Men would find her hard to resist. Sailors would wreck their boats to find the source of her song and laughter, and once they saw her, they would risk drowning to catch her. Luckily for sailors, a selkie was extremely rare.
“Did ye bring the bottle with you?” she asked the seals.
The seals barked in reply, and one of them tossed the bottle toward her, the glass sparkling in the sunlight. With another musical laugh, she caught it.
“Thank ye so much!” She hugged the bottle to her chest, then leaned over to pet the seals. “What was that? Ye made a new friend?” She looked around and spotted Brody.
Damn. He hadn’t expected the seals to tattle on him. Had they said he was a shifter? He crouched down low to look unthreatening and gave her his best sad-eyed, puppy face.
“Aww.” The girl gave him a sympathetic look. “Ye poor thing. What happened? Are ye lost?”
Brody woofed, then sat and lifted a paw. That move usually worked wonders.
She smiled as she slowly approached. “Ye’re so sweet.”
Brody grinned back, letting his tongue loll to the side of his mouth.
“And so pretty with yer bright blue eyes.” She shook his paw. “I think I’ll call ye Bettina.”
He gulped so fast, he nearly bit off his own tongue. Who the hell named a dog Bettina?
People usually called him Spot or Patch because of the black fur around his eye. Lady Tatiana had been a bit more original, calling him Pirate. He’d liked that name. But never in his twenty-one years had someone given him a girl’s name. He gave out a low growl.
“Oh.” She drew back. “Ye don’t like it?” She regarded him seriously for a moment. “I know! Julia. I’ve always loved that name.”
Dammit. Was he going to have to lift a leg? Not that he normally exposed himself to young women. But why the hell couldn’t she tell he was male?
“Look what I have, Julia!” She showed him the bottle. “My sisters are going to be so excited! Come on!” She grabbed the empty bucket and ran toward the path. “After we read the letter, I’ll try to find ye an old bone.”
Sisters? Brody scrambled up the path after her. Did she mean real sisters or other nuns? Apparently, Lady Tatiana had written them a letter. Were these the nuns who had nursed her back to health?
At the top of the bluff, he trotted alongside her as she ran across an open field, headed for a group of buildings. The scent of freshly cooked breakfast emanated from the first building.
Bacon! Brody stopped and whimpered, affecting his best pitiful look. Let’s go to the kitchens for bacon!
She motioned for him to follow. “Come on! We have to read the letter first.”
Dammit. He loped behind the girl as she ran past a chapel and into a graveyard. Next to a new grave, three young women were waiting.
Brody lurked behind a stone statue while he studied them. They were all dressed alike in their cream-colored habits, but they were definitely not real sisters. One had the white-blond hair and ears of an elf from Woodwyn. Another had the red hair of a Norveshki, and the third, the golden-blond hair of a Tourinian.
“Maeve!” the redhead called to her. “Did ye get it?”
“Aye!” The selkie plopped down onto the ground at the foot of the new grave. “Here it is!”
The Tourinian girl sat next to her and grabbed the bottle. “I’m the oldest now. I’ll read it.”
“Hurry, Brigitta,” the redhead urged her as she and the elfin girl sat across from them.
While Brigitta fished the letter out, Brody inched closer till he was hidden behind the gravestone.
“My dear sisters,” Brigitta began. “Thank you so much for writing! I love you and miss you more than I can say.”
“I miss her, too,” Maeve grumbled.
Brody peeked around the gravestone so he could see the four girls. Why would Lady Tatiana refer to them as her sisters? If she’d stayed here to recuperate from her illness, it could have been only about two weeks, hardly enough time to act like this was family.
“I have safely arrived at Vindemar,” Brigitta continued. “The fortress is huge! It is surrounded on three sides by water, and whenever I gaze at the sea, I think of you.”
The elfin girl sighed. “I wish we could see it.”
“I know.” Brigitta resumed reading, “You won’t believe it! My sister didn’t remain at the convent, but followed me here. We’re becoming good friends.”
“What? Tatiana didn’t stay here?” The redhead’s gaze shifted to the grave, and all the girls gave the dirt mound a wary look.
Brigitta scoffed. “And here we thought we were doing Tatiana a favor by reading the letter by her graveside so she could hear it. But she’s not even here!”
Brody’s thoughts swirled. Lady Tatiana was buried here? Then who was at Vindemar with Leo?
“I hope this means Tatiana is being nice now,” the elfin girl said.
“Something wondrous has happened,” Brigitta continued. “Two weeks after we played with the Telling Stones, I met a man with red hair and a black horse, exactly like the stones predicted! His name is Leofric of Benwick, and we are to be married.”
With a squeal, Brigitta lowered the letter. “She’s getting married!”
“How exciting!” The redhead clapped her hands.
“But then she’ll ne’er come back,” Maeve mumbled.
The elfin girl patted the selkie on her knee. “It doesn’t mean we’ll ne’er see her again.”