Page 63 of Seaspoken

To where the blade is buried deep between my ribs.

I should feel pain, but there is nothing. Only numbness as I stare at the blood that runs down in thin crimson streams, staining my skin and my white dress. I sway on my feet, distantly aware of Keliveth catching me. Of his voice shouting curses at the Seamother as she tries to push him away.

My mother pulls the knife out in a swift movement, and the pain catches up with me all at once. Fire spreads through my body and drowns my senses, and my legs give out. I teeter on the edge of the cliff.

Then I’m falling.

Air rushes past me, cold and empty. Through closing eyes, I see Keliveth dive from the cliff after me.

It’s too late.

Nothing can save me from a wound like this. By the time the waves engulf me, the world is already slipping from my grasp.

Chapter 19

Evya

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Itire of the tasteof blood.

It fills my mouth and ripples through the water around me. I float in darkness, my dying senses flooded with the acrid, metallic scent.

A fitting end for the Seamother’s foolish daughter. For the warrior who thought she could end a war.

I try to move, but my spirit is already pulling away from my body. All I can do is hold Keliveth’s face in my mind, clinging to every memory of his voice. His touch, his love.

Praying, almost beyond hope, that his story will have a better end than mine.

So, this is the price you would pay for him.The ocean’s voice rings with startling clarity.It is well done.

The simple words send the slightest warmth through my soul. I should answer, but I don’t have the strength left for words. At least I can die with honor.

Around me, the sea’s tone grows stronger—a wordless, humming sound that wells from its depths. The sound floods over me, brimming with a joy and freedom I haven’t felt in years. I let the sensation drown me, accepting it as a dying grace.

Protect my mate.I finally summon the words and send them out to the waters. The only thing I can ask for Keliveth. I don’t want to think about what the Seamother will do to him now, or how the elves will receive him even if he manages to escape my mother’s wrath.

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