Brine and Bone by Stradling Kate

Author:Stradling, Kate [Stradling, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781947495036
Publisher: Eulalia Skye Press
Published: 2018-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Silence governed the walk back to her room, until Captain Byrne could bear it no longer.

“I’m sorry. It’s usually my job to draw unworthy females away from the prince.”

Magdalena regarded him with somber eyes. “So I gathered.”

“He knows it, too, if you think me underhanded, and most of the time he approves.”

“Only most of the time?”

He tipped her a smile. “I told you once that you were a special case. You had no clue, did you.”

It wasn’t a question.

Magdalena turned away and continued on her path, battling emotions that threatened to spill over at any moment. The prince had intended courtship based on the happenstance of her finding him washed ashore? It never would have lasted. He would have changed his mind and withdrawn his attentions.

So why did she feel as though someone had offered her the most precious desire of her heart only to snatch it away again? What would have happened had the glamoured sea-fay never appeared on the ocean steps?

She boxed her feelings and picked up her pace. Captain Byrne matched her stride. “It’s likely that the king will have me escort you to the banquet hall from now on. But it’s only for lunches and suppers. Your mornings will still be your own.”

Unshed tears stung her eyes. She angled her head away from her walking companion in hopes that he wouldn’t notice.

“I am sorry,” Captain Byrne said again, ducking in an attempt to catch her gaze. “Lili will have nothing to do with anyone who’s not the prince. His parents are getting desperate. And if what you indicated this morning is true, if she really is the prettiest—” His voice broke off in frustration.

Magdalena looked up, anger flaring. “What if she is? What is the outcome of a union between human and fay?”

Captain Byrne recoiled. “I… I don’t know.”

Shocked that the glamour had allowed such a question to pass her lips, she reined in her ire. “Neither do I. But if he loves her, let him have her. I don’t want someone whose heart is elsewhere.”

Her own heart screamed its protest, but she ruthlessly squashed it. They had arrived at the head of her corridor. Magdalena raised one hand to prevent the captain from following her further. “I can go on my own from here.”

“But—”

“I’m not going to vanish into the night, if that’s what you’re worried about. I understand my duty to Ondile, if nothing else.”

He stepped back with a nod, allowing her this small request. Magdalena walked stiff-backed to her room, well aware that he observed her until she slipped behind her door and shut it tight.

The moon cast deep shadows upon the tiny space. She leaned her back against the wood and inhaled a shuddering half-sob, her hands folded protectively around herself.

Even as her face crumpled and the first tears streaked down her cheeks, a scuffling sounded from the corner. A form detached from the shadows. Magdalena shrieked and scrabbled for the door handle. A hand clapped over her mouth.

“Sh-sh-shh! Malena, it’s only me.

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