Read The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea for Free Online Page A

know they’ve done everything in their power to protect those whom they love most. To know that they tried when no one else could or even would!”
    Shin’s brow furrows; he’s clearly frustrated. “Slow down. I can’t catch everything you’re saying.”
    â€œWho are you to judge their hopes? At least they have them. What do you have? A sword that cuts. Words filled with hate.”
    We’re both breathing heavily. His gaze moves upward, from my mouth to my eyes. “For someone who can’t speak,” he says slowly, “you have a lot to say.” Th ere’s a hint of something in his voice—respect? He looks as if he means to say more, but he turns away. “But it doesn’t matter. In another life, you might have found a more welcome shore than this. As it is, the sea is dark and the Sea God sleeps, and the shore is too far to reach.”
    I’ve heard the cadence of these words before. Th ey’re a farewell.
    â€œWait!” I shout, but of course no sound comes out. I reach for him, only to grab empty air.
    He sprints from the room, his steps soundless across the wooden floors. In the space of a breath, he’s gone.
    What just happened? Th e level-headed part of me knows that I can survive without my soul. After all, I’m living and breathing at this very moment. But a larger part feels that without the magpie, I am not wholly myself. I feel lighter without it, and not in a pleasant way. I feel as if a breeze could set me adrift, as insubstantial as a leaf on the wind.
    Th e silence that felt thick before now feels empty without the familiar sound of my own breathing. Shivering, I wrap my arms around my body and turn to face the Sea God.
    He’s just as he was before, but for one difference. Th e hand that held the ribbon is bare, nothing to evidence that he and I were once connected. Th ere is no color in the air between us, no Red String of Fate. If he were to wake now, would he even recognize me as his bride?
    Th e Sea God lets out a soft sigh.
    I take a step forward.
    Th ere’s a thunderous crack of sound, and I’m flung backward. Digging my heels into the floor, I grapple for purchase, but it’s as if solid wind has taken hold of me. Th e Sea God becomes a distant blur as an invisible force drags me from the hall, through one empty courtyard after another. Doors slam shut as I pass through each gateway, the sound of great planks of wood sliding into place behind me.
    I’m released outside the Sea God’s palace. Stumbling, I almost fall down the grand stairs. A loud groan signals theclosing of the main gate. I scramble to my feet and throw my body against the doors as they shut with a resounding boom.
    I pound my fists against thick wood. All I get for my efforts are bruised hands and a terrible ache in my chest. I slump to the ground, exhausted. My pulse throbs erratically, and I have to count my breaths to calm the wild beating of my heart.
    I remain on the ground, dazed, for several minutes before I notice something has changed. Th e air is clear.
    And then I hear it, a sound like laughter drifting through the wind. Slowly I get to my feet and turn. Th e mysterious fog has lifted, revealing the night.
    Behind me, spread out like a painter’s canvas, is the Sea God’s city.
    It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before—a labyrinth of buildings with curved rooftops and bowed bridges, scattered throughout like solid arcs of rainbow. Gold light shines from lanterns hung from three-story-high poles, like sails of ships caught on fire. Th ere are more lanterns floating in the water, on the canal streets piercing through the city like branches of a magnificent, glowing tree.
    Brightly colored fish swim along the breeze, as if the sky were an ocean. Whales like clouds float lazily overhead. And in the distance, the dragon slips through the air like a kite freed of the earth.
    I’ve never seen anything more