Relieved to at least have some company, Lisbetta meekly did as ordered. Dinner was painfully quiet, Jamie obviously desperate to speak and yet afraid to open up. He kept opening his mouth to speak, then returning to his food. Cormac and Moira exchanged glances, their eyebrows raised, but neither said anything to him. Confused and uncertain, Lisbetta stayed silent.
“Alright,” Cormac finally said, when Moira had collected the dishes and returned to the kitchen. “Where have ye been, Jamie, and why the sudden return now? It’s been three years.”
Jamie looked down at his hands where he twisted the tablecloth between his fingers.
“I’ve been in the navy. Press-gang. Only just got shore leave and a chance to escape home.”
Cormac made a noncommittal noise.
“I didnae think Red would be quite so angry with me,” Jamie went on. “Else I would have written first. I thought it would be fine.”
“You should have known better than that,” Moira said dryly as she came back into the room. “Your brother’s temper hasnae changed over the past three years. He thought you were dead.”
“Ye can stay with us for a while,” Cormac said, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. He took a deep breath. “In fact, I have an idea. Why not stay here permanently? Red and I find ourselves in need of a little extra… support. He might not want ye around now, but he’d regret the extra pair of hands if he sent ye away. What d’ye say? I warn ye, things might get very violent in the next couple of months.”
Jamie thought for a moment. “It’s not as if I didnae see plenty of violence in the navy,” he said after a while. “But I’m not sure I’d be much use as a fighter. I know how to sail, and that’s it.”
“I’ll teach ye,” Cormac said. “We can train every day. We’ll make a pirate fighter of ye yet.”
Jamie’s eyes widened at the word pirate, but he nodded. “I’d be happy to help, Mr King.”
“Call me Cormac, and dinnae be so formal,” Cormac said, standing up and clapping the younger man on the shoulder. “We’ve known each other a long time. Moira! Can you get a room set up for Jamie?”
Moira disappeared yet again. Lisbetta trailed after her, determined to be useful.
“We’ll get started tomorrow,” Cormac said behind her.
*****
“Are you sure about him?” she asked Cormac as they lay in bed that night, shoulders barely touching as they stared at the ceiling.
“I’ll ask Red for more of the story,” Cormac said. “But I trust the McCloud family like my own blood. He’ll not betray us, and he’ll fight hard if it comes to it.”
“Fighting won’t get you anywhere against Erlend. It should be Moira who’s training, not Jamie.”
“We’ll worry about selkies if they actually come.”
Lisbetta sat up abruptly. “Do you even believe me that selkies were here before? I’m telling you, all the training in the world won’t help you. This is not your battle to win.”
Had he even tried to understand her? Did he see her as just a pretty little doll? At least Erlend knew her, even if he wanted the power not the person.
“Of course I believe ye,” Cormac said soothingly, tugging her down to lie beside him, her head resting on his chest. He stroked her hair gently, running his fingers through the curls. “It’s just that magic isnae something I understand. Fighting off pirates, well, I know how to do that. But tackling magical creatures? I cannae even start to think about this. I have tae handle the part of the problem that I can actually imagine.”
“Will you let me and Moira handle the rest of the problem?”
He sighed. “I hope that ye and Moira never have to put yourself in danger again. But I suppose I cannae guarantee that.”
*****
Chapter 13
Lisbetta woke early the next morning, the room only just lit by the first streams of daylight creeping in past the curtains. Cormac had already left. She listened very hard and found his voice outside in the yard, along with another man. Who else was in the house? Of course, Jamie. Cormac must have already made good on his promise to train the younger man. The sound of sticks hitting against each other drifted up from the yard, and Lisbetta smiled a little sadly. Much good sticks would do if Erlend decided he wanted revenge as well as Lisbetta’s hand in marriage.
She couldn’t just sit and wait for something to happen. What if Erlend never helped her - and how could she risk the lives of these people who’d been so good to her? Even the thought of Cormac injured made her shudder.
“I need to ask you a favour,” she said, opening the kitchen door to speak softly to Moira, who was busily mixing up a pan of something strange-smelling. Moira immediately swung to look at her, although she didn’t stop stirring.
“I have to speak to my sister,” Lisbetta continued. “I wondered if you might be able to help me. After all, you said you could help me reach my mother before.”
Moira frowned. “I ken what I said, but I've got a better taste of selkie magic since then and I have to warn you it might be difficult. Are you sure you canae get past these boundaries at all?”
“So far, I’ve had no luck. Erlend can open and close them at will, it seems, but I don’t know how to get through without his permission. Perhaps there’s a way to communicate mentally with Anja.”
“If you cannae get through physically, you probably cannae get through mentally, either.”
“Then you think it’s impossible.”
Moira grinned, little flashes of magic dancing in her eyes.
“Very little is impossible. Let me get my bag, and we’ll go take a look at these boundaries.”
