Kingdom of Salt and Sirens Read online

  “Aren’t you coming?” I asked when I realized he wasn’t following me. He shook himself out of his daze and picked up his speed to match mine.

  I cursed my mother for leaving me in the bathroom with nothing but a towel as I walked past some of the palace guards, trying to ignore their wide-eyed stares.

  Thankfully, my bedroom wasn’t that far, and as soon as the door closed behind me, I hopped into the walk-in wardrobe and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

  “I think I preferred you in the towel,” joked Hayden playfully as I came back into the bedroom. I threw the first thing I could find at him, which just happened to be a stuffed unicorn. How appropriate I should have toys of imaginary creatures in my room. With the way this day was turning out, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned into a real one.

  Fortunately, it didn’t. It just bounced of Hayden’s head and landed on the floor.

  “What’s up?” I asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

  “The wedding.”

  “Oh.” What with everything else that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I’d completely forgotten about it. I thought back to the conversation I’d had with my parents the day before. The last thing I’d said to them was that I’d think about it. Well, I’d thought about it, and there was no way I was going to go ahead with it. Not now. Having a husband with a ship would be nice, but it would be nothing compared to what I was going to have to give up. If I married Hayden, I wouldn’t be able to see him again, the stranger.

  I sighed. I was already due to have one argument with her today, now it seemed I could add another to the list. “Don’t worry. It’s not happening. I’ll tell my mother later. She’ll just have to cancel it all. It’s her own fault for planning it without asking us. You’ll still be able to date Astrid. I haven’t seen her since the night of the party, but I assured her that there is nothing between us.”

  He cast his eyes downwards. I noticed he’d picked up a cushion from the bed and was now fiddling with the edge of it, a nervous habit I hadn’t noticed before. Hayden was not known for being the nervous type.

  “That’s just it,” he mumbled almost under his breath. I had to strain my ears to hear him. “Your parents have sent Astrid away. Some guards came to her house a couple of hours ago and took her.”

  I could barely believe it. “What? Why would they do that?”

  His face adopted a look of intense sadness as he looked back up at me. I could almost feel his heart breaking just by his expression. I hadn’t been exactly sure how it was between Hayden and Astrid, if it was just a fling or something more serious. But now, looking at him, I knew. He really loved her. “I guess because they don’t want her getting in the way between us.”

  I screwed up my eyes in frustration. Hayden was my best friend, and I loved him. Not in the way he loved Astrid, but he meant the world to me. The two of us marrying would spoil everything. I knew for certain I didn’t want to be his wife. Whether or not he decided to marry Astrid would have to be his own decision, not one given to him.

  I took hold of his hand. He felt so different to the stranger. His skin was so much softer. Just thinking of the man who’d changed everything, the man whose name I still didn’t know, made me sigh. This was all wrong.

  “Where did she get taken?” I asked as softly as I could, hoping he knew the answer. I was pretty sure my parents wouldn’t tell me if I asked them.

  Hayden dropped the cushion and picked up the unicorn I’d thrown at him instead. I tried to ignore the fact he was absentmindedly unpicking the stitches on it. “Her mother told me she’d been taken to her aunt’s house for the next two weeks.”

  “And where is that?” I asked, thinking I might have to make a visit.

  “On the border of Eshen.”

  “Where exactly on the border?” I asked, knowing that I’d have to listen carefully if I was going to find the place.

  “I don’t know the address, but she told me it’s a pink house in a town called Spirit, right on the very border. I know what you are thinking, and it’s not going to happen. You won’t be able to bring her back in time.”

  I sat up straight on the bed and took a deep breath. I hated being told what I could and couldn’t do. I had been all my life, and it seemed it was happening a whole lot more frequently this past week. “Hayden Harrington-Blythe! I will go to her and bring her back. I’m eighteen now. My parents can’t stop me from leaving the palace if I want to.”

  Hayden almost smiled, but the light in his eyes died. “I think you are wrong. There is no way you will get to leave the palace before the wedding, but that’s not even the problem.”

  “So, what is the problem?”

  He looked at me in such a way that had my heart falling. Something big was happening. I could see it in his eyes. I’d never in my whole life seen him look so desolate, so utterly distressed. When he did answer me, his voice was choked, almost as if he couldn’t bear to get the words out

  “The wedding date has been moved up. Your mother called everyone this morning to tell them. We are due to marry in three days’ time.”

  11

  Away from it all

  “What?” I stood up, outraged. “They said it would ultimately be my choice. I only spoke to them about this yesterday.”

  Hayden stood up and hugged me tightly, not because I was upset, but because I was shaking with anger. Like the good friend he was, he always knew how to calm me down. He knew me better than I knew myself. Oh, how I loved him then, but in the wrong way. It would have been so much easier if I loved him and he loved me in the right way, the way people should love each other.

  Hayden stroked my hair as he spoke. “I guess something changed between then and now because an hour ago, one of the palace messengers came to the house and told my parents what would be happening. He said I was to be ready in three days. My mother called her friends and they confirmed that they had been called about the change of date. It’s causing quite a panic. People are worried they won’t find dresses in time.”

