Children of the Sea 03 - Sea Lord

pictures of tomatoes, peaches, beans.
    “ We accept the gifts of the tide, ” Conn had said.
    If she could get them open, she could prepare a feast. A feast for one?
    A frown formed between her eyebrows. If she wanted to eat alone out of cans, she could go back to Maine.
    Not that she could actually go back. Not that she wanted to now. Conn wasn’t in Maine.

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    She smoothed her brow and straightened her shoulders, and began to search among the bone-handled knives and silver tongs for a can opener.
    A male voice drifted through the slatted windows. “. . . more pressing concerns occupying his attention.”
    A woman laughed without amusement. “Occupying his bed, you mean.”
    Lucy froze, gripping a spatula.
    “I take it you do not approve of the prince’s liaison,” the man said coolly.
    Oh, God. They were crossing the courtyard, a man and a woman walking together. Wardens?
    “I forfeited my right to approve or disapprove when I left the prince’s bed,” the woman said. “And you, Lord Morgan?”
    Lucy held her breath. Concealed by the shutters, she edged closer to the window to see them better. To spy, she admitted to herself with a lurch of shame and discomfort. A tall man dressed in black, silver-haired and smooth-faced. That must be Morgan. And the woman with him, with the red hair and the large pink pearls, had shared Conn’s bed.
    She was very beautiful, Lucy observed.
    She tried not to mind. What had she expected? Conn must have learned all that technique somewhere.
    She knew going in he wasn’t the three-thousand-year-old virgin.
    “The ice shelves are shattering in the northern deeps,” Morgan said. “The seals lose ground day by day.
    Under the circumstances, I find it difficult to sustain interest in Conn’s new broodmare.”
    Ouch.
    Lucy’s throat closed. They didn’t know her. How could they judge her?
    “You have my sympathies. If not, it seems, Conn’s help?” The woman’s tone made the statement a question.
    “He does what he can,” Morgan said grimly. “Which is not enough to counter the humans’ depredations.
    Perhaps when the oceans rise and drown them, we will have some relief.”
    Lucy swallowed. Apparently she wasn’t the only human these two selkies disliked. They were being mean. Hateful.
    Conn’s broodmare.
    She cringed.
    “You agree with Gau, then?” the woman murmured.
    Morgan’s long strides checked. They were very close to the window. Lucy huddled in the shadows, her heart beating against her ribcage like a trapped bird. “You heard the prince,” he said without expression.
    “The children of the sea are neutral in Hell’s war on humankind.”
    “Not so neutral while that human galla shares his bed.” The scornful tone made translation unnecessary.
    “Her mother was selkie,” Morgan said.
    “Her mother was a bitch.”
    “But a fertile one,” Morgan pointed out. “Conn wants a child.”
    The red-haired woman bared her teeth. “You presume to tell me what Conn wants?”
    “I presume nothing,” Morgan said harshly. “Were it otherwise, Hell might have had a different answer.”
    They walked away. If the woman said anything in reply, Lucy didn’t hear. Her blood drummed in her ears. Her stomach churned.
    She needed to see Conn. Obviously the council meeting had broken up. He would come looking for her soon. She needed the reassurance of his strong arms and encouraging words. He didn’t hate her because she was human. He thought she was beautiful. He had agreed to give her time.
    As long as she continued to have sex with him.
    “ Conn wants a child. ”
    She closed her eyes against the pain. Yeah, he did. “ Your blood and my seed to save my people, ” he had said.
    He hadn’t lied to her. Maybe it would have been easier if he had. Because now she couldn’t even take refuge in anger. She couldn’t blame him for deceiving her.
    She had deceived herself.
    She set the spatula back on the table, her hand shaking. She needed time to think before she faced him Page 80

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    again.
    “Where are you going?” Iestyn’s young voice caught Lucy at the postern gate.
    Lucy swept a longing glance beyond the castle walls, where the green slope wandered down to lose itself in the orchard before swooping to peaks and crests. Rocks heaved from the turf like whales from the ocean. The ridges