They sat on the beach, toes in the water, and tested the magic that surrounded the kingdom’s borders. Moira took a few moments to feel the sheer wall of power, but once she had it, her face emptied as she drifted into a dreamlike trance, exploring the extent of the boundaries.
“You’re right,” Moira said after a few moments. “They feel completely solid. There doesnae seem to be a gap or way through.”
Lisbetta sighed. “I was hoping that you would find something I’d missed. I just have a very bad feeling about Erlend, and I wanted to warn my sister about it. He might not have even told her where I am. For all I know, she thinks I’m dead!”
“I can certainly understand the desire to protect your sister. Let’s try a different approach.”
Seizing a stick of driftwood, Moira began to carve symbols in the sand, sweeping them in great arcs so that she and Lisbetta were soon surrounded.
“What are you doing?” Lisbetta asked, her voice high and tight. She could already feel the power building in the air around her.
“If we cannae sneak through, let’s try force,” Moira said, her voice edged with excitement. “I’ve been learning some new things, and I think I can harness more power than before. We might just be able to blast a hole in the barriers and get you through, like a giant magical cannon.”
Lisbetta didn’t quite understand the metaphor, but she couldn’t resist the enthusiasm in Moira’s voice.
“Erlend’s very powerful. Do you think you can do it? I’ve never imagined a human taking him on, magical strength or no.”
Moira shrugged. “If I’m to go up against him eventually, I might as well test his strength now. Let’s see what happens.”
They joined hands in the centre of Moira’s swirling symbols, and the power instantly began pouring up from the sand. Lisbetta gasped at the heat of it, clutching Moira’s hands even harder.
“What are you doing?” she asked, breathless from all the energy pouring through her.
“Trying something new,” Moira said, bursting into laughter. “It’s working! Now, prepare to send the power out. Are you ready?”
Lisbetta nodded, the magic building up so much that she couldn’t speak. How could Moira hold so much force inside her tiny human body? It didn’t seem possible. The energy built, crackling along the hairs all over her skin, swirling through her blood, rising up from
the earth to twist and pulse inside her.
“Now,” Moira said, throwing her head back. The power ripped free, flying straight and true like an arrow cutting through the sea. Had it worked?
“Go,” Moira said urgently. “Follow it now, before they repair the hole. I’ll stay here to get you out if you need me.”
Lisbetta ran, flying through the crackling magic of Moira’s symbols and crashing into the sea. She changed as she ran, her seal form flapping on the sand and then gliding into the deeper water, speeding through the waves, deeper and deeper. She followed the feel of the magic, chasing it into the depths of the ocean, swimming faster and faster, until suddenly she realised she had flown past the borders and back inside the kingdom. Home.
She had never expected to feel so awkward and afraid inside her own kingdom. She kept to the dark, shadowy places, where rocks and plants hid her from sight. She made her way slowly across the seabed, heading gradually in the direction of the palace, and praying that Anja would be there. The water felt very different to the day she had left. Something was wrong in the kingdom.
Hours had passed before the rocky walls of the palace finally rose up in front of her. Home at last. But how to sneak in without risking alerting Erlend? The old Lisbetta would have swum straight up to the guards and demanded entry. But today, she didn’t know who she could and could not trust. No, she must not take that kind of risk.
Instead, she made her way to a rocky crevasse that cut deep into the rock of the sea bed. She and Anja had played here as children, and so discovered the old tunnels that were supposed to be secret. With any luck, Erlend did not know about them, and Anja would not have remembered them. Hoping for the best, she slipped into the narrow gap and began to swim upwards, towards the heart of the palace.
She emerged in a tiny courtyard, its white stones overgrown with seaweed and kelp, almost entirely sheltered from the open sea. Above her, light filtered through from the surface, soft and sparkling. Brighter lights glowed in the windows around her, almost entirely blocked by shutters, the area as unused as she remembered.
The first corridor she entered also lay empty, the tiles that lined its floor and walls cracked and faded. This section of the palace was so ancient that legend said it had once belonged to a human king, before the sea rose up to claim his kingdom. As a child, Lisbetta had laughed, saying that it must be at least that long since anyone repaired or cleaned the palace. Today, she welcomed that neglect.
But her luck couldn’t last. As she swam around the corner, she almost hit into a huge guard, wearing his human shape and holding a huge spear. With a shriek of fright, she switched into her human form, her hair flying wildly around her face.
“Princess?” the guard asked incredulously.
“Let me pass,” she snapped, and he stepped aside automatically.
She rushed past him and around the corner before he shouted an alarm, no doubt suddenly remembering that she was not supposed to be here. She flung herself around the next corner, then whispered the password to the royal chambers and slipped inside. She should be safe here - but then she looked up and saw four guards staring at her. When had her mother began stationing guards this close to the royal sleep-chambers?
