Castaway Heart: Castaway Heart, #1

By L.C. Mawson

A noble heir, paralysed by duty.

Lyna knows that she doesn’t possess the social acumen required of a noble mermaid, and in Atlantis, it’s a matter of life and death. Making up for it with her intellect is about all she has, but that’s beginning to wear thin as she suspects that her sister’s mate is less than the honourable man he seems...

A scholar bound by marriage to a monster.

Dyna would never have chosen her arranged mating, even if Hian hadn’t been so controlling, but it was her duty. When he started taking out his anger on her with his fists, she knew that she had to leave, but there was nowhere for her to go. Mermaids don’t dissolve their matings, after all. Her only option would be Earth, and she would need help...

A warrior with more skill as a healer.

Slayers pride combat prowess before all else, but Sam was always better with healing magic. Left with nowhere to call his own, living among humans and hiding his magic seemed the best option. But when two mermaids fleeing Atlantis land on the deck of his ship, he can’t bring himself to leave them to fend for themselves, even if it means exposing his own secrets...

A doctor trapped between two worlds.

Lisa had been seeing strange things ever since she was a child. Once magic was revealed to the world, it became clear that she could see through the glamours of magical beings. The ability didn’t make her any less human but left her feeling alone between worlds. When Sam brings two badly injured mermaids onto the ship, however, she might be thrown full-throttle into the world of magic as she attempts to help them hide from those who would hunt them.

Four entwined destinies become entwined hearts as they struggle against the bounty hunters sent to retrieve the two mermaids.

CASTAWAY HEART is the first book in a trilogy of paranormal romance books, following the four protagonists as they become two couples.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.C. Mawson
• Release date: May 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386195061

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Copyright

Copyright © Lucy Mawson (2017). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Books

The Freya Snow Series

Hunt

Short Story Collection

White

Wings

Oracle

Witch

Enhanced

Reaper

Trident

Castaway Heart

Castaway Heart

Castaway Soul

Castaway Love

Other Snowverse Titles

Trapped

The Lady Ruth Constance Chapelstone Chronicles

The Clockwork Suitor

The Parisian Thief

The American Escapade

The Phoenix Saga

Heart of a Moon

Protector

CHAPTER ONE

According to every tutor Lyna had ever had, any Mermaid of standing in Atlantis must strive to be graceful, intelligent, caring, and patient.

Lyna had intelligence down.

Everything else was, admittedly, a work in progress.

Though, at half way through her twenties, she was already supposed to have it all figured out.

The tutors had been gone for years, and Lyna was left fumbling as she took up her duties as the Primary Heir to her house, preparing to take over its rule from her father when he passed.

She tried to be graceful and patient and kind, she truly did, but that was a hell of a lot easier when things weren’t going wrong.

And they always seemed to be going wrong…

Fria, she said, doing everything she could to keep her displeased siren song from escaping her throat. She didn’t want to upset the Mermaid in front of her. When I said plain algae to decorate the outside of the estate, what part of that made you think that neon, glowing pink would be acceptable?

Lyna had meant the question to be fairly innocuous. She’d kept her tone light, knowing that upsetting Fria wouldn’t help at this point. They were too close to the house’s ball beginning for Lyna to be down a pair of hands. Especially when they’d need to replace all of the algae decorations.

To her surprise, however, Fria responded by bursting into a sob, the aqua scales covering every inch of her body looking almost sickly under the pink glow of the algae, her jet-black eyes sparkling with emotion as her androgynous Mer frame bent over with the force of her sob.

Lyna blinked, at a complete loss. Fria wasn’t the type to cry. In fact, Lyna had never seen her so much as wobble, even when being yelled at.

And yet, here she was, struggling to speak through her sobs.

Fria... Lyna started uncertainly.

She could keep people on a schedule, and she could usually figure out who could handle the work expected of them and who couldn’t, but...

Well, no one had ever accused her of being a people person.

People were resources, to be used as needed.

But resources didn’t usually start crying on her...

I’m so sorry, Fria managed, as she finally stifled her sobs enough to speak. I swear, they weren’t glowing or pink when I ordered them.

Lyna sighed, nodding. That probably meant that the strain changed colour depending on the environment or time of day. Which meant, if they figured out the reason for the change, they could potentially change it back without having to replace everything.

Of course, she’d need Fria on the task, and she was still not entirely composed.

Fria... Lyna managed, bobbing awkwardly in the water next to her servant. She moved a hand towards her, but quickly pulled it back, not sure if a comforting touch would be appropriate or accepted. I... Is something wrong?

I... What? No, why would you...

Well, I just... This was a fairly basic mistake to make. I’ve never seen you make mistakes like this. Usually, I can rely on you. And I’ve certainly never seen you cry over something we can fix. You’re usually the first with the practical solutions.

Fria cringed. I... I’m sorry. I didn’t... I didn’t think it would affect me so much, and I knew that you had the ball coming up and I didn’t want to leave you down a pair of hands.

