He was barely visible in the thin sliver of warm light that spilled from the nearly closed bedroom door, but she’d know the shape of her father’s broad shoulders and stocky frame anywhere.
Only the whites of his eyes and teeth were truly visible when he said, “Do you have a moment for your papa? I have a surprise for you.”
Overwhelmed with the relief of having him near, she scrambled to push the curtain open for him. “Come in!”
“Thank you, my star,” he rumbled.
She scooted back into the nest as he squeezed in. That was no easy feat, considering his size, but he didn’t complain about the cramped conditions as he laid back onto her pillows. Astrid cuddled into his side immediately, drawn into the comforting warmth of her father’s embrace.
His scent, smoke and green grass, eased the terrible knots in her belly. Nothing seemed quite so bad when her father was with her. Not even failing her mother.
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t be sleeping,” he sighed, hugging her close with one arm. “Were you listening to me and your mama again?”
“Yes,” she admitted, unable to lie to him.
Hetsked.“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“I wish you wouldn’t fight so much,” she replied, pressing her face into his chest.
He sounded tired when he said, “I know, my star. I know.”
“I’m sorry I?—”
“You didnothingwrong, Astrid,” he cut in, voice hardening. “You’re a good girl. All you ever do is your best. If your mama and I fight, it’s because we both love you too much. We can’t always agree on the best way to help you, and that means we lose our heads.”
“If I’d just lit the fire, you wouldn’t have fought at all,” she sniffed.
“Ah, well, who can say? The fun part of adulthood is that there’s always something silly to fight about.” Patting her back, he added, “And there’s still time for you to light the flame, my star.”
Astrid sat up a little. Squinting at her father’s shadowed face, she asked, “How? The festival?—”
“Doesn’t matter. The holiday continues with or without us. That means we can have our own traditions.” Pulling her back into his side, her father reached into what she could only guess was his back pocket.
“Here,” he said, putting what felt suspiciously like a pack of matches in her little hand. “Light the flame, Princess Astrid.”
She stared at the small white candle he held before her. Eyes watering, she warbled, “Really?”
“Go on,” he encouraged.
Her hand shook so badly it took her several tries to strike the match, but when it lit, it seemed as bright as the sun in that soft, dark space. The metallic scent of the matchstrike bloomed in the air, as sharp and strange as magic.
Her breath trembled when she dutifully recited, “We gather the wood. We gather the clan. We gather the stone. We gatherthe children. We light the flame. We light the way. May Burden’s sacrifice never go unseen, and may his love n—never— never go unfelt.”
She nearly dropped the match when she tried to light the wick, but her father steadied her hand just in time. He guided it toward the candle with all the gentle confidence he did everything.
Something warm and powerful expanded in her chest as she watched the wick catch. A gentle sphere of light illuminated her father’s beloved face, all hard angles and tough green skin. He held the candle carefully between them when he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Perfect, my star,” he murmured. “You’re perfect, and your parents love you. Never doubt that.”
Merfolk in the Moonlight
Being brokenup with was never fun, but being dumped during Burden’s Moon? That was a next level sort of shitty even Louisa, who knew a thing or two about raw deals, hadn’t experienced before.
Huddled in the cold sand, dressed in her holiday finest, and clutching a stupidly expensive to-go cup of hot chocolate, she was a miserable wreck.
Why she thought the ocean would soothe her sorrows, she had no idea. She’d never been a nature girl. She barely knew how to swim, and large bodies of unchlorinated water had always seemed like hostile alien worlds to her.
Even if there weren’t man-eating merfolk in there, she didn’t understand the appeal of venturing into a place where people weren’t the top dogs.
