Chapter 9 of Princess of the Sea

The ball was of greater splendor than any yet before, undreamed of by humanity. The walls of the huge ballroom were crystal, thick and clear. Green and pink mussels were set along the walls, glowing and sending light all around the ballroom, and the light shone out and reflected off the fish outside.

The dancers made their own music, singing as they spun and soared and wove around each other. The dancing went up and down as well as horizontally, and ended in an upward spiral, with Silira at the top. They all clapped and dispersed around the ballroom. Silira swam over to the musicians' gallery and pointed to a song on the maestro's list.

He was alarmed. "But we'll laugh! We've tried in the past--"

She ignored him and swam down into the center of the hall, halfway between the ceiling, floor, and walls, and cleared her throat. She would have listened to the maestro, except that she was inly furious and didn't want to listen to anyone.

She was brilliant that night. Every note was perfect, high and strong as the music. It was her greatest performance yet, the first time she had held an audience spellbound, but not the last. When she reached the funny line, the audience couldn't stop laughing. She sung it perfectly, but with a subtle twist and emphasis that couldn't be missed. She was focusing too hard to laugh, and, to their credit, the musicians didn't laugh either. They were busy keeping up with her. She was singing it too fast, too perfectly, and they would not have hit a flat note for their lives.

Then she finished, floating in the center of the ballroom and hearing the thunderous applause, watching the nobles of the ocean and her family all cheering, fish swimming outside, the sunset light shining through the water and reflecting off the walls, the mussels glowing, and everything cheering, calling her a princess of the sea.

She didn't care about any of it.

Silira woke up for the umpteenth time in her beautiful suite of rooms, pushing her long hair behind her pointed ears and getting up to look at herself in the mirror. She took the pain in her feet for granted now, really ignoring it as she walked to the mirror and automatically started brushing her hair.

What time was it? The first light of dawn was shining at the horizon. She walked out onto her balcony, gazing at the sky. The deep blue seemed almost as if she was looking up at the sky through water, back in the palace at Twilight, and the moon, which was still high overhead, could have been the sun, gleaming almost white, its edges shifting through clouds or waves. But then she heard the seagulls calling, and she looked back down at the sea. It was as if she had ascended in a moment.

She went back into her rooms and changed from her nightgown into a pale cream dress that didn't look much different. It was long, made of something thicker than silk but softer and just as smooth, with long loose sleeves and a skirt that trailed on the floor. It was cold, and there was a light wind from the sea. She went over to shut the door onto the balcony, and then came back and sat down on the bed.

Who was that girl? If it wasn't her, he might yet be wrong about her. Silira shook her head. She needed to think, and to think she needed to pace, much as it hurt. She got up and walked outside, shutting the door silently behind her. There was carpet in this part of the palace, and her footsteps were silent as she went down the long passage, the roof vaulted, paintings on the walls that she would ordinarily be interested in. Today, however, she was not interested.

She reached a door that led out onto a long porch overlooking the sea, which she wanted to be close to. Silira turned, closing the door behind her, but not without a slight noise. She held still for a moment, hoping no one had heard.

Silira walked down the porch, looking out at the sea. Then she heard a voice.

"Silent?"

She turned. There he was. He hadn't said a word when he got off the ship. Why should he now?

She smiled, but only slightly, and not sincerely. He noticed, unusually, and came closer. "Silent...I've missed you."

Oh, wonderful. The very words she'd been wanting to hear for three months. She couldn't help but take him seriously.

"I...I was looking for you." While dimwitted in some respects, he wasn't stupid, and he knew she was in pain. He just had no idea how much, or for what reason. "I wanted to talk to you. Henry said...I don't think you were listening at the time...Henry said you were usually up early, down by the sea." Her ears twitched. Henry knew? The kid was deep, and smarter than most humans she'd met. "I thought I might be able to see you from here." He came up to her, into a conversational distance. "Can we talk?"

She rolled her eyes and pointed at him. He didn't get it for a few seconds, then laughed. "Ah. Yes. Well, I value your opinions, even if I'll never hear them." Hearing him say it that way snapped something in Silira, and she almost started crying. But she still couldn't cry. "May I talk to you, then? Even if you can't reply?"

She nodded, trying to look as if it didn't matter. The sunlight was growing a little stronger, and she felt a little stronger, too.

He took her hands, and her heartbeat unfortunately tripled. She hoped he couldn't feel it through her fingers. "Silent...I missed you more than I could say." He seemed to be unsure of what to say, but not nervous. She suddenly felt cool and collected. A keen wind blew against her face as she looked up at him.

"I...I have a story to tell. I'll try to keep it short. Once upon a time...not so long ago, I was on a ship. I'd been to visit our grandparents in Swardset. Henry was too small to go and Mother and Father were having trouble in the palace. We took a ship instead of going by land because, well, the sea is our thing and they wanted to try out this new one. As it happened, the ship wasn't that great. We wrecked. Just like Father's ship, on the rocks in the kelp forest.

