The sun rose blood-red over the sea on the morning that Kaia was taken to the cliffs to die.

It was supposed to mean good fortune was on its way and she was sure the people of her city who had condemned her to death viewed this as a sign that their decision was just. They’d always considered her existence a blight on the city, her disfigurement a curse from the gods themselves.

Some days, she bitterly marveled at the fact she’d survived as long as she had. And yet, she still found herself afraid to die.

The city guards bound her wrists to the chipped stone pillars, stretching her arms painfully wide. They didn’t bother to bind her feet, knowing she wouldn’t run. Where could she possibly go?

So many other women had stood in the same place as she did now. She felt their presence here, in the worn stones beneath her feet and the breeze stirring her hair. It made her feel less alone but no less afraid.

“Please,” she asked one of the guards hoarsely, “where is my mother?”

She was allowed to come and witness this, to say goodbye to her only child.

He averted his eyes. “She will not come.”

Kaia thought she’d been hollowed out but her heart still sank painfully. Perhaps her mother did feel some guilt after all. Yet, again, her daughter was the one suffering for it, being denied one last possible comfort.

It was a shameful thought, but for a second she wished her mother had come so she could spit in her face before the end. Say the cruel, vicious words that had been burning on her tongue for years. Find some release before her death.

The sea was set aflame by the bright red sun, beautiful and unsettling. Walking away slowly, the guards went and stood by the path, forced to stay until the deed was done. She hoped that they thought her trembling was from the chill of the wind and not fear.

Despite being afraid, she felt ready to die. Ready for the end.

Until the sea serpent rose from the ocean before her, large enough to block out the bloody sun and cast an all-encompassing shadow over the cliff. For a second, it looked like one of the macabre paintings in the city temple—a beast emerging from a lake of fire, clawed and fanged like a demon.

Kaia’s lungs emptied in a painful rush as it came forward and she saw that it was too beautiful for a demon. Sleek and shining, it had scales that glimmered like pearl and sapphire gems and a face so fierce and ancient that she felt as if she was looking upon a god. When it turned to gaze at her, its eyes were bright green like the early morning sea after a storm. Its mouth opened slightly, enough to reveal teeth almost as large as she was. Her death would be quick, at the very least.

She had thought she was ready to die—for years now she’d been waiting for the inevitable, wishing for it some days. She’d thought she was ready, until she was staring death in the face.

Straining against the knots, she thrashed like an animal caught in a trap. Didn’t the gods hear her, her desire to live, her desperate plea for another chance? Surely they knew she wasn’t guilty.

“Wait!” she shrieked to the guards. “I didn’t do it, please! Let me go! I swear, I didn’t do it.”

They didn’t move, their faces expressionless slates as she struggled. Her innocence had never mattered, not from the day she was born, and certainly not now that they could finally be rid of her.

The serpent cut through the water, its huge clawed hands gouging at the cliff as it came to her. Water rained down from its sinuous body, the salt stinging at her eyes and where her wrists were rubbed raw by the ropes.

She craned her neck around, teeth bared in a snarl to try and bite at her bindings, but she couldn’t reach. If she had another minute, she might be able to free herself. But the creature was here now, maw gaping and ready to devour her.

“Please,” she sobbed, the heat of his breath blowing back her hair, her thin dress twisting around her ankles. “I don’t want to die. Have mercy.”

If it could hear her, it did not care.

Before she could even scream, it lunged forward and snapped her up in its mouth.

— 

Kaia awoke to the sound of waves and the heat of the sun on her face. As she blinked sand and salt and wet brown hair from her eyes, a set of firm hands helped her sit up. A young woman’s face came into view, achingly beautiful and smiling.

“Are you a goddess?” Kaia croaked, the first words that leapt to her tongue. Perhaps this was the afterlife. Or the serpent had brought her here to face the god’s punishment.

The woman laughed, a surprisingly rough sound. “No—there are no gods here.”

They were on a beach, the waves lapping at their ankles as the woman helped her stand on weak legs. A dozen more women stood around them, all peering at her like she was a treasure that had washed up onshore. They appeared to be all different ages and were dressed in an assortment of clothing.

“Where am I?”

“This is our home,” the woman responded simply, “and it’s yours now too. Galen saved you and brought you here, as he did all of us.”

Everyone was nodding in agreement around them.

Kaia glanced down at herself, her tanned arms and freckled backs of her hands, her dress wet but intact. She didn’t appear to be dead.

The knotted ropes were still around her wrists, severed ends hanging limply in the air. The woman saw her looking and gently undid them, tossing them to the side where they were almost immediately swept away by the waves.

“I’m Helen,” she said, then reached out and gently touched the pink mark that spread across the right side of Kaia’s face, like spilled ink from jaw to eye. There was no disgust in her gaze, her fingers gentle. “You’re safe now. Come with me and I’ll explain, but there’s no need to be afraid.”

Feeling like she was in a daze, Kaia let Helen lead her up the beach, soft murmurs of greeting following her as they passed the others.

The sand gave way to rocks and then to a field of coarse grass littered with small wooden buildings and colorful tents. There were more women here, one stirring a pot of what looked like fish stew, her hair in a thick, dark braid down her back.

