For a single morning, noon, and night, I paced the stone room.
As far as I could see, there was no lock on the door, and therefore no key. I summoned water to force it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Silk-clad Naiads came to bring me meals, though they refused to answer any of my questions, their gazes downcast as they took my empty plate and left.
I didn’t see the Queen again.
In Naiad form, I curled in my little pool, watching the blue lights glow across the stone ceiling. It was impossible to know if it were day or night, but the moon had been three days from full when I left, and I worried if I stayed too long, I’d miss its zenith in the sky.
It was quiet. It was lonely.
Thoughts of Kye were my company, though they did little to comfort me. I closed my eyes and imagined him near, his skin warm and scent full of minty rain, and found myself cursingMihaunathat this entire time, I never knew he was mine.
“Creature,” Nori’s voice called from the door.
Dashing my cheeks, I glanced over my shoulder to find Nori and Olinne staring at me. I sat upright, teeth clenched. Nori was Sidra’sOculos,her eyes and ears, and I held as little faith in them as I did in Darkness.
“Rise, creature,” Nori said. “The time has come to claim that which you seek.”
I made no move to respond. Settling back into the water, I closed my eyes. “I remember you using those words before you dragged me under the water. I shouldn’t have trusted you then, and I don’t trust you now.”
“You don’t understand,” Olinne’s musical voice answered. “You have offered your own loyalty to an enemy, and then surrendered yourself to our queen’s custody. By Naiad law, she is right to keep you locked away. You will never leave this colony while she is living.”
My blood simmered, eyes delving into the wall. Tallies. Prisoners counting the days that led them to their deaths. How old was this stone nest?
“You must be the one to kill her, Maren.”
It was Nori who spoke, and to Nori whom I turned to face, my mouth gaping. The Naiad gazed back with unflinching copper eyes.
“OurDomusneeds aPrizivac Vodeto lead it. Our queen knows this, but she is dying. She thought to raise you, to keep you human as long as possible, bathing in the moon’s power and growing your strength, so she could one day hand you the title. Were you simply an heir, she could pass her strength to you and live out her days teaching you to master your skills. But now you are an enemy. Do you not see what you must do, in order to be free?”
“You’re mad,” I said, though somewhere deep in my bones, I realized it was true. I was owned by my promises to Thaan. Anenemy in these waters. By Naiad law, I’d need to take the colony by force. “I can’t even open the door.”
“I can,” Nori said, stroking her fingers down the stone. It swung open for her slowly, groaning against the floor, quivering at her touch. From the open doorway, the Naiads watched me.
I straightened, looking from one to the other in rigid horror. “You’d free me to kill your queen.” My eyes searched for any sign of deception, but they simply stared at me, impassive. “Why?”
“You were sixteen at your first bleeding,” Nori said. “By that time, our queen had seen enough. You placed your energy into the world and asked for nothing in return. Your passion fed your love, and life bloomed where you walked. She named you her heir the day you retrieved the Breath of Safiro under the ice, with every intention of teaching you to use your powers herself, when you were ready. And you were so close. You had two moons to go when we realized you hadcordaed. Do you not see that we have servedyousince the beginning? Thatyouhave only ever had our loyalty? That to Olinne and I, you already are our queen?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t see it.”
Nori stepped through the door, hand extended. “Let me convince you.”
Her fingers uncurled, and she waited for me to take her hand. Eyes narrowed, I studied her. Red-wine hair, long and luxuriously shining. Faint freckles over the bridge of her nose. Deep copper eyes.
From the doorway, Olinne lifted her chin, waiting, a flicker of hope flashing across her face.
I stared at Nori’s hand, long and graceful.
It could’ve been a trap. It likely was.
But I couldn’t see how my prospects could get any worse. All Sidra had to do was keep me locked here for three years to kill me. It might not even take that long—I’d already lost two months of my life while returning from Rivea. The rules of Naiad bloodand vows were obscure. There were no written laws; I only had what I was told.
Above me, Nori waited patiently.
“How do I know you won’t kill me the moment I take your hand?”
Nori smiled. “There is danger in all things, creature. How do you know the safer path is the one in which you do not?”
Sighing, I transitioned, curling my feet under my body to stand. My fingers slid into Nori’s, expecting to be helped up. But Nori closed her eyes. And my vision dispersed.
