Shadow in the Sea
by Sheila A. Nielson
Publication
date: July 15th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young
Adult
Synopsis
When
sixteen-year-old Sadelyn Hanson washes up on the shores of Windwaithe Island,
her beauty and the strange marks on her wrist make superstitious locals suspect
she is a mermaid. Feigning amnesia, Sade hides a far worse secret: she was
sailing to her own murder trial when she was thrown overboard by the real
killer, the cunning and cruel Captain Westwood.
Sade’s
quiet effort to rebuild her life on the island is threatened when she meets an
actual young merman. Unable to speak his language, Sade still longs for the
warm companionship he offers, despite the locals’ dire legends about merfolk
and their dark magic. But her confused feelings for the impossible boy become
the least of her problems when Captain Westwood’s ship docks at Windwaithe.
With nowhere to escape, Sade must trust in the one person who doesn’t fear the
merfolk. A woman who had dealings with them herself—years ago.
Excerpt
“What
do you mean?” I demanded. My heart beat heavily against the back of my ribs.
Had he heard about my impending trial from his father?
“I’ll
bet you’re a mermaid,” James said.
I
was so relieved by his ridiculous answer I laughed out loud. It was a tight
unnatural sound, nothing like the way I used to laugh.
James
lifted his chin to a lofty angle, clearly offended by my amusement at his
expense. “There are such things as mermaids you know—especially around
Windwaithe Island. I should know because a member of my family was once stolen
away by one.”
Stolen
away? I wrinkled my nose and narrowed my eyes at him in disbelief.
James’s
eyes were a brilliant blue as he hurried on with what was obviously one of his
favorite stories. “Lady Lauretta was my great, great—well she was a great,
great something or other of mine—she was put under a spell by her.”
“Who?”
I asked, suddenly overcome by curiosity.
A
hush came over James’s voice as he spoke the words. “The Windwaithe Mermaid.”
My
breath caught somewhere in my chest. When I didn’t speak, he continued. “They
say the mermaid was beautiful beyond words, with dark green skin and a voice
filled with terrible magic. She sang Lady Lauretta right out of her bed in the
middle of the night, laying a powerful trance upon her. Lauretta’s father tried
to stop the mermaid from taking her, but the creature used her powers to curse
the island and call up a terrible storm—”
Noticing
my face for the first time, James broke off in the middle of his story. “Are
you all right, Miss Sade? You look ill.”
I
did indeed feel sick.
I’ve
never seen anything like her before? She’s exquisite. Like some elfin creature
out of a fairy story… You heard the men who found her. She was just lying there
in the surf—washed up out of the sea with nary a sign of a boat, like something
out of the old tales.
Estelle
spoke those words of me the first night I awakened in the Rousay cottage. I had
not understood then—I did now. This was the curse Captain Westwood spoke of. A
powerful curse straight out of the darkest depths of the sea itself. And they
thought I had something to do with it.
I
squeezed my hands tight into fists. “I’m not a mermaid.”
“If
you don’t remember where you came from, how do you know?” James asked. “You
might be the Windwaithe mermaid’s daughter or something.”
“Do
I look like a mermaid?” I demanded.
James’s
blue eyes took in all of me with a glance. He smiled shyly. “You’re pretty
enough to be one. I’ve never met anyone with hair like yours—long, with all
those braids woven in.”
I
immediately regretted not heeding Estelle’s warnings about wearing my hair down
in public. “If I were a mermaid, would I have two perfectly good legs?” I
lifted my skirt just enough to reveal the tops of my two booted feet.
James
grinned, gracefully giving way in his defeat. “All right, so maybe you’re not a
mermaid.”
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AUTHOR BIO
Sheila
never did figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up. She graduated
from college with a BFA in illustration, has worked as a
children's librarian for over eighteen years, and would
eventually like to be a full-time author. Why pick one career when you can
have many? Sheila lives with her two pets, a goffin cockatoo and a
tiny toy poodle. She was born and raised in California but has come to
also love her adopted home in Utah where she currently resides.
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