Mist on Water (19 page)

His gentleness was my undoing. I threw myself against his chest. I wouldn’t believe he was real until I felt his arms around me. And when he cradled me close, I finally let myself breath. The nightmare was over. Ryne and I were both alive.

“We did it, Nari. We are free. Forever. No longer will I fear the lake. No man will.” He kissed my cheek and spoke of his love…but my gaze fell on the nix. She lay at rest on the ground, but not at peace.

I pushed away from Ryne, a sudden urge consuming me. “She said something about a child. Her child. It died. Murdered, I think.”

Ryne stilled. “I found a tiny skeleton.”

I bit my lip, knowing he wouldn’t understand, but I felt the need to heal this one wrong done to the nix. “Will you help me do something?”

“Anything.”

He brought out the tiny skeleton swaddled tightly in faded green linen and tucked her within the crook of the nix’s arms. I unhooked the necklace from around my throat and placed it atop the pair of them, then backed away.

“She is at rest now.” I glanced over at Ryne.

He touched my cheek and gave me a gentle smile. “Why do you care?”

“I’m not sure. It just felt as if she was in so much pain, she couldn’t feel anything else. She was greatly wounded and could not forgive. I don’t want to be like that.”

Ryne stared at the nix, his gaze unfathomable. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive her. She nearly destroyed the one thing I love more than anything. You.”

A gentle smile tugged at my lips. “I know you. Forgiveness will come. And soon this will all be told in rhyme and song and our children will call us fanciful.”

“Will they?”

“I promise.”

“Nari,” he looked suddenly uncomfortable. “I don’t wish to worry you, but we’re trapped.”

I hadn’t thought of getting out as much as getting in. “There must be a way.” We’d come this far, I refused to give up now.

“There is. By water and past the dragon, which is not wise or …” He looked up and pointed. “We can climb out.”

He dropped his hand and leveled a serious look at me. “I have tried the latter. It’s impossible.”

Impossibilities were part of our life now. Hope infused my being, and I couldn’t help the secret smile that pulled at my lips. “Not if you have a magical rope.”

As soon as I spoke the words, there came a scraping sound. Not long after, the golden rope inched its way from the water. I quickly picked it up and inspecting its length, stroking it like a favored pet. A few dents showed, but all-in-all, it looked sturdy.

Ryne frowned at it. “What is that?”

“A gift from a sage.”

“A fine gift, but hardly practical. It is far too short for what we need.”

“Do you love me?” I asked.

His eyes lit up. “More than anything.”

“Then have faith, Ryne.” I curled his fingers over the rope just above mine and wound his other arm firmly around my waist. I bestowed him a loving kiss, and when I pulled away, I gave him a mischievous smile. “Hold on tight.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the rope shot upward. It thinned to a mere thread and when it secured itself to the top, it pulled us gently up after it.

22

T
he lake shone calm, bathed in the rose and magenta colors of the setting sun when Ryne pulled me away from our wedding festivities. We walked along the shore, hand–in-hand.

I’d been stealing glances at him all day. It was like I expected him to disappear and this all to be a dream. It was a pathetic insecurity, one I’d never had before. I forced myself to gaze out over the water. “I can see why your mother loves the lake. It is beautiful.”

“You always liked it. You sat in that tree and stared toward the lake for hours.”

“I cannot lie. I did. But the pull had just as much to do with the boy living in that pretty little house as it did the lake.” I stopped and cast a quick glance at the sparkling stone house the whole village had warned his parent’s not to build. “Do they regret building here?”

Ryne wrapped his arms around me, pulled my back against his chest and kissed the top of my head. “Never. And neither shall we.” He pointed toward the right. “Over there, past that small cove. That is where we shall build our home.”

A house on the lake? A ripple of excitement flittered through me, but was instantly replaced by uncertainty. “Are you sure? I’ll be happy wherever, just so long I am with you.”

“I am a man of the water, now.”

The way he said that caused me to pause. I twisted in his arms. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t fear the lake anymore.”

The tension I’d felt eased, and I looked out over the lake again. “A hunter, a mason, and now a fisherman. You are following in your father’s footsteps, I see.”

“I owe him a great deal. He was right. This whole time, he was right.”

I hugged his arms closer, knowing his regret, yet feeling his love.

“Ryne,” came a chorus of shouts from the people huddled around the little jewel of a house.

Amongst the crowd my father and the new wife stood. I could so easily sink into resentment and hate, for although my father never abused me, he had ignored my sorrows from the day my mother died. He had given the new wife complete control, and she had abused that power, ushering my brother and I out of their lives at every chance. But the winds of change were in the air. I could feel them touch my family. The whole village.

“Come,” I heard my father call. “There are more who wish to hear the tale of the nix.”

Ryne laughed and nodded. “All right, all right. Just one moment, if you please.”

He turned me toward him, slipped his hands within my hair and tilted my face up to his. “Forever is a long time to be married to a myth.”

“A myth no more. You are a legend. I happily give my life into your hands.”

“As do I, yours,” he whispered just before his lips touched mine.

Hoots and hollers rose from the crowd. And when we finally broke apart, I turned away in happy embarrassment. Ryne wandered over to the large group and sat in a chair they had pulled out for him. “Where to begin?” I heard him say.

“At the beginning,” piped up a small boy.

Ryne smiled, and ruffled the hair on the little boy’s head. “Once upon a time there lived a boy doomed to die…”

Thus the story began, but it ended differently than anyone could have imagined.

I married a man of legend. The nix’s prize. My best friend.

And we lived happily-ever-after.

Acknowledgements

This book has been a long time in the making. It seemed no one but me ever believed in it, so it sat in a lonely file on my computer year, after year, after year, until Thursday Publishing came along. Finally, it’s been made into a beautiful book. Yay!

I’d like to thank all those who made this book possible, especially the hard work and dedication of Robin Perini. She is seriously the coolest, smartest person I know.

I have to thank my family. While I am writing and editing, they are the most ignored creatures on the planet, yet they don’t hold that against me and welcome me back into the light when I emerge from my cave. They are the best of me.

And finally, I’d like to thank the Brothers Grimm. Without their faery tales I wouldn’t have dared to write my own.

Other Young Adult books by Shea Berkley

The Keepers of Life Trilogy (Fantasy & Adventure)

Book One -The Marked Son

Book Two - The Fallen Prince

Book Three - The Rising King

Faery Tale Short Stories  (Dark & Dangerous)

Once Upon a Time: The Villains (All Six Stories)

Or buy them two at a time

Once Upon a Time: Candy Lane/Sliver of a Soul

(Purple Book)

Once Upon a Time: Queen of All/Enemy Inside

(Green Book)

Once Upon a Time: Hag/Giant’s Way

(Red Book)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shea Berkley has a fondness for characters, whether in real life or those she makes up in her head while she’s tending to a multitude of mundane tasks she’s forced to do in order to survive. Writing gives her purpose (okay it keeps her out of trouble…mostly), and she can’t imagine herself doing anything else.

Author’s NOTE

Thank you for reading
Mist on Water
. I hope you enjoyed it!

If you’d like to know when my next book is available, sign up for my new release e-mail list at www.SheaBerkley.com. You can also like my Facebook page at facebook.com/SheaBerkely.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @SheaBerkley. I’m on Goodreads at www.goodreads.com/SheaBerkley, where you can see what I’m up to and post reviews.

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