Helen led Kaia to one of the tents, pulling back the front to reveal a bed and chairs, a table and chest, even a mirror.

“Sit.” Helen perched on the edge of the bed and motioned to one of the chairs. She was so stunning, her hair a chorus of hues of golden sunshine and her eyes as blue as the clearest sky. Despite the woman’s earlier kindness, Kaia felt painfully aware of the mark that marred her face since the day she was born.

“Where am I?” she asked again.

Helen pursed her full lips. “This island doesn’t have a name—we just call it home. All of the women here were sentenced to death and sacrificed to Galen, as I’m sure you were. He saved us all and brought us here to live, free of persecution.”

Galen had to be the name of the sea serpent. She spoke about him as if he was a friend, not a monster.

“You can meet him tomorrow,” she said, guessing where Kaia’s thoughts had gone. “He always gives us time alone when he brings back someone new. I think he’s worried about frightening them and this is already so much to take in.”

That was an understatement. Her whole world felt flipped upside down, her stomach spinning sickly as she struggled to understand what was happening.

“So, Galen… he brought me here instead of eating me so I can…” She paused, glancing around. “Have a tent on the beach?”

Helen let out another one of her rough laughs. “You can have a tent or we can build you a home of wood if you’d prefer. The choice is yours. Life here is different from the one you know. You’re able to do whatever you’d like, spend the days however you want. I’ve been mapping the island, Tabatha is teaching others how to weave nets to catch fish, Phoebe paints in the morning and—” She cut off, shaking her head softly. “What’s your name?”

“Kaia.”

“Kaia.” Helen took her hand and it felt callused, not soft like she’d expected. “I’m trying to tell you that you’re free. I know it’s hard to believe, but no one here will judge or hurt you. Here, you are wanted and welcome.” Her eyes flickered back to the mark on Kaia’s face. “We’ve all been where you are now, and we’ve all found happiness here. Peace, and a second chance, because of Galen.”

Freedom was a concept that she’d heard of but didn’t understand. “But the gods—”

“Damn the gods,” Helen said viciously, and Kaia flinched. “I mean it—damn them, Kaia. If they’re real, they’ve clearly never cared for us, never did anything to help. We don’t have to fear them anymore. They’re nothing here. ”

She’d never heard of anyone say these things, but something stirred in her chest as she remembered the terror while tied up on that cliff, and the spark of rage. Her prayers had never been answered, she’d never been given a sign or explanation for why she was cursed with this mark and mistreated so.

The night that the city official her mother was entertaining crept up to her room and into her bed, she’d fought back, certain the gods would never let such an act go unpunished. And as her screams and struggle awoke the neighbors and the city guards and she was dragged out of her home to a dank cell, she waited for a sign of their retribution. She waited as he accused her of seducing him and attacking him, the mark on her face immediately convincing everyone of her guilt. She waited as the next day, she was sentenced to death and the day after that, given her final meal and bath before being taken to the cliffs.

The sign never came. Instead, she had been punished.

“That’s it,” Helen said, watching her face carefully. “We’ve all been there. Hold onto that anger, let it fuel you. Use it to start a life here with us. Take the chance the gods never gave you.”

Kaia found that she quite liked the idea of that.

—

The next morning, Kaia went out to watch the sunrise she never thought she’d get to see. Several of the other women were up as well, but they let her head down to the beach with reassuring smiles and nods of greeting.

She’d spent the evening meeting everyone, hearing their stories and letting them show her their homes. They welcomed her without hesitation, stroking her cheeks and kissing her on the forehead, calling her ‘sister’ with a warmth she’d never received before.

And indeed, she did feel like she belonged. No one looked away from her mark or spit at her—in fact, several others had been similarly cursed by the gods. One woman had no voice, her hands flitting around like slender butterflies as she welcomed her, another’s spine twisted and bent in a way that hunched her over. Kaia thought she must be in pain, but the smile the woman gave her was radiant, her brown eyes warm and joyful.

This place—she knew it was real, yet it felt like a dream.

Down at the water, she followed the shore, letting the waves lap at her toes, the sand shifting beneath her steps. She let her feet guide her around the curve of the island until she found herself in front of a man.

He stood in calf-deep water, watching as she approached cautiously. No one had mentioned men living here.

“Welcome,” he said, his voice deep and calm. “I’m Galen.”

Kaia tried and failed to hide the surprise that she felt flit across her face. This was clearly a man, not a monster of the sea.

He offered her a smile, yet it felt sad. “Curses come in many different forms. Mine holds me to the sea, to the serpent shape I was given.”

Stories of monsters and curses had come through her city before, tales from men whose minds had been left at sea or altered by the sun. Yet, the realization that this man and the serpent who saved her were one and the same hardly felt like the strangest thing to accept.

She studied him for a second, looking for a sign of his other form. He was tall, his hair was dark as fresh ink, and he wore a simple tunic and pants. As she drew nearer, she saw that his eyes were a sea green—it was in them that she found what she was looking for.

“It seems that I owe you my thanks. And my life.”

Galen shook his head. “Your life is your own now.”

“I find that I’m at quite a loss as to what I should do with it.”

