It was well past dark when she reached a hill overlooking a shallow valley. Sela spotted the glow of a small bonfire long before she knelt in the grasses atop the hill. The mirage escorting her stopped beside her.

A dozen warriors in purple, the color of the Kingdom of Masu, the northernmost island in the chain, had camped out in the grass around a large tent beside the bonfire. Her eyes skimmed over them and rested on the figure of Tieran in a metal cage. Around his neck, he wore a metal collar. He was seated and resting, slumped as if tired. The guard beside him bore the sign of a sword and arrow and appeared even larger than Karav.

From what Karav had told her, the collar contained an ancient magic that pre-dated the mage-warriors. It was used to bring in, and control, rogue warriors who disobeyed their kings or priests. Only two kingdoms possessed the rare metal: hers and Masu, who had once been an ally of the High King.

“I have fulfilled my part of our trade,” the Sorcerer said.

“You have,” she murmured. “I assume you want the curse lifted.”

“While I would love not to have my armies drowned at sea, I had a different favor in mind,” he responded dryly.

She glanced at the mysterious figure still taking pains to hide his face. “What can possibly be more important than that?”

“I want you to travel to my kingdom at a future time I determine. You may bring your savage. You will have safe passage through my lands, but you must agree to come when I beckon you to.”

“I’ve never heard of anything more bizarre,” she exclaimed quietly. “You could save your armies and trade, and you choose to command me to visit you instead? I was serious about pulling your palace into the ocean.”

“I am desperate. I will take that risk.”

“You must be.” Sela shook her head. “Very well, Sorcerer. I will journey to your kingdom at your will.”

“Thank you.”

She did not wait for him to disappear and stood. “There is a chance I will be dead by then.” She motioned to the encampment.

“You mean to confront them all?”

“I mean to surrender. I don’t know what happens next.”

“Strategy must be the savage’s strength.”

She glared at him and took a step.

“Wait,” the sorcerer said reluctantly. “I cannot cast any spell. But I will reveal a secret you have begun to unravel already.”

Sela smiled to herself. If the proud Sorcerer were willing to help her for free, he was as desperate as he claimed to be.

“According to the scholars of my kingdom, there used to be four islands long ago. Two collided and formed the largest of them.”

“This island used to be two,” she mused. “How will this help me?”

“A channel runs through a fault between them. Its weakest point, where the sea pushes up against the fault, is at the bottom of the catacombs. I believe this is what you felt underground.”

“How …” She turned to face him.

The mirage was gone.

Had he been spying on her when she ventured into the catacombs?

Sela looked long and hard back the direction she came. What use was the insight, if she was about to be captured by an enemy?

Squaring her shoulders, she strode down the hill behind the cage, intent on helping Tieran somehow. Two of the guards spotted her and moved closer. Neither drew their swords, leading her to believe they were expecting her.

Tieran noticed her as well and rose, moving to the back of the cage. “Sela,” he said. “Leave. Now.”

“No,” she replied, pausing at the cage. She reached through to touch him. He took her hand and shuddered. She studied the collar. It was locked and glowed faintly. To free him, she needed the key.

“I cannot protect you, and you cannot fight anyone without water,” Tieran’s voice was quiet, terse. “Please leave, Sela.”

“They won’t kill me.”

“There are many fates worse than death.” He held her gaze, jaw clenched hard enough for the muscles of his cheek to tick. “Watching them hurt you is one of them.”

She smiled, touched by his concern. “I won’t leave without you, Tieran,” she replied. “Never.” She moved away, towards the bonfire.

He cursed. “Sela!” He rattled his chains.

She drew a deep breath and paused at the center of the encampment. “Fetch your lord,” she ordered the guards surrounding her.

One of them disappeared into the tent. A breath later, a seasoned warrior, trailed by a noble in dress too fine for the Inlands, exited. The warrior stepped aside. When the noble saw her, he smiled.

Sela kept her composure. She did not know this noble from any other, but his blue eyes were bright, and his clothing pristine. He appeared out of place, as if he were preparing to attend court, and not stranded in the Inlands.

“As you claimed,” the noble said, glancing at the warrior. “She came.”

“I had no choice,” Sela replied. “Now that you have me, free my guardian.”

The slap came before she could move. Sela’s ears rang. Her cheek burned, and she tasted blood in her mouth.

“When my lord wishes you to speak, he will order it,” the warrior with leathery skin said.

Sela wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, eyes on the noble rather than the soldier. “You let your slaves speak for you?” she taunted.

The warrior raised his arm again, but she refused to back down.

The noble’s smile widened. “Let her speak, Keni,” he said. “After all, she is the niece of a king.”

“Not our king,” Keni said, though he stepped back.

“When she’s ours, you may strike her at will. Until then, she will receive what hospitality I decide to offer.”

A chill slid down Sela’s spine.

“I am Henli, heir to the House of Berin,” the man said.

She studied him. “I know all the noble houses of Masu, and Berin is not among them.”

Henli released an irritated sigh. “This is true. But we are the wealthiest family on any island, and I have high hopes of marrying into the king’s family as a reward for capturing you.”

Sela guessed his family were tradesmen but did not ask. “You’re a mercenary.”

“I prefer the term opportunist,” Henli said. “Your guardian will not be set free. To harness your power, we will have to replace him.”

“I sense no other mage-warrior here,” she replied.

“Before his death, the High King sought to murder existing mage-warriors outside your kingdom, perhaps to keep you within the family. The last remaining warrior in Masu is safely hidden.”

“If you think to murder my guardian now, we will never make it across the ocean.”

“I’m aware. We would have killed him already if this weren’t true.” Henli motioned to the slayers positioned on either side of Tieran. “Your answer to my next question will determine how much pain I put him in. He only needs to be alive to cross the channel safely.”

She turned. Six guards with spears surrounded Tieran’s cage. Bound in chains, weakened by the collar, he had no chance of escaping anything they did to him.

“Do not agree to anything, Sela,” Tieran said. His eyes burned with feral fire, and he pulled at his chains, ignoring the soldiers intent on hurting him.

Sela’s heart turned over in her chest. Anger filled her. If they were near the ocean …

“A bounty has been placed on your head by every king in the islands, including your own. It is not enough to be the first to capture you. Someone must be the one to claim you and return you to his king,” Henli added.

