Page 13 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

Would they ever learn if it was more than an accident? But if it wasn’t, then who would do such a terrible thing?

“Here you go, little one.” She stopped at the edge of the sea. The damp sand felt cool against her bare toes as she held out her arm and tried to release the kraken. “Time to go home.”

It clung more tightly to her fingers and emitted a wee shriek.

“Oy! Let go—”

“Wait.”

Reva jerked in response to the command from the darkness. She twisted her head to the right and watched Prince Jareth rising out of the water. Moonlight revealed his high cheekbones and cast his deep-set eyes into deeper shadow.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “I thought you were asleep with everyone else. Are you watching me?”

Not a flicker of expression changed his face. “Yes,” he said without any sign of shame. “And the sea.”

“Watching for what?” she asked, a shiver rippling down her arms and legs.

He hesitated and looked over his shoulder, out into the cove. “I don’t know,” he said quietly.

There was something he wasn’t telling her. Tentacles wiggling against her fingers reminded her why she’d come down to the water in the first place. “Oh. This fellow was in my tent. I don’t suppose he’s an acquaintance of yours, perhaps?”

Shaking her hand gently, she started to drop the creature into the waves.

“Actually, yes!” Jareth dove forward, catching the miniature kraken in his palm. He cradled it like he held something fragile and precious, and Reva suddenly wondered if she shouldn’t have picked the blob up by its tentacles. Jareth tucked the creature away, safely in his own pocket.

“Forgive him,” he said, sounding embarrassed as he rose to stand in front of her. “Calix doesn’t always do as he’s told.”

Reva took a step backward, uncomfortable with his proximity. “It’s alright. I don’t always like to do what I’m told either. And he didn’t cause any harm.”

Silence wrapped around them but not the nice, comfy sort of silence between friends. This was awkward and strained, and made Reva want to retreat back to her tent as quickly as possible just so she didn’t have to work at polite conversation.

“So.” She cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest to ward off the night chill. “Why are you watching the cove? You said you didn’t know what you were looking for?”

He didn’t answer immediately but took the time to shove an escaping Calix back into his pocket. The kraken squeaked furiously. “I, uh, sense a disturbance in the water. Something…I can’t explain. Something just doesn’t feel right.”

“What does it feel like?” Reva prodded, unable to keep her gaze from straying to the dark sea. Moonlight glinted off cresting waves all across the cove.

Once again he didn’t answer right away. This time, however, he wasn’t fussing with Calix but simply stared out at the waters he called home. “Something dangerous,” he said finally. “I don’t know what’s out there, and that…”

“That worries you?”

“Yes.” He half-laughed and turned back to her. “I thought I knew most of the secrets of the Oloren…but this reminds me I still have much to learn.”

She pursed her lips and considered her next words carefully. “So, what do you think happened to the Endellion? Was it an accident? Or was it attacked?”

“You’re asking me?” His voice lowered, his gaze searching hers.

“Um, yes, I believe I did.” She arched one eyebrow and waited for him to answer more properly.

Jareth shifted his weight to the side but maintained eye contact. “I can’t say for certain. But I don’t think it was an accident. The sea doesn’t lie…and it’s telling me something is wrong. I can’t explain it to you, not in words you would understand.”

“Try.”

“You’re very direct.” One corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile. “Very well. It’s not any one thing. It’s the way the water tastes, the way the fish swim in unusual patterns. So many small things that would mean nothing by themselves, but when you add them together…”

They mean something. She finished his sentence in her head and rubbed her palms over her arms, a sensation of dread tightening in her stomach…a premonition of something bad headed their way.

Another awkward silence fell between them, and Reva stared at the cove and wondered what could be out there.

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