“Princess?” the nearest man asked. With a shock, Lisbetta recognised Per, her mother’s old adviser. When had he started to look so old?
“Hello,” she said with a weak smile, unable to conjure up the same authority while talking to someone who’d known her as a child. “I need to speak to Anja.”
She hoped for the best, but inside she already reached for her magical link to Moira.
“I think you need to speak to your mother and Erlend first,” Per said gently.
“I think not.”
She flung sheer power at them, knowing they would not be prepared for anything so foreign, so human. All four guards collapsed instantly, knocked unconscious by the force of sheer magic. In the distance, Moira suddenly weakened, but Lisbetta had no time to worry.
She pushed through the door to Anja’s bedchamber and slammed it behind her, turning the key in the lock.
“Guards!” Anja shouted, and then her mouth dropped open. “Lisbetta? What are you doing here? Erlend said you were being held prisoner by the humans!”
“Not quite,” Lisbetta said. “I can’t stay long, Anja. I’m here to warn you. Erlend is plotting something. He’s the reason I’ve been stuck on land, not the humans. Don’t trust him. He’ll happily use you to get whatever power he can.”
Anja didn’t react as she had expected. No gasp of shock, no horrified expression. Instead, she tilted her head, looking at Lisbetta thoughtfully.
“That’s almost exactly what Erlend said you would say,” she said. “Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for lying. I know the humans have control over you. Perhaps you’re just an illusion and not really here at all.”
“I am here!” Lisbetta said. “And the humans are not controlling me!It’s Erlend who can’t be trusted!”
“Erlend is regent while mother recovers,” Anja said, her pretty face pulled into an angry pout. “He won’t be happy to know that you’re saying things like that about him.”
“While mother recovers from what? What happened? Don’t trust Erlend!”
“I won’t talk to you until I know the human influence has gone,” Anja said, her face stubborn. “I can smell it on you.”
Lisbetta opened her mouth to shout at her sister, but shut it again abruptly when something tugged on her connection to Moira. Power pushed the boundaries closed, severing their link to each other.
“I have to go,” she told Anja. “Please, please believe me. I don’t know quite what Erlend is up to, but I know you can’t trust him. He only wants power for himself. Be careful.”
She pulled the door open again, racing out past the still-unconscious guards and out into the palace corridors. A shout echoed off the tiled walls, and she knew that she’d been seen. Only speed would get her back onto land before it was too late. She flung magic back at the guards to slow them, knowing they would be reluctant to directly attack their princess.
A familiar chirp sounded as she flew through her favourite courtyard. Tears prickled her eyes, but she had no time to stop, not even for Delfie.
Evading one guard after another, she sped back to the cramped tunnel leading to the open sea. She would never be able to use that route again. The guards came after her, crashing against the narrow rock walls, but she kept on grimly. There would be no better chance to get a head start.
Flying out into the rocky crevasse and into the open waters beyond, she didn’t even turn to look back. Instead, she drew hard on the power cord between her and Moira, speeding through the water faster than she had ever imagined. Erlend’s presence filled the sea up ahead, his power leaking out into the water, but she didn’t dare stop. The border had almost closed, just a small gap left. She shot through it, splashing out onto the beach so quickly that she dared hope Erlend hadn’t even noticed her.
Moira lay on the sand, sprawled out on her back, arms and legs flung out. Lisbetta’s heart stopped for a second, then she realised that the other woman was just unconscious. Hardly surprising, given what an incredible amount of magic she’d used. How angry Erlend would be if he knew a human woman had managed to get through his spells!
“Moira,” she murmured, bending to shake her shoulders gently. “We have to go home. Can you walk?”
Moira was stubborn enough to walk home despite her exhaustion. Early evening had arrived now, the sun dropping down towards the horizon, but the weather remained fine, and so Cormac did not return home from his fishing trip until Lisbetta and Moira had prepared dinner. He seemed to have no idea of their little adventure, even if he commented that Moira looked tired.
But Lisbetta couldn’t shake the feeling that her mission had been a bad idea. Something about Anja had unsettled her. She still hadn’t figured out at least one part of this riddle.
*****
Chapter 14
>
“You should know by now not to even bother mentioning marriage to me,” Moira said, slamming the soup dish down hard on the table in front of Cormac.
“Ye’re twenty-one now and should be sensible enough to take yer future seriously,” Cormac said. His tone was gentle and placating. Lisbetta already knew that sort of voice would make Moira furious.
“I am taking my future seriously,” Moira retorted. “I’m keeping my magic a secret. There’s no way I’m letting a man into my life and giving him the chance to learn what I can do.”
“Oh, so that’s yer excuse now, is it?” Cormac asked. “It’s yer fear of a man finding out about your magic, is it? Ye have a new reason every week. Lisbetta knows about yer magic, and that hasnae ruined yer life, has it?”
The Wild and Lonely Sea Page 9