“What is your question?” she demanded.

One of the soldiers stabbed Tieran in the side.

Sela gasped and started forward, only to be grabbed and held in place by none other than the master-at-arms, Keni. Tieran showed no outward sign of pain despite the blood seeping through his side. Another soldier stabbed him in the calf.

“Stop!” Sela cried. “Tell me what you want from me!”

“Sela – ” Tieran’s voice carried a note of warning.

“I can’t lose you, Tieran! I won’t lose you!” she shouted at him. She rounded to face Henli, her blood boiling while fear laced her thoughts. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Stop this now!”

“That is the answer I wanted,” he said. “Come with me.” He strode towards the tent.

With a look back at Tieran, Sela followed. Dread weighed heavily in her gut. She thought hard about her alternatives. There was only one that interested her: the secret revealed by the mysterious Sorcerer. If what he said were true, she remained helpless, unless she could reach the channel she had felt at the bottom of the catacombs.

How did she escape with Tieran, let alone return to the hill before being captured?

“My terms are simple,” Henli said, drawing her attention away from her thoughts. “My family has bought the loyalty of the mage-warrior who will take your guardian’s place. The Inlands are too dangerous for him to travel here. The ceremony will occur after we safely cross the Sapphire Channel,” he said, referring to the passageway between Vurdu and Masu.

His intention was no different than that of any other she had met. “Very well,” she said. She would play him as she had initially played Tieran: agree openly while seeking an escape route.

“To assure your cooperation …” Henli opened one of the trunks stacked against a wall of the tent. “You will be bound with this.” The tradesman removed a metal cuff similar to the one Tieran wore around his neck, down to the faded rainbow patina. “If you resist, or try to escape, or go farther than ten horse lengths from me at any time, the magic in this will cause your guardian immense pain.”

Sela met his gaze, unwilling to show her dismay. Lord Winlin’s attempt at using magic to seduce her was appearing far less threatening than the other methods of assuring she cooperated that she had encountered.

The noble handed the cuff to Keni, who gripped her wrist and locked the metal around her forearm. She took note of the key he slid into his pocket. He released her. She let her arm drop. The metal was heavy, cold against her skin.

“You will remain here, beside me, until we reach the channel,” Henli added.

She said nothing, her mind already working on an alternative plan. The lake was near. If they traveled by it, there was a chance she could gather enough magic to …

What? She needed the key first. Or she would have to kidnap Henli and take him with her. By the looks of him, it would not be hard, if not for his force of several dozen men.

The tradesman turned away, satisfied he had cornered her. He pointed to a pallet near the trunks. “That area is yours,” he said. He motioned to Keni next, who leveled a look on her before disappearing out of the tent.

Sela sat down to plot. If she could not fight, and Tieran was disabled, who was there to help her? Another kingdom’s party, waiting to capture her without any concern about the magic that might tear Tieran apart?

In the end, she could think of one person who would always come to her aid – if she could alert him.

She stretched out on the pallet, worried about Tieran bleeding out in a cage.

Somehow, Sela slept. She awoke sometime before dawn to a quiet, dark tent. Henli’s snoring assured her he continued to slumber. She sensed no one else in the tent, and the world outside it was likewise quiet. Light from the bonfire seeped through the tent walls.

She sat and looked around. The Sorcerer had watched her on many occasions without her knowing it.

“Are you here?” she whispered into the darkness.

No answer.

“If you are, I will grant you a favor.”

She held her breath and waited.

“What would you do, if I weren’t watching?” His voice was faint. The Sorcerer materialized in front of her.

“Why are you always watching me at all?” she retorted.

“What do you want, mage?”

“For you to send a message.”

“In exchange for what?”

She considered. Having control over the fate of his navy and sea trade guaranteed he would answer her whenever she beckoned him.

“I will not pull your palace into the sea when I journey to your kingdom,” she said finally.

“How do you know my palace is near a sea at all?” he replied, annoyance in his tone.

“You’ve made no attempt to claim it’s not,” she reasoned. “If not the sea, some large body of water must be near, or you would have told me otherwise either time I made the threat.”

“You are wearing on my patience and good will.”

“And you claim to be desperate.”

The mirage vanished. She waited, uncertain if any man could be desperate enough to bargain with her when she offered so little. He reappeared, and she released the breath she was holding.

“Very well,” he said grudgingly. “But this is the last favor. I am not accustomed to being at anyone’s beck and call.”

Sela ignored him, not caring if he were offended. “I need for you to take a message to my father. Tell him where I am and that I need his help.”

“Your father. He could never reach you in time.”

“With the help of his wind mages, he might make it in two or three days. He’s my only hope.”

The mirage disappeared once more. She sensed he was not returning this time, if ever before he needed her.

The noble’s snoring stopped. She gazed into the darkness in his direction and tugged at the cuff around her forearm. Keni had the key, and she knew nothing of where he was in the camp. If she were to find him, how would she remove the key without him knowing?

Despair scattered her thoughts when she considered it was not possible to save herself or Tieran before her father reached her. He would always come. Of this, she had no doubt. He would move the ocean for her, but his greatest efforts would not matter, if she were to set foot in Masu first.

She tugged at the cuff. It was solid and radiated faint magic. The lock had disappeared once the key was removed, making it impossible to force open or pick.

Sela lay down once more, restless and worried. Just as she was about to drift off, a shout came from outside the tent.

Henli bolted to his feet. Sela sat up, listening. Yelling and movement came from outside the tent.

Keni flung open the tent door. “We must leave. Now!” he called.

“What is it?” Henli asked.

“Iliun. I told you we were too close to their kingdom!”

The tradesman muttered a curse. Keni dropped the tent’s entrance and disappeared. Sela climbed to her feet. While she hoped Lord Winlin was leading the attack, she doubted he had time to reach them. She had sent him as far from the beach where she and Tieran washed ashore as possible.

Which left his brother, Qinlin, who she cared for even less than the tradesman in the tent with her.

“Mage!” Henli snapped. “Awaken!”

“I heard,” she said. “I am ready to leave.”

The sound of him rustling around told her he had not yet adapted to life in the Inlands, where one had to be ready to fight or flee at a moment’s notice. She ventured to the tent’s opening, concerned about Tieran, and peered out.

