Neoma was still holding my hand when I woke up. The sun had set and the room was illuminated by sparkling water, from which the Sparkling Sea gained its name, contained in tall glass vials.

  I had expected Neoma to be dozing while she sat, but she was wide awake with her eyes trained toward the door to the hallway. When I moved she looked at me and smiled. “I’m glad you’re awake. Holly visited while you slept. He said that Lord Cadfael and Manolo could visit you.”

  My heart skipped a beat and I started to panic. I didn’t want them to see me like this. What would they say to me? Would they be angry? Would they think that it was my fault that I had been kidnapped? Would Vael even want me now that I had been attacked?

  I wanted to disappear into the shadows of my room, but there was nowhere for me to hide. I bit my bottom lip and nodded at Neoma. It would be better to get this over with then to guess what would happen.

  Neoma opened my door and whispered softly to someone that I couldn’t see. She came back still smiling. “They’re going to get them,” she sang.

  I slowly worked my way to a seated position. The movement gave me vertigo and I swayed while my swollen joints protested and my face throbbed with a sharp pain. I wondered what the point of being a god’s vessel was if I was not impervious to mortal harm. Was it to keep us from being tyrants?

  My inner soliloquy was interrupted by a knock on my door. Neoma answered it and I felt my body chill as first Vael and then my father entered the room. I lost my breath and felt like I was being choked by invisible hands. The room seemed too small for the four of us and I wanted to swim away. My vision began to darken and suddenly Vael was at my side holding me to his chest tightly enough to make my bruises ache.

  He smoothed my hair away from my face and began to rock me. My father joined him on my other side and the two continued to rock me and sing a song.

My mistress is most fickle,

My mistress is most fine,

My mistress is a tempest,

For her all men are swine,

She fills my sails with wind,

She fills my nets with fish,

She fills my heart with pride,

For her I’ll be kind,

The seas are her skirt,

The waves her buxom bosom,

The moon her pearl,

The stars her diamonds,

I’m careful when I woo her,

I offer all I’ve earned,

And if she takes a liking,

I’ll keep all without being stormed,

On calm days she’s sweet,

But beware her wrath,

She’ll tear a ship apart,

Should you cross her path

She fills my sails with wind,

She fills my nets with fish,

She fills my heart with pride,

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For her I’ll be kind.

  They continued to hold on to me tightly after the song. I knew that if we were above water they would be crying as much as I wanted to.

  After a few minutes of silence I plucked up my courage to ask them about had been weighing heavily on my mind. “What will happen to them?”

  “Lord Green and his guard were arrested. Lady Sto sent some of her guard to the island where they had taken you and found the other two accomplices… They were turned to stone?” Vael sang.

  I heard the question in his voice. “I believe the Bone God saved me.” I felt him shiver beside me.

  “Why would the Mistress choose to help you?”

  “Sol is the Gentle God’s chosen vessel, the other gods would be obligated to help her,” my father sang.

  “Then why didn’t they prevent her from being kidnapped? Why did they wait until she was broken and nearly raped to intervene?”

  “I cannot speak for them. It’s possible that they can only intervene under certain circumstances.”

  “Damn their circumstances! She’s to be my wife! I have no use for a g-”

  I gripped Vael’s hands tightly and rested my forehead against his shoulder. “Please… it’s not your fault. I’m here, I’m alive.” I felt him tremble with rage. I could only imagine how he felt about almost losing me a second time. I was frightened that it could happen again. I wished that I knew why it had happened to begin with.

  If I knew Vael as much as I thought I did, he would not allow me to go anywhere without himself, my father or a guard. It was apparent that even though I had been chosen by a celestial power, my fellow mortals did not respect me.

  The following morning it was Vael that escorted me to the dining room to eat with the other guests. He had wanted me to wear a veil over my face to hide my black eye and swollen cheek. I had refused. If Lord Green had any conspirators they would see me move proudly despite their attempt to bring me down. I would show them that I knew my place.

  There were gasps around the room as we entered. Lady Grise was notably absent and I wondered how she was doing. Her current situation was made harder by the fact that she was pregnant.

  Vael seated me and then sat beside me. Lady Ai and Lord Gidean were sitting across from us with Aur. The small boy stared at me with wide eyes. I wondered if he had ever seen someone as injured as myself before. Lord Gidean looked thoughtful as he greeted me with a nod, but his wife seemed pale and would not meet my eyes.

  “Good morning Aur,” I said.

  “It’s Lord Aur to you,” Lady Ai snapped and finally met my eyes. There was a flash of blinding light and the house trembled around us. When the spots cleared from my eyes I noticed that my body no longer ached. I touched my cheek and found that it was no longer swollen.  My wrists were also clear of bruises.

  Lady Ai looked visibly sick and fled from the dining hall. Lord Gidean followed her as the other lords and ladies gathered around me.

  “Guards check the house! Make sure no one is hurt!” Lady Sto sang in a sharp voice.

  “Lady Sol, your face!”

  “She’s healed!”

  “She really is the chosen.”

  “Tides!”

  Vael placed his arm about my shoulders. “Gentlemen, ladies, if you could please give us some space?” he sang in a cold voice. The nobles visibly stiffened, but none argued with him. Vael then took me by the hand and led me away from the dining room and out to the rock garden.

  He sat me down on a bench then drifted a foot away. “Did it hurt?”

  I shook my head and began to play with the tail of my braid. “It didn’t hurt the last time either.” Vael knelt before me and ran his fingers along the side of my tail. I shivered.

  “I don’t feel the scar from your bullet wound.” He peered up into my face and I could see the wonder in his eyes. “I’m glad the Gentle God healed you...” He drew closer to my face. “How do you feel?”

  “Better. Like my body is a little lighter.” I gripped my elbows. “But I still have the memories.”

  “Did I tell you about the time my arm was broken?”

  I shook my head.

  “My father was a proud man. Even if he knew he was wrong he would persist that he was right. Those that opposed him didn’t last long in my Hold. We lost several servants.”

  “I vaguely remember that. What happened to them?”

  “Some were thrown in jail to rot others beaten until they never spoke up again. Everyone in the household was forbidden from speaking about it.” He sighed and touched the pearls woven into his braid, the matching set to mine from his father.

  “What about your arm?”

  “My father thought I was soft and that meant I was weak and stupid. He must have had a bad day because he was already angry when he came into my room and found me painting…” he paused and straightened up. “He grabbed me and threw me against the wall repeatedly. He broke apart my easel and used one of the wooden legs to hit me. When I tried to shield myself from the blows he splintered the leg across my right arm and my bone splintered with it.

  “I was in bed for weeks. My mother never left my side. She was afraid that he would kill me. After I was healed she sent me away to my uncle’s home in East Hold. That’s when Gidean and I became friends.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Nine…”

  My chest felt tight after hearing his story. If I had known how terrible his father had been I probably would have beaten him before he died.

  I froze. Thinking about hurting my former lord suddenly turned my stomach. Wouldn’t that make me just as horrible as he was to Vael? I mentally kicked myself.

  I drew beside Vael and wrapped my arms about his waist. I wouldn’t let anyone else hurt him.

  I rested my head against his shoulder. “Why did you come back to North Hold?” I asked.

  “Your mother.”

  “What?”

  “Your mother was the only one that my father was afraid of. When she became lieutenant of the guard it was said that they had a private meeting. No one knows what was said, but my father was less violent and never touched me again.” I wondered what my mother had done. Did it have anything to do with the Gentle God?

  “I’m glad you were able to come home,” I sang.

  Vael dipped his head and kissed me. “I’m glad too.” He kissed me again and I giggled.