Page 9 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea (Avalore Chronicles #1)

Chapter six

“W hat…what is happening to me?” Sorcha cried out in fear.

“You didn’t think you could be bound to a human and remain a mermaid, did you?” Maeve asked.

Sorcha didn’t know what she had expected, but not… this . Not these pale sticks in place of her powerful sapphire tail. Her new toes were nearly blue from the cold of the water.

“You’re going to want to cover up, too,” Maeve said. “Humans are rather snooty about clothing.”

“What?” She looked down. Of course. Humans had skin everywhere.

Her torso, too, was white and smooth, the scales that normally covered her having vanished.

Only the blue gem in its lattice cage rested against her chest, the ribbon around her neck somehow having held through the storm. She bit back a sob.

“I don’t want to be a human.” This couldn’t be happening.

“Too late for that,” Maeve said dryly.

“What do I do?” she whimpered.

“The only thing you can do is get him to like you.”

A strange voice calling out from the other side of the rocks interrupted her next question. With barely a splash, Maeve disappeared.

Sorcha pushed herself free of the rocks and scrambled deeper into the water. “Don’t leave me here!”

She flipped over and tried to swim, kicking her new legs together as though they were still joined.

She ducked under the water, but she couldn’t pull air from the water like she normally did.

Why were her gills not working? She opened her mouth to call for her aunt. Water filled her mouth, and she choked.

What was happening to her? The ocean was her world, her whole life. Why was it rejecting her? She flailed, her limbs refusing to work as required.

Arms reached around her, and she was lifted from the water.

No! She had to get home! Ciara needed her!

She fought against whoever was holding her. The man said something, his voice rough, but she couldn’t focus. His voice was so loud! He stumbled as she continued to flail.

“Let me go!” she cried, pushing against his chest.

With a grunt, he released her, and she fell to the sand.

The jolt startled her out of her panic, and she glared up at him. The early morning sun turned his ruddy-blond curls copper, and his hazel eyes were full of concern.

He spoke, words that made no sense. She shook her head and pointed back to the water.

Aunt Maeve had vanished, but maybe she was still close enough to help her back to the grotto.

If she could just get home, surely Aunt Maeve could help her solve this.

How her aunt knew so much about the binding, she didn’t know, but she definitely planned on asking.

She pointed more aggressively, her hair shifting with the movement.

He looked away, his cheeks flushing pink.

Searching the beach, he muttered to himself.

What was he saying? He motioned with his hands for her to stay put, then hurried off.

She huddled in the sand, burying her strange toes in it.

Her long hair fell in tangled waves, and she let it cover her as she wrapped her arms around her legs.

The man hurried back with a bundle of cloth in his hand. He held it out to her, keeping his head turned away. What did he want her to do with it?

Maeve’s words about humans and clothing returned to her. Oh. Right. She didn’t have scales to cover her anymore.

With a half-sob for what she had lost, she snatched the cloth from him and wrapped it around herself.

The man crouched down to her level, worry creasing his forehead.

He spoke again in a soothing tone. She couldn’t understand him.

Humans spoke a different language, but whatever magic had transformed her into a human hadn’t thought fit to ensure she could speak to any of them.

Tears trickled down her sand-dusted cheeks.

“I need to go home,” she whispered, knowing he wouldn’t understand her.

He reached a hand and patted her shoulder, his hazel eyes full of concern. He stood, looking to the end of the beach. With a sigh, he offered her a hand. Shaking her head, she huddled deeper into her covering. His words came faster, and he motioned to where the sand ended.

He wanted her to go with him. But how could she leave the ocean behind? She dropped her head to her knees, sobs shaking her shoulders.

His hand slapped against his salt-stiff clothing as he sighed. He said something more, his tone full of resignation. When she didn’t respond, he turned and walked away, his feet shushing though the sand.

Her chest grew tight, and she raised her head to breathe better. The man continued to walk away from her.

Where was he going? The tightness in her chest grew.

Why had he left her there? She knew no one else, and if she was bound to him, shouldn’t she go after him?

Her breath came in short gasps as she contemplated being abandoned in the human world.

Being stuck with him was far preferable to trying to navigate on her own.

She rubbed her chest, trying to alleviate the pain. She had to go after him.

But how? She didn’t know how to walk. She tied the covering around her so it wouldn’t fall. Pushing herself upright, she stood wobbling in the sand, her arms out for balance. She could do this. She could follow him. Swallowing, she lifted one foot…and fell flat on her face.

Spitting the sand out of her mouth, she tried again. Stand. Balance. One foot, just like the humans she’d seen walking.

Sand in her mouth again.

She glared at her traitorous new feet. Experimentally, she told her left foot to move. Both feet flipped in unison like her fin underwater. She leaned forward and grabbed her right foot and moved her left foot again. Her right jerked in her hold.

She wiped away tears from the pain, then pulled her right leg up and sat on her foot. This time her left foot acted on its own. Her cry of triumph was lost in a sob.

Unable to stand it any longer, she folded over in the sand, her hands pressed to her chest, where her heart thudded in a desperate cadence.

The pain grew, as though part of her were being stretched and ripped out.

A rick glared at the traitorous blue sky as he hurried across the sand, dodging the plethora of broken pieces of ships. He’d already wasted too much time when he needed to find out what had happened to Thomas and all the others. But he couldn’t exactly abandon the poor woman.

Who was she? He didn’t recognize her from the party. Perhaps she’d been on one of the smaller vessels that had joined the regatta.

The sand switched from damp to dry beneath his feet, and he struggled to catch his breath.

