Page 24 of The Dark Will Rise

“The selkies don’t leave the Skala beach.” Rainn smiled apologetically. “Many patrol the forests surrounding the beach but won’t go much further. Unmated selkies don’t like to go anywhere someone could steal their coat. If they do travel, they’ll use their seal form.”

“You don’t seem to be as careful.” I pointed out.

“I’m mated.” Rainn grinned. “But, I used to chain my coat, remember? It was the only reason that my mother would let me go. I’m thankful I don’t have to cover my body in chains just to walk on two legs, but those precautions are necessary.”

I nodded in agreement before changing the subject. “How far is it to the nymph village?”

“More than two days travel on land.” Rainn glanced at the shore and the lake's surface between the trees. “There are many gairid paths that haunt the forest. The selkies mapped them long ago. They will spit us out after a time, but they never take you exactly where you want to go.”

“The undine can fashion steeds from the reeds that grow along the shore,” I told them. “Sometimes bubbles, if they need to rise to the surface quickly. They’re often made by weavers, who can add their magic to almost anything.”

“King Irvine was a weaver, wasn’t he?” Tor mused, tapping his chin. “What magic do you have? The undine have many talents, but they hide many more.”

I shrugged but remained silent. His question bore thinking about. I had no idea what kind of magic I had. Manipulating water was not an undine talent. Perhaps becoming the water was reserved for people who sat on the High Throne—though I wasn’t sure my mother could do what I could. It would make sense if she could, though. No one could stretch themselves so thin and throw their consciousness across the water without losing a little bit of themselves along the way.

We walked until the Skala beach disappeared from view, and then some more, before we stopped at the lake's edge for a drink. I always forgot how thirsty I was on land until the water hit my tongue.

I knew that Rainn and Tor took a break because they thought I needed it, and they would have soldiered on if I wasn’t there.

Tor heard them before I did, his head snapping up and turning to the forest. I couldn’t see past the shadows, but Tor’s eyes narrowed as he studied a patch of darkness that didn’t look different from any other. Rainn shifted, unfurling his body until his hand rested on the knife on his belt. I had no weapons to draw, though I wished I had thought to ask for one before that moment. Though I wouldn’t know the first thing about using a blade. My schooling was lacking, and even then, the female undine didn’t learn to use weapons. Our purpose had been purely aesthetic.

A branch snapped, the sound muffled by the damp forest floor and the waves crashing against the rocks where we stood. Tor moved before me as Rainn stepped to the tree line, his knife jumping into his hand.

“Give us the gilded one.” A selkie stepped from the shadows, wearing the same armor I had seen on dozens of guards in the castle on the beach. “We have been sent to retrieve her.”

Rainn let out a laugh that sounded hollow and strange. “Sent to retrieve her? Have you?”

Another selkie stepped out of the tree line, his sword drawn and his eyes fixed on Rainn. “We belong to River Shallows, oldest of the Selkie Queen’s ilk. We are his guards, and we do his bidding.”

Rainn’s nostrils flared, and his smile and laughter ripped from his face so quickly it was jarring. “River Shallows rots in the dungeons below the Skala beach. I am Rainn, the youngest of the Selkie Queens, and you have no authority over me.”

The two guards exchanged glances but did not move.

“Rather, this gilded female is my mate, and I will take great pleasure in ripping your heads from your shoulders if you so much as look at her again.”

“He means it.” Tor cut in, bored.

“Who do you really work for?” Rainn snarled. “Because River isn’t smart enough to engineer this. He didn’t have the foresight to realize we would discover his plan.”

I wanted to say that River didn’t have the intelligence to check a hidden passageway for eavesdroppers before revealing his misdeeds, but I held my tongue.

“We don’t want to hurt you.” The first guard said, his voice level and his weapon sure. “They want her alive.”

“Why do they want her?” Rainn cocked his head to the side.

The selkie guards exchanged another look. I expected more of a debate, but the two males must have decided it wasn’t as productive as grabbing me and running away. Unfortunately, both fae seemed to have underestimated my Shíorghrá.

One of the guards had already drawn his sword, but he held it aloft as he struck with a foot, aiming for Rainn’s chest to knock him back. Rainn moved more quickly than I had ever seen, and I knew that selkies were fast both in their seal form and on two legs. Rainn ducked under the guard’s foot, causing him to stagger when the hit didn’t land.

The other guard drew their sword, and the metal rang out, even over the roar of the waves. Tor flashed his teeth, but it was anything but a smile. A moment passed, and I wondered why our attacker hadn’t moved; his sword dropped to the rocks with a crash that couldn’t have been good for the blade. The guard grabbed his face, pulling at the skin of his cheeks, his mouth locked in a silent scream.

Tor glanced over his shoulder. Nodding once after checking that I was alright, I turned back to the guard crawling to the rocks. The selkie dove head first off the edge into the water. Metal armor and all.

Rainn was locked in a one-sided sword fight with the other guard, and my selkie hadn’t bothered to draw his knife. Instead, he danced around the guard, who clearly had expected an easier fight. Rainn grinned and shot us a triumphant look. I would have told him he was an idiot, but the sting of the blade did it for me as his opponent aimed for his face, and Rainn ducked at the last moment—but not before a slim cut erupted on his cheek.

Though I knew Rainn had it in hand, even if he hadn’t drawn his weapon—the sight of his blood did something to me. My heartbeat stole all sound, whomping in my ears like a bird taking flight. I lifted a hand, and though I had no idea what I intended to do, I knew I wanted to guard to pay for bloodying my mate.

The water at the rocks pulled back, but the two selkies didn’t notice as they continued to dance. The guard grew desperate as Rainn finally paid attention to the fight, and he tried to disarm him.

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