out.”
I heard their bickering as if from miles away. I’d failed to send my message. Then a familiar voice spoke in my ear.
“Why’d you do that, Evie?” Aidan’s voice full of concern. “Are you all right? What’s happened to you?”
I made no attempt to speak. In a moment I realized no one else was speaking, either. A silence had fallen over the entire beach. Even the water had fallen still.
I looked up.
Morning sunlight glistened pink and green on his silvery scales. He rose from the waves like a tower, arching over where I lay. His great head, horned and whiskered, looked regal in the sunlight as he took in the sight of all those he’d rescued in the night, and saw the terror in their eyes. The men who had grabbed me fell back, cringing.
If you wish to call me, Mistress , he said, it helps if you give me a name.
A man pulled a pistol from his belt and aimed it at his beautiful head.
“Are you mad?” I cried. “He saved us all!”
The man pulled the trigger. The wet powder wouldn’t spark, and he threw down his pistol. Others ventured forward with knives, but none gathered the courage to come too near.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to my leviathan, hoping no one would take notice, hoping he could hear. “Please, please forgive me.”
He nodded his head toward me.
“She’s in some sort of league with it,” a lady cried.
“That’s nonsense,” Aidan said.
I attempted another whisper. “You must go now,” I said. “They want to hurt you.”
I won’t leave you. If I go, they will turn their hatred for me toward you.
“I’ll be all right,” I said. “Come back to me in your smaller size. I’ll wait for you here. Can you hide under my clothes?”
Yes.
“She’s talking to the beast! Like a witch to her familiar!”
“Then meet me behind the rock. Now, go.”
He reared his head high in the sky before sliding back into the water and out of sight. This gave the men with drawn weapons a jolt of bravery, and they charged into the water, brandishing their blades with battle cries, to no avail. My leviathan was long gone.
They turned to leave, casting dark glances my way.
I went to stand next to Aidan, not wishing to be alone, but as I did he edged away, just slightly, becoming just stiff enough to show a new gulf had sprung up between us. I reached for my neck, to squeeze some drops of comfort from the charms I wore. But the snakebite charm was given away, and now the love charm was gone too. It must have come off in the sea. All that remained, perverse though it seemed, was luck.
Up on the headlands wagons began rolling in, and people hurried to be the first to be rescued. I heard complaints about luggage and cargo lost when the ship went down. People snatched from death, and worried about their Sunday boots!
Aidan went to investigate. I sat on a rock. Something touched my hand. My leviathan, small again, encircled my wrist like a bracelet and wended his way up my arm. He tickled.
Aidan returned to where I sat. “Evie, let’s go,” he said. “They’ll take us to Chalcedon.”
I trudged up the slope toward the wagons, watching closely for any sign in his face of his feelings for me. Were there any to see? I despised myself for wanting to know. Had the thought of death alone made him kiss me? Might he have kissed another girl as readily, if he thought it was the last thing he’d do?
Even so, no matter what, I would always remember the holy joy of him waking up from death. Kisses, false or otherwise, couldn’t take that from me.
He helped me climb into the wagon, but no sooner did I come into sight of the other passengers than they ceased talking and looked at me as if I were a leper. Some rose to leave.
Before they could exit I backed down the ladder.
“Never mind, this wagon’s full,” I said loudly. “I’ll wait for another one.”
Aidan, missing nothing, nodded and waited on the ground.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. “ Were
I heard their bickering as if from miles away. I’d failed to send my message. Then a familiar voice spoke in my ear.
“Why’d you do that, Evie?” Aidan’s voice full of concern. “Are you all right? What’s happened to you?”
I made no attempt to speak. In a moment I realized no one else was speaking, either. A silence had fallen over the entire beach. Even the water had fallen still.
I looked up.
Morning sunlight glistened pink and green on his silvery scales. He rose from the waves like a tower, arching over where I lay. His great head, horned and whiskered, looked regal in the sunlight as he took in the sight of all those he’d rescued in the night, and saw the terror in their eyes. The men who had grabbed me fell back, cringing.
If you wish to call me, Mistress , he said, it helps if you give me a name.
A man pulled a pistol from his belt and aimed it at his beautiful head.
“Are you mad?” I cried. “He saved us all!”
The man pulled the trigger. The wet powder wouldn’t spark, and he threw down his pistol. Others ventured forward with knives, but none gathered the courage to come too near.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered to my leviathan, hoping no one would take notice, hoping he could hear. “Please, please forgive me.”
He nodded his head toward me.
“She’s in some sort of league with it,” a lady cried.
“That’s nonsense,” Aidan said.
I attempted another whisper. “You must go now,” I said. “They want to hurt you.”
I won’t leave you. If I go, they will turn their hatred for me toward you.
“I’ll be all right,” I said. “Come back to me in your smaller size. I’ll wait for you here. Can you hide under my clothes?”
Yes.
“She’s talking to the beast! Like a witch to her familiar!”
“Then meet me behind the rock. Now, go.”
He reared his head high in the sky before sliding back into the water and out of sight. This gave the men with drawn weapons a jolt of bravery, and they charged into the water, brandishing their blades with battle cries, to no avail. My leviathan was long gone.
They turned to leave, casting dark glances my way.
I went to stand next to Aidan, not wishing to be alone, but as I did he edged away, just slightly, becoming just stiff enough to show a new gulf had sprung up between us. I reached for my neck, to squeeze some drops of comfort from the charms I wore. But the snakebite charm was given away, and now the love charm was gone too. It must have come off in the sea. All that remained, perverse though it seemed, was luck.
Up on the headlands wagons began rolling in, and people hurried to be the first to be rescued. I heard complaints about luggage and cargo lost when the ship went down. People snatched from death, and worried about their Sunday boots!
Aidan went to investigate. I sat on a rock. Something touched my hand. My leviathan, small again, encircled my wrist like a bracelet and wended his way up my arm. He tickled.
Aidan returned to where I sat. “Evie, let’s go,” he said. “They’ll take us to Chalcedon.”
I trudged up the slope toward the wagons, watching closely for any sign in his face of his feelings for me. Were there any to see? I despised myself for wanting to know. Had the thought of death alone made him kiss me? Might he have kissed another girl as readily, if he thought it was the last thing he’d do?
Even so, no matter what, I would always remember the holy joy of him waking up from death. Kisses, false or otherwise, couldn’t take that from me.
He helped me climb into the wagon, but no sooner did I come into sight of the other passengers than they ceased talking and looked at me as if I were a leper. Some rose to leave.
Before they could exit I backed down the ladder.
“Never mind, this wagon’s full,” I said loudly. “I’ll wait for another one.”
Aidan, missing nothing, nodded and waited on the ground.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. “ Were
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