Page 89 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage
“When we’re in seal form, we’re much more limited. While we’re faster than normal seals, we can’ access any o’ those other abilities I just mentioned. That’s why ’twas so easy fer the villagers to kill yer father. If he’d been able to return to human form, they would na have stood a chance.
“Let’s see, what else do you need to know?” Niall tapped his lip. “Ah! Regardless o’ the form we’re in, we can usually sense each other’s presence. If we’re near each other, we can even sense another selkie’s death. The only exception would be when someone is na a pureblood, like you or yer mum. Yer father was a pureblood, like me.”
“What was he like?”
“Yer father? We called him Einar when we were in human form. He was…very powerful. The most powerful selkie I’ve ever met. I told you before that he was in the same clan as me, butclanis a human term. Among ourselves, we call it a herd, just like a normal group o’ seals. We don’ have royalty or nobility or anything close to that in the selkie world. We live simply, just enjoying life under the waves, and the strongest among us is our alpha. That was yer father. I always admired him—”
“Did he ever mention me or my mum?” Briony jumped in.
Niall grimaced. “He never spoke much o’ his time on the land, but that’s the way ’tis when yer a selkie. ’Tis easy fer everything to become like a dream once you return to the sea. My parents told me he had a bairn somewhere, but I never knew who or where you were until the day we met.
“You may na have felt the connection between us then, but I suspected you were one o’ us. And when I told my parents and yer father what happened, Einar instantly knew I was talking about you. He did na even wait long enough to transform before he was hurrying to yer side. I’ve never seen him so frightened before…” Niall’s voice faded away, and Briony thought she spotted a tear in one of his eyes.
Even though my da’ left me, it sounds as if he truly loved me. In his own way.Briony sniffed as she, too, got choked up.
Suddenly, Niall cleared his throat. “Anyway, let’s see what you can do. Regardless o’ yer form, you should always be able to sense the sea when ’tis nearby. Shut yer eyes. Listen to the world around you. Can you feel the sea, just beyond yer reach? As a selkie, yer part o’ it, a creature o’ water. Embrace that truth, and then try to call the water in the air.”
Briony closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could. She thought of the ground beneath her feet, hard and compacted with rocks. She thought of the grass and trees just behind her, swaying in the wind. She thought of her neighbors in the village, oblivious to how powerful she was.
And she was only just discovering that power for herself. Even she didn’t know how far it extended—
There! There’s the ocean!Briony tried to imagine herself as a mere extension of it, like a puzzle piece within a larger picture.
Yet there was a part of her that rebelled against this thought with all its strength. It refused to give up her individuality, refused to believe she was anything more than just Briony Fairborn.
My human side,she realized.Born o’ the sea and shore, what does that make me? Belonging to neither yet longing fer both.
Briony clenched her teeth.Whatever these differences are, I can’ let them hinder my plans. If Santiago returns to Portugal, he will almost certainly die. I have to make this work.
Briony reached upward with her mind, seeking something to grab hold of. Something she knew was there even though she felt nothing.Why? Why can I na feel the water in the sky as I feel the sea? Does it recognize my mixed blood? Is that why it won’ submit?
Briony opened her eyes and turned to Niall for help, but his only response was a slight upturning of his mouth. Something very akin to a smirk.
He does na believe I can do this! Did he expect this would happen? That I would fail simply because I’m na a full selkie?
All my life, I’ve been considered inferior to everyone else. First fer being female, second fer being illegitimate, and now fer na being a pureblood.
Then she remembered what Santiago had told her when she’d revealed she was born out of wedlock.“Briony, you had nothing to do with how you were born. How can anyone judge you for others’ choices?”
Briony glared upward at the sky.I’m na giving up on this so easily. I’m tired o’ being inferior fer things I can’ control.
Briony stretched her mouth wide and began to sing the Fairborns’ song. She put her whole heart into it, belting out the words in a fierce command for the sky to do her bidding.
“Now, youthful daughter, beware o’ the sea,
O’ the things it can squander and steal from ye.
Beware o’ promises spoken in haste,
And always keep yer heart—”
A rush of power pressed against Briony’s consciousness, and she almost fell over from the force of it. But she wasn’t frightened, for the power came eagerly like a dog when it hears its master’s voice. She grabbed hold of it with her mind, rejoicing at its touch. The water felt soft and malleable, keen to please her. The sky quickly turned as dark as night, full of swirling, sparking clouds, waiting to do as she willed. No more was she inferior and ignored, and with this newfound power inside her, Briony felt invincible.
She turned to Niall triumphantly, giving him a smirk of her own that she made no effort to conceal.If that surprises you, Niall, let’s see what you think o’ this.
Briony spun away from him and shifted her attention to the docks. She pulled the invisible strings connecting her to the storm, and lightning spilled forth. Over and over, bolts sliced through the air, their thunderous booms echoing in Briony’s ears as they struck the water around the Portuguese ships.
Soon Briony saw the commodore emerge from his quarters to see what was going on, but he quickly scuttled back below deck. The other sailors on the ship crawled out of the woodwork shortly after that, running about to make sure everything on deck was secure before creeping back to their hiding places.Like roaches.
