“Maybe,” he chuckled. “But then again, it seems neither do you.”
The door clicked shut behind him before I could ask him what in the underrealm he meant.
Waves crashed against the cliffs beneath Naria’s balcony. Over and over again, it knocked against the stone like a visitor desperate to be let inside. I slammed my hands against my ears in an attempt to drown out the sound, but still, the ocean breeze brushed the hair from my face, filling my nose with its salty scent.
Groaning, my hands flopped down to her desk. I couldn’t sleep in that shell bed with sheets that smelt sostrongly of her, but I couldn’t bear to leave this room to try and sleep in another. Here, if I closed my eyes and leaned back in her desk chair, I could almost feel her arms around my shoulders, hear her bustling behind me as she tinkered with her herbs and powders while I focused on my parchments.
The sound of crashing waves pulled me back to her empty bedchamber.
With a scowl, I opened my eyes to study the candlelit papers in front of me. Each one held the details of a different elaborate plan, and each one had been finished with an angry black scribble covering the entire page. If this room had a fireplace, it’d be roaring. Instead, piles of scrunched up papers grew around me. Though the paper walls did little to muffle the sound of the ocean outside.
The. Relentlessly. Calling. Ocean.
Growling, I shot up from the desk and used both hands to sweep it clear. Hundreds of papers fluttered in the breeze before covering the floor like seafoam. I trudged through it, kicking my way to the bed, only to wince at the sight of it empty.
My heart ached. “Where did he take you, forest princess? I rasped. “What does he want from you?” Then I turned to the arched doorway, to the endless line of blue on the horizon. “What do you want from me?” I yelled, as if it could answer back.
Outside, the waves kept rolling, and rolling, and rolling, and rolling.
I clamped my hands over my ears, chest seizing. “Stop it.” I charged over to the doorway. “Stop!” I yelled, just as I slipped on a stray parchment and stumbled forward. Myhands slammed against the stone balcony railing.
Below, deep blue water swirled and churned as the night wind whipped up my hair. Sea spray hit my cheeks, cooling the rage in my throat. And as I took a ragged breath, for once, I noticed how soothing the ocean air felt in my lungs.
“Damn you,” I breathed, scowling at the choppy waves below. “I just want her back.” My heart thundered. “I don’t care how anymore.”
I’d give myself to the ocean a thousand times over if it meant I could hold her one last time.
So, after sucking in one more breath, I leaned forward off the balcony and plunged into the rising waves.
Cold water slammed into me, tearing all the air from my lungs. Panic gripped my chest. Darkness flooded my vision. Until, after a few frenzied heartbeats, the murky water began to clear, and I could make out rays of starlight hitting the rocks below.
Dipping into my tunic, I plucked out the shell necklace that I’d kept looped around my neck since Naria’s last visit to the sea. Then before I could change my mind, I blew into the thicker end. Hard.
Just as I began to wonder if I needed to be on land for the shell to work, a familiar voice had me whirling around.
“You look terrible, cousin.” Adriana kicked her long blue tail towards me. “And you smell like a steamed poerfish.” She wrinkled her nose.
Ignoring her, I dove forward to meet her. “Naria is gone.” I blurted. “Arenn took her.”
“What?” She gasped hard enough to shoot out a stream of bubbles. “What do you mean ‘took her’?”
“I can explain everything later. For now, I—” The words got stuck in my throat until I forced them out in a gravelly voice. “I need you to teach me how to use these powers I have.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You want me to teach you about your Gift?”
“Yes. It’s the only way I can save her.”
Adriana watched me, twisting her lips in thought. Just as I was about to remind her that Naria was currently miles away, possibly being tortured, or kissed, or maybe even an awful combination of both, she doubled over with violent laughter.
“What? What is it?” I snapped.
“You want me to teach you?” she cackled. “Me?” Her eyes went wide before she burst with more laughter.
“What? Is it gold you want?” I demanded. “I can pay!”
“Oh I’m sure you can, dear cousin.” She swiped away a tear. “But I’m afraid I cannot teach you.”
“Why ever not?”
