by P. C. Cast
She wasn't a shrinking flower easily intimidated by powerful men. She wouldn't let him see her fear. No, as before, she'd do better than that. She wouldn't let one mean-spirited priest intimidate her. Gaea had told her that he should be pitied, and it was ridiculous to be intimidated by someone she should feel sorry for.
Eventually her stew bowl was empty and her stomach was pleasantly full, and CC couldn't stifle a yawn. This time when she felt the priest's censoring gaze she met it.
"I'm going to have to ask you to excuse me, Abbot William. The day has exhausted me, and I'm afraid I won't be able to wait for Sir Andras to return. Could you please give him my apology and tell Isabel that there is no need for her to come to me until morning? I know how busy she is."
If CC could run a complex military communications system, she could certainly figure out how to untie the lacings of her dress herself, and she really didn't want to keep appearing to Isabel as selfish and bothersome.
"It is understandable that you are fatigued. Women were made as weaker vessels." His voice was laced with undisguised hostility, and his smile was a patronizing facade. "I will await the knight. I can assure you that he will not be concerned with your absence. He does so enjoy our chess matches."
Good lord, he made it sound like the two of them were rivals.
"I'm glad he does. I hope you two have a nice evening," CC said with as genuine a smile as she could force on her tired lips. "Good night, and, again, thank you for your hospitality." CC curtseyed and hurried from the room, aware that the priest's reptilian gaze followed her unblinkingly.
She paused under the arched exit. It was late evening, and high, winglike clouds obscured the fading light, casting the little courtyard that separated the dining hall and her wing of the monastery into shadowed darkness. CC stepped onto the soft grass and rolled her shoulders, determined to relax now that she was away from the priest's oppressive presence. She inhaled deeply the cool, moist air. It smelled like rain. The thought of water, even if it just came from the sky, lightened her spirits. She yawned and stretched, wishing she had a book she could curl up with for a little while before falling asleep.
She was halfway across the courtyard when a noise startled her. It was the deep sound of a man's chuckle, but it held no humor. Instead it vibrated with sarcasm. CC stopped. Blinking, she peered through the darkness, unable to distinguish between shadows and shapes.
"Undine."
"Is that you, Andras?"
One of the shadows moved and became a man. He was standing near the well. As he spoke, he walked towards her.
"Did you think you could hide from me?" His voice had an unnaturally hollow sound, as if he were speaking to her from a great distance instead of mere feet.
Something was very wrong. Fear curled taut in her chest, and she had trouble breathing.
"Why would I hide from you?" She tried to keep her voice calm and matter-of-fact. "I just asked Father William to make my apologies to you. I'm afraid he was right about me doing too much too soon. I am very tired."
The knight stood directly in front of her; they were almost touching. His eyes flashed with the same eerie, silver light that she had seen within them the first time he had kissed her hand. Transfixed by a paralyzing sense of horror, she watched while his face seemed to shift, as if his well-defined features had suddenly become fluid and mutable. Power radiated from him with a palpable force. His lips twisted into an obscene leer.
"You will belong to me!" he snarled and lunged forward, grabbing her arms in an iron grip. He crushed her against his body, and CC could feel his huge erection pulsing though the silky layers of her gown.
Then a blast of heat shot with electric speed from her chest as the amulet of the goddess came into contact with the knight's body. His shriek was deafening, and he flung CC away from him so violently that she fell to the ground with a jarring thud.
"What is the meaning of this?" the abbot's voice cut through the night.
The breath knocked out of her, CC could only look up and gasp for air. The priest was silhouetted in the dining room doorway. Like a nest of baby birds, several shocked monks peered at her from behind him. How long had they been watching? She tried desperately to catch her breath and glanced at Andras. He stood near her, rubbing his chest and looking dazed.
"The well…" Andras began, sounding shaky. "There was something in the well." The knight was breathing hard, and CC could see that a sheen of sweat covered his pale face.