As they spoke, Galen made no move to emerge from the water and join her on the sand. Perhaps his curse was more literal than she’d thought.

“Give yourself time.” His words were gentle and knowing. “You have a lifetime here, if you want it. You can do or have anything you want.”

From what she’d seen, he was being serious. Last night, the other women had brought out instruments and wine to celebrate, showing off their collections of books and trinkets, perfume bottles lined up like fine jewels on shelves, silk pillows piled on floors and beds. She wanted to ask where they got such treasures but was afraid that searching for an answer behind the magic of this place would cause it to vanish before her eyes.

“And what if I want to leave?”

She’s not sure why she asked it. She had nowhere to go, no explicit desire to leave, but the thought had been in the back of her mind—what if this was just another cage?

“You are welcome to leave anytime. Helen can show you where the boat is and if you choose to board it, I can guide you back to your home. You aren’t a prisoner here, Kaia.”

She didn’t bother to ask how he knew her name.

“And what if I don’t want to go home?”

“Would you want to go somewhere else?”

It had been a long time since she’d let herself dream of such things, things she’d never voiced out loud, never told another soul. She found herself stepping closer, the water swirling around the hem of her dress until they were only feet apart.

“I’d thought about it as a child,” she told him, liking the way he met her eyes rather than sneaking glances at the mark on her face. “Traveling to other lands and cities in search of adventure. I’d hide down in the market and listen to the stories strangers would tell as they passed through, of jungles and deserts and night skies that stretch on forever. I always wondered if I could someday find a place where I’d be welcomed and treated kindly.” She couldn’t stop the incredulous laugh that bubbled up in her throat. “I just never expected it to be an island I was brought to after being eaten by a sea serpent.”

His grin was more beautiful than the sun rising behind him and she felt her breath catch painfully in her chest.

“I am sorry about that. I never take any pleasure from doing it but…”

But it had brought her here. It had saved her life.

“The sea stretches on almost forever,” he continued after a moment of silence. “I’ve seen many lands and cities in my journeys, places and people so different from those you know. If you’d like, I could tell you about them.”

An offer that was impossible to refuse. Already, the young girl inside of her was perking up in interest, her heart aching at the thought of the stories he could tell.

“I’d like that.”

—

The days went by quickly, blending into weeks as Kaia adjusted to her new life on the island. Even morning, she woke up frightened, paralyzed with fear that she’d open her eyes and be back in her old room, her mother yelling at her from downstairs, her voice harsh with disgust.

But each morning she was awoken instead by the call of birds and seagulls, the morning sun warming the fabric walls of her tent. The crash of the waves were a far off song, greeting her every morning and lulling her to sleep every night.

Helen had helped her put up the tent, colorful fabrics draping down into the sand, and gave her a few things to put inside—a soft bed with silky sheets, a woven rug between her feet and the grass, a cracked mirror on a table next to polished rocks that Kaia had been collecting from the beach. It wasn’t much, but it was her new home and she loved it with all her heart.

Each morning, she went down to the water and followed the shore to where Galen waited for her. She’d found a smooth driftwood log and dragged it through the wet sand to their meeting place so she had something to sit on while they spoke.

She’d marveled at his stories of cities made of white stone, women who ruled and lived as men did, a castle on the very edge of a cliff, open to the sea and sky. Of huge ships and crews that hunted for treasure, of hidden caves and crumbling ruins, and lands with no people at all.

“Why did you save us?” she’d asked him once, wishing he could come from the water and sit next to her.

That sadness she’d grown so familiar with once again passed over his face. “I know what it is to be hated and feared by your people. I didn’t choose this curse but they tried to kill me for it anyway. My own father—” He’d cut off, but his words lingered, sharp and painful in the air between them. “I was lucky enough to be able to save myself. You never had that choice. You never had a chance.”

She’d found herself thinking about that often, as she was now instead of focusing on the open book in front of her.

“Kaia!” Helen’s rough voice echoed around camp as she pulled up the flap of her tent. “Join us today, won’t you? The books can wait.”

Thanks to Phoebe, a girl with ink on her fingers and quills tucked behind her ears, Kaia was learning to read. It was slow and frustrating, but she refused to give up. Books had always been forbidden to her, words nothing more than a jumble of shapes. Now she was discovering that whole worlds lay between their pages.

She carefully marked her spot and closed the book, letting her friend pull her outside. Aria was waiting for them, giving Helen a shy smile as she tucked her brown curls behind her ears.

On Kaia’s second day, Helen shared why she’d been put to death—she’d fallen in love with a woman who sold flowers in the market. They’d been caught and in the struggle, her love had been killed, cut down right before her eyes. Helen had been sentenced to death the next day and taken by Galen.

Romance wasn’t something that Kaia was familiar with. Her mother entertained men for money and the only time she’d ever been touched by a man were with fists or when the city official crawled into her bed, his hands rough and demanding.

But the way that Aria and Helen looked at each other—it always felt like she was watching something private, something secret and soft.

The three of them headed over to a field a little distance away from the homes. It was midday, the sun high in the sky, and almost everyone was in a group in the grass, swords and spears in their hands.

“Join us just for today.” Most of what Helen said sounded like a command, but Kaia knew she was asking. “If you don’t like it, I won’t bother you with it again.”