Keni’s men were scrambling around the encampment, readying horses and preparing gear. Her eyes fell to Tieran. His cage was being loaded up onto a wagon. He appeared pale beneath his golden tan, and unsteady on his feet.

A lump rose in her throat. If he died, it was her fault. She had brought this fate upon him without knowing the price either of them would pay. She could not bear the idea he might die here, where she was helpless.

She found Keni with her eyes and studied him, seeking any kind of vulnerability that might give her an opportunity to grab the key. The soldier was on edge and moved with discipline and a sharpness she did not think she could outmaneuver. Doubting she could catch him off guard, she found herself back where she started: trying to figure out how to free Tieran and escape before they reached the channel.

Henli pushed her out of the tent. “What I would give for a servant,” he muttered, wrestling with his sword belt.

Sela shook her head. Early on in her life, she had been similar – unable to dress or bathe herself without the help of a servant or two. Karav had retrained her over their seasons together. He spoiled her in his own way without allowing her to fall into the typical pattern of the nobles.

After watching the coddled, oblivious tradesman struggle to fasten his belt, she sighed.

“You have it on wrong,” she said and reached out to take the ends of the belt. She pulled it free, untwisted it, and strung on the scabbard as Karav had taught her.

Henli eyed her. “I cannot bear these Inlands. How can the daughter of a prince survive here?”

She shrugged. She had thought the same when she first arrived, and up until Karav’s death. In fact, she was not certain what changed her mind.

Tieran. Perhaps it was not the Inlands she had accepted but the wild warrior who loved them.

She replaced the belt around the noble’s waist and fastened it. “Can you use a sword at all?” she asked.

“Not well enough to satisfy Keni,” he replied. “If someone nears me, I can stab him, but I don’t fight willingly.”

She hid a smile and stepped away.

Several men on horseback pounded to the south while the wagon with Tieran’s cage headed north.

“There is a lake to the northeast,” she said, thoughts on the underground channel. “Lord Qinlin’s army is much larger than this, but with a lake, I can wipe them out.”

“Why would I listen to you?”

“Because you have Tieran,” she replied softly. “He is more than my guardian. I would not risk his life.” The words were true, even if she had no intention of helping these people.

Henli was quiet for a moment before striding forward. He bellowed for Keni.

Sela remained where she was. The two exchanged words. Keni glanced towards her with a frown. Initially, he shook his head but by the end of the discussion, he stormed away unhappily. Sela understood this to mean the tradesman had won the discussion despite Keni’s accurate misgivings.

They were brought horses. Henli took her reins and started northeast, leading her away from the tent and bonfire.

Sela held back the gleeful shout she wanted to give knowing they were headed back towards Tieran’s land. Her excitement lasted until she began to realize she had no plan for reaching the catacombs, even if they passed within a horse length of the door. She could not risk Tieran being hurt worse by leaving on her own. If she escaped, it would have to be with the noble or the key.

She had a better chance facing Henli than his master-at-arms.

Fortunately, she experienced her first real piece of luck since entering the landlocked Inlands. A man on horseback barreled up the hill, passed her, and pulled his horse to a halt beside the tradesman.

“My lord!” he exclaimed. “Keni recommends fleeing quickly. He will join you when possible.”

Dozens of men bearing Iliu red spilled over the hills into the small valley in which Keni and his men awaited them. Unless he had a plan, Keni and his soldiers would quickly be overwhelmed.

Henli was observing the attack, concerned.

“You do not want to cross paths with Lord Qinlin,” Sela advised. “He leaves no one alive. He tried to murder his own brother, who traveled with me before.”

The tradesman glanced towards the warrior, who made no attempt to refute her exaggerated claim.

“Very well,” he said. He started forward, tugging her horse with him.

The wagon carting Tieran’s cage had already disappeared beyond the next hill. Flanked by two soldiers, Henli galloped forward, towing her away from the battle raging in the valley behind them.

Sela glanced over her shoulder several times, dreading the appearance of Lord Qinlin’s men more than she did journeying with the ignorant noble ahead of her. If what Lord Winlin had said of his brother were true, she did not want to risk falling under his control again.

They reached the next hill, circled it and slowed.

“My lord –” One of his Henli’s objected.

“Unless you know your way around the Inlands, we will wait!” the tradesman snapped. “I cannot tell north from west here!”

Sela coughed to cover her laugh.

The wagon bearing Tieran disappeared around another hill. Frustrated she was close to neither the key nor her guardian, she stared in the direction of Keni and the key. Too much time passed without any of Keni’s men cresting the hill. The sounds of battle reached them across the savannah, and her dread grew heavier.

“I know where we can hide,” she said at last. “It’s close to here.”

“I don’t trust you, mage.”

“Then as soon as we arrive, you can send one of your guards to tell Keni where we are,” she retorted. “It’s on our path, and it’s hidden. The Iliuns will never know where we are.”

Henli hesitated. His eyes were on the hill from the direction they had come.

A warrior in red appeared over the hill, followed by a second.

“If we ride now, we’ll reach it in time to hide,” Sela urged, aware she had a better chance with this man than Lord Qinlin. “My fate is tied to yours.” She lifted the arm with the cuff. “I have no reason to mislead you.”

Henli’s jaw was clenched, his focus on the riders headed towards them. “Very well. What direction?”

She pointed towards Tieran’s home and the hill concealing the catacombs.

The four of them bolted in the direction she indicated. Soon after, they were spotted by the men cresting the hill, who gave pursuit. They were far enough behind for hills to conceal Sela’s party, though not for long.

The group of trees beside Tieran’s burnt out village came into view a breath after she felt the stirring of the ocean in her blood. Sela sought out the sacred hill.

“There!” she cried, pointing. “Behind the hill!”

Her party changed course and circled the hill, slowing as they did so.

“There’s nothing here,” Henli said, anger in his voice.

Sela leapt off the horse and went to the door of the catacombs. Adrenaline raced through her, heightening the presence of water magic in her blood. She braced her legs against the hill and tugged at the door.

One of the warriors dismounted. He pushed her aside and wrenched the secret entrance to the catacombs open.

Henli slid off his horse, peering into the gaping hole uneasily.