"Yes! It was scary!" CC's breath came back in a rush of words. She gave a jittery laugh and held out her hand. After only a slight hesitation Andras took it and helped her to her feet.
"What of the well?" the abbot asked sharply, striding into the courtyard and approaching Andras.
The knight hunched his shoulders and struggled to speak. His eyes were glassy and blank.
CC wasn't similarly confused. She knew who had emerged from the well. She also knew that it would be disastrous if the abbot realized what had really happened.
"Bats!" CC said suddenly and added a shiver she didn't have to fake. "I'd just begun to cross the courtyard when I noticed Andras standing by the well. He said he'd seen something, and after my experience earlier today he had, of course, felt the need to take a closer look." Thinking quickly she wove the fabrication. "All of a sudden a huge bat came flying up out of the well. It knocked Andras in the chest and then came straight at me. I screamed and fell to the ground." She shivered again and puckered her face. "I hate bats."
"That must have been what you saw this morning," Andras said slowly. The confusion was clearing from his face and he appeared willing to accept CC's story.
Relieved, CC nodded enthusiastically. "I think the well mystery has been solved. I feel like such a fool making a big fuss over nothing. Abbot William, please forgive me for interrupting you again."
The abbot's blue eyes narrowed at her, but he gave her a brief nod.
"We must speak, Father," Andras said suddenly. CC was pleased that he sounded coherent and in control once more. "I have had news from the mainland that is of concern to
Caldei." As an afterthought, Andras turned to CC. "Undine, I—"
CC waved her hand. "I wouldn't think of taking you away from important business with the abbot. I'm fine now and can easily find my way to my room. Goodnight Andras, Abbot William."
"Come, my son. Let us retire to my chamber where we may speak in peace."
Without another glance at her, the Abbot and the knight hurried from the courtyard, and the monks returned to the dining hall. CC was left alone with the silent well.
She ran a shaking hand across her face. Her knees wobbled and she felt the sharp bite of bile in the back of her throat. Sarpedon had followed her, and he had found a way to reach beyond his realm. The thought of being trapped within the walls of the monastery with the merman's malevolent spirit overwhelmed her. She needed space. No, she acknowledged grimly to herself—she needed the ocean. She ached for its comfort and the sense of belonging she felt whenever she was submerged in its liquid embrace.
And Dylan, her heart reminded her. She needed Dylan. Could he be out there in the soothing water, waiting for her?
CC hesitated, chewing her bottom lip. Yes, the ocean was Sarpedon's realm, and she was vulnerable to him there, but apparently that vulnerability now extended to the monastery. CC felt a surge of anger. What right did he have to stalk her?
The gate to the monastery was open, and it was much easier to walk through it than it would have been to climb out of her window. She would only be gone a little while, she promised herself. She'd be back before anyone would notice her absence. Squaring her shoulders stubbornly, she followed the sound of the calling waves through the gate and out of the monastery.
Picking up her skirts, she jogged down the path that led around the outside wall of the monastery to the edge of the cliff. The sun was low in the sky, and blushing colors of mauve and saffron lit the sea. On the horizon cumulus clouds billowed like giant dus
t bunnies that had been dyed the colors of evening. Carefully, she chose the winding path she had followed the night before, forcing herself to slow down so that her dress wouldn't catch and rip on the scrubby brush that lined the little trail.
Unexpectedly, fog began to form over the water. CC watched it spread, surprised at the ease with which it covered the rich colors of the evening sky. Like the cloak of a giant, it billowed up the side of the cliff. Within just a few steps CC was totally surrounded and had to slow her de-scent even more, picking her way down a path that seemed to dissolve into fairylike mist. She waved her hand in front of her body and was intrigued at the way the tendrils of wetness curled around her. She had never seen fog like that before—it shimmered with a strange iridescence, as if it was made of opals and pearls. She probably should have been frightened; instead the soupy fog made her feel hidden and secure.
Her shoes sank into sand at the moment a small section of mist shifted and parted, allowing Gaea to step through its diaphanous curtain. Tonight her robes were the color of smoke sprinkled with starlight and diamonds.