Lyna frowned. What do you mean? What did you think wouldn’t affect you? Are you ill?

I... No. I’m sorry, I was with my mate and we... I started to form an egg.

Lyna suppressed a groan. When Mers were mated, they would often share their magic. Eventually, they reached a point at which they would form an egg.

It was a week-long process that drained a Mer’s physical energy, as well as their magic.

Fria, Lyna started, doing her best to keep her irritation from her tone - or worse, from turning into a siren song - why didn’t you just tell me? I could have gotten an extra pair of hands for the week You know how important this ball is.

Fria cringed again. I know, I know, I just... I didn’t want to let you down. I honestly thought I would be able to handle it.

Lyna nodded. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to go back to the supplier and figure out why it started glowing pink and if there’s a way to easily reverse it. If not, we’ll have to tear it down and do without. There’s no time for a replacement.

Fria nodded. I’m so sorry, she said again.

Lyna folded her arms. Just get going.

Patient and graceful and kind, she reminded herself, taking a deep breath to calm her panic as she rushed back inside the estate, heading straight to the kitchen.

Please tell me there aren’t any problems here, Lyna said as she approached Dual, her head chef.

Dual smiled. Don’t worry. You were about two backups too thorough in planning the menu.

Lyna smirked, folding her arms. I’ll believe that when the night is over. Anything else I should know about?

You’re not going to like it.

It’s not my job to like things, it’s my job to fix them, Lyna said, her smile having morphed into a dark frown.

The grand ballroom is mostly ready, but the girls coming through here have been complaining about Gian. Apparently, he’s been slacking off again, and I’ve heard rumours that he’s letting his friends through to ‘see how the nobility live’.

Lyna’s fingers tightened around her arms, a song of irritation growling from her throat, causing Dual to flinch just a little.

Sorry, Lyna said, forcing her song back down as soon as she realised that it had seeped out of her, it’s just...

That he’s your uncle’s bastard and you can’t fire him without offending that uncle.

Lyna gave her a stern look. She knew that everyone knew of Gian’s true parentage, but it would be nice if the other servants at least pretended not to know to her face.

Dual, however, had worked for their house for too long to be cowed. She remembered Lyna as a tadpole, after all. In fact, she probably remembered the same of her father.

I’ll speak to him, Lyna promised.

And if he doesn’t listen?

Then I’ll just have to accept pissing off Uncle Tanel. The house has to come first, not the consequences of his shameful misdeeds.

Dual shook her head. I should scold you for being unkind, but I just can’t bring myself to do it when you’re talking about Gian.

That bad, huh?

He certainly takes after his father...

I’ll speak to him, Lyna said again, before heading off to the ballroom.

She hadn’t been back there since the first thing that morning, and the change astounded her.

It was all based on her own plans, of course, but the change was simply magnificent.

The usually plain gold metal had been covered in silver lacing and pearls, creating an intricate matrix that mimicked ocean foam around the room.

In the centre of the room, there were orbs of soft blue light, illuminating the room with an eerie glow that cut through the silver to reveal the shadows of various sea creatures on the walls.

The glass floor had been polished perfectly, the blue glowing magnificently beneath the orbs.

Every ball was a chance to create a unique night, and share the artistic talent of the hosting house.

Lyna had been to many, and yet she was sure that hers would be something to talk about.

Not least because the Princess would be attending.

Well, not THE Princess, but one of the King’s daughters.

The one at the perfect age for Lyna’s younger sister, Jial, to potentially court.

Lyna already had a betrothed. Her parents had arranged the mating when she was a young girl, wanting to join their house to the up-and-coming House Fin to preempt any upcoming change to the status-quo. And her twin sister had already mated the Merman their parents had picked out for her, the Primary Heir of another great house.

Jial was the next eldest child. Not quite an adult, but still older than usual to be without a betrothal. However, thanks to Lyna and Dyna’s arranged matings, there wasn’t quite the push for their younger siblings. They could wait until either they wanted to mate for love, or until a rare opportunity for a perfect mating appeared.

Such as the Princess choosing to leave the castle and attend Lyna’s ball.

It wasn’t just chance that it was Lyna’s family that had been chosen, of course. Theirs was one of the most powerful houses in Atlantis and had been for generations. If Lyna succeeded, it wouldn’t be the first royal mating in their family, but it had been a few generations. Ever since the royal family had secluded themselves, there hadn’t really been many matings beyond those the King organised, and he hadn’t been too keen to do so for anyone beyond his immediate three heirs.

We’re almost done, Kia, one of the younger servants, said, swimming up to her. She looked a little frantic at Lyna’s appearance. There’s just a couple of things left.

Lyna nodded with her best kind smile. It’s fine, Kia, I’m not here to check the decorations. There’s still plenty of time. Assuming no one else has ordered the wrong kind of algae. "I’m just looking for