Sela waited behind him. When he made no move to enter, she shoved him through the door. “This is our only chance!” she snapped, following him. “There is nowhere else within leagues of here to hide.”

Henli caught his balance and glared at her. He motioned to one of the men. “Take the message to Keni of where we are.”

The soldier bolted away.

Sela took the tradesman’s arm and tugged him with her.

“Where does this go?” he asked, resisting.

“Beneath the ground.” She said with a shrug. “I haven’t explored it all. But we’ll be safer the deeper we go.”

“Bring the horses in,” Henli ordered the remaining guard. He went with her, and she released him.

She ventured far enough for them to fit all three horses into the catacombs. After a moment, her eyes adjusted to the dim glow of moss.

The smell of the ocean was faint, and magic touched her blood.

“There’s no lock on this side,” the guard said.

“I doubt they were concerned about anyone escaping,” the tradesman answered, his eyes on the crypt beside him.

“Come away from the door,” Sela said and walked forward, down the sloping path. “We can search for an escape route.”

“Stay here,” Henli directed the guard. “Alert us if anyone discovers us.”

Sela walked with barely held impatience, senses outstretched and thoughts on the secret revealed by the Sorcerer from a distant land. Her step slowed when she crossed the path of the first water mage. If what the Sorcerer said was true, then perhaps it made sense for there to be water mages in the landlocked Inlands. Would ancient mages have heard the ocean beckoning them to this place? Was that why Tieran’s family had settled here hundreds, if not thousands, of seasons before?

Whenever she thought of her guardian, her throat tightened, and she wanted to run after him.

Sela cleared her mind of Tieran. If she did not discover the weak point in the fault, neither of them had a chance of living through the tumult in the Inlands. She recalled the story the lake had revealed to her, on the night Tieran bonded them, about there having been an ocean in the Inlands long ago.

It had to be talking about the same events the Sorcerer revealed, the convergence of the two islands.

Deep in thought, she did not know how far she had gone, until the dead end appeared in front of her.

“How do we escape?” Henli asked in annoyance.

“It cannot just end,” she said. Sela approached the wall and placed her palms against it as she had earlier.

There was water on the other side. A channel, the Sorcerer had called it. The shallow point between the two islands that had collided.

“How did you find this place?” the noble asked.

“This land and crypt belong to my guardian’s clan.” She focused on the cool magic. If she had any hope of accessing it, she needed the wall gone. “He’s the last in his line.”

“These Inlanders must be ancient people.” The noble was peering into one of the crypts.

She glanced at him and then back.

“What are you doing?” he asked, facing her.

“There’s a door here, a second way out in case they find us,” she lied. “I think it’s locked by ancient magic.”

“Older than the magic in your bond?”

Sela lifted her arm and pressed the metal to the wall. To her delight, the vibration she felt on the other side of the wall grew stronger, answering the magic in the cuff.

“Where is this door?” Henli pressed his hands to the wall and pushed.

“It’s there.” She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on connecting to the source of water beyond. Was the channel tiny, or far beneath the surface? Did it contain enough magic to help her?

A shout of warning came from the direction of the door.

“Hurry, mage,” Henli urged her. “I don’t have the skill Keni does with a sword. If they separate us, or slay me and take you, your guardian dies.”

Panic spiraled through her. Sela focused on the spark of magic in the cuff. It was unfamiliar to her, too ancient for her to know if it was elemental magic or magic of a different nature.

Come to me! She ordered the magic trickling through the wall. With no water on her side of the wall, she had no way of making her will known. She was too weak.

“I need their bones,” she said.

Henli was silent.

“Quickly! One bone from each of those five crypts!” She pointed.

He went.

She watched to make sure he went to the right tombs. The tradesman grimaced and picked up the bones with his hand covered by his tunic.

Had she ever been like this? Sela no longer had to wonder why Karav spent so much time training her not to act in the manner of other nobles.

“I’m sorry, Tieran,” she whispered, wincing at the thought of desecrating his ancestors.

Scowling in disgust, Henli returned with one bone from each of the first five water mages in Tieran’s line. The sound of a set of footsteps closing in on them made them both turn towards the wall again.

“I’m too wealthy to die here, mage,” Henli growled.

Sela gathered the bones in one arm and leaned her body against the cool stone wall, certain to touch the cuff to it as well. The magic remaining in the deceased water mages sparked within her, adding power to her feeble attempts to reach the water beyond the wall.

The wall vibrated.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say this wall is fortified by magic,” she grumbled. She considered briefly the idea the Sorcerer had tricked her before recalling how desperate he appeared to be. He would not lead her to her death when he wanted her to journey to his kingdom.

“Swiftly, mage!” Henli urged.

Sela closed her eyes and screamed internally, forcing what magic she possessed and drew off the bones and cuff out of her and through the stone wall to whatever waited on the other side with the only message she could muster. She released her breath, uncertain if she was successful.

“Why are you stopping?” Henli demanded, using his full weight to push against the stones.

She waited, eyes on the wall.

“Do not move!” someone shouted at them.

The wall began to tremble, and a distant roar sounded from behind the stone. Dust rained down upon them while water squeezed between the stones.

Sela coughed and stepped back.

“Mage …” Henli sounded ready to run.

Not about to let him hurt Tieran again, she held out her hand. “I am the only one who can protect you!” she told him. “Take my hand and pray!”

He eyed her then glanced at the wall.

Water sprayed them, eating away at the mortar holding the stones in place. Salt water, she realized, licking her lips. She coaxed the water towards her. The wild, frenzied energy of the ocean responded eagerly. She started to laugh. The Inlands that contained no water had a direct connection to the sea!

“This is not the time for madness, mage,” Henli said tersely. “Do you mean to drown us?”

Already, the water reached her calves. Lord Qinlin’s men began to retreat.

“I mean to free us,” she responded.

Gushing water eroded the stones around the edges, pouring into the lower chamber of the catacombs.

Sela released the bones in her arms and closed her eyes, filled with the raw, cold power of the ocean. She willed the water to spare the bones of Tieran’s ancestors as well as her unwanted companion.

Henli pulled away from her, alarmed by the water that reached his chest.

“It won’t hurt you,” she said and tightened her grip. “Don’t let go of me.”

