Page 2 of The Ocean's Heart
“Yes, yes, you are, but you’re also the princess of Faircaster, and therefore no one would dare say anything other than nice things about you.”
She offered me a half smile, jade eyes lighting up. “You do have a valid point.” She lifted her chin high. “I shall remain in these clothes until the storm passes. I refuse to ruin another gown.”
“Or you could just wear britches and furs? Much more appropriate for travel.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Thalia, but I’d rather not dress like a guard. If I’m to maintain an illusion of station and power on this voyage, then I must dress appropriately.”
She sounded like her mother, Queen Marla, the pompous witch, and she must have realized it too because she winced and shook her head. “I’m sorry. Mother’s been drumming instruction into me for weeks now, ever since Chamberlain Colson negotiated the deal with King Vaarin. Etiquette, etiquette, and more etiquette.”
“I doubt the sea fae have the same standards of etiquette as us humans.”
The chamberlain of Pridehaven had been assigned by Prince Adom himself to act as an envoy in arranging the deal with the Northern Sea King. A deal that would benefit us for generations to come. In the meantime, the generous monarch of Solmane had shipped enough food to last us until the contracts with King Vaarin could be signed.
Bryony sucked in a breath, her already pale cheeks going sheet white. “I’m going to be marrying a sea fae.”
Oh dear, I couldn’t let her spiral now. “I’ve heard wonderful things about Prince Dylon. He’s kind and talented. An artist and poet. You’ll like that.” Not that any of that mattered. Bryony would be marrying him regardless, for the good of Faircaster Isle and its people. Our people.
“What if he’s ugly?” Bryony’s eyes flew wide. “What if he has fins?” She pressed her hand to her heaving bosom. “Of course he’ll have fins. He’s sea fae. They’re a different breed to us entirely. Did you know their hearts are on the opposite side to us? And they have two sets of lungs? Oh, Thalia, I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You can. And you will. You’re not so shallow as to let his appearance stand in the way of making a connection. Look to his heart.”
She swallowed hard. “And what if his heart is ugly too?”
I sighed. “Then you will nurture it with the warmth and generosity of your own until it blooms.”
She blinked back tears and nodded. “Yes. I will do that. I will find a way to love him.” She managed a small smile, and the knots in my belly eased. “I didn’t know you were so romantic, Thalia.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Me? Never.” I drew my sword and held the blade up to the waning light so that it bounced off the steel edge in lethal glints. “My heart belongs to battle and the waves.”
I’d hope to make her laugh, but instead her smile wilted. “Will you truly leave on your discovery voyage?”
I hooked an arm through hers and led her away from the starboard side and toward a bench bolted to the deck. We still had a little time before the storm was overhead, and a little more fresh air would do Bryony a world of good.
“Thalia?” Bryony prompted me for an answer.
“You know I must go. And you know why.”
Although Faircaster Isle was my home, it wasn’t my origin. King Bronan had found me, an abandoned baby, at sea twenty-one years ago. I’d been wrapped in a blue blanket and hidden in a basket on a small rowboat.How the boat had survived the raging of the ocean was a mystery, King Bronan always said when recounting this tale.But I knew as soon as I held her in my arms that she belonged to me.
When he recounted that tale, every time he said those words, a rush of warmth would course through me. A sense of belonging, but it always faded beneath Queen Marla’s withering glances and sharp words. The king might have adopted me, but his queenneveraccepted me, and I’d learned not to call him Father in her presence.
Bryony and I were raised as sisters, but I was never a princess, and truth be told, I preferred it that way. I’d chosen the guard and the sword over petticoats and corsets.
My discovery voyage had been planned for almost five years. It offered me the freedom to take to the sea and discover where I’d come from. But the fracture of our alliance with the Rootborn of Thyrealis Isle and our failing crops kept me home.
I was King Bronan’s voice across the seas. And as his ambassador, he’d needed me to secure a new alliance. I’d finally succeeded with Prince Adom and Colson’s help.
“You will come and see me, won’t you?” Bryony dropped her head to my shoulder. A gust of icy wind slapped at my skin, whipping tendrils of my dark hair out of my braid and into my eyes. I brushed them away before attending to Bryony to do the same for her. “Thalia, promise me you’ll come back to Merida,” she insisted.
I’d been her protector, her shadow for as long as I recalled. But the past three years had taken me far from her to distant isles as I’d sought aid for our people. She’d survived without me then. She could do it now.
“I’ll come visit, I promise.”
Her face fell, but she didn’t press for more. My sweet sister might be a little spoiled, but she’d never been selfish.
A fat raindrop hit my cheek, then another, and a moment later, the deck sang beneath the downpour.
The crew yelled out instructions to lower the sails, to hold the helm, and although part of me ached to join them, I turned away, taking Bryony with me below deck and to safety. I had only one duty on this voyage.
