4. Chapter 4
Chapter four
TAVRIC
Lyrielle was asleep in my bed.
When she’d nodded off, I’d grabbed a dry set of clothes and left the cabin to change.
I couldn’t feel okay about stripping down with her in the room, even if she was asleep, but the discomfort of the wet fabric against my skin wasn’t something I could put up with for long.
I’d offered her dry clothing as well, but she’d shaken her head and pulled the blanket more tightly around herself.
After I’d changed, I spoke with the crew, ordering them to take us directly back to shore since we couldn’t very well go gallivanting on the ocean with an innocent and naive passenger on board. Especially a female passenger.
When I’d returned to my cabin, it was to find her curled up on the foot of my bed where I’d left her, her damp, uneven hair splayed over the coverlet, her fist curled under her chin, and her dark lashes resting in stark contrast against her pale cheek.
In light of her comment about finally getting out of her tower, the paleness of her skin made my heart lurch. Had the sun ever touched her skin?
Though I made a habit of hiding away in my library when I was at home, I couldn’t imagine not having the ability to escape on my ship, to have the salt spray in my face, the wind in my hair, and the sun warm on my shoulders. What if this girl had never been allowed outside?
I shook my head, chastising myself for letting my imagination get away from me. No reason to invent horror stories.
Sitting at my desk, I attempted to organize my maps, but my eyes kept wandering back to her face, hungry for another glimpse. It felt wrong, like I was betraying the woman who had saved me, the one I’d been searching for for the past month.
After all, she was the reason I’d come running when Jenkins had shouted “mermaid.” While Lyrielle was clearly not a mermaid, I felt in my bones that Melody was. But whether Melody was a true mermaid or not, I had to find her—to thank her for saving my life at the very least.
Shaking thoughts of mermaids from my mind, I returned to my maps, grateful that we would be back in port before too long. Sleeping in this chair was not on my list of wants, and I wouldn’t dishonor Lyrielle, myself, or my parents by sleeping in the same bed with her.
Despite my determination to study nothing but my maps, the young woman curled up on my bed kept snagging my attention.
A young lady, who was obviously running from something or someone, had been unceremoniously dropped in my ocean.
What was I to do about that? My eyes slid over her dress, which was obviously homespun.
Was she from a far kingdom? Had she escaped from pirates or been held prisoner?
I couldn’t wait for her to wake so that I could start asking her some of my many questions.
Hopefully she would be more receptive to them this time around.
LYRIELLE
I startled awake, my eyes darting around, looking for the familiar shapes of my tower.
I blinked.
And blinked again as my breathing came in shallow gasps.
It hadn’t been a dream. I was in the quarters of the ship’s captain prince who had fished me from the water after I’d fallen to what should have been my death.
Relief and panic warred within me as I told myself that this was what I’d wanted. Freedom from Aunt Ethel, from that tower, and from that life.
I wrapped my hands around my still damp hair, feeling the bizarrely short strands, so foreign in my hands.
“I imagine that will take some getting used to.”
I lifted my eyes to see Prince Tavric sitting in the chair I’d been in earlier, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. I wondered if he always looked so stern and serious, or if it was just my presence that made him frown.
My own mouth turned down as I tried to figure out what he referred to.
He nodded toward my hands, and I looked down at the jagged ends of my hair.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I still can’t believe it’s gone.
” I was glad for it, and maybe if I kept telling myself that, the guilt would eventually subside.
Or perhaps not. Perhaps I’d always feel guilty because my decision had been entirely selfish and I really was squandering the gift I’d been given.
I divided my hair into three sections, pulling on the tangled strands that were gritty with salt water, and working it into a braid. The ease of the task was startling. My remaining hair was so very manageable, and my eyes stung from the strangeness of it.
As I pulled my hair off my neck, I suddenly realized how bare it was. I dropped my hair and put both hands to my neck, feeling for my necklace, then started looking around me on the bed and on the floor.
“What are you looking for?” the prince asked.
“My necklace. It must have fallen off.” Tears burned my eyes.
“Was it special to you?”