The water magic swirled around her, through her, speaking to her without words.

The Sorcerer had been right about the two islands colliding – but wrong about the channel. The sea was not trapped between the landmasses, and not flowing through a channel.

This was not the shallower Emerald Bay or the Ruby Channel she had crossed with Karav. This was the ocean, deep and dark and ancient. The bottomless depths she had sensed at the edge of the Emerald Bay also ran directly beneath the fault. Her breathing quickened, and the same fear she experienced in the Bay returned.

The water submerged her and the noble clutching her hand. A look towards him revealed the protective bubble keeping him from drowning. She sucked in water, loving its salty flavor and the story each drop wanted to tell her.

Any question she had about why Tieran’s water mage ancestors settled here vanished. Like her, they would have been drawn to this place without knowing why.

The water whipped them past the wall, pulling them down into its depths protectively. Sela reveled in the sensation, the power, the magic. She recalled swimming in the Bay while Tieran watched, kissing him beneath the waves, marveling at the strength of his frame when he held her.

She also remembered how he had shut her out after.

The water mourned with her, more so when it learned his current fate.

She focused on returning to the surface, on saving her savage.

The sea, however, had different plans.

It pulled her deep into its depths, into the place she had been afraid to go. Past the shelves and corals, past the reach of light, past the point where any creature could survive, deep into a trench as ancient as the ocean’s magic.

Panic bubbled up within her. The ocean felt as if it were crushing her from every direction. It wanted what she did not know was possible: to scatter her physical form and become her. The intimacy of the demand scared her. Never in her life, even when she yielded to Karav’s and Tieran’s strength and decisions, had they possessed her.

Sela breathed in the depths. Instead of speaking back and forth with the water, her thoughts became one with it, merging at a level where she could no longer tell which thought was hers and which was the ocean’s.

It was then the ocean revealed its greatest secret. She was not a woman gifted with the ability to speak to the seas.

She was the ocean, in the form of a woman. The ocean was alive, filled with fluid emotion, while she possessed the logic of a human. Combined, they were more powerful than any other element or magic in the realm.

Sela released the hold over herself preventing her from complete surrender. Her body could not hold the power of the entire ocean, unless she acknowledged they were one and the same. As she freed her mind, she became aware of all the ocean knew, the history spanning tens of thousands seasons, the movements of every current, the name of every sea creature. The ocean was the original magic, the first element created.

Once, long ago, the two islands had merged, as the Sorcerer told her. The fault between them, where the two land masses met, ran from north to south. The land was thinner along the fault – two beaches and shallows that had collided – and the ocean closer to the surface. The fault was vulnerable not to rivers or lakes or the erosion of time, or to any force men could muster.

It was vulnerable solely to her, the ocean. To possess her power, to yield her magic and shed the helplessness plaguing her, she needed to break the seal between the two islands. Only then could she save her savage.

Sela became aware of both her body and the consciousness of the ocean. She sailed upward through the depths, renewed by the soul-deep revelation of where her true power originated. Karav had feared sending her to the ocean, perhaps because he knew she would not be able to survive it without a stronger warrior.

The sea swept her back through the catacombs and upward towards the surface. She and the noble traveled with the column of water surging out of the catacombs. She coughed and stumbled at its sudden release, landing hard on her knees as water pooled around her.

I am the ocean. The ocean is me, she said to herself. The idea was overwhelming and left her dazed with surprise.

“We must have gone to the bottom of the seas!” the noble exclaimed, splashing into the mud beside her. “I never want to do that again.”

“Then you shouldn’t have cornered a water mage!” she snapped. “You should be grateful you lived through it. No other man in history has gone so deep and survived.”

A horse neighing drew both of their attentions. Henli scrambled to his feet, yanking her up with him.

“You can let me go now,” she objected.

He ignored her, and both looked towards the crescent of soldiers on horseback surrounding the hill in front of them. They bore Lord Qinlin’s sigil on their chests.

Sela glanced over her shoulder. The ocean water continued to shoot upward and out, its power thrumming through her body.

She felt it bubbling beneath the fault upon which she stood. Sela released a deep breath. The ocean hummed through her, following her thoughts and predicting her actions before she made them.

She knelt and placed a hand on the ground.

The noble went with her, refusing to release her after their journey into the ocean’s depths.

“Come to me,” she urged the water. She felt it respond, bubbling up beneath the fault, pushing at it, seeking one small crack within the land.

“Arrows,” Henli warned.

Sela ignored him and the warriors preparing to charge. Instead, she coaxed the ocean upwards, towards her.

The earth beneath her trembled. A geyser shot up several horse lengths in front of her, and then a second. The tremble turned to a quake strong enough to knock several horsemen off their mounts.

The ground split, collapsing into the churning sea beneath it. The crack spread and widened. The earth under the men and horses collapsed, and the ocean swallowed them.

But the sea did not stop there. It reared up against the earth, smashing through and racing away from her down the fault line. The channel it left in its wake churned with power and widened itself until it was the width of a river.

“I won’t be letting you go anytime soon,” Henli said in a horrified whisper.

Hills fell, and the grasslands along the fault disappeared for as far as she could see. The fault behind her began to collapse in on itself as well, leaving her and the noble on a tiny island in the center of the channel.

Sela rose. She laughed gleefully, not expecting this gift from the sea or to feel its power in the middle of the Inlands.

“I hope you have a second key,” she said.

“What does it matter?” Henli replied. “You are still unable to go far from me without hurting your guardian.”

“Do you have to be alive?”

He glared at her.

“The ocean can drown you and carry you with me as far as I need to take you.” As she spoke, a wave rose up to the height of the noble and took his shape, mirroring him and his movements.

Sela laughed again. The sea was playing with him, harmless until she decided otherwise, though the noble did not know that.

“There is no other key,” he answered fast. “I entrusted it to Keni.”

She groaned in frustration. “There is no chance Lord Qinlin left him alive. You had better hope the key is with his body and they haven’t burned it yet.”

The noble’s attention was elsewhere. The hills to the south were teeming with warriors.

“Three,” he breathed in awe. “Three kingdoms.”

Sela’s breath caught as well. The Masun, Iliun, and Biun armies stretched out beyond the hills, converging uneasily in one place, with the single intent of capturing her.

