Heart of Oceans

Chapter 4

"You move, and your head hits the floor."

Aedion's breath brushed down her nape as she flinched away from the blade now kissing her throat. Stupid, she was utterly stupid to let them catch her so off-guard. Aelin and her companions were not taking any chances and Seleine had blown her chance to convince them otherwise. She was going to die. They were going to kill her like some useless pining girl with a small gift of magic. Her gut tugged at the disappointment she knew she would see on her fathers face if he were here. He had not trained her to go down this easy. The fierce eyes of her mother flashed through her mind in challenge. That wild, untamed power reflected in Seleine's own eyes and heart and soul. Seleine knew she was not some useless damsel, she was a warrior, and she was deadly.

Seleine loosened the leash she held on her power that was one and the same as her, and let some of the creature that she was show through her eyes as she stared them down. Magic brimmed through the air, emanating off Seleine as the the boat pitched, different from the normal cadence of the ocean's waves. The people around her raised shouts in warning, but too late. Storms flashed through Seleine's eyes as she reached out with her power, and took complete control of the surrounding ocean.

With a jolt, the boat began to sink below the surface. Walls of water kept the ocean from completely swamping the deck as the ship sunk lower, lower. The world got darker as walls of the surrounding ocean rose above the deck and up the mast. The hole in the ocean surface sinking deeper, and deeper, until the ship was entirely swallowed beneath the waves. Leaving the other two escort vessels at the surface in utter panic.

Seleine knew it would be hard to convince them to let her join, but she didn't think it would come to this. She stood there icily with Aedion's blade still at her throat, her eyes churning with the full might of an ocean-storm. The boat was surrounded by towering walls of water, smooth enough that you could peer into the depths of the surrounding ocean. If you looked up, the clear morning sky above was framed by an oval of the ocean's surface. That of which was now level with the flag on the top of the mast, drooping idly without the wind. The crew were shouting, fear glazing their eyes. The bored and amused smirks of Aelin's companions had wiped completely off their faces. Their bodies were now tense with predatory stillness, drawn weapons twitching. All except for that beautiful Fae male, the one with the dark eyes, who gaped a bit at her.

"What are you?"

Even stone-faced Rowan appeared a bit breathless, his pine-green eyes darting all around, trying to find a way out of the situation they were in, ready to protect his Queen at all costs. Seleine only cocked her head, the movement not remotely human, and turned her gaze to Aelin, only Aelin.

"I am not apart of any army and I am not some spy for an evil master." Each word was carefully picked, carefully pronounced as she tried to remember how to voice each one.

"You want to know why I'm here? I'm here because my home was des-troyed, I'm here because I was lost until I felt your power call to me. I'm here because I watched your companions kill the beasts that took my family and I'm here..." Seleine remembered to take in another breath, "to fight with you and be able to leave this world better than it was."

Silence. Unearthly, pin-dropping silence.

"And so, Aelin." Seleine snarled, letting some more of that creature that she was show.

"As you can see, you might find that with my talents I would be a fa-vor-able ally." She gestured towards the towering walls of the deep ocean. The man behind her still holding the sword tight to her throat, tight enough that felt like it broke the skin.

"If I was planning to kill you all, it would already be done. And yet, here I am, waiting for your dog to choose to put down the blade." Everyone on deck seemed to hold their breath, but the man still didn't budge.