#fatedmates

Her mother was kind and patient. She was strong. She was the smartest person Maslynna knew.

"Yes!" Maslynna chirped, her voice bright enough to rival the sun. "You can stay in the west wing. It has a garden for your plants and plenty of storage so you don't have to worry about having to throw away anything because you ran out of space."

Her mother gasped. "All for me?" Her mother knelt and pointed to part of the sandcastle. "This section right here?"

Maslynna tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded, anxiously awaiting her mother's appraisal.

"I love it!" she said, scooping her daughter into her arms. "How did I get so lucky to have such a loving child with a great eye for detail?"

Maslynna tucked her head underneath her mother's chin and inhaled her scent: Rosemary, thyme, with a hint of something citrus. It calmed Maslynna even during the worst of her nightmares or Briallyn's bad moods.

"What about me?" His voice was rich and smooth, not one she had ever heard before, but she knew who it belonged to.

Her father.

She peered up at him, but the sun was casting a large shadow over her father, obscuring any details.

Maslynna giggled. "You'd live with mommy!"

Her mother laughed, the sound warm and musical, echoing off the rolls of the tide. "That sounds lovely."

Gentle hands pulled her up, her toes spreading in the sand as she looked down at her sandcastle. Her home built for her and her family to live in. To make enough memories for a lifetime before starting her own family.

"How about we cool off in the water?" Her father asked, tucking a wild strand of her hair behind her ear. "Last one in sleeps in the barn for a month!"

Squealing, Maslynna took off, kicking up sand as she barreled towards the water. The salty air filled her lungs, arms pumping hard enough she imagined she was one of the gulls about to lift off.

Chancing a look over her shoulder, she saw her mother and father behind her, walking hand-in-hand, a smile radiating off both of them.

When she looked forward again, a wave surged into her, sending her stumbling backward.

"You have to dive into the wave." Her father's hand wrapped around hers. "Try it again, with me. Ready?"

Pushing back the hair plastered on her face, Maslynna nodded, eyeing the next wave rolling towards her.

Her grip tightened on her father as she sucked in a breath and let him lean her into the wave until she dove into the middle of it.

His hands wrapped around her waist to keep her from being pulled with the current, then shoved her past the water's surface and high into the air.

Maslynna shrieked with laughter, the air rushing past chilling her skin while the sunlight worked to warm it. Goosebumps erupted across her arms as her father caught her.

"Again!" She yelled. "Again! Again!"

Her father picked her up and swung her back and forth, counting to five, before tossing her towards her mother, who had met them in the water.

She landed with a splash.

"Mom! Did you see how far I flew?"

"I did!" her mother exclaimed, splashing water at her.

Maslynna grinned wickedly and splashed back until the sun had settled over the horizon; all three of them were drenched, and the saltwater stung their eyes.

"Maslynna, look," her father bellowed, pointing towards a wave rushing towards them. It was larger than any wave she had seen all day. "Remember what I taught you?"

She nodded, determination settling over her features as she turned to face the rogue wave. "Dive into it."

Her vision was blurred by the water in her eyes, but she could feel the pride of her father's gaze on her. She would make him proud by how quickly she had mastered her dives.

"Ready?" Her father's voice boomed over the roaring of the wave.

Maslynna was trembling with anticipation.

"Set," now her mother's voice chimed in from beside her.

"Go!" Maslynna yelled, diving straight into the waves' curl.

The water was cool as it rushed past, twirling and spinning her until she had no idea which way was up.

Maslynna kicked out, her lungs burning for air, but her small legs felt suddenly heavy. Too heavy.

The muffled roar of the ocean bled into a deafening howl. It wasn't the tide anymore. It was the sound of iron cell doors slamming.

The water bubbled around her, the temperature no longer cool but boiling. It felt almost familiar.

Just as quickly as the water turned scalding, it shocked her body as it turned icy.

Miraculously, she had broken the surface, lungs rejoicing as she gulped down breath after breath, the water rough and crashing over her unrelentingly.

"Mom!" She shouted. "Dad!"

The sky no longer housed the sun; the skyline was an inky black that blended in with the water, disorienting her.

A wave pushed her down, her legs kicking to drive her back up, arms breaking the surface, reaching for anything to anchor herself to.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She screamed, the water sloshing into her mouth, causing her to sputter and choke. "Help me!"

Another crash of waves beat down on her; the liquid that slid down her throat was thick and bitter, tasting sharply of rust, copper, and the distinct taste of soured meat.

She opened her eyes beneath the churn, but the ocean had curled into an unyielding, pitch-black abyss. There was no sand. No shore. No sun to chase.

Her small reprieves from being pulled under had her screaming for help and scanning the water for any sign of her mother and father.

"Mom!" She yelled, and for a heartbeat she thought she heard her mother calling to her in the distance.

She spun to where she had heard her mother, but could see nothing but ancient jagged mountains surrounding the water.

She began to swim hard in that direction, certain her mother was fighting the waves just as desperately to reach her.

She kicked her legs fast, her muscles exhausted and aching in protest with each paddle.

The water began to calm until it was placid, the only ripples on the surface coming from Maslynna's desperate attempts to reach her mother.

She could see the shoreline but could not make out anything other than sparse, twisted trees adorned in nothing but moss, scattered around crumbling ancient ruins.

With renewed determination, she pressed her arms and legs harder, urging them to take her to the shore. What may have been minutes stretched into what felt like hours, and she did not think she had gotten any closer to the shore.

"Mommy!" she cried, hot tears streaking down her face. "Daddy! Help me, please!"

But she knew deep down they were not coming. That she was alone in this place.

The water was dark enough that it should have been able to reflect the night sky off of its surface, but instead the darkness of this place swallowed any light except for glimpses of moonlight between wispy clouds.

Her muscles spasmed as she kicked forward again, her body suddenly too heavy to stay afloat.

Her head went under, and with what was left of her energy, she wiggled towards the surface, hoping it was just enough for one more breath. It wasn't. The tainted water filled the space where air should have been.

Her lungs began to burn, and she kicked and kicked but was unable to get herself back above water. She clawed upwards, fingers stretching toward the pale shimmer of the surface. It looked close enough to touch. It wasn't.

Her chest convulsed. The urge to breathe became unbearable.

Mommy.

The thought drifted through her mind as her arms slowed.

Daddy.

No answering voice called her back. Her vision began to shrink.

No familiar hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her high above the waves.

No one came.

Her arms drifted to her sides. The water no longer felt cold. It didn't feel like anything. Darkness crept inward from the edges of her vision until only a small circle of moonlight remained above her.