Princess at Sea Read Online Free Page B

I killed you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ve killed us both. I can’t stay up. They won’t get a boat to us in time.”
    â€œJy is coming,” I said around a cough. “Grab on to him.”
    Her eyes widened, and the hint of hope made her look like an angel, downtrodden by the ignorant rabble of humanity. “Jy?” she said, sinking as she exhaled.
    I pulled her up, going under myself. The sound of Jy’s splashing was muffled, and when I shook the water from my eyes, he was there.
    Contessa was coughing violently, sinking lower into the water with her motions. I grabbed Jy’s mane, pulling her hand to lie beside mine. Her thin, pale fingers trembled, then clutched the horse’s mane with a frightened, white-knuckled strength. Sobs mixed with her hacking coughs as she hung on, the thin muscles of her arms showing under the sodden silk.
    Draping one arm over Jy’s back, I hung low in the water, content to do nothing as my body shook, and exhaustion made its claim on me. Contessa wouldn’t stop crying. The Sandpiper ’s momentum had left us far behind, and if it hadn’t been for Jy, we would have drowned. The two heavy warships had finally gotten themselves turned about and were heading back in wide angles against the wind.
    I couldn’t see him yet, but I heard Duncan’s voice come strong over the waves; he was in a dinghy. Jy’s ears pricked in recognition, and the slap of waves against wood and the concerned voices of crew members grew audible.
    â€œTess!” Duncan exclaimed, when the shadow of the low-slung boat came alongside Jy, still swimming toward the Sandpiper , his ears pricked at the memory of hay and mash. “Tess, are you all right?”
    â€œGet her in the boat,” I said, coughing when an errant wave smacked into me. “Hurry. I don’t know how long she can hold on with the water pulling at her.”
    Still crying, Contessa grasped for the wiry, sun-browned arms reaching for her. With a great deal of noise, they pulled her in. The boat rocked violently, and she hit the planks with a sodden thump. Her coughs turned to retching, and she pulled herself up to vomit seawater over the far side of the boat.
    I was next. The grip about my wrists was painfully hard, and my front scraped the side of the dinghy as they pulled. I landed at the bottom of the boat with a shoulder-hurting force. The wind cut into me, chilling me through my wet underthings. Duncan put a coat about me, and I clutched it closer. Pulling my legs under me, I sat up and wiped my face, not yet fully cognizant that I was alive, and Contessa was alive, and we were both going to see the sun set tonight.
    â€œQuick. Turn around,” Duncan was saying, though the able-bodied men had already done so. I pulled my head up to find Jy beside us, swimming strongly to the Sandpiper. There was a sling aboard one of the warships. He would not be left to die, no matter how the captain might fuss and bluster about the approaching storm and the time needed to get the animal back on board. Not after he had saved the life of his queen.
    My pulse slowed, and I began to shiver. My sister was safe. My sister was alive to irritate me for another day.
    Duncan touched my shoulder, and I met his eyes from around my soggy strands of hair. He took a breath, then with his brown eyes holding a defiant slant, he pulled me into an inappropriately public, crushing hug where everyone could see. To push away was not an option, and I let my head drop into the hollow between his neck and shoulder, shaking from the cold and exertion while I breathed in the scent of leather and soap from his shave yesterday. My eyes warmed with tears no one could separate from the dripping water.
    How can I be so fortunate? I held myself apart from him, yet he cared for me still. That I had to keep my secret history from him was like a guilty thorn. Slowly, I pulled away, and feeling it, he let me go. His