Almost every day, the women were out here training to fight and use the weapons of men. She’d been shocked at first to discover such a thing, but the joy and triumph on their faces made her curious. That and the stories Galen had told her, of women captaining their own ships and crew, and leading armies and cities with swordplay skills that rivaled those of any man.

The thought secretly thrilled her.

“I can catch you up,” Tabatha called, standing a head taller than everyone else. Her sword looked surprisingly fitting in her hand in a way that Kaia knew it never would in hers. 

“I—I don’t—” She’d never even held a weapon, aside from knives in the kitchen and the one time she stole a blade from the cloak of a man her mother was entertaining, debating using it to cut the mark from her face. “I mean, I don’t know how.”

Calista, young and sweet-faced, stepped forward to give Kaia her sword. The hilt was warm, the leather soft against her hand, but it felt unnatural.

“None of us knew how,” she told her solemnly, “until we tried. Have you ever seen someone use one before?”

She hadn’t, aside from the guards occasionally taking someone away at swordpoint. “No.”

Calista reached up to put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, we’ll help you. I hadn’t seen one used until my father tried to fight off the men who came for me. If I’d known what I do now, maybe I could have helped him.”

“I’ve never—” Kaia gripped the sword more tightly, gazing down at the polished blade. “No one ever fought for me.”

Helen stepped forward and helped her lift her arm, the sword somehow both heavier and lighter than she’d expected.

“We’ll teach you to fight for yourself.” 

—

When Kaia went down to the ocean early the next morning, she found Galen with his back to her, gazing out at the sea. He looked more solemn than usual, with an expression on his face that she hadn’t yet seen.

“I’d like to show you something.”

She waded out to him, goosebumps erupting across her skin from the cool, early morning water. “I’m here.”

“Will you come with me?”

He offered her his hand and she tried to not let her surprise show. Uncertainly, she reached out and slid her palm into his, overly aware of the rasp of his skin against her own.

She let him guide her through the water, past the rocky ledge where the beach ended. The water rose to her hips and then her stomach, but she wasn’t afraid despite not knowing how to swim.

Past the ledge and around the curve of the island, the gaping entrance of a cave sat, carved into the rocks like an angry slash of a mouth.

“What’s in there?”

“It’s safe, I promise.”

Together, they made their way into it, Galen helping her step over jagged rocks guarding the entrance. She couldn’t hold back her gasp when he stepped from the water and onto stone.

“I thought—”

“This is the only place I can leave the sea,” he explained. “Part of me is already here.”

Inside, the rocks smoothed out, the floor of the cave glossy and cool on her bare feet. A soft glow emanated from a pool in the floor and something tingled at the nape of her neck as they drew near.

The water in the pool was crystal clear and shimmering, no more than a foot deep. At the bottom, a carved wooden box sat, plain and unassuming.

“My curse.” Galen pulled her to sit at the edge of the pool with him, his mouth tight as he did. “The reason I am bound to the sea.”

Kaia didn’t understand.

“I encountered the enchantress as a young man. She was beautiful and frightening, sweeping into my town like a summer storm, and she wanted me. She said it was love and perhaps it was for her. But when she asked me to leave with her, I said no.” His fingertips trailed through the pool, ripples lapping at the edges. “My home had always been the sea—on boats with my father, in tidepools with my brothers, watching the sun set over the water with my mother. To leave it behind for a woman I’d just met…”

“She cursed you for it.”

“Yes. She brought me to this island and told me that any heart could be given freely but it was clear that mine belonged to the sea. And then she ripped it from my chest.”

Did he mean—?

Gently, he took her hand and lifted it to his chest. Heat bloomed in roses on her cheeks, but when he folded it over where his heart should be, there was nothing but stillness.

“It’s there,” he told her, gesturing to the box. “Keeping my shape torn between that of the man I am and the creature of the sea that my heart once longed to be.”

“You wished to be a serpent?”

“I wanted to be powerful and free, answering only to the waves and spending my days on the water. It was an act of spite, but I think she still thought she was giving me a gift, in her own way.”

Kaia thought that Galen was looking for good where there was none. But she’d come to see that was his way.

“Can you… put it back?”

He shook his head. “It’s beyond my reach.” He attempted to grab the box and was stopped by an invisible force, his hand no more than wrist deep. “She gave it to the sea and it has no desire to return it.”

She was reminded of an old captain she’d once heard in the market, telling of his many voyages. He spoke of the sea as if it was a woman, greedy and selfish, pulling ships and sailors and treasures into her depths and never letting them go.

“I’m sorry, Galen.” A strange temptation struck her, to reach out and grab the box herself. How silly and presumptuous of her. “To have it taken away from you in such a way…”

He smiled faintly. “I can’t pretend that nothing good came of it. I just wanted you to see, to understand.”

There was no doubt in her mind that he was a good man, though part of her wondered if this island and its inhabitants were a result of his loneliness. To be trapped as a beast and separated from the human world—saving these women might have been his only hope at interaction.

How else would anyone give a monster a chance?

“Can I see you again?”