“Why are they not fighting amongst themselves?” she asked, frowning.

“Perhaps because they know it will take all of them to defeat you. Or perhaps they will wait for another army to best you then attack the winner.”

She tested her strength. The ocean continued to break the fault between islands. “I need to find Tieran,” she said, unable to help the panic within her breast.

“I suggest you fight the kingdoms off. And the one behind us.”

She turned, surprised to see the hooded forms on the hills to the south.

“They bear no banner,” Henli observed.

Sela’s mind was elsewhere, on the Sorcerer who had once tried to kidnap her. The man on his ship had worn a similar cloak and hood to hide his face. Had he been lying about not being able to use his power outside his palace? Had he sent his army to kidnap her as well?

Her bond to Tieran remained. If her guardian had been captured, he was at least alive.

“Strategy is not my strength, but I would advise attending to those attacking first,” Henli said.

She faced the three armies. All of them had begun their charges over the hills, racing one another to reach her before the others did.

“What is your strength, if not strategy or swords?” she snapped, irritated by her worthless companion.

“Gold. My family is richer than the king.”

“Gold will not help you survive this war!”

Had the Inlands ever hosted this many wealthy men, armies, and nobility?

“I won’t drown you. Let go of me,” she said.

Henli did so reluctantly, his gaze on the attackers barreling towards them. “Hurry, mage.”

Sela lifted both of her arms, and the sea rose up on either side of her. Towering waves stretched towards the sky while cool magic surged inside her, rendering her giddy with power. Water sprayed her, and she licked her lips, loving its complex flavor.

She built the tidal wave even higher, urging the ocean to become as wide as it was tall. The sea thundered, widening the fault as it shoved the islands apart. When the white crests atop the wave were too far overhead for her to see, she drew a breath and unleashed the tidal wave upon the attackers.

The ocean smashed to the ground and roared forward, as deep as a river and as wide as several hills. It swept away her attackers, swallowing them and spitting them out far enough away they were no longer threats. The water reached the top of the hills, upon which a second wave of attackers waited. Rather than risk drowning, they unleashed arrows in her direction.

Henli cowered behind her.

Waves leapt from the tidal wave to drag the arrows beneath the surface long before they could reach her.

Aware of the army at her back, Sela placed a wall of water behind them. She lowered her arms and called the ocean back to her from the hills. It raced eagerly to her and slid into the depths of the fault.

Not one horse, soldier or weapon remained where a hundred men had charged her. She smiled, happy to have her ocean once more after being trapped in the Inlands.

“You murdered them all,” Henli said in awe.

“I didn’t murder any of them,” she corrected. “I moved them far away.”

He gave her an odd look.

“I am no one’s weapon. I do not kill,” she said firmly. “But I will defend myself and my guardian.”

Not one warrior in the three armies left his place atop the hills.

“You always had your mother’s temper.” The shout pierced the wall behind her.

Sela whirled, heart leaping in her chest. She dropped the wall.

A party of five from the fourth army had reached the bank. The man leading them lowered his hood.

A wave lifted her and Henli across the fault before she fully registered who stood in front of her.

“Father!” she exclaimed when she reached dry land. Sela ran to him and threw her arms around him. She had not known how much she missed his familiar scent and warm hug before this moment. His rough beard scraped her forehead.

“My beautiful sea star,” he murmured into her hair.

“How did you travel so quickly?”

“I left the Seat of Vurdu several sennights ago, against my brother’s wishes. When Karav’s messages ceased, I became concerned,” he answered. “I’ve been searching the Inlands for you. I received an unnatural message yesterday from … a ghost. He alerted me to your whereabouts. I traveled here directly.”

She silently thanked the Sorcerer for upholding his end of their trade.

“I’ve come to take you home, Sela,” her father said.

She lifted her head from his chest, troubled. “Father, I will not fight a war for anyone. Not even my uncle.”

His smile remained, along with the warmth in his eyes. “We will talk, my sea star. But first.” He turned and beckoned one of the hooded men forward. “I found your guardian left for dead.”

She twisted to glare at Henli, whose life she had spared.

Tieran lowered his hood and stepped forward. Her heart somersaulted within her breast, and heat pushed at the cool magic in her blood. She could not look away from him.

“Sela,” he said coolly without coming closer.

Recalling the strange distance he had placed between them, her smile faded. “Tieran,” she greeted him.

He still wore the collar.

“Does this man need killed?” her father asked, lifting his chin towards Henli.

“Not yet,” she answered. “He has bound me by some ancient spell. If I leave his side, Tieran suffers.”

“Where is the key?” Tieran asked, glaring at the noble.

“Past your home to the south,” she answered.

He started forward, towards the churning ocean channel running between the split islands.

“Tieran,” she called, alarmed. “You are wounded. I can heal you before you challenge the three armies standing between you and the key!”

“I’ll manage,” he replied in a clipped tone.

She watched, astonished, as the ocean lifted him up and over the channel, leaving him safely on the other side. Did it understand her concern for him? Or was the water mage blood in his line strong enough for him to command it? Because the thought to help him had not come from her.

“Your guardian is not to be trifled with,” her father said.

Tieran drew his sword and twirled the hilt around his hand. The jewel embedded in the hilt glowed even brighter than before. She did not want to look away from his tall, muscular form. Aware of her father studying her, she turned away finally.

“Come,” he said. “We will establish our camp here, beside the water.”

She nodded and walked with him. Already, his men were beginning to lay out the beams and canvas needed to set up their resting place. Sela gave a sidelong glance at her father, troubled.

Would he command her to wed her cousin, now that he had found her?

How could she hurt him by refusing? She loved the man who had always doted on her, who had not pushed her off on a nursemaid and instead, raised her with Karav’s help, against the traditions of those born into the royal court. She was not raised with the other children of royal blood but in and near her father’s palace, beneath his gentle watch.

Anything he asked her to do, she would.

She glanced over her shoulder towards Tieran.

Almost anything, she conceded. Tieran had put distance between them for a reason she did not understand. Was it better to accept her cousin’s hand in marriage or to spend her life wondering why Tieran had changed so suddenly?

She knew the answer already. After the kiss she shared with Tieran, she would permit no other man to touch her.