  I know he was joking to make me feel better, but it wasn’t helping.

  I pulled away from him. This was all because of what I’d done— because I’d gone out to sea. I’d betrayed my parents. I could understand them being angry with me, but to ruin my life and Hayden’s because of it, well that was ridiculous. Something had changed within the last week. Something to prompt this stupid idea of Hayden and me. I just had to find out what it was before it was too late.

  “Wait here,” I demanded, stalking out of the room. The guard stationed along my corridor raised an eyebrow as I walked past him purposefully. I glared back at him, and he averted his eyes the way he was supposed to. Not that it was his fault, but he was part of it, this stupid, archaic system. At least, he was allowed to leave when his shift ended. I took the stairs to the bottom floor two at a time. Behind me, I could hear Hayden shouting me, having obviously ignored me telling him what to do.

  My mother was knitting when I burst into her parlor. Knitting! She never knitted. I could tell it was a way to keep her hands busy while she talked to me. She’d known this was coming.

  Despite her hands telling me she was nervous, she had a sly smile on her face, showing me that she’d won. I loved my mother, but at that point, I hated her too.

  “What’s this about me being married in three days?” I demanded.

  “I see you’ve spoken with Hayden.” As she said it, Hayden bounded in behind me.

  “We aren’t getting married,” I said, my hands on my hips. “Neither of us wants to. We don’t love each other in that way, and we are both eighteen. There is literally nothing you can say or do that will get me to walk down that aisle in three days’ time.”

  “I’m guessing Hayden didn’t tell you everything?” she replied. Her fingers moved furiously as she knitted, dropping stitches left and right.

  I turned to look at Hayden, who was now standing beside me.

  My mother continued, “If Hayden doesn’t m
arry you in three days, his father will lose his position of Admiral of the Fleet. Along with his title, his house will be taken from him as will a considerable pension that was going to be given to him when he retires in five years.”

  I stood there, my mouth agape. What had happened to my wonderful mother that she would turn so ugly? There was no rhyme or reason to it. She’d always been strict but fair. Now she was a monster.

  “I don’t understand. Why do you want me to marry Hayden so badly? You’ve never even mentioned it before this past week.” Tears of frustration began to pool at the corners of my eyes.

  My mother dropped the knitting needles to her lap and looked me right in the eye. “I want you to marry Hayden, so you don’t fall in love with anyone else. Someone who can only cause you pain.”

  She was talking about him, the stranger. Why did it even matter to her, and what did she mean about causing me pain. The only one hurting me right now was her.

  I sucked in a deep breath between my teeth, trying to build up the confidence to tell her the truth.

  “You know what?” I said as the tears streamed down my face. “It may be too late for that.”

  I turned, barging past Hayden who made no attempt to stop me and ran right through the entrance hall to the great hall. The tables and chairs had all been cleared away from my birthday party, but I could see boxes of wedding decorations piled up along the side.

  “Stop her!” my mother yelled as I pelted through the hall. There were many ways to get to the sea from the palace, but the quickest route was via the great hall balcony.

  I pushed the great doors open, aware that there were now numerous people after me. I didn’t care. I’d gotten enough of a head start. I ran as fast as I could down the walkway to the lower level and to the promenade. The guard at the bottom, the same one who’d been there the night before, jumped right in front of me, blocking my way. Behind me, the other guards were catching up, and if I didn’t think of something soon, I was going to get caught and dragged back to the palace. To my right, was the palace wall, but to my left, a railing. Without pausing, I ran to it and hopped right over the edge. It was much further down than I’d anticipated, and my ankle turned painfully as I hit the paving stones below.

  Crossing the rocks was agony as each step with my right foot sent razor-sharp pains shooting up my leg. The guards were catching up, and behind them, I could hear both Hayden and my mother shouting my name. And still, I carried on, limping over the jagged rocks, splashing through the rock pools, not caring that my shoes were wet. I just knew I had to get away from them all. At the water’s edge, I hesitated. Small waves broke, sending sea foam spraying over my legs. My right foot was swollen so badly it was threatening to break apart my shoe, and yet, I didn’t care. With a quick look over my shoulder to see the guards almost upon me, I dove straight into the waves and began to sink below the water.

  “Help me!” I shouted out in my mind, keeping my mouth clamped firmly shut. Without the stranger, the ocean was a much scarier place. My eyes stung with the salty water and I struggled not to panic as the seconds passed, each one bringing me closer to drowning. With the stranger, I’d been able to see. Now, everything looked murky. I tried swimming a little, hoping to move away from the rocks, but my arms didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

  Panic set in. What had I done? In my desperation to get away, I’d mistakenly thought the stranger would be there to save me as he had done before.

  “Help me!” I repeated, trying to concentrate on an image of the stranger’s face in my mind in the hope that would make him hear me better.

  Behind me, I felt the water churn. I turned around swiftly to see someone had jumped into the water. It was Hayden. He’d jumped in to save me. Unlike my parents, his mother and father had sent him for swimming lessons from a very young age, and he was perfectly happy in the water.

