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.
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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.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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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