She sat beside her father as the tents were erected, listening to him discuss the latest news and chaos at court. His brother was moving to claim the throne of the High King, while her cousin had been injured in a skirmish with the Kingdom of Masu, which also pursued the High King’s throne. Her father, ever the peacemaker, was attempting to negotiate with all the kingdoms to avoid war.

As she listened, she could not help smiling. She had had three of the best men in the realm in her life, and she had never felt as grateful for all of them before her adventures in the Inlands.

“I had planned for you to help me keep the peace,” he finished, eyes shifting from the tents to her.

“Is peace even possible?” she asked, distraught.

“With the right kind of encouragement, I believe so.”

“Such as a water mage who can wipe out a kingdom,” she murmured.

“Or close down trade routes until a kingdom capitulates.”

She twisted her hands in her lap. “Father, what about what I want for my life?” she ventured. “I was raised to be a weapon, but my heart lies elsewhere. I do not wish to kill anyone.”

“Your power could stop a war, Sela.”

She nodded, not at all certain how to bridge her desire not to kill with her hope of avoiding a war.

“My brother has made his will clear. He intends to wield you as a weapon.”

“And marry me to his son,” she added. “In the Inlands, every man makes his own fate, his own laws. They answer to no one.”

“Karav always said you were wild,” her father said quietly. “No king can ignore your power, Sela, or what possessing the water mage will do for his kingdom.”

“I would give my life for you, Father, and for my guardian. I do not want to fight on behalf of anyone else.”

His silence was not one of disappointment but of consideration. She waited for his response with bated breath.

“I need time to think,” he said at last. “My loyalties lie with our king, but you are my daughter, and I value you above all else.”

“You can rule the Inlands.”

“If your warrior is a representative of his people, they will not be ruled,” her father said ruefully. “Injured as he was, he killed five of my personal guard and held a knife to my throat before I told him who I was.”

She hid her smile, proud of Tieran.

“He also swore to murder me if I lied to him.”

She laughed. “He is wilder than I am.”

“And not a man my brother would allow at court. I believe the priests would throw him out of the mage-warrior corps as well.”

“He is the strongest mage-warrior in existence,” she said confidently. “Water mage blood runs in him. He can command the ocean, albeit not as much as I can.”

“Can he? I have never heard of this.”

She nodded once more. “He has massacred wind mages and their warriors and entire armies.”

“You favor him.”

“I admire him.”

“That is why you wish to stay here.”

Sela flushed. Her father saw what she had hoped he did not, because she was not certain herself. “I don’t know what I want.”

“You would make me choose between my daughter and my king.”

“I want to help you, Father. But I do not wish to hurt or serve anyone.”

“Perhaps there is a compromise,” Henli spoke from behind them.

Sela had forgotten about the man she would not allow to move farther than an arm’s length from her. He sat nearby, listening.

“If you do not wish me to drown you, you will respect your place here!” she retorted.

Her father chuckled. “Let the man speak, sea star,” he chided. “I know his house well. Peace among the kingdoms is a necessity for wealthy tradesmen.”

“If your king had any idea of what this mage can do, he would want her far away from him,” Henli complained. “Let her stay in the Inlands. Let the Inlands become the place where peace is negotiated, with the water mage who will not let anyone leave until all have agreed to the terms of your peace.”

“You speak as well as your father,” her father said with a faint smile.

“He also kidnapped me and threatened to murder my guardian!” she reminded him.

“A crime for which we will ransom him,” her father assured her. “Would you consider this, my sea star? I will be here with you.”

“As long as all kingdoms respect the Inland traditions.”

“I will decree it.”

Was her father granting her the ability to decide her own fate? She was afraid to ask.

“Come. You must rest,” he said and stood.

The first tent was erected, the large one bearing the sigil of her father’s royal house and flying his banner. She trailed him into it, taking in what luxury he had thought to bring with him. Her eyes fell to a copper basin behind a screen, and she sighed. How long had it been since she had a warm bath?

A pallet awaited her behind a second screen, covered in furs and pillows. She grinned, touched her father recalled her love of pillows and thought to bring them with him. She threw herself onto the bed, and relaxed.

A breath later, she was on her feet.

What were all the luxuries and gold in the world, if she were enslaved to a king? Or if she lost Tieran?

“Father,” she started, feeling his eyes on her. “Whether or not your plan works, I won’t leave the Inlands.” She lifted her gaze to his face, hating the thought of disappointing him, yet unwilling to yield either.

“My sea star, I cannot predict how my brother will react, but I promise you I will always love and protect you, to the best of my abilities,” he said with a warm smile. “No woman in your bloodline has been permitted to choose her fate or whom she fights for. But your independence may be the key to peace. If any king refuses to respect this, or pushes war, you are close enough to the ocean for it to protect you if your warrior and I can’t.”

Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you, Father,” she said and hugged him once more.

“I know you want to wait for him,” he added. “Do not venture too far to call upon your magic. Tomorrow, we will determine what our course of action will be.”

Sela left his embrace. She grabbed Henli’s arm as she hurried past him.

She could not think to rest when Tieran was alone, fighting armies. Sela went to the edge of the channel and gazed in the direction he had gone earlier. It was midday, and he had left in the morning.

Placated by the ocean, she freed her thoughts and magic to run wild. She sat and waited, unconcerned with the afternoon sun, or the coolness of the air when dusk began to fall. Henli, as if understanding his danger, was mercifully silent.

Night draped the land in front of her in darkness. Sela stood then and stretched her stiff body. The water conveyed her and Henli to the other side of the channel, and she began walking. She passed the site where the catacombs had stood. The ocean assured her the skeletons were safe and intact, waiting for her to find them a new resting place.

She passed the remnants of Tieran’s village. A whisper of water magic stopped her, and she turned to face the trees beside the burnt out dwellings.

Sela walked through the grasses and paused when she reached Tieran. The collar was gone. Uncertain why he had not chosen to return to her, she hesitated.

“Did you find the key?” she asked, aware of the lurking tradesman at her back.

Tieran tossed it to her without looking at her. Sela unlocked the cuff around her forearm and turned to glare at Henli. He needed no further encouragement to leave her and return to the channel.

