didn’t budge.
Gwyn snorted. “Grumpy this morning . . .”
Syrena stood then, brushing off sand. She took several steps into the unknown, this time without her sisters, trying to feel her way back home but stumbled over driftwood.
“Here,” Gwyn said impatiently. “We’ll help you. We always do, you know. It’s because we love you and want to see you happy.”
“I know,” Syrena whispered with dolor, allowing the weight of her handicap to consume her. “Love you, too. Thanks,” she acquiesced, as her sisters grabbed a hand each and led her up the path from the beach.
A head popped out of the water not far from the coastline. Not one of the sisters noticed the keen eyes that watched the back of one girl in particular and had done so every day for a very long time. The wave he sent almost reached her this time, pulling her into his world. When would he ever hold her again?
Syrena.
Dagon dove to the darkest, deepest crook of his domain and sulked.
Chapter 2
Launch
The house bustled by mid-eve. Aunts, uncles, and cousins all came for a large family gathering over supper. Syrena’s parents busied themselves with entertaining everyone, while she and her sisters helped where they could in accommodating everyone’s needs. The smell of stiff birleey brew, thicker than the fog rolling in off the ocean every morning, hung in the air. Boisterous voices rose in clattering drunken hubbub the longer the night stretched.
Syrena wiped her hands, sticky from serving raw, un-distilled concoctions, on a thick cloth tucked into a waist tie. Blindness was a strange existence, she pondered, as she inadvertently glanced about the room. After a spell, she’d huddle in the dimness of some corner, desiring her own space, wanting others to leave her alone. She liked solitude. It offered a private realm in which she could daydream about seeing eyes, impossible aspirations, and love that she’d surely never come to know. Her sigh erupted, like a heavy burden that surfaced from the deepest part of her being.
“Have you finished wiping the counters then?” her mother asked, a touch of the old language tracing her tongue.
“I’ve finished, Mum.” She shook her head clear of dismal thoughts. Strangely, she went back to dwelling on the ocean.
“Good. Now bring in the stack of dessert plates from the back.”
Syrena’s heart did a downward flip. “After what happened last time? Surely, mother, you value your dishes more than my having to stumble and drop them into a million shattered pieces? And if front of everyone.” She turned her head away.
“Well, if you’re going to whine about it, have Steffi help you.” She released a burdensome sigh with the flick of a wrist. “There is still plenty to do tonight . . . before you go and hide.” She clicked her teeth in a matronly way. “I do wish you would try to be a part of the group more. We are a family.”
“Yes, Mum.” Syrena curtsied, feeling as though she already tried her best.
“She does a fine job, more than her share, wife. You don’t need to be hassling Syrena now,” her dad said.
“Husband, you coddle her too much. How will she ever survive without us if we don’t gird her up, make her strong.” Her mother raised a fist and smacked it into an open palm. “Syrena’s a woman now.” She snorted, “Stubborn man . . .”
Syrena wished they’d stop discussing her as if she weren’t right there in the room with them. Blindness had a way of making a person invisible, too.
“Ah . . . my wife.” He poked his finger playfully at his mate. “Like sugar she is.”
The mother swatted him away, suppressing a grin that threatened to soften her authoritative exterior.
The sisters giggled at their banter. Even Syrena softened. Their parents always created a stir with their verbal exchange, but the girls somehow knew they put on a show more than anything and that they really had a deep love for each other.
Steffi joined Syrena as she went to retrieve the
Gwyn snorted. “Grumpy this morning . . .”
Syrena stood then, brushing off sand. She took several steps into the unknown, this time without her sisters, trying to feel her way back home but stumbled over driftwood.
“Here,” Gwyn said impatiently. “We’ll help you. We always do, you know. It’s because we love you and want to see you happy.”
“I know,” Syrena whispered with dolor, allowing the weight of her handicap to consume her. “Love you, too. Thanks,” she acquiesced, as her sisters grabbed a hand each and led her up the path from the beach.
A head popped out of the water not far from the coastline. Not one of the sisters noticed the keen eyes that watched the back of one girl in particular and had done so every day for a very long time. The wave he sent almost reached her this time, pulling her into his world. When would he ever hold her again?
Syrena.
Dagon dove to the darkest, deepest crook of his domain and sulked.
Chapter 2
Launch
The house bustled by mid-eve. Aunts, uncles, and cousins all came for a large family gathering over supper. Syrena’s parents busied themselves with entertaining everyone, while she and her sisters helped where they could in accommodating everyone’s needs. The smell of stiff birleey brew, thicker than the fog rolling in off the ocean every morning, hung in the air. Boisterous voices rose in clattering drunken hubbub the longer the night stretched.
Syrena wiped her hands, sticky from serving raw, un-distilled concoctions, on a thick cloth tucked into a waist tie. Blindness was a strange existence, she pondered, as she inadvertently glanced about the room. After a spell, she’d huddle in the dimness of some corner, desiring her own space, wanting others to leave her alone. She liked solitude. It offered a private realm in which she could daydream about seeing eyes, impossible aspirations, and love that she’d surely never come to know. Her sigh erupted, like a heavy burden that surfaced from the deepest part of her being.
“Have you finished wiping the counters then?” her mother asked, a touch of the old language tracing her tongue.
“I’ve finished, Mum.” She shook her head clear of dismal thoughts. Strangely, she went back to dwelling on the ocean.
“Good. Now bring in the stack of dessert plates from the back.”
Syrena’s heart did a downward flip. “After what happened last time? Surely, mother, you value your dishes more than my having to stumble and drop them into a million shattered pieces? And if front of everyone.” She turned her head away.
“Well, if you’re going to whine about it, have Steffi help you.” She released a burdensome sigh with the flick of a wrist. “There is still plenty to do tonight . . . before you go and hide.” She clicked her teeth in a matronly way. “I do wish you would try to be a part of the group more. We are a family.”
“Yes, Mum.” Syrena curtsied, feeling as though she already tried her best.
“She does a fine job, more than her share, wife. You don’t need to be hassling Syrena now,” her dad said.
“Husband, you coddle her too much. How will she ever survive without us if we don’t gird her up, make her strong.” Her mother raised a fist and smacked it into an open palm. “Syrena’s a woman now.” She snorted, “Stubborn man . . .”
Syrena wished they’d stop discussing her as if she weren’t right there in the room with them. Blindness had a way of making a person invisible, too.
“Ah . . . my wife.” He poked his finger playfully at his mate. “Like sugar she is.”
The mother swatted him away, suppressing a grin that threatened to soften her authoritative exterior.
The sisters giggled at their banter. Even Syrena softened. Their parents always created a stir with their verbal exchange, but the girls somehow knew they put on a show more than anything and that they really had a deep love for each other.
Steffi joined Syrena as she went to retrieve the
Similar Books