I nodded. “It was a gift from my mother. She wore it every day until she gave it to me on my eighth birthday.”
He grimaced in commiseration. “I’m sorry you lost it.”
I shook my head, devastated but trying not to show it. I was alive, after all.
“Lyrielle,” he said rather abruptly. “Are you running away from something?”
My chest tightened as I thought of my tower, my aunt, and the fierce anger she’d be feeling the moment she discovered me missing.
If I was sent back, what would she do to me?
I opened my mouth to try to answer, but there weren’t words, not ones I could say.
I refused to speak of magic or healing, and I was too tired to think of any safe truth to speak, so I just gaped as my face heated and an ache grew in my throat.
The prince’s expression turned startled and concerned. “I’m sorry. Forgive me,” he said, leaning back and pulling a hand down his face. “You needn’t… It’s fine. You don’t need to speak of it.”
I’d made him uncomfortable, but at least he’d let me off the hook.
Getting up, he paced in front of me to the other side of the room, where he looked through a porthole. “We will arrive at shore soon. Then I suppose I’ll have to decide what to do with you.”
“You needn’t take care of me. I’m certain that I can take care of…
myself.” The last word came out as a quiet question as the realization hit me that NO, I certainly could not take care of myself.
I had not even the slightest inkling about how to make my way in the world, because I’d never been in it.
My goal had been to escape, and the likelihood of succeeding in that plan had been so minuscule that I’d never thought to consider what would happen next.
My only plan had been to find something sharp so that I could cut my hair, which would have allowed me to flee Eldmere.
But actually living in the world…I looked up at him, my eyes unnaturally wide as the precariousness of my predicament washed over me.
The prince allowed a small, reassuring smile to curve his mouth. “My mother would likely adopt you. I have three brothers and no sisters, so she always longs for more female company. Perhaps she can help you find a position.”
I nodded, swallowing down my terror as I latched on to his reassurance.
His mother might help me find a position.
I believed that was what they called it when someone was a servant.
I could do that. I could cook and clean for someone.
I could even sew. If someone would pay me to do those things, then perhaps I was not so useless after all.
“You’ll need to tell people that you fell off another ship.”
My eyes were pulled back to him and my brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Neither you nor I understand how you came to be here, and that could make people wary. It’s best to give them an easy explanation.”
I agreed, frighteningly aware of how little I knew about anything, especially in this foreign land. The people in this kingdom likely feared the unexplainable because it could mean magic. I supposed it was lucky that I could honestly say I no longer had any.
A few minutes later, a knock came at the door and a crewman informed the prince that we were nearing land.
Prince Tavric encouraged me to follow him to the deck and stand at the railing so I could watch as the land came closer.
“The transition from ocean to land will be easier if you see the solid land for a while before you step onto it.”
I did as he suggested, wishing with all my might that it was daylight so that I could take in this new view and perspective.
I wanted to see it all, to see if it was completely different from Branfrie or if there were similarities, but all I could see were shadowy shapes lit by the moon and a smattering of lanterns.
Once the ship was properly docked, Prince Tavric offered me one arm and gestured toward the plank that led from the ship to the dock. “Can I assist you down the gangplank?”
I nodded, took his arm, and then reached behind me to pick up my hair, only to remember that it wasn’t there. My mind and body froze for just a moment, confused by all the strangeness that now surrounded me.
“Miss Lyrielle?”
I shook off my momentary stiffness and allowed him to lead me from the ship. When we stepped off the plank and onto the dirt, I was surprised at the sharp rocks that poked the bottoms of my feet.
“Hmm.” Tavric must have noticed my wince. “I’m certain my mother will be able to find some shoes for you. Fortunately, the carriage will not hurt your feet.” He gestured toward the conveyance, and a footman quickly stepped forward to open the door and fold out a step.
I got inside with only a little difficulty—it was more wobbly than I had anticipated—and we were soon off, the carriage rocking and jostling as it made its way up a winding road.
I looked out the window and had to assume we were aiming for the large castle that sat atop a small hill.
I couldn’t see its details, only that it was large and many of its windows were still lit from within.
“Do you usually come home in the middle of the night?”