Page 12 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

A stilted silence answered him. Jareth searched her face as if looking for something specific, but what did he want her to say? His proposed treaty came at the cost of her hand. A treaty sealed with marriage.

It all came back to this: Food for her hand. Treaties for her hand.

And what would happen if Reva refused his marriage proposal? Would the elves revert to their siren ways and haunt her trading ships?

Reva’s hands shook as she pressed them against her thighs. Cassandra was right about one thing—she wasn’t ready to make this kind of decision. Her gaze flickered between the petulant human prince and the enigmatic one from the sea—between two uncertain futures.

If she had to pick between them, she’d choose Jareth in a heartbeat. But she couldn’t make such a decision based on personality. As the future queen of Etthan, she had to do what was best for her people.

Her personal preference could have no bearing.

That night, Reva found sleep difficult. Everyone had agreed to camp on Black Rock Island and continue talks in the morning. Cassandra had been so angry at Reva that she refused to eat dinner and instead sulked her way through the simple meal of rice and fish that the cook prepared for everyone else.

Was there a solution to this madness that didn’t involve her agreeing to marry a stranger? Or her being forced to compromise what she believed was the best for her kingdom in order to feed her people?

Handing control of her kingdom to Cassandra was not what she wanted.

And yet…could she risk the future of her people on an unknown prince?

Reva rolled over on the thin mattress laid upon the sand. Every time she convinced her body to relax, a new concern seeped in and reignited her unease.

Frustrated, she flung an arm across her face. She might as well resign herself to the fact she wasn’t going to sleep toni—

A curious wriggling in the sand beneath her hip froze her mid thought.

Gasping, she rolled to her knees, diving for the lantern in the corner of her tent. What had crawled into her tent?

A snake from the rocks? Crab? Her skin prickled as she hastily lit the lantern. Crouching beside her bedroll, she lifted the lantern and searched for—

Wriggling. In her pocket.

Shivering with revulsion, she set the lantern down and dug into her pocket, grabbing whatever had crawled into her trousers. She gave it a little fling. The squishy thing landed on her burlap pillow.

Rather than scuttle or slither away, the fist-sized creature drew in on itself as if it were scared, huddling on her pillow. Reva picked up the lantern for a closer look.

“By the pearls,” she breathed, half-laughing at her own terror. It had too many arms to be a snake… Her unexpected bed fellow was nothing more than a tiny, rosy-pink, blobbish...

Kraken?

Reva sighed and set the lantern down on the ground.

“Where did you come from?” she asked as she eyed the baby kraken. “I really don’t want you on my pillow.”

As if responding to her calmer tone of voice, the kraken unfurled its tentacles and emitted an inquisitive squeak she almost found cute. Contrary to the fairy tales that liked to depict kraken as monstrous beings, most of the species were harmless creatures that seldom ventured out of the water. And when they did, they could only survive for a couple of days without returning to the sea.

“I don’t know how you managed to find your way into my tent—or my pocket, for that matter,” Reva said, “or why you thought it was a good idea, but you can’t stay here. You’re going to dry out.”

The kraken scuttled forward an inch—then two inches—and blinked its black eyes at her.

Reva eyed it suspiciously. “Let’s get you back to the sea,” she said. “Your mother must be there, waiting for you.”

Leaning over, she plucked the baby kraken up by a couple of its tentacles, stooped to climb out of her tent door, and darted barefoot across the sand toward the sea. The kraken curled a suction-cupped tentacle around her fingers. She shuddered and held it at arm’s length, not appreciating the feel of its suction cups against her exposed skin.

“If you bite me,” she said between clenched teeth.

The island was silent, save for the perpetual wash of waves against the shore and the crackling of the fire down the beach from her. Watchmen gathered about the flames, murmuring together.

Holding the blobby pink kraken before her, Reva ignored the watchmen, who hadn’t yet noticed her, and walked toward the edge of the water. Felix’s smoldering ship caught her eye. The fire’s glow still permeated some of the timbers, and a wave of sadness washed over her as she considered the people who had lost their lives.

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