Princess at Sea Read Online Free Page A

dropped. I went to dive again, pulling in so much air my lungs hurt. I upended myself and went down. Oh God. What if I can’t find her? My parents’ deaths, allowing a prince of Misdev to wed my sister; what would it all be for if I lost the only person I had a tie with?
    My breath slipped out in a trail of bubbles at the gray shape darting past me, my first fear of sharks dying when I realized it was a stingray. It was followed by a painful strike of hope as I followed its motion to a wildly struggling shadow.
    Contessa! I thought, striking out for her, feeling that my arms were too slow and my motions useless. She was deep underwater, almost lost in the gloom. Panic showed in her violent motions. Fire burned in my chest. I had to surface.
    I clawed my way up, breaking the surface in a fear-laced breath. The boat was far ahead, stalled in the mounting waves. Beyond were the warships, their heavy momentum making it harder for them to turn. Jy had begun to follow them, my call forgotten. I dived again.
    The numbing rush of water filled my ears, making my pounding blood a goad, driving me down. Her shadow grew. Fingers stretching, I grasped her wildly waving hair. Face to the surface, I kicked myself upward. Her weight held me down. Too slowly, the surface brightened.
    A muffled sound of bubbles, carrying her sob, urged me upward, pushed by my sister’s last breath. Arms aching, I pulled us to the soft smear of sky made gray by too much water. I broke the surface, gasping. My limbs trembled as I pulled her up. She burst out in a panic-driven gasp of air. I managed one good breath before she pushed me under, frantic to escape.
    The influx of air gave her the strength to keep her face above water, and I kicked away and surfaced. Her eyes were wide and unknowing in terror, the blue of them shocking in the depth of fear they showed. “Tess,” she managed, water slipping past her mouth, and she reached out to push me under again.
    The sounds of a distant rescue vanished in a swirl of in-rushing water. Breath held, I went passive, letting her get a full gulp of air while she unintentionally drowned me. My thoughts were screaming in a shared panic, but I walled them off. I had to call my horse back. There was no chance if fear ruled me. If I couldn’t get him to return, Contessa would drown both of us.
    I exhaled, sinking out from under her. My sister’s motions grew violent as my support dropped away. The muzzy gray of the world’s water surrounded me, insulating me from her terror. I fell deep into my thoughts, willing my magic to surface. My left leg throbbed, and my head pounded as I pulled on more magic than I was capable of. I had to call my horse. I had to find Jy’s thoughts.
    As my lungs burned and my reason screamed to surface, I sent my awareness out, slow and cold from the surrounding water. The quick thoughts of the stingrays were distracting, their mirror-bright minds like flashes in the dark. Desperate, I searched more carefully, following a faint emotion of cold water making limbs slow and unresponsive. It had to be Jy.
    Fastening on feelings that weren’t mine, I slipped my thoughts into the intelligent animal’s, the way made easy by frequent practice. Air slipped past my lips and ran a fast trail to the surface in relief. I had found him.
    Immediately, I struggled to the surface lest our joined thoughts make Jy think he was drowning. Here , I thought, relief flooding me as the levelheaded horse obediently turned and headed away from the Sandpiper. From the deck came Duncan’s hail. I caught a glimpse of him, standing at the stern beside Captain Borlett, leaning halfway over the railing.
    Contessa clutched at me when I surfaced, reason clearly having broken through her panic. Strands of blond hair were in her face, and fear had twisted her expression—but she wasn’t panicking anymore. “Tess,” she sobbed, the water seeping past her lips. “I thought