Relieved to be rid of him, Sela faced Tieran again. His distance was much worse than his anger. She hesitated and then sat beside him, their sides touching. His body pulled her cool magic into it, healing him. She studied his profile before looking away, towards the destroyed village.

“Has your father come to take you home to marry your prince?” he asked in irritation.

“No.”

“You never mentioned you were a princess.”

“You serve no king or god or priest.” She sighed. “Why would it matter?”

He did not answer.

Troubled by his silence, she shifted to stare at his face. “What have I done to disturb you?” she demanded. “Are you angry with me? Have I offended you?”

For a long moment, she did not think he would respond.

“I cannot do this.”

Her pulse slowed and then quickened. “Do what?” she pressed.

“I cannot be your mage-warrior. I’m an Inlander. We are not like you.”

“Where is this coming from?” she snapped. “You risked your life for me, and I for you. We are bound. You took an oath to me!”

He glanced at her, a familiar fire in his gaze.

“Is this because of what happened … under the sea?” she asked hesitantly. “Did I repulse or anger or insult you?”

“You are worthy of a prince.”

“I don’t want a prince!” she retorted. “I want to be free. I want to be an Inlander, and I want you to yell at me again or threaten me or show me somehow what you feel. Tieran, you have never, ever withheld yourself from me like this!”

“I cannot be your guardian, if you are not mine,” he said through gritted teeth. “If any other man lays a hand on you, I will murder him. When Inlanders take an oath to another, it is for all time, but I am torn by the knowledge I cannot be your guardian under these conditions.”

“I don’t understand. What conditions? Because you took an oath to me, but I have taken none to you?” she asked, agitated.

He met her gaze.

“You are the only man I want to touch me, Tieran. I will take an oath to no man but you. I will marry no man but you! Unless you are too stubborn to see what’s in front of you!”

The words left her mouth before she could consider whether or not they should be spoken. They felt too true, to natural, for her to regret them. Flustered, she wrung her hands together in her lap.

Tieran’s full attention was on her.

“I don’t know how Inlander oaths are spoken,” she said, face hot. “I don’t even know if that’s what you want. You’ve been ignoring me for –”

His kiss silenced her. Where she had been too surprised to respond the first time, she found herself answering his lips with hunger of her own. Sela cupped his cheeks in both hands and leaned into him. Fever raced along the magic in her blood, and her power flowed into him. His tongue slid into her mouth, and she melted into him, enamored by the flavor of the salty ocean and man.

Tieran lifted his head. Breathless, she gazed at him. His palms rested against her cheeks, and heat burned in his eyes.

“I would take a thousand oaths to you,” she whispered, embarrassed by the husky note in her voice.

“I only need one,” he said.

“My father is allowing me to stay here. We can be free together,” she said. “Is this why you have been indifferent? Because you thought I would choose a prince over you?”

“The first time you lay in my arms …” He drifted off. “A fire that cannot be extinguished. It is how many Inlanders describe finding their mates. I knew then I couldn’t be your guardian, unless I was your everything. I fought it and focused on my vengeance. With my enemy dead … you are madness, Sela, and resisting you is agony. When you kissed me, I couldn’t deny it any longer.”

She smiled, touched by the sentiment from the man who rarely expressed his feelings.

“Would you have left, if your father decreed it?” he asked. His skin was hot against hers, his intent gaze scattering her thoughts.

She shook her head. “I choose my own fate,” she vowed.

“Unless I decide otherwise,” he said, his smile faint.

“You hear the roar of the ocean? It responds to my command!”

“But I never will.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed away from him.

“Settle, mage,” he warned softly.

His expression silenced any objection she might make.

“I’m an Inlander now,” she said firmly.

“There are no Inlands anymore,” he pointed out.

“The world is about to change,” she agreed, thoughts on her father’s plan to enlist her help to enforce peace rather than win a war. “I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

Tieran laughed, the first such sound she had heard from him. “As long as you don’t carry a dagger.”

Her cheeks grew hot. “That happened once,” she objected.

“I’ll protect you, mage,” he said, settling his forehead against hers. “Even from yourself.”

Sela’s heart sang. The cool magic passed between them, while heat bloomed within her. She wanted to remind him she had never ventured down this path, never known a man intimately, and did not fully understand what to do.

“I know, mage,” he responded to her uncertainty. “I’ll be gentle. We have a lifetime. I’ll be patient.”

She smiled. “Maybe I don’t hate your ability to read my mind so much anymore.”

“You’ll find it more useful later.”

While she didn’t understand what he meant, she smiled anyway.

Tieran shook his head. He stood and held out his hand. Sela took it, and he pulled her up.

Tieran’s gaze returned to where his family had died, and his expression grew somber again.

“We can stay here,” she said. “It’s near the channel.”

“I’m not certain yet,” he replied.

She squeezed his hand.

“Not all of my memories are painful. There is a place near here where I used to take my sisters,” he said. He started away, past the thatch of trees. “It was the last place I took them the morning they were murdered.”

“I’m honored you want to show me,” she whispered.

“I’m the last of my clan, and you are the only water mage. You may become a broodmare yet.”

“I am not a broodmare!” she snapped. “I’m the only water mage in existence, daughter of a prince and niece of the man who hopes to become the High King! Our children will be royalty and mages, not weapons to be used by any king who wishes to!”

He smiled. “They’ll be Inlanders. Wild and free. Assuming the Sorcerer across the ocean doesn’t kill us.”

“I’ll drown him if he tries.”

Tieran faced her. “You are mine.” He studied her face. “I am yours. I take my second oath to you, as my mate. I will protect you and care for you as only an Inlander can, to the last breath and the last drop of blood in my body.”

The ferocity with which he spoke the vow left her breathless and grinning. Her insides bubbled with desire and happiness and cool ocean magic.

Tieran kissed her on the forehead and began walking again.

“I still plan on defying you,” she said when she had caught her breath.

“Good,” he replied. “I look forward to teaching you the many ways I can tame that tongue of yours.”

The fever inside her left her too hot to respond. It was with no small amount of interest she dwelled on what he meant, and how much she anticipated learning all he had to teach her.

They walked into the darkness, away from the remnants of his village.

Sela had no way of knowing what would happen the following day. But it would not matter, as long as Tieran was by her side.