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‘Our daughter didn’t die.’
They were the first words Myna had spoken in the two days since she’d tried to introduce Ebba to the sea.
Ronan’s arm tensed. He lowered the teacup and dishcloth to the sink, but didn’t turn around.
‘She was terrified, Myna. You’ve probably ensured she’ll never go near the sea again.’ Now he turned, his jaw squared. ‘But that’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? You hate the ocean, you always have. And you wanted to make sure she did as well.’
Myna frowned. ‘What? No.’ She shook her head. ‘Not Ebba. Well, yes, Ebba. But the first one.’ A lump caught in her throat and she coughed to clear it. ‘The one you and Oulde didn’t let me see. The one you gave to the ocean.’
Ronan’s face paled. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m talking about our firstborn. I know she lived. Wayanna is the name she goes by now.’
‘Wayanna.’ Ronan shook his head. ‘There’s no one in the village by that name.’
‘She doesn’t live in the village.’
‘Then where does she live? You barely leave the house, so how could you have met someone from farther away? How do you even know it’s her, and not someone playing a cruel prank?’ Ronan’s voice rose as he questioned her, and she could hear the anger in it, and her anger rose to match it.
‘How would anyone know our baby was a daughter? You got rid of her so fast you weren’t even certain yourself!’
Ronan’s mouth opened, then closed again.
‘But how?’ His gaze met hers, and Myna felt a pang of sorrow for the pain she saw. ‘Oulde told me she wouldn’t live, even if we kept her. She was so disfigured.’
‘Disfigured?’
He looked up sharply. ‘I told you. Her face was all...squashed.’ He paused. ‘You’re telling me the girl who claimed to be her is properly formed?’ His hands clenched. ‘You’ve been tricked, Myna.’
Myna frowned, confused. But then everything made sense. ‘She was born in her skin.’
‘Her skin?’
‘She’s a selkie.’
‘A selkie?’
‘You know the stories.’
Ronan shook his head. ‘And how is it that we have a daughter who’s a selkie? Unless you had an affair with a seal-prince.’ He laughed. There was no malice in it, no accusation. He didn’t believe it at all.
‘No.’ She took the step across the room and reached out to grab her husband’s hand, to make sure he was looking at her when she spoke, that he saw the truth in her face. ‘I’m a selkie.’
His peered at her.
‘That seal skin out there, the one that’s the biggest you’ve ever seen, that hasn’t dried despite being pegged out for over a month, that’s my skin. I never knew I was selkie. Not till I met Wayanna, anyway. Dyllis stole me as a baby. I have no recollection of life under the sea, only of life on land, as a human.’
Ronan pulled out a chair to sit down, still gripping Myna’s hand. ‘You’re telling me those stories are true?’
Myna nodded.
‘You’re saying you could wrap that skin around you and...what? You’d turn into a seal?’ He scoffed at the thought, but even as he did his face grew serious. ‘The stories tell that whenever a seal woman finds her skin she returns to the ocean. They say she’s never seen again.’
‘I don’t intend to go to the ocean.’
‘But you did, just the other day. Once you were in the water you didn’t want to come back. Not even Ebba screaming in your arms was enough to get you to turn around.’
Myna took Ronan’s other hand in her own, gripping his hands with both of hers. ‘You know I’ve always felt a...a pull, to the ocean.’ She looked down at their entwined hands. ‘But I’m also terrified of it. When I’m in the water I can’t stop. It’s why I avoid it. I thought maybe I could show Ebba how much fun the waves were, but it was too strong for me.’ She looked back up, meeting Ronan’s gaze again. ‘But if I stay out of the water, I can stay in control.’ She pulled away one hand to lay it on his cheek. ‘I never want to lose you, Ronan. You have been my anchor these past fifteen years, and now I have Ebba as well. The two of you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I won’t give that up.’
‘Not even to go home?’ Ronan’s voice broke and he turned his face away, blinking.
Myna gently turned his face back to her. ‘This is my home. Here, with you and Ebba. This is all I know. I’m not going to risk that to venture out there. Not ever.’
