Forbidden Sea: the Fae Princess and her Cursed Love

My feet pound on the dirt of the arena floor as I run as hard as my body will allow me, arms pumping with the weight of my shield and sword. My legs burn as I push them to their limit, swerving and maneuvering away from the giant storm wyrm my father has trapped for use in his warrior trials. “Aisling, Aisling, Aisling,” I hear the crowd chanting as they watch me dodge the solid black cloud of a creature with lightning crackling from within its body. My father is the King of the Fae on Meridath, the island I call home. I've never been allowed to leave Meridath due to his desire to keep his only daughter a secret. I'm his only illegitimate child. The King also has four sons who know of my existence but are sworn to secrecy about who I am; they are never to speak of me as their sister. If they are seen with me or if anyone asks who I am, they always answer that I am their cousin who came to live in Meridath after my city on the mainland was attacked and burned to the ground. A loud crash sounds behind me, ‘Shite’, I think to myself. I let my thoughts distract me from the task at hand. I have to regain focus if I'm going to defeat the wyrm so far inland. I know that this far away from the sea surrounding my home, my powers are rendered useless. I desert the heavy sword I have been desperately clinging to and resort to using the final dagger strapped to my thigh. I have to come up with a plan to escape or kill the wyrm, or I will never be allowed to leave my dying island. Strategy floods my mind, and the roaring of the crowd fades away as I abruptly stop sprinting away from the wyrm, turning toward it and waiting for it to lunge at me. The seconds that pass as I wait feel dragging as my mouth dries and fear that my plan will not work fills my body. But when the creature reaches the spot where I stand, I drop to the floor, holding my dagger up to catch the underbelly of the beast — the only solid part on the vile creature that can be touched without being struck by its lightning. I spit as my face is covered in the sticky, black blood and guts of the wyrm, and when it falls limp, I stand, pushing my fist and dagger in the air and letting out a cry as the crowd’s chanting returns. “Aisling, Aisling, Aisling …”. I am now a crown warrior for the Tirnan Fae, the first female to complete the trials. As I exit the maze-like arena, my sharp fae ears pick out one voice from the crowd — Siobhan. Besides my half brothers, Siobhan is the only person I can consider family. Her family took me in after my mother’s death when I was a small child. “Aisling! You nearly made me faint with worry for you. Crown Warrior …” she trails off, looking me up and down to make sure I am still intact. “I know,” I say, looking toward the ground at my bloodied and mud-caked boots, “I can barely believe it myself.” “Ais! Ais!” I hear the distinct stern voice of my oldest brother as he rushes toward me in large strides. “Father is looking for you, Ais,” he whispers as he pulls me away from Siobhan and her mother. “He’s not happy with your choice to continue with the trials after the stunt you pulled in the last one.” “I can handle Father,” I snap at him, more defensive than I wish. “I did what I had to do to survive in the last trial.” I had risked revealing myself to the lesser fae of Meridath as they watched my third of four warrior trials when I used my power to pull a sword of ice out of the sea to defend myself from an onslaught of Marbaghs — mindless, dead warriors who only knew how to attack — after losing my sword and all of my daggers to the crashing waves and pulling currents of the Titim Sea. “I understand, but our father does not, Aisling. He is angry that you were foolish enough to risk revealing yourself to all of the fae on this island.” “Our island is dying, Finn. It won’t matter if I have revealed my power or not if—” My words are cut short as two guards and my father saunter toward us, a callous grin on my father’s face. One of the guards glares at me and Finn and announces, “Aisling Steil, your conference is requested by the King immediately.” Finn looks at me with a worried expression as I silently follow our father toward the horses I know wait to carry us to the overly extravagant castle he and my brothers call home. Although it is a short ride, I dread every step the horse takes in its stride, knowing that every thump of the mare’s feet brings me closer to this meeting with my father. Scared he may strip me of the title I have fought and worked for so long for, I gazed toward the sea as we began the ascent to the gathering room where the King holds his meetings. The sea has always been my calm, it calls to me with a pull I can’t quite understand. It has had a pull on me for as long as I can remember, and when my power over the water manifested, no one was surprised. I keep my eyes on the sea through every window we pass as I follow the King and his guards up to the conference room that resides in the heart of the castle. Each wall of the room was covered from floor to ceiling with tapestries that illustrate the deep history of the Tirnan Fae and all of the legends that mothers and fathers sang to their littles at night. The long table in the conference room was much different from the round tables you hear of in the tales of ancient rulers and their men, my father’s table had definitive places for the “head” of the table and for the lower ranking members. King Cormac was not a lenient ruler and made no attempt to hide his malice for those he considered lesser than him. As we filed into the room, Father took his place at the head of the table as his warriors and firinniori, or royal advisers, settled into their place on the sides. When all of his men found their places, I was left to stand at the end. I stood clasping my hands behind me with my held held low in reverence to try to avoid more scolding or punishment then I was about to receive. “Aisling, …” My father started in a stern and unforgiving voice. I brought my gaze up to meet his. “You have deliberately disobeyed me and gone against my wishes to end your warrior trials. I will not strip you of your title now but your first mission will begin tomorrow. If you are not successful in your assignment, your title will be taken and you will be banned from Meridath for life. I will not allow room for error and I expect you to lead your forces without complaint.” “My King, I have no time to—” I begin, but I am cut off by his angered voice. “Would you like for your banishment to begin now, Ms. Steil?” He asks, rising from his seat and slamming his hands on the dark oak of the table. I lower my eyes and bow my head towards the ground, “No my King, forgive me.” I say with a small voice as I bow further. “I will begin my preparations straight away Sire.” He nods and sits back in his seat as I turn to exit the room and push the large wooden doors leading to the main corridor.