"Good evening, Daughter." The goddess embraced CC, holding her within the maternal comfort of her arms. "I thought you would desire to be free of the monastery this evening."
CC stood with her head resting on the goddess's shoulder. Gaea smelled like summer grass and lilacs.
"It was Sarpedon, wasn't it?"
"Yes. He possessed the knight." Gaea stroked her hair.
"I was so scared!" CC sobbed, feeling her body begin to tremble again.
Keeping one arm around her daughter, Gaea motioned to a large moss-covered rock behind them, inviting her to sit.
"Sarpedon only intensified the desires which already exist within the young man." Gaea's lips tightened. "The knight is honorable, but Lir's son is very powerful. It is a simple thing for him to manipulate Andras's lust. The knight has no defenses against Sarpedon, and you cannot warn him. Andras is a man who has been fashioned to despise the supernatural and the unknown."
"He didn't seem to remember any of it. He just accepted the explanation I made up."
"No doubt Andras has only a vague, dreamlike memory of his actions while he is under Sarpedon's influence. He is not the kind of man who would admit weakness, and a loss of memory, or of control, would be something that he would refuse to acknowledge, so consciously he will cling to any excuse offered him. It is only unconsciously that he will be in tumult. The knight's will and soul are as a kingdom in civil war, and he does not have the ability to reach beyond what he has been taught to seek aid."
"Then what can I do?"
"I do not mean for you to fear Sarpedon, but I do want you to be wise. Right now he enjoys toying with Andras. It amuses him to use the warrior's desire while he searches for a way to possess you." The goddess's tone was businesslike, which was as much a comfort to CC as was her presence. "But as long as you stay under my protection he cannot possess you directly, nor do I believe he can force the knight to act so against his nature as to actually do you harm, even if that was his intention."
CC gave the goddess a dubious look.
"Remember, Sarpedon does not want you injured; he simply wants you returned to him." Gaea's frown was a gentle chide. "Do you not trust me, Daughter?"
"Of course I trust you," CC said quickly, feeling her fear begin to thaw.
"There…" Gaea cupped her daughter's chin in her hand. "All will be well, do not doubt it." The goddess kissed her forehead gently. "Now, I hear the waters calling to you. I know they will soothe you even better than I."
"Isn't Sarpedon still looking for me?" CC asked.
"My fog will hide you from his eyes tonight. And I believe you need to conduct a search of your own." Gaea raised her beautifully arched brows suggestively and nodded towards the sound of the waves. "Find what is in your own heart, Daughter."
"Is Dylan out there?" CC's voice had dropped almost to a whisper.
"Did he not say he would be waiting for you?"
"He thinks I won't be here until I need to change back to my mermaid form, and that's not for two more nights." CC brushed a hand through her heavy hair. "Can I even change tonight?" She felt the call of the water, as always, but it wasn't as intense as it had been the night before. Instead of an overwhelming desire, it was just an itch somewhere under her skin.
"You must wait for the third night to change into your mermaid form—if you change more often than that, you may not be able to overcome your desire to remain a creature of the water."
"And then Sarpedon would get me." And he would kill Dylan, CC added silently to herself.
"Do not concern yourself with Sarpedon tonight. Concentrate instead on knowing your heart."
"But if I can't change back into a mermaid…"
"If Dylan is your true love, he must accept the part of you that is human."
CC gestured at her layers of skirts. "I'm not exactly dressed for swimming."
Gaea's smile was mischievous. "I have always believed one should not be dressed at all when one finds herself embraced by the ocean." With a slender finger she touched the intricate laces at CC's back. Instantly they fell open and the cloth slipped from her shoulders as if twenty nimble-fingered servants had assisted her.
CC stood to step out of the dress and smoothed it across the rock. Before she pulled off the shift, she glanced at Gaea. "How am I going to get back into that thing?"
Gaea's smile widened, and she passed her elegantly shaped hand over the dress, speaking softly to it.
