Ocean's Breath Plateau kestrel

The sea ice. Marina closed her eyes under his kiss, smiling softly. Yes, she would heal. How could she doubt that? She was still so young, a mother with her children's whole lives ahead of her.

The fatigue loomed.

When I was a girl, my mother told me stories of witches from the sea who wore the skins of dolphins - not seals, not like selkies. Healers, She exhaled quietly. She said that if I ever found myself sick and failing to heal, I should go to the sea. Her people were of the sea.

They were just stories, I'm sure, Marina murmured, though there was a wondering quality to her tone that suggested she wasn't as sure as she'd said. But I wonder if I should - go. To a healer, until I'm well again. Her eyes found him then, filled with all the worries lingering on the tip of her tongue. She did not want to go. Their children would miss her, and then they would forget her, and then — no, no.

But what else could she do?