Silver Linings [Finfolk #1]

0: Prologue

Cassie

"Attention, everyone!" Jace Galloway announces, thumping the tabletop with his fist to make sure the others hear him. The slight chatter dies down as four pairs of eyes turn to him. "Ross and I have an announcement to make," he says, nodding at his twin. "As you probably know, spring break officially begins in three days... and, this is going to be our last one as undergrads. We thought of making it special for all of us, and after much thinking-" he ignores the others' snickers here "-came up with nothing."

A chorus of groans echo around the room. My mouth twitches with the urge to smile. We've always been this crazy, and three years have only made the bonds between us stronger.

Jace puts his hands up as if to say 'hold your horses'. "I'm not done. A few days ago, I was talking to my uncle Sean, and he invited us - all of us - to stay with him for two weeks and do some sightseeing."

"You mean Sean's having us over in Scotland?" Holly Sharpe asks.

"Well, yeah. He wants to know by the end of the week so he can send the paperwork."

"Scott's there. No way I'm not going," Holly says decidedly. Scott is Jace's cousin, and her boyfriend of six years. After some deliberation, Doug nods his agreement as well. I'm the only one left.

"Cassie?" Jace asks.

Sean lives in Inverness, and going there for a holiday will guarantee time to do some digging around to satisfy the Lit girl in me, and the part that loves learning new things. Two weeks also leaves us with plenty of time for sightseeing around the country. There should be no reason for me to be apprehensive about the trip, but I am. But I don't want to let my friends down, so I smile and say, "How could I say no?"

* * *

Ciaran

"Son, I don't understand why you won't agree to this. Aislinn is a lovely girl, and of good breeding," my mother urges. She has been pushing me to choose a mate for over a year now, but I've refused all the females she had sent my way. None of them are what I am looking for, and I'm tired of trying to explain the fact to her.

"Yes," I acquiesce, "but she's one of the finfolk. If we mate, she'll have but seven years with me before she becomes a finwife." I shudder involuntarily. Perhaps it was because of the same magic that made us finfolk what we were, but if a finman mated with a mermaid, she turned into what we called a finwife - a shriveled hag who was unable to produce children and could not set foot or tail among other finpeople for fear of being shunned or ridiculed - by the end of the seventh year of the mating. I've always held that it was a fate worse than exile or even death, and vowed to myself never to subject any mermaid to such a fate, no matter how desperate she may be to mate and bear children.

"But you turned down the human woman, Lili, as well as the Selkie princess, Mairearad. You're nearing the end of the marriageable age, Ciaran. You have to think of your people, if not your mother. Tell him, Pàdraig!"

My father - my human father - sighs and looks at me, and I can almost hear him say 'You heard your mother, boy!'. I ignore the desire to roll my eyes. "Mum, there are three weeks more before I cross that age. If I don't find a suitable mate by the night before my birth day, I will accept any mate you choose for me. Allow me the courtesy of time. That is all I ask, and all you need to understand."

She nods, but doesn't look happy about it. "Very well, then. If, by sunset on the twentieth day from today, I have not heard from you regarding this, I will proceed with the announcement of your mate chosen by myself and your father."

It isn't often that Ùna McFionn, matriarch of the finfolk, doesn't get her way with things, and I feel a prick of pride that I'm one of the few that has the power to do so. Bowing slightly, I turn on my heel and leave the Silver Cave. Calling on my magic, I shift form and take to the seas, enjoying the feel of the cold springtime waters. My freedom now has a deadline, and I intend to do everything in my power to keep from losing it.