Galen knew what she was asking and helped her to her feet, leading her back out of the cave and into the water. She waited in the shallows as he had made his way out deeper, until, with one last glance over his shoulder at her, he took a final breath and sank beneath the gentle waves.

A few seconds later, the water bubbled and rolled as Galen rose from it, his scales bright and shining, his fierce face just how Kaia remembered it.

He was intimidating, there was no denying it. The sheer size of him, of his claws and snout and scales as big as her palm, made something tremble deep inside of her.

“I seem to recall you being more frightful,” she called with false bravado.

He snorted in a way that almost sounded amused, then bared his giant teeth in a snarl, the low sound that rumbled from him reverberating across the water and shaking the rocks onshore.

Slowly, her fear faded away into awe—he was magnificent.

“Help me?” she asked, wading out into the deeper water, hand outstretched.

He knew what she wanted and as the water rose to her chest and shoulders, lowered his head into the sea and to her. Turning so his eye was staring directly at her, such a unique shade of green, he offered her his snout.

His scales were rougher beneath her hands than she’d expected and slowly, he pulled her back to where the rest of his body curled into the waves. She couldn’t swim and the depths were gaping and dark beneath her, but she knew Galen wouldn’t let them take her.

He offered her a clawed hand to sit in as he held her just above the water. Together, they watched the sun rise and the clouds fill the blue sky.

At some point, she reached out to stroke his side, the scales softer, smoother here than the ones on his snout, gently tracing the spiny frill down his back. A low, soft sound, almost like a purr, filled the air.

“I find that I don’t mind you like this,” Kaia confessed. “Now that you aren’t trying to eat me.”

She could swear from the look in his eye, he was laughing at her.

Somehow, it felt easier to talk to him in this form than when he was a man. She leaned against his hand and told him of her life before the island, of her mother and her harsh words, of the secret places she’d found to hide in the city. She told him of the friends she’d dreamed of, fantasies outdone only by the ones of stowing away on a boat and letting it take her to distant lands. The wind carried her words away, and though he couldn’t speak, she knew he was listening.

They stayed out there until she started to shiver, her dress still damp and cold from the breeze this far away from shore. Galen noticed and offered her his snout once again, guiding her back to the shallows.

There, the scales beneath her grip grew warm, and then she was holding onto hands, gazing into his green eyes once again set in a human face.

“Welcome back,” she said softly, something trembling between them, taut and electric.

He guided her through the water and back to the shore where they usually met. On the sand, she turned to face him, words dying on her salt-crusted lips when she saw his face.

The way he was gazing at her—his constant sorrow reduced to a barely noticeable shadow—made heat rise up her throat and to her face. There was longing and something warmer, something undisguised that made her want to look away in embarrassment. Yet, she didn’t move.

“I—” He swallowed heavily, his eyes flicking down her body, where her wet dress had become plastered to her skin and clearly showed her form. “I have to go.”

Before she could speak, he turned and dove into the water, vanishing from her sight.

—

“There’s a ship!”

The cry awoke Kaia in the early hours of the morning, her brain scrambling to understand what was happening. A ship? But Helen had told her that Galen protected the island from any visitors.

Scrambling from her tent, she joined the other women outside.

“Did you hear me? It’s a ship!” Tabatha called again, but instead of worry, a huge grin split across her face. “Galen’s bringing it in.”

Excited chatter broke out among the group and they started racing down the hill to the beach.

Kaia grabbed Helen’s arm as she went to hurry past. “What’s happening? How does Galen have a ship?”

“It must be one he found left at sea! He brought one in for us before, and it’s where we got the things in our tents and the wood to build some of the homes. Just—hurry! Come see.”

She let Helen tug her down to the shore. Sure enough, a large ship was sitting out in the water, its huge sails still in the breezeless morning.

Galen appeared out of the water a minute later in his human form, a broad smile on his face as he bowed lowly to them. “I come bearing a gift—a ship abandoned at sea. Its crew was nowhere to be seen, perhaps lured away by sirens, so it seemed a shame to just leave it there.”

Soft laughter floated from the group at his teasing words, Kaia joining in. Galen met her gaze for a second, his smile taking a softer edge.

“If you’ll please go back off of the sand where it’s safe, I’m going to bring it in.”

Following his directions, they moved up to the grass and watched as a serpent rose from the sea and started pushing the ship in, his massive body pressed against the hull.

“I wonder if it’s full of treasure,” someone whispered.

“Probably more like silk. Maybe spices. It looks like a trading ship to me.”

“What do you know about ships?” another woman teased. “I bet it’s carrying fruit. Barrels of apples and oranges.”

With a rasping scrape, Galen pressed the ship’s front half up onto the shore where the sea couldn’t take it back, then disappeared into the water.

“Where’s he going?” Kaia asked.

“Why would he stay? He can’t come and help us unload it.” Helen shrugged, her attention focused on the ship. “Let’s go see what’s on it.”

Kaia tried not to feel disappointed at Galen’s quick departure, or that he wasn’t staying to see the excitement and joy he’d brought to the island.

He was quickly forgotten though as the treasures of the ship were revealed. Some cabins were fully decorated with chairs and tables, maps and books, ink and quills. There were weapons and trunks of clothes, and much to everyone’s excitement, food and wine.

