Page 5 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

Reva jerked against the fingers digging into her forearm.

“How dare I? How dare you! You deliberately hid this from me because you knew I wouldn’t agree to it! If you’re so keen on a marriage alliance with Desta, then you can marry Prince Felix!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m in mourning.”

“You haven’t been in mourning for years.” Reva raked the older woman with a fiery glare. “You’re as cold as a fish, and just as slippery. You planned this. You planned all of this. You’ve always wanted control of Etthan, and I was the only thing standing in your way. Do you think you can marry me off to a third son and take my kingdom from me?”

More boots squeaked against sand. At last, Cassandra released her hold on Reva and allowed her to yank free and step away. Rency and the prince strode toward them, the wind blowing their hair about their faces.

Rency stopped abruptly and shielded his eyes with a hand. He looked not at them but over the waves lapping hungrily upon the white sands. Reva followed the direction of his gaze. What had captured his attention? He wasn’t one to ignore drama unfolding around him.

There. Something dark rose out of the waves. A porpoise arching out of the waters?

But no, the thing in the water didn’t possess the sleek shape of a sea creature, but rather a head and shoulders and torso of a man. Only a couple yards from shore, the man shook his head and tossed dark, clinging locks out of his face. He wore a sea-green tunic secured by leather belt, straps, and greaves. Armor capped each shoulder.

He strode toward the shore, driving through the waves as if they were nothing to him.

The prince of Desta swore once again. “Is that—” But he broke off as the stranger stepped onto the beach and headed for them, his bare feet leaving divots in the sand.

The man stopped in front of Reva. and she gaped, openmouthed, as she took in the soaked figure standing before her: broad shoulders, a chin darkened with stubble, long dark hair, and…pointed ears.

“You’re not welcome here, elf,” Cassandra said between her teeth.

The venom in her voice tore Reva’s gaze from the stranger and to the red-faced woman standing beside her. Once again Reva wished she understood the cause of Cassandra’s long-standing hatred of the elves. Knowing would have been useful at a time like this.

Their unexpected guest cleared his throat, and Reva returned her attention to him as he drew himself up taller.

“My name is Jareth Elesti, Prince of Argos,” he said, the words resonating like distant thunder across the ocean. “I heard that Princess Reva is seeking an alliance, and I am here to add my name for consideration.”

Sand and pearls!

Reva’s back stiffened as she reared her head back. “Consideration for what?”

The elf cocked his head to one side and held her captive with a stare so intense she couldn’t have looked away had she wanted to. “For the right to request your hand in marriage and seal a treaty between our peoples.”

While Rency threw back his head and howled with laughter, Reva felt…nothing. Her thoughts struggled to make sense of the elf’s words. What made him think he could climb out of the sea after decades of silence and request a marriage alliance? It had been so long since she’d heard any news of the elves, she’d nearly forgotten about them beneath the waters of the South Oloren.

The more she thought about it, the more her shock gave way to confusion and irritation.

“How did you hear about this?” Cassandra asked dubiously, voicing Reva’s own misgivings.

Considering she’d managed to keep these plans a secret even from her own stepdaughter, Reva couldn’t blame her and wanted to know the answer to the question herself.

“I have my ways.” The elf hesitated, but after a faltering moment he straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. “We keep our distance from your people, but that doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to the events above us.”

Cassandra’s nostrils flared and she took a step toward the elf, shaking her fan like a weapon. “You’ve been spying.”

“Of course, he’s been spying. Everyone is always spying on everyone else,” Rency said. “You can’t expect the elves to behave any differently than the rest of us.”

“I—I don’t spy!” Cassandra snapped open her fan and waved it violently.

Reva parted her lips to try to redirect the conversation, but a sudden rumble shook the foundations of the island beneath their feet. Reva staggered and spread her arms wide, searching for the source of the disturbance as the others also struggled to keep their solid footing.

Screams tore across the waters. Her eyes clasped on the prince’s flagship, moored in the bay. While the Andromeda and Reva’s ship, the Perseus, sat peaceful in the sea, Felix’s ship rocked precariously side to side, as if bucked by an invisible wind.

Then, with a roar that could wake the dead, a fireball engulfed the Endellion in hellish flames.

Flames licked at the ship’s timbers. A railing gave way and sent a cannon hurtling into the sea with a tremendous splash. Screams, hoarse cries, and gargles of pain filled the air in a horrific cacophony.

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