A lone woman sat on a rock facing the rough sea. Her clothes told the story of her rank and status. She was a noblewoman, but also a warrior. The dress that she wore was a rich velvet but it was practical to the point of being severe. Her face though told the story of her grief and anger. There were no tear tracks. The spray of the sea had wiped those away. Now there was only fire in her eyes, like she would burn the entire world down given the right provocation.
The boy who was observing her was not human but part fey, part sea monster. It was one of the reasons he couldn’t fly or swim and was thus earth bound, forever in the middle, yearning for things he couldn’t have. He felt a kinship with her that was hard to explain. But he didn’t need the words to know what was in his heart.
When it was clear the woman was not going to move, he approached her, moving stealthily but in plain sight. He had no wish to startle her, only to understand her. He hungered for her despair, like if he could untangle the knots of her, he’d be able to untangle the knots of him.
The woman, though in the throes of her rage, still had her instincts and she knew he was coming long before he stood beside her.
“What ails you my lady,” he asked with a deep bow.
She chuckled. It sounded like bells ringing in the sea breeze. The hunger grew.
“I’m nobody’s lady. But what are you? I haven’t seen you before.”
“I’m a Yagasi my lady. I’m not of your world.”
“Yet here you are.”
“Aye, here I am.”
She turned to look at him. She saw ill-formed wings and feet that were webbed. What she saw did not make her pity him. Instead, it fed the rage inside her. As he hungered for her loneliness, she hungered for the injustices he had faced.
“Would you like to take revenge on this world?” Her voice was like a caress.
The Yagasi shivered. “First I would know what you avenge my lady.”
“I avenge my Pene,” she said, turning back to the sea. “The sea took her. She was like the other half of me but she was sweet, so sweet in fact that the sea got jealous.”
“What did you do to make the sea jealous my lady? For the sea does not exact revenge, unlike a Yagasi and a human.”
She did not recoil at the admonishment. Instead she nodded. It was true. The sea was a harsh but fair judge. If the sea took her sweet Pene, it was because it had been her time. And nothing either of them could have done to prevent it from happening. It was that very helplessness that made her furious now.
“Pene was given a boon under the full moon on the day she turned twelve. It was a blood boon. One that said it would protect her from death, if she used it for herself. If not, it would kill her, and protect everyone else.”
Unlike humans, the Yagasi did not waste time asking the logic behind such a boon. Boons did not adhere to logic.
“So the sea took her for your Pene deprived her of her rightful kill.”
She nodded. “Will you help me…Yagasi?”
He did not pause. “I will my lady.”
“And what pray do you avenge?”
“My birth my lady. I avenge it by dying at your side.”
She stood up from the rock, her mind made. She jumped down and landed gracefully beside the Yagasi.
“How would we kill the sea Yagasi?”
The boy’s eyes burned gold like the sun. “It is simple my lady. For I am the creature of the sea. If you kill me…”
“But you were rejected by the sea,” she said pointing at his wings and then his feet. “Why would your death matter to her?”
The Yagasi grinned. His teeth did not look right. “If you kill me and throw my body in the sea, you snatch away my death from the sky. It will…displease the sky to have something stolen. The sky will not rest until it has taken its own revenge.”
She turned the plot over and over in her head, poking holes in it, trying to find a way to ensure she could hurt the sea the way it had hurt her. In the end, the decision was made because the Yagasi said, “Your Pene calls for you my lady. Don’t you hear her tears?”
Just then, the air was rent with Pene’s sobs and she did not hesitate. She removed her blade from her person and ran it through the Yagasi’s torso.
She waited a moment, then two, then three for something to happen to his body but nothing did. Before she could scream betrayal, she felt an agonizing pain in her belly. She looked at herself and was dumbfounded to see red blooming on her bodice.
“And with this,” said the Yagasi, catching her in his arms as he slowly lowered her to the ground, “my curse is lifted.”
He surrendered her body to the sea and the sea kept its promise. It took away his webbed feet and gave him wings that could help him fly.
*
Arthur stopped speaking and accepted a goblet of wine. As he sipped, the trance that had descended on his audience lifted and they started to clap. The goblet froze mid-way to his mouth as he stood there, wondering if he needed to make a run for it.
Then nobleman Mereko walked up to him, clapped his shoulder and hugged him. “Well done, sir, well done.”
Mereko presented Arthur to the gathered guests and his courtly manners finally kicking in, Arthur bowed. The applause hadn’t once stopped. It was a bit awkward, all things considered.
It had been a year in Lovinale and it seemed both the gentry and peasantry had accepted Arthur into their fold. And while he was grateful, he wondered how long the peace would last this time.
This is Chapter 12 of 26 of The Travelling Librarian series. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.
Psst: I also have 2 ebooks on Kindle – and if you’re on Kindle Unlimited, they’re free!
- Read The Gunslinger here.
- Read 23 Letters of Love here.
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