“We’ll have a party,” Helen declared to the group, a new sword in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other as she hiked up her dress and climbed on a trunk so everyone could hear her. “A feast all night and all of tomorrow to celebrate.”

The responding cheer was loud enough to shake the beach.

That night, the fires rose high as tables were hauled off of the ship and set along the grass, filled with food and drink. Kaia helped haul out baskets and boxes of food—salted pork and sausages, hard cheeses and dried fruits, biscuits and butter—and set them out for all to eat next to the bottles of wine and rum.

Aria and Eleni found a lute and announced they’d be providing the music for the night. Eleni had graced them with her singing before, her voice clear and beautiful as a songbird.

The sun sank slowly below the horizon as the sky darkened, signaling the start of their feast. Kaia had just finished setting out the last of the food they brought down from the ship’s stores when Helen raced over and pulled her away.

“I have a surprise,” she said by way of explanation, kicking up sand as she yanked Kaia over to her tent. Inside, her bed was covered in silk and brocade dresses in various jewel tones.

“Where did you get these?” Kaia asked in shock, running her hand along the sumptuous fabrics.

Her friend’s eyes glinted knowingly. “There were a few trunks full on the ship. One is for you to wear tonight.”

For her? She’d never worn something so beautiful in all her life. Her mother always called her ugly and boyish, her height and thin body a source of shame. She’d made Kaia dress in loose, heavy dresses but refused to let her have a veil, so her disfigured face was always on display.

Remembering those hateful words and the disgust she felt for her own form felt strangely distant, like a long-forgotten dream. Her time on the island had made her body strong, corded with lean muscle and tanned, what little feminine curves she’d had nearly gone.

Her mother would die of embarrassment if she could see her daughter now.

And Kaia had never felt such pride or love for her body.

“I want the green one,” she declared, picking it up from the bed and holding it against her body. It wasn’t quite the same shade as Galen’s eyes but it was close.

Helen picked up a scarlet dress, twirling around in excitement, her cheeks flushed pink. “We can help each other into them, and then do our hair. I want to look beautiful for Aria.” She practically glowed with happiness as she said Aria’s name.

“She always thinks you’re beautiful.”

Though she laughed, Helen looked pleased with her words. “Then tonight, I want to overwhelm her with my beauty. Iris always said I looked best in red.” Her face fell as she mentioned her previous love, darkness flickering through her eyes. Slowly, she sat on the bed and set the dress aside.

Kaia joined her, taking her hand. She’d never had a friend like Helen before and it surprised her how much seeing her hurt caused pain in her own heart.

“I don’t know if it ever stops aching,” Helen murmured. “If I’ll ever stop feeling guilty when I look at Aria. Iris—she deserves to be here, alive and happy.”

“I think that she would be happy to see you getting a second chance. She would want you to be loved and give you her blessing.” Kaia leaned in and kissed her gently on the forehead. “You’ll carry her with you always, but a heart has room for more than one love.”

—

Kaia had never felt happier than she did in her green dress, surrounded by friends and sisters and all the food and drink she could ever want. The stars were out, watching over them as they ate and sang and reveled in the night together.

In between laughter and conversations, she found that her eyes kept straying down to the darkness of the beach, where she could hear the rhythmic rasp of the waves as they met the sand. Something more than the sea was calling to her.

When she slipped away from the group and light of the fire, her feet leading her down the worn path to the shore, she wasn’t surprised to find Galen standing in the surf.

They stood there looking at each other for a minute.

“You look beautiful.”

“I do,” she agreed. Her blood was hot with wine and joy and the thrill of knowing his words were true. She hadn’t needed him to tell her so, but she found that she liked hearing it anyway.

Slowly, she walked forward until her feet met the water, then the full skirt of her dress, the saltwater ruining the fine silk. He didn’t move as she drew near, not even when she was only inches away, close enough to see the moonlight reflecting in his eyes.

“Kaia—” He swallowed down whatever words were following her name. His eyes met hers, lovelier than the stars above and the glittering water below.

She knew nothing of love, nothing of wanting or the desire between a man and woman. All she knew was that her body was singing, her heart pounding to where she thought it might break out of the cage of her ribs and chest.

Grasping the soft fabric of his tunic, she pulled him in and pressed her lips to his. His mouth was soft and so gentle, salty like the sea and sweet as the wine she’d drank earlier.

Galen’s hand came up to cradle her face as he kissed her back, thumb stroking the line of her jaw and the sensitive skin beneath it. Her palms flattened against his chest and the alien stillness of it as he drew her closer, fingers sinking into the folds of her dress hard enough that she could feel them pressing into her skin. When his tongue slid against her own, hot and wet and unfamiliar, her whole being quivered. There was a rushing sound in her ears and she couldn’t tell if it was the sea or her own blood.

Too soon, he pulled away.

“I—I didn’t—” Kaia stumbled over her words, her tongue thick and clumsy. Her trembling fingers went up to her lips. She’d had no idea, had never understood—

There was something achingly warm low in her stomach.

“I should get back.”

Galen didn’t move to stop her as she stumbled back to shore, the waves urging her on. When she glanced back over her shoulder, he was still there, watching her with an unreadable expression.