  He reached out, grabbed me around my waist and tried to pull me to the surface. The second my head went above water, I knew it would all be over. The guards would haul us both out, and we’d have to marry in three days. I wanted to articulate this to him, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t talk and speaking to him with my mind had no effect the way it did with the stranger. The only way I could escape this madness was for him to let me go. I squeezed his arm lightly, hoping he’d understand I didn’t want to fight him. I was doing this for him as well as me, and then I raised my leg and kicked backward sharply with my left foot. Almost immediately, he let go. Using his body as leverage I pushed off against him with my good leg and drifted away from him.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said with my mind, knowing he wouldn’t hear it.

  Swiveling around in the water, I looked to see that he was okay. I’d hurt him, but hopefully, not enough to stop him being able to swim back to the surface. To my surprise, he’d gotten over the shock and was now swimming towards me, giving it another try to pull me to the surface. Why didn’t he understand that bringing me back was essentially the end of him and Astrid?

  My lungs were straining from keeping in the last bit of oxygen that I had, but I had to get away from him. I kicked my legs behind me, ignoring the pain shooting through my right foot.

  He was a much better swimmer than me. I was barely swimming at all, just copying the motions I’d seen others do, but I was moving. I felt something brush against my leg and knew it was Hayden. This time, when he caught me, I knew I’d have to let him, because I was almost out of oxygen. Another few seconds and my brain would tell me to take a deep breath, and at that point, I’d inhale sea water. As Hayden’s hand brushed my leg again, I felt a yank as I was pulled away from him at a high speed. I couldn’t see anything, but I could finally breathe underwater again. It was him! I relaxed, letting him pull me through the ocean, past seaweed drifts and strange ocean creatures until we came to the same underwater cave he’d taken me to the day before. We both drifted up to the surface and took a deep breath at the same time. Before I had a chance to speak, his lips were on mine. Thoughts of Hayden and my mother flew right out of my head. I closed my eyes, relishing his touch, his tail wrapped around my body, his arms on my waist. Water dripped from his hair and mine down our faces. The kiss itself was salty as I’d come to expect from him, but unlike the temperature of the cave, his lips were warm and gentle.

  “What were you saying sorry for?” he asked as he pulled apart from me. I thought back to earlier, trying to remember the last time I’d apologized.

  “Oh, I was saying it to Hayden. He was trying to pull me to the surface to save me, and he wouldn’t let me go. I hope he’s ok.”

  The stranger furrowed his brow. “Who’s Hayden?”

  I swam as best I could to the little beach. It was much lighter now than it had been the last time I was here. I looked up to see a few more small holes in the ceiling where the sun filtered through. I scooted up to one of the warmer parts of the beach. As I pulled myself up onto the damp sand, my ankle gave another shot of pain. I groaned, and as I looked down, I could see it had swelled up and turned a horrible black-purple color that went right down to under the top of my shoe.

  When the stranger saw it, he swam to me and took my ankle in his hand. I flinched before realizing it didn’t hurt. Whatever he was doing to it, it was not painful. He ran his hands over the swelling and almost immediately heat spread through my leg, and the pain began to seep out. As I watched, my ankle turned from black to blue to red and back to the pale pink the rest of my leg was.

  “How did you do that?” I asked, fascinated. I wiggled my foot, and it didn’t hurt.

  “Another part of my magic,” he answered, taking my shoes off and placing them in the sand. He gave me a grin that melted my heart. “Are you going to tell me who Hayden is, or do I have to guess?”

  “Why? Are you jealous?” I asked playfully, expecting him to say no.

  “I’m jealous of any man right now,” he answered simply. I wasn’t quite sure I understood what he meant.

  How could I describe Hayden? It was so
complicated. He was everything to me, my friend, my brother, my partner in crime. “He’s my best friend,” I replied simply.

  The stranger swam up to the beach and lay down beside me. His long hair dipped in the sand, and I had to resist the urge to run my fingers through it.

  “Why were you trying to get away from him if he is your best friend? I heard you calling for help and thought someone was trying to hurt you. It was only because I could see you were low on breath that I dragged you away rather than fought him.”

  “Hayden would never hurt me.” I sighed and lay back on the beach. Beside me, I let the sand run through my fingers. A warm hand took mine.

  “So, what happened?”

  Turning my head to the left, I saw he had lain out next to me. His hair fanned out on the beach, and tiny yellow dots of sand were plastered to his wet skin.

  I told him everything. How my mother had always had an unreasonable phobia of water and how it had gotten so much worse since my eighteenth birthday. I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to tell him about the wedding to Hayden, but I knew there was no point keeping it back. He could read my mind.

  When I was finished, he didn’t say a word. Instead, he rested his head on his hand and looked at me. I could almost see his mind whirring, but he didn’t seem upset.

  “What is it?” I asked after he’d been silent for more than two minutes. I spoke with my mouth, but when he answered, it was with his mind.

  “I’ve got an idea to help you out of this. I think I know how we can stop it...that is, if you want to.”

  12

  Wedding planning