Andromeda

Chapter One

The water enveloped me, wrapping my entire body like a mother's welcoming hug. 

I pushed my arms out to the side, diving deeper into my sanctuary. 

The pressure built in my head but I ignored it, instead reaching for the sandy bottom of the ocean. My fingers skimmed the floor in search of oysters. 

Ah! 

My fingers closed around the rough ridges of the burrowing creature triumphantly. 

I pushed off the sandy floor, suddenly desperate for breath. 

Air entered my lungs greedily as I broke the near glass-like quality of the sea. I allowed the currents to bob me around, tugging on my light summer chiton.

It is days like these that made me wish for an eternal life so that I might be able to spend my days luxuriating in the sun, without a care in the world. 

I could dance with the dolphins and swim with the Nereids like a true sea nymph.

 No more rules.

 No more nagging mothers who claim to wish the best for me when what they really mean is that they wish I was just better than who I am.

A sudden wave from behind me startled me from my darkening thoughts. 

Paliria laughed as she swam in circles around me. 

Like all Nereids, Paliria is a shining star among the coal of humanity. 

Her delicate scales cover every inch of her body but are so light you almost couldn't see them. Dark green hair swirls around as if it is its own entity with a mind and will of its own. 

My own honey blonde, snarled curls refuse to do anything other than tangle up into impossible knots that will take hours to unsnag.

"I've been waiting for all of eternity for you," Paliria said in a melodic voice that reminded me of a waterfall. "Your mother appears to talk too much for her own good. What did she want that couldn't wait until our swim?"

Just thinking about the conversation that my mother and I had endured that morning brought back all the stress I had been hoping to forget about.

"I am to marry Phineus within the year," I mumbled glumly, tossing the rocky oyster shell between my hands. "Mother has explained to me that we need this match between Aethiopia and Cabrera. The northern kingdoms have been struggling to keep riots from overwhelming the countries without success and Father worries that these radicals will target us next. Cabrera is the second largest country in all of the world! It's doubtful that anyone would dare target us with such a strong ally."

"But isn't he several harvests older than you?" Paliria asked, still confused as she tried to puzzle out the odd actions of humans. 

Even after years of friendship with me, she couldn't understand many common human practices, including arranged marriages.

"Father wants to make the alliance...more secure, permanent," I explained. "With me as Phineus's bride, our kingdoms will have exchanged a blood bond. There is no breaking such a strong bond."

Paliria pulled herself up onto the rock outcrop we had been floating toward. 

It was our Thinking Rock. 

The first time I had met Paliria had been on this rock.

I must have only been near about ten harvests old and was relishing the experience of being freed from my nursemaid.