Sela froze at the rage pooling in her mother's dark eyes. Awanita's upper lip curled like a snake and churned Sela's already uneasy stomach. Luksi straightened her neck from its bent stance and, without sparing a glance in her cousin's direction, she walked away. Sela waited for any sign of remorse for what she had just done, but there was nothing.

The pain that followed rippled through Sela worse than she had ever felt it before. And it was only going to get worse, for Awanita all but ran at her with swift steps and murderous intent. Sela opened her mouth to protest, but her mother wrapped her hard fingers around her upper arm and pulled it as she led them out of sight.

Sela could barely get a breath in before her mother's hand released her so she could whirl around to face her. The frenzy in her eyes made Sela pause mid-thought and then shrink into herself.

"What do you think you are doing, Sela?" Awanita demanded, hissing in a low voice just in case there were listening ears. "What is wrong with you?"

Sela tried to give her cousin a favorable judgment. "What are you talking about?"

Her mother sneered at her, shooting down her hope. "You know exactly what I am talking about. How dare you do this to Tushka? To your family!" she spat. "We have done nothing but given you food, the best chukka in Mikasi to rest under, and more freedom than any of us had. And this is how you show us your appreciation?"

Sela deflated. Of course, Luksi told her mother. It was the ultimate betrayal to Sela, especially considering her cousin knew how her mother would react. She couldn't think of something more intentionally hurtful.

"Mother, I do not know what Luksi has told you—"

"I've seen the way you look at that boy, Sela," Awanita hissed, shoving a finger hard into Sela's shoulder. She winced, but did not move. "Do not think me a fool. I saw it the moment he opened his eyes on your Pokni's healing table."

Any words Sela could have said died on her tongue. Her mouth went dry, even as she moved her jaw to stop the stinging of tears from falling from her eyes. But she couldn't cry. It would only make it worse when dealing with her mother.

"I do not know what Luksi thought she saw, but we were just—"

"Swimming? Like I have told you not to do more than once?" she demanded, her eyes brightening with anger. "What is wrong with you, Sela? How can you be so careless?"

Sela's lip quivered. "I-I'm not careless." A lie.

But Awanita wasn't hearing her. She was too busy pacing and cursing her daughter to the Creator above. She mumbled the words selfish, careless, and stupid over and over again. Her shoulders shuddered with the weight of her rage until she had no choice but to set her hard gaze on Sela once again.

"You are not stopping this marriage, Sela. I forbid it," she snapped.

Sela didn't know where her next response came from. But she couldn't stop herself from shouting in exasperation, "What about me, mother? What about what I want?"

"What you want is what is best for Mikasi."

"But why does that have to mean Tushka?" she begged. "Why can it not be who I choose?"

"You mean, why can it not be the child of the sea?" Awanita prompted, raising a dark eyebrow. "The one who is supposed to return to his people? Are you truly that foolish that you think a marriage would ever work with him?"

The lump in Sela's throat grew two sizes now. To release the pain in her stinging eyes, which had caused her vision to blur, a few drops had to spill over. Her mother stopped her pacing to watch them coast down her cheeks in a stream of salt water before the angry lines in her face soften just a little.

"Oh, Sela. We have talked about this already," she sighed, huffing out a breath of air. "How could you let yourself fall into this mess?"

Sela wrapped her arms around herself. She shook her head to stop the tears from falling, but it was to no use. Her tears continued to trickle down her face and drenched her already wet chest.

"Look at me, daughter," Awanita murmured. She pulled Sela's gaze from the ground but didn't move to comfort her. "I know how hard this is for you, Sela, but your choice of husband will not change. You will complete your marriage to Tushka, not just for your people, but for yourself."

Sela opened her mouth to oppose, but her mother cut her off. "Tushka will be a fine husband to you. Even if you do not love him now, I know you will in time. As long as you let him," she finished.

Sela swallowed back the sob she so desperately wanted to release. She clutched the pit of her throat as if to ease the suffocation, but it only made breathing more impossible. She couldn't stand the thought of embarrassing herself any more than she already had in front of her mother. It was bad enough Luksi not only saw their closeness but betrayed her to Awanita. And then Kael . . . Kael all but admitted to his lack of feelings for her.

It was all too much.

Sela turned away from Awanita, unable to be in the same space any longer. She pushed herself away from her mother with a few steps before turning around and breaking into a run. Awanita didn't call out for her, nor did she change the hard expression on her face. She just . . . she . . .

Sela used the fire in her lungs and the strain on her thighs to push her faster. Her choppy breathing and unstable sobs choked on the air, pushing into her lungs. It was only when she reached the river Bok's edge, with her moccasins kicked off behind her, that she stopped.

Sela fell to her knees. She plunged her shaking hands into the cool ripples of water for some sort of soothing comfort. With her heart torn and her mind reeling with her mother's words, she needed Her guidance. Her comfort.

She needed their Great Mother. So, she called out to the Creator.

Oh Great Mother. If you can hear me, please help me, she begged of Her. She closed her swelling eyes and pushed all of her love, sorrow, and desperation into her thoughts. The Creator hadn't answered her call before, but perhaps She will hear her now. Please, loving Mother. I do not know which path is the right one. My mother is telling me one, but my heart is telling me another.

Her mind filled with thoughts of Kael. Of his sweet nature, his handsome smile, his long hair that she ached to braid. Of his warm laugh and that sturdy touch. She remembered how comfortable she was against him in the sea. How his tenderness made her heart skip in her chest as a flurry of butterflies filled the pit of her stomach.

And, above all, she remembered the distinction between her feelings for Tushka and her feelings for Kael. Though she wanted to see Tushka healthy and happy, she wanted to be there to help Kael be healthy, to be the one who made him happy.

Sela stopped denying it. She desired Kael more than she desired the very air she breathed. In some ways, he was the air she breathed. And she wanted him more than anything else in the world.

Sela opened her eyes wide now. She gasped at her revelation and quickly removed her hands from the water. The Creator may not have answered her again, but it didn't matter. Not in that moment. She was too busy reeling at her newfound discovery to be bothered by it.

A warm set of fingertips brushed along her wet cheek. She'd have jerked away if she didn't recognize her body's natural response to that familiar touch. A warm flush followed the soft stroke as she swiveled her head towards the person crouched at her side, her gaze following last. Her heart sped up the moment their eyes clashed, pounding deeper than a drum.

Sela didn't know what to think with them there.

She only hoped she knew what she was doing.