"When she wills, your braids rebuild. So have I spoken; so shall it be." The air around the dress stirred, and CC could feel the spark of Gaea's magic.
CC grinned at the goddess. "Thank you." Then she lifted the chemise over her head and kicked off her shoes. Almost automatically she pulled her long hair forward, obscuring the view of her bare breasts.
"Are you ashamed of your body, Daughter?" Gaea asked.
"No. I think it's beautiful."
"Then perhaps living at the monastery has convinced you that beauty is something to be feared and hidden?" The smile in Gaea's voice softened the reprimand.
"Absolutely not," CC said firmly. In one quick motion she swept her hair back, leaving her breasts totally bared. Then, naked except for her jewelry, she started walking toward the sound of waves. But soon her steps faltered and she was suddenly unsure of herself.
"Call to him." Gaea's voice came from behind her.
"Just call?" CC asked, looking over her shoulder at the goddess.
"He will hear you." The mist started to close and thicken around Gaea, so that her last words were disembodied. "You cannot remain long tonight. There is a storm coming, and they will be looking for you. My blessing goes with you, Daughter."
"I'll remember," CC said to the mist before turning back to face the sound of water. She walked slowly forward, making her way carefully between the many rocks and shells that littered the sand. The fog surrounded her, brushing against her skin in a wet caress, forming tiny drops of dew which glistened to decorate her body like liquid jewels.
When her feet touched water she stopped, peering outward, but she could see nothing through the thick fog. Feeling a little foolish, she cupped her mouth with her hands and called to the merman.
"Dylan! Are you here?"
Only the sound of waves breaking against the rocky shore answered her. She sighed and cupped her mouth again.
"Dylan!"
CC felt him before she saw him. There was a tingling all along her skin that settled somewhere low in her stomach—and she knew he was there. Over the section of ocean that stretched in front of her the mist thinned.
Dylan broke the surface, sweeping his long dark hair from his sparkling eyes. His blood throbbed hot at the sight of her. She was so lovely, standing there in her exotic human body which was all soft curves and long, supple lines. Her beautiful face lit at the sight of him, and her full lips shaped a delighted grin that was solely Christine—his vibrant, joyous Christine
.
There was laughter in his voice when he spoke. "You do not need to shout for me, Christine. You need only call me from here." He smiled and pointed to his own temple. "Simply send your thoughts to me, as we do under the water. I will hear you."
"Oh," CC said inanely. She was sure he could also hear the herd of butterflies that were pounding around in her stomach. "I didn't know. Gaea just told me you would come if I called."
His expression sobered. "Always, Christine. I will always answer your call." He glanced around at the fog. "Is this the doing of your goddess?"
CC nodded. "It seems Sarpedon is on the prowl. Gaea says he can't find me in this. And, anyway, I think he's busy at the monastery tonight."
"It almost makes me feel pity for the monks," Dylan said, trying to lighten his voice, but it was clear the mention of Sarpedon made the merman uncomfortable.
"Don't be too hasty with your sympathy. I think that monastery could use a little shaking up, or at least that abbot sure could." She dug her toes into the sand and looked down. She didn't want to tell Dylan about Sarpedon's possession of Andras. She could only imagine how it would make him feel—probably mad and jealous and frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it. And she didn't want the oppressive subject of Sarpedon to ruin her time with Dylan.
She glanced at the merman, and all thoughts of Sarpedon dissipated. Dylan's eyes were on her naked body. She could feel his gaze. It made her skin flush with a sensuous tingle.
He made her feel breathless and very nervous.
"I know it's not the third night, so I'm early, and, well, I can't change yet, but I'm glad you came."
He smiled at her. "I am glad you appeared early."
"Even if I can't, uh, be a mermaid tonight?" she stammered.
He raised one eyebrow, grinning at her boyishly. "Are you worried that I might let you drown?"
At his easy jest, CC felt her nerves loosen, and she smiled back at him. "Well, I do remember swallowing a lot of water the first time we met."
