Page 3 of A Wrecking of Salt and Fire

Releases her from these shackles

Shall the gift of the Grechi remain.

Katrin dipped her toe into the large limestone bath in the center of the chamber. Steam rose from the surface of the water, but the burn never bothered her. Fire and heat crept into her skin, warming a piece of her that had long since turned to ice.

Soapy water cocooned Katrin as she submerged herself, lulling her into a piercing silence. Creating a reprieve from her thoughts. Comforting her as if being curled up in a blanket by a crackling fire.

Her head floated up out of the water and Katrin leaned against the side of the bath. It was so clear to her in those days after she was rescued from the seas. Kohl literally pulled her from the shadows of the raging waves. It was him, the one to save not only her, but the power the Grechi held so dear.

Bubbles flew into the air like little crystals as Katrin splashed the water in front of her, heaving a sigh. It was too much for someone approaching twenty-five. The power of the Grechi and the peace in the isles resting in her hands, all because some old crone said so. Yet she knew the prophecy to be true, if only from the way she warmed when Kohl would look at her, hold her, kiss her. It was utterly terrifying.

Rarely in their history was a mortal bonded to someone born of the gods. So rare it was only recorded once, kept in the books at the Library of Morentius. The details so ancient, one couldn’t even make out the faded names. Almost as if it were a secret, a lie no one wanted shared.

Katrin pondered this for nearing five years. Kohl was born from mortals, no blessing or magic to be seen in the Athanas family.

Then there was her, born of the Goddess of Sun and Birth and the God of Death and the Illuminating Stars of Night.

Her immortality was daunting, but she could not dwell on that now. Not today. Today all she needed to worry about was her impending birthday and wedding. When she reached twenty-five, she would finally be able to access her magic, finally be able to assume her destiny and sit upon the throne of Alentus.

A faint glow began to radiate from Katrin’s finger tips, the only glimmer of her powers she showed for now. She turned over her palm, the pads of her fingertips shriveled like the fruits in the Triad Mountains after too much sun. Lost in her thoughts and the warmth of the bath water, time passed quickly and she did not realize she was no longer alone.

A soft chuckle floated through the air, and Katrin whirled around under the water line, splashing half of it onto the sea glass tiling the floors. “Ember!” she gasped.

“You know, you really should lock your door more, given everything,” Ember’s lilting voice drifted over the steaming room.

Katrin rolled her eyes as she shifted her body farther under the water, hiding her tattered back and shame of the past from her sister. “The guards really shouldn’t let you in here without alerting me first.”

She looked up at her younger sister—the spitting image of their mother—and a twinge of jealousy settled in her gut. Ember was always the more classically beautiful of the two. Hair a sparkling straw, eyes a deep golden so captivating she convinced most men her age into thinking they were in love with her.

“The guards are supposed to let me in anywhere I wish.” Ember’s hand gripped her hip, dressed in a golden gown that matched her eyes, the most stunning turquoise silken sash tied around her waist. Her foot bearing a golden leather laced-up sandal continued to tap, as she stared down at her sister.

“May I help you, then?” Katrin drawled out, finally stepping out of the bath and wrapping herself in a plush robe. Again she avoided showing her back, even to her sister. Another person she trusted, but did not—could not—trust with everything. That was a secret and a burden she alone would carry, the embarrassment too much to share.

“Mother would like to know why you weren’t at breakfast this morning.”

“Well mother can learn that it is none of her business.” Technically very, very untrue. Kora had a right to know everything.

Ember’s lips pursed shut, her golden eyes flaring with a curious flicker. “Katrin, the King of Morentius is arriving today and there is much to do. Mother just wants to make sure everything is prepared for him and his family.”

Katrin wandered over to the limestone vanity and began brushing out her tangled waves. “The queen and Farah are not arriving with him. Kohl has told me they will stay behind until the wedding.” Her words were too sharp as they trailed from her tongue. She closed her eyes for a second, calming the voices inside her head that told her to refuse their pity and sympathy.

Light footsteps padded behind Katrin and Ember placed a delicate palm on her shoulder. It took everything for Katrin to not recoil from the touch, one that was so close to her unexplainable markings. “It happened again, didn’t it?” Ember’s sweet voice was a low whisper.

All Katrin could do was nod, she did not want to dwell in that abyss of emotions any longer. She barely crawled out of it mere moments before. Only just washed the stench of shame and regret from her skin.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just don’t understand. Why now? Why after all this time?”

“I don’t know, Ember, maybe the Fates are trying to tell me something.” Katrin’s voice was distant, barely traveling from her lips. “I finally told him.”

She turned around to face her sister. Ember was as feisty as they come, but the most loyal and caring person Katrin knew. Even if she could barely wield a sword or do much other than dance at balls and hold court. She was the first person Katrin sought after the nightmares returned, this secret at least she needed to share.

Katrin always envied her sister for more than just her beauty. Maybe it was the fact that she never needed to worry about ruling the isle that made her so carefree, or maybe it was the way her power slowly grew inside her. A gift that one day allows her to heal, to bloom. Katrin’s power was only death and destruction.

“Well, I’m glad Kohl knows. It is one less secret I have to keep and he can help you, Katrin.”

“I know,” she whispered, putting down the sapphire comb, its handle engraved with a beautiful yet fearsome winged creature of the sea, old characters from long ago carved below the image of the crashing waves: Αστερ?κι μου. “That’s half of why I didn’t tell him. We are to be married. This time should be filled with joy and blessings and laughter. Let alone the stress he already has over his father’s arrival. I knew telling him would plague him with my own fears—and I just couldn’t do that.”

“Of course you could!” Ember took a step back. “Kohl would do anything for you. If you don’t know that then you are a gods-damned fool.”

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