Up in the grass, she skirted around the edge of the festivities and slipped into her tent without anyone seeing her. With shaking hands, she undid the laces on the front of her dress, letting it pool around her feet. Her undergarments followed, leaving her bare and shivering despite the flush across her chest.

In bed and under the safety of her blanket, she smoothed a cool hand down her heated skin, shivering when she brushed over her breasts and then lower. Shame and fear and her mother’s hateful words had stopped her from ever exploring the soft, unfamiliar parts of her body, but Galen’s kisses had made her painfully aware and curious.

When she delved between her thighs and parted herself, she slowly stroked at the wetness she found there. A sound caught in her throat as she sank fingers into herself, wondering if his touch would feel the same. If he would thumb at the pearl of her sex as she did, arching her body up into his own. If his fingers would be gentle or rough against her nipples and the smooth skin around them.

Her knees pulled up to her chest as she rocked into her hand, licking her lips to catch the lingering taste of his sweet, saltwater kisses. Every memory of his skin against her own—palms rasping together as he took her hand, the press of his fingers into the flesh of her waist through her dress—stoked the fire inside of her higher and higher. High enough that her chest heaved and her head was spinning, hot, so hot—

She bit her lip hard enough to taste the bitter tang of blood as her body clenched around her fingers, unraveling beneath her touch and the ghost of Galen’s.

—

She was angry when she saw him the next morning. Irrationally so, but it didn’t stop her from storming through the water to him, hands balled into fists.

“What is this?” she demanded.

He knew what she was asking, she could see it in his eyes. It had been here for a while, known but never acknowledged.

“Something that shouldn’t be.”

That sorrow was back in his face and his voice and she hated it.

“Because you’re afraid?”

“Because I can’t be what you need.”

She was shaking with fury, a vicious, ugly thing rising in her chest. “You don’t have any right to tell me what I need.”

Infuriatingly, he was as calm as the waters around him. “I know that you want to leave. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but you will. You’ll go visit those places I’ve told you about, or find your own, and it will make you happy in ways that a cursed man never could.”

She’d never told him about the guilty desire his stories made her feel, the nagging thought that she might belong here, but it didn’t mean that she had to stay. How every tale he shared made her burn more and more with certainty that this world was meant to be explored by her, that these sights would one day be seen by her own eyes.

Apparently she hadn’t needed to say it out loud.

“What does that matter?” she challenged, hating the childish edge to her voice.

He sighed. “I couldn’t go with you. You could board the boat and I could guide you to those lands, but I’d never be able to come onshore. How does that make you feel?”

They both knew the answer, so plainly written on her face at his words. It hurt to think of leaving him behind, of having to choose between the adventure she so desperately wanted and the lovely, painful thing that he made bloom to life in her chest.

“I couldn’t bear to cause you pain,” he said, soft and sincere. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re hurting me now.”

It was true but she also wanted to wound him. Gallant, caring, stupid man that he was.

“More than any of my own desires, more than what my heart is telling me, I want you to be free.” His voice was heavy in the way that only someone’s trapped and bound to another could be. “This island will not be your prison and I will not be your jailer. If your hatred and the pain that it brings me is the price I must pay for your freedom, then so be it.”

He truly meant it. Kaia felt like the world was shifting beneath her feet, throwing her off balance.

“You claim to want me to be free, yet you stand here and deprive me of my choice in this matter.” He was a hypocrite and a liar and she was a fool. “All men ever want to do is control that which is not theirs to control, to decide what we should feel and do and want. I suppose it was my mistake to think that you were any different.”

It was a relief to march back to the shore and know that he couldn’t follow her.

She walked until she found a grassy knoll where no one would find her and out of sight of the sea. She’d never said such harsh, hateful things before, though she’d be a liar if she said she hadn’t thought them about her mother and the people of her city. Still, they burned painfully in her chest and throat, tears pricking at her eyes.

It hurt that she knew part of him was right. She loved the women here and everything about this island—it had truly become home in her heart. And she knew that if she left, she could always return.

She wanted to go. For herself and the second chance she hadn’t expected to be given and was determined not to squander. For the magnificent sights she knew were out there, waiting to be seen. For the other girls out there like her who might need to be saved.

Still, most of what he’d said was wrong. And she was no longer the girl he’d rescued, meek and afraid, doing as she was told. Nothing and no one would decide her fate except for her.

Determination pulled Kaia to her feet and around the island, down to the beach and through the water to the cave that housed Galen’s heart.

The stone floor was just as glossy and smooth as she remembered. Inside, the sound of the waves fell away as she approached the pool and the carved wooden box inside. It was impossible, but she thought she could hear the faintest heartbeat.

It was such a small, unassuming thing, that box. And yet, gazing down at it, anger roared to life inside of her.

She plunged her hand into the pool—the water shockingly icy and sending a chill down her spine—but was stopped by an invisible force that refused to budge.

She gritted her teeth and strained to no avail—she couldn’t reach the box.

Holding back a feral shriek of frustration, she pulled her hand from the water and punched it back down. Her knuckles sang with pain as they smashed into the magical barricade.

It simply wouldn’t let her through.

