t fully upon us yet?”
“Soon.”
A dark mass of angry clouds rapidly drifted across an equally gray sea, blown by a gusty wind right into our path. There was no avoiding it. And even now, the sea fretted beneath us, lapping hungrily at the sides of the ship as if desperate for harbor. The deck was slick with saltwater spray, rocking back and forth as if inebriated. And far to the east, mist gathered. I had to hope it wouldn’t be rolling our way.
Done with her retching, Bryony fell against me with a dramatic sigh. “I fear I shall not last untilsoon, and if I do survive, then I’ll arrive at Merida Isle emaciated and broken, and Prince Dylon will be sure to reject me, and the alliance will die before we can breathe life into it.”
I cupped her shoulders and studied her heart-shaped face, a little pale for certain, a little green, but ethereal and lovely all the same. “You couldn’t look unappealing if you tried. He’ll be lucky to have you, vomit stained or not.”
She looked down at the front of her gown with a groan. “I’m disgusting.”
