Rough hands grab my arms, and I drop my shells to the sands, screaming.

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Chapter

Seven

RANAN

“RANAN.”

The woman screams my name, and I fight back a surge of irritation as I swim through the waters of the cove, back toward where I left her. I went up and down the coast, looking for a human settlement. The hut near the water’s edge made me think there would be a city nearby, but all I’ve seen are a few rude farms that look far too poor to take on another mouth to feed, and a few travelers—all male—that eye me as if they’d like to rob me.

I can’t leave the woman with them. They’ll have her on her back before my back is turned. And while she irritates me, she also prayed to the gods that I would save her, and I’m loath to put her back in the same position. There has to be a place I can leave her safely. An inn of some kind, or a shop. Somewhere where I can give her a few necklaces to sell and send her on her way.

But when I find nothing, I head back to the water’s edge and slip into the waves so I can think. The sea always helps me clear my thoughts, and as I swim through the rolling blue waters, a large fish moves past, a fish much larger than should be in these waters. It reminds me of the human woman and her vow to offer a sacrifice to the god Vor.

She wants to thank him for bringing her to me.

I don’t know what to make of that. I’ve treated her badly ever since she arrived and yet she still wants to thank the gods. Her situation must have been terrible for her to enjoy my company. I think of how she was chained with the other slaves, how she’d mentioned that she was going to end up in a brothel, and I feel a twinge of guilt. What happens if I leave her on the shore to her own devices?

But I can’t be responsible for her, I tell myself. She doesn’t belong with me. What happens to her after we part ways is in the hands of the fates.

Even so, I follow the large fish and make note of where it dives when it heads into the reefs, just in case I come after it later. If she doesn’t have a chance to make her sacrifice to Lord Vor, I’ll make it on her behalf, I decide. It’s the least I can do.

Now I suppose I had better see what she’s screaming over. Probably a crab of some kind. Served many sea-ogres, my arse. I’m the only sea-ogre she’s ever met. She’s a liar and I despise liars. My mood sours again, I surface from the waves and stride towards the shore, only to hear another scream.

It’s her—Vali.

“Don’t touch me!” she cries.

I scan the beach, my senses on alert, and spot multiple figures on the sands. She’s found other humans, it seems, her dark, long hair easy to spot. She’s closer to Akara than I am. You told her to stay close, I remind myself. I stride towards her location, scowling, just in time to see one of the men grab her by the front of her dress and rip it down her body.

She plants a fist in his mouth and kicks at the one holding her, screaming with outrage.

My temper soars, too. Who do these men think they are that they can grab a woman and attack her? There is a scatter of shells near their feet, evidence that she was minding her own business.

I snarl as I approach, storming toward them and flexing my four arms to look as intimidating as possible. They’re so focused on Vali’s flailing arms and legs that they have yet to notice me…which only pisses me off more. “What do you think you are doing?”

They turn to look at me, and as they do, their eyes widen. The one clutching Vali by the waist drops her immediately and she falls to the sand, her breasts spilling out of her ripped garment. She cries out, remaining where she is, and glances up at me. There’s a trickle of blood coming from her nostril, and the sight of that incenses me.

They hit her? They came upon a pretty female on the beach and attacked and hit her? Are all humans such monsters?

“Why are you touching my wife?” I snarl at them, moving to stand in front of all three fishermen.

“We didn’t know she was yours,” the oldest—the one that ripped her dress—stammers. “We thought she was an escaped slave. A free prize for anyone.”

“And because you thought she was a slave you attacked her?” I march up to the bearded one, glaring down at him. “Explain this to me.”

He shoots a glance at the other men. “If she was an escaped slave, there’d be a bounty on her head. Easy coin. If not, then we could sell her again. That’s all. We were just looking to have a little taste and make a few coins.”

So they would rape a stranger and sell her to the first buyer all because they thought she might be a slave.

“She’s got cuff marks on her wrists,” protests one of the others. “And she’s wearing a slave shift. We did nothing wrong.”

“I should cut your throats and feed you three to my turtle,” I hiss at them. They quail, shrinking back from me and eyeing my trident. I tap my leg. “Vali, come here.”

That makes her look up. She gives me an indignant stare, clutching the remains of her dress to her breasts, but slowly gets to her feet and moves to my side.

“Should I kill them, wife?” I ask, folding two of my arms over my chest and brandishing my trident with a third hand. “Say the word.”

“Yes,” she says immediately.

I’m surprised. I thought she’d beg for their lives, say it was all a mistake. But her tone is hard and just as angry as mine, and it’s clear there’s a dark streak in her.

“Wait! Wait!” the bearded human says. “We can come to an agreement!”

“We have gold,” says another, taking a step back and glancing at the shack in the distance. He clearly wants to run for it. If he does, he’ll find my trident lodged in his spine.

“Show me your gold and I’ll tell you if it’s enough to buy your lives.” I turn to Vali, gesturing at Akara in the distance. “Return to the tent.”

She shoots me an equally venomous look—and I am surprised by her all over again—but does as she is told and retreats to the safety of the turtle.

The humans do have a fair amount of gold for poor fishermen, and it’s clear Vali is not the first they’ve attacked. I clean them out of their riches and find out which one hit Vali and deliver a hit of my own…and a warning. If they touch what’s mine again, I’ll kill them and rob them. The smell of urine follows me as I abandon them on the beach, as the eldest has pissed himself with fear.

I return to Akara’s side, moving to her head and running a hand over her sharp beak. She blinks large, dark eyes up at me, reaching out with her thoughts. She smells humans on the shore and doesn’t like it. I prod at her, wondering if Vali’s scent bothers her, but she only sends a mental picture of me back—she associates Vali with me now, her scent with mine. Hunh.

The humans are troubling, though. If they attacked Vali, then I cannot simply leave her near a settlement. If I do, she will be enslaved again before the day is out. I’ve seen the cuff markings on her wrists as well, though I didn’t know slaves had a particular sort of garment. All seakind wear as little as possible, our women as bare as our men. I know nothing of human dresses. It’s not my fault they mistook her for a slave.

Even so, I’m glad I arrived in time. I don’t like that they hit her. I don’t like that they tore her clothes and attacked her. Just thinking about it makes me furious, and I’m tempted to go back up to the hut and cut their throats anyhow, just to sate my anger.

I stroke Akara’s bony head and think of the large fish I saw earlier. Is this Lord Vor telling me that this female should be my bride after all? Did he send her to me? It is something I will have to think about. For now, I need to return to Vali and reassure her, as she will no doubt be full of tears and gratitude that I have saved her yet again. I’ll give her the gold from the men, I decide. And if she offers to touch me again, I’ll still turn her away, but I like the thought of her offering.