“No.” She pressed back against the pain, shoving her second hand down to strain against it with her full weight. “You can’t have him. He isn’t yours to keep anymore.”

Outside, the waves suddenly crashed against the mouth of the cave, water splashing inside and soaking her knees.

There had to be a way through, a way to release Galen from his curse. A way for them to be together, for his heart to be free from the sea.

“You have no claim anymore.” She let the truth of her words fill the air, ringing off the rocky walls of the cave. Her nails sank into the invisible force, her arms shaking. “It doesn’t belong to you.”

But the water continued to stream in, rising steadily past her knees and to her thighs. She could practically feel its desperation, its refusal—the greedy sea wasn’t going to give up its prize easily.

Everyone knew it was determined and fierce, a wild force.

But so was Kaia.

She’d had a lifetime of holding back, never speaking up or lashing out. A lifetime of rage and hatred and pain. A thousand refusals that had burned at her lips, aching as she swallowed them down and bowed her head submissively instead.

Never again.

“No.” The relief of the word warred against the agony in her arms. “Let him go.”

The water was past her waist now, crashing against the rocks at the entrance of the cave like claps of thunder. It would drown her long before it gave up, as was its nature.

Kaia closed her eyes against the spray of saltwater and thought of Galen, of what she knew of his heart. That perhaps, some time ago, it had belonged to the sea as the enchantress had declared, but no longer. She thought of the way he looked at her, the way he held her, healed her and hurt her, and how she would never want to give that up.

Her anger vanished.

“I understand,” she whispered, and stopped pushing against the barrier, even as the water reached her shoulders. “But he deserves to be happy and free to choose the life he wants. If you truly care for him, you’ll let him go.”

She tasted salt on her lips, from her tears or the water that was swirling around her neck, then her jaw, then her eyes as she arched her face up for one last breath.

“Please. I love him too.”

Everything went still, the silence huge and deafening as Kaia waited for one final wave to sweep into the cavern and pull her under.

A crack that she felt more than she heard reverberated through the water, the stone, through her body and to her bones. Where her hands still rested against the barrier, she felt it give way and vanish.

Without hesitation, she submerged under the water, her fingers finding the smooth wood of the box. As she grabbed it and pulled it to her chest, the water surrounding her pulled her through the cave and back out into the shallows of the sea, releasing her almost gently from its current.

She lingered there for a second, soaking and shaking and triumphant as she watched the rest of the water drain from the cave.

The box was warm, as if it had been sitting out in the sun.

On the beach, Kaia paused, digging her toes into the sand. She felt certain that she would have drowned in there. Certain that at that moment, the sea had chosen to let her take it.

“Thank you,” she murmured, letting the breeze carry her words over the waves. “I’m sorry.”

The sea had been Galen’s home for so long, his friend and companion for even longer—perhaps it loved him too fiercely to let him go all these years, and in the end, too fiercely to keep him. 

—

She waited for him on the beach for hours, staring down at the box in her lap.

When he finally came to her, she could feel his shock before she saw it on his face. He sank to his knees in the shallow, foaming surf at the very edge of the water.

“I wanted to keep it,” she admitted, holding the box tightly enough that the edges cut into her palms. “Thought about leaving and taking it with me so you had to come with me. Taking your choice away like you’re trying to do to me.”

His silence was deafening.

Slowly, she got up and knelt next to him. He could reach out and snatch it from her but he didn’t move.

“I don’t know much about love but I know that isn’t it. I want you to come with me. More than anything. But I won’t force you.” She leaned in and kissed him against his soft mouth, lingering a second longer than she meant to. Then she took his hand and placed the box in it. “A heart can be given but it shouldn’t be owned by another. It belongs to you and you alone.”

The sea had given up its hold on him for Kaia—she wouldn’t betray it by making him a captive once more. That wasn’t the way, she understood that now.

She went to stand but he grabbed her wrist. The look in his eyes stripped her of all her fears.

“Then I want to give it to you. To hold onto. I’ll need someone I trust to look after it while we travel.”

Her heart beat painfully. “But—”

“It’s already yours, you know that.”

“Why—why not put it back? You’ll be human again and free to come on land.”

He looked out over the water and the glistening waves. “Do you want me to be just a man?”

“I don’t care.” She meant it, truly. His form didn’t matter to her, his soul and beauty visible in both shapes.

He touched the pink mark on her face with reverent fingers and she leaned into his caress.

“It’s part of me now. I think it would hurt to let it go and leave all of that behind.”

Kaia thought that having a traveling companion who could turn into a sea serpent might be useful on their potentially treacherous travels. When she told him so, he laughed.

“What about going on land?” she questioned once his smile faded.

Galen gave her the box back, folding his hands over hers around it. “I’ll go anywhere you are.”

“Even to mysterious lands beyond the sea that might be filled with frightening monsters?”

“Even there. Though we both know you’re not scared of monsters.”

She laughed. “Or maybe you’re just not as terrifying as you think.”

They grinned at each other and she could feel that hers was every bit as wide and bright as his.

In her heart, she made a promise to the water that she would be careful with his heart and cherish the gift she had been given.

Taking his hand, she pulled him out of the sea and onto the island with her.