Tide — Alydia Rackham

A fathomless tale of a girl who dreams of another world--but if the prince refuses to marry her, she will die, and the great seal she protects will fall into the hands of the Sea Witch. For the sake of the entire realm, young Galahad Stormcrane, a great Curse-Breaker, must somehow convince a royal prince to fall in love with a mermaid who cannot speak."A lone, black figure stood upon the crest of a hill, astride a muscular horse -- equally black. The young rider's cape twisted out behind him, borne on a cantankerous wind that had wound its way up through the craggy valley from the sea. That same wind disturbed the long, rolling mane of the horse, sending it writhing across the rider's gloved hands -- and it troubled the rider's shoulder-length, ebony hair. The young rider turned his pale, scarred face toward the towering forest wall to his left, as his steed's shod hooves shifted and scraped against beaten stone. Even at the distance from whence he stood, he could feel an unearthly cold wafting out from between the gnarled fir trees. And though steely clouds covered the sky, he could glimpse the dark sparkle of frost amongst the branches.Frost. In summer.The young man narrowed his black eyes and set his jaw. “Cryck!” The throaty, creaking cry echoed through the shallow valley from above. The rider glanced up to see the familiar form of a large, tattered raven swoop past, and glide ahead of him toward the deepening of the cleft in the hills. The rider adjusted his grip on the reins, and, giving one last black look at the border of woods, urged his horse down the hill. He balanced easily as his mighty horse trotted down the wide gravel road, ignoring the cut in the wind -- so different from the sun-soaked, sweeping hills he'd recently left behind. He passed down through the gully, and urged his steed into a canter. The long sword at his side beat a rhythm against his thigh, and his cape slapped the horse's hindquarters. The raven overhead gave another absent squawk, and flapped his wings against the breeze.Within an hour, they left all sight of the woods behind, and the gully opened up to a broad moor dotted with rugged heath and exposed stone. The sun shattered the clouds here, spilling down in waterfalls upon the earth below. And at the edge of this moor, the earth fell away, and the sea spread like a glittering carpet all the way to the horizon -- interrupted only by a set of islands, the foremost island striking a vast and soaring form against the brilliance of the water."