Astrid is the crown princess of Atlantis, but she barely has time to worry about the kingdom with six younger sisters to watch over, especially with the youngest coming into her powers as a daughter of the sea to navigate time. When Astrid fears tha...
"Please tell me if there is anything you need." James studies her. "Do your parents know where you are?"
The woman on my arm shakes her head, and there is a sense of sadness in her eyes. But no fear.
"Is there any way we can contact them for you?"
She shakes her head again.
James frowns. "I know this is terribly old to ask a lady, but how if you don't mind, how old are you?"
His question seems to confuse her.
I clear my throat. "Um, she can't speak, and I think she's older than what her fingers can show."
But James doesn't seem deterred as he stares back into her deep, blue eyes. "How many times have the stars circled above you?"
At this, her eyes widen with recognition, and she pulls away from me. Bending down, she traces her fingers in the sand, tallying lines at my feet.
I stare down in confusion, but James seems quite at home counting everything together and doing math in his head. "Ah. You are of age, then. Excellent, my dear- you are completely at will to decide whether you want to take young Brendon's hospitality or not."
Whipping my head from the sand to James, I feel my mouth drop open. "Wait, what?"
He clears his throat before nodding toward the girl, who has looked up at me in frustration.
"I mean, I'd love to have you," I add. "It's just out of James' MO to invite young people to stay over. Especially for all the complaining I've gotten for my handful of friends coming this weekend."
James mutters something about 'handful' being an appropriate term for them. Louder, he adds. "But, I see that this lady may need some time to land on her feet." He glances down at her. "I never did get your name, dear."
She looks up at him for a moment, before bending down and beginning to draw again. At first, I can't tell what she's writing, but then her fingers begin tracing out real letters. A word.
Astrid.
This Astid stares down at her handiwork, like she's surprised it turned out like it did.
"That's a lovely name, my dear," James says. "Astrid. Ah, yes, it rolls of the tongue just so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go get a room made up for you."
With that, James walks back inside, leaving me alone with... Astrid.
"Um..." I glance at her. "Is there anything I can get you?" Pants, perhaps? Or is she one of those girls who lives in her swimsuit. If a flowing white shirt that falls halfway down her thighs could be called a swimsuit. Maybe it's a nightgown? "If you want, I can see if I have any clean clothes that might fit you."
She blinks at me, trembling slightly from the chill. Astrid may be regal, but she look so vulnerable standing here soaked to the bone.
"Okay," I amend, "maybe not fit you. But hopefully clean-"
Thunder crashes in the distance, and Astrid jumps. Then she glances back at the ocean.
Whatever she sees back there strikes a cord with her, because she takes off running into my house without looking back.
Goosebumps break out on my skin, and I get the eerie feeling that I'm being watched.
Looking back, I see a green-tinted water cyclone spinning on the ocean.
Thank goodness that wasn't there earlier.
Shaking my head at my own jumpy nerves, I follow Astrid inside. But so does the feeling that there is something fishier than ocean water going on here.
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