It was my sixteenth birthday, and we were celebrating on board ship when the storm hit and blew us off course. I panicked, Silent, it was just like the stories I heard of the Unicorn going down, only now it wasn't Father, it was me. I got hit on the head by some boom, you know those beam...things...that hold the sails out, and I got knocked out." His voice became softer. "I don't know if it's possible to fall in love at that age..." She almost laughed. How old had she been when his statue was found and put in her garden? Ten?

"But I woke up, and...I was floating, or lying on a beach, or...or being held up, I don't know. I was still only half awake. But there was a girl. About my age, and leaning over me. Blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a green dress...but I must be wrong about that. They all wear black at that cathedral where I washed up, because it was a cathedral, a sort of school where girls go to learn to manage a kingdom or maybe an estate. And she was one of them. She must have found me on the beach, or..." his eyes were very distant..."or did she rescue me when the ship went down? I barely remember. It's more like a dream than a memory. But she was there. I remember one thing...she was there, and she saved my life. If I hadn't been found, the tide would have washed me out to sea and I would have been drowned. Whoever she was, Silent--" he had been looking out to sea, but now he looked back at her-- "I love her. I have no idea why, other than she was the most beautiful girl I ever saw."

Meaning Silira wasn't? Or had he seen Silira? Or both girls? The question was, which did he want?

Silira looked hard at Corwin, wondering what the point was of him telling her the story. Finally, he turned to her. "But I'll never know her. I have no idea who she is. By the time I was fully awake, I was in a carriage hurtling toward Sentrynyl and she was gone, still back in the cathedral. Gone forever. I wish to see her again, though. Every single waking moment."

His black eyes were so wistful as they looked into hers. She knew he was telling the truth, but...oh, the witch would laugh so hard at this. Silira made a private decision. If she ever met the witch again, she would have her executed, quickly, painlessly, and legally.

"But you're so like her. Not to say that she's better than you are...it's just that you look so like her." Her eyes got that laughing, mysterious look in spite of themselves. Of course he didn't notice. "You almost might be her. And you're...well, you're so good." Her eyes widened. She had never wondered if she was good. "I know nothing about her, not even her name. Maybe she might disappoint me if I knew her. Maybe she's mean and has a grating voice and hates children. But you...I don't know of any fault you have."

Not knowing when to quit, she thought, a little hysterical.

"I'm not in love with you."

Vomit.

"But I say that I do love you. And I really hope you won't think I'm insane because we only knew each other a few weeks." She shook her head, eyes shining. He could tell she meant it. "Really?"

She smiled, relaxing for just a second. She had missed out on the hug when he got off the ship, but not now. They stood together for a long time, Silira standing on tiptoe to look over his shoulder and see the sunrise, Corwin forgetting for a moment about missing the other girl.

"We'll never be separated," he said.

Silira realized that, even if her heart broke, God still had a plan. If he married the other girl, she could still do something worth doing. And she would still have a friend here. No, more than one. Maybe even find another man...not likely.

Corwin straightened up, trying to push his hair into some form of decency. "Sorry, but I have a meeting. With Mother. About getting married. Not that I have to, but she wants Eleschi to have an heir, which means, obviously, me getting married and having a child, hopefully more than one so we'll have spares." He grinned. "If I don't, that means her condescending to marry some poor prince from distant lands, or Henry entering holy matrimony years from now with some lady of the court. All the little girls chase after him anyway. Anyhow, I have to tell Mother about the mystery blonde and hope she understands. I'll see you later...or possibly not. With preparations for the dinner in a week, I won't be able to spend much time with you. I'll definitely see you then, though...will I? Please?"

She nodded.

"Wonderful. May I introduce you to some of my cousins? They'll be there just to celebrate me being twenty, not me being eligible. There's one of my guy cousins who's supposed to be handsome. Maybe you'd like him...nah." For some reason, the idea didn't please him. "Well, no, and he's engaged anyway. It's a wonderful morning." She nodded, suddenly unreasonably happy. He turned, also unreasonably happy, and left her on the balcony.

Oh, he was so wonderfully mad. She smiled fondly and leaned on the balcony railing, looking out at the sunrise. Things were looking up. Worst case, she would live in the Golden Palace for who knew how long? She had no idea how long she would live, whether the witch had shortened her three-hundred-year lifespan into a normal human one or not. But she would do something worth doing. No matter the cost, she could never stop dancing. It was her gift, and she did not intend to squander it in self-pity.

Henry had been watching from his balcony two stories up. It was too far to hear what was being said, but he saw them hug, and he saw Silira smiling as she leaned over the railing. As she looked down into the sea, glimpsing Nyrie's tail disappearing under the foaming waves, Henry sat up (he'd been lying down with his head between the posts of his balcony railing). He leaned on the railing and listened to the seagulls shrieking. So, his brother was in love, and it seemed Silent was in love with him. As a boy, he was disgusted, but as a brother, he was happy. At least this meant he wouldn't have to get married himself.

"Interesting..." he said, smiling an insanely adorable smile.