If he was so exhausted he couldn’t cross the beach, how was he to make it all the way back to his lodgings?

Where was everyone else? Why were they the only two on this beach?

The debris proved that the storm had driven whatever had been on the water in all directions.

He stopped on the edge of the bank to rest for a moment, sinking down into the sand.

The woman was still huddled under the piece of sail he had found for her.

Perhaps her friends would come for her, he reassured himself.

Was she from one of the neighboring kingdoms, here for Thomas’s birthday celebrations?

In that case, he really should try to bring her with him.

But she had so adamantly insisted on staying near the water.

The ocean had calmed considerably, but the water was choppy. The rocks that protected the beach blocked the water, sending white spray towering into the air with every wave.

Sitting was doing him no good, so he got to his feet, wavering as the world tilted around him. He was not so out of shape that a short walk like that should wind him. The salt grass cut his feet with each step as he walked and tried not to pant.

Maybe water had gotten into his lungs. He reached the road and paused, his hands on his knees as he breathed against the vice around his chest.

A cry cut across the still beach. He turned in time to see the woman collapse in the sand. As much as he wanted to know whether Thomas was safe, he couldn’t leave her there.

He pushed himself upright, the world spinning even more. He took one step, then blackness washed over him.

M inutes passed while Arick struggled to push aside the blackness. The woman’s anguished sobs drew him back to her, and he stumbled forward. No matter how bad of shape he was in, he couldn’t leave her.

The sharp salt grass on his legs helped to center him, and as he crossed to the sand, his breathing grew easier until he was able to run the last few steps to her side.

She had ceased crying, though her chest still heaved. For the first time she looked directly at him. And he was lost in the depths of her sapphire-blue eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly, his own pain forgotten.

She offered him a wan smile and sat up. Pushing her hair back, she took a shuddering breath.

Her hair had dried and now fell in thick ringlets around her face, the rich red contrasting with her pale skin.

She adjusted the sail around her, and he was surprised to see that she’d managed to turn it into a quite modest outfit.

She’d tied the top around her neck and wrapped the longer sides around her, knotting them in the front.

“Can you walk?” He doubted that she understood him. He motioned in the direction he’d already traveled, hoping she would understand.

She nodded with a smile and tried to stand.

He caught her arm to steady her. She wobbled, her feet close together.

Tucking her arm over his, he drew her nearer to offer support.

He was surprised to see how tall she was.

Most women didn’t even reach his shoulder.

She lurched forward, crying out in pain as her foot sank into the sand. Her fingers bit into his arm.

“Oh! Is there something there?” He couldn’t see anything, but perhaps a piece of shell was buried.

She clung to him, shaking.

“Come on, shall we try again?” Holding her with both hands, he started off again.

She took another awkward, lurching step, with the same result. He glanced down, and those brilliant blue eyes were so full of pain and fear he had to fight the urge to hold her close. Such a move would be wildly inappropriate, and the poor thing was only just beginning to trust him.

“We have to keep going,” he said apologetically. “Staying here won’t do either of us any good, and I would really like to check on my friends.” He kept his voice low and soothing, and the wildness slowly faded from her eyes.

His throat was scratchy, but talking seemed to calm her. “I’m sure your friends are looking for you, but the best place to find them would be back in the city. The harbormaster likely has a list already started to help people find each other.”

When she was ready, he took a cautious step forward.

She pressed her lips together and slowly lifted one leg without bending her knee, then lowered her foot to the ground a few inches in front of where it had been.

Right before it touched the sand, she paused before letting it drop. She whimpered and clung to him.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “You’re hurt. Let me see.”

He helped her sit down again, and with gentle hands, he lifted her foot.

Her feet were long and slender. He’d never before touched a woman’s foot, but he told himself this was for medical purposes.

His fingers hesitated, and he swallowed hard before starting his examination.

He could see no sign of injury — certainly nothing that would cause her to cry out like that.

As he ran his thumbs lightly over the sole, he watched her for any indications he was hurting her.

She stared back at him with those blue eyes he could get lost in.

“Does that hurt?” he asked to distract himself from the sapphire pools. “Let me know if you feel anything.”

Her skin was smooth, soft, without the usual calluses people gained from years of being on their feet. He frowned. Maybe she had a disability that prevented her from walking. That would explain why the movement seemed so unnatural to her and caused her so much pain.

At last he sat back, gently placing her foot on the ground.

He’d taken the liberty of checking her ankle for swelling as well, but it was cool to the touch.

Unless it was her knee or something else bothering her, he had no idea why she was so in pain when she walked.

But he was not bold enough to look further without her express approval.

She looked at him curiously, with no trace of the pain that seemed to affect her so acutely at times. He let his breath out in a huff.

“Well, this isn’t getting us anywhere, is it? I hope you don’t think this is too forward, but I do believe the only solution is for me to carry you.”

He helped her stand once more, chatting as he did so. “Up like this. There you go.”

Hoping she would forgive him for acting without being able to explain his intentions, he scooped her into his arms.

“Oh!” she said, clutching him around the neck.

Her wide eyes were so close to his, and he found he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She offered him a shy smile, then cocked her head, as if asking what he was doing now.

“Right. I do hope I’m not hurting you, but I dare say it’s best if we get a move on.” His stomach rumbled loudly, and she giggled. “It appears that I’ve missed breakfast.”

This time as he crossed the sand, he moved with ease and none of the shortness of breath from earlier. He found a path that avoided most of the salt grass, and they soon reached the road.

He took a moment to get his bearings. The city lay to the left, but a small town might be closer in the opposite direction. Only moors and hills dotted with distant white sheep called to him, so he turned to the city.