Intelligent brown eyes turned to her in triumph. “Do I?”
Terena gave herself a few seconds before she lifted her lips in a mock smile. “I’d like it back.”
King Altos regarded her for a long moment, his handsome face pensive, before he tipped his head and clicked his tongue. “I’ll be honest,” he said, pacing away from her, “I expected… more. When word reached us of your treason, how you’d attacked the princes, killing one and almost killing the other, I thought, ‘this must be the most cunning of assassins’.” He clicked his tongue again, moving back to his throne.
He sighed when he sat. “I admit to being disappointed.” He motioned to the guards closest to Terena, and they strode forward. She moved, intent on shielding Sonah, and failed.
Two guards held her while another grabbed Sonah’s arm. Terena struggled against the guards, her blood roaring in her ears as she cast a desperate look at Daris Antonius.
Sonah screamed and thrashed, calling out Terena’s name.
“You’re making a big mistake,” she said, jerking again at the hold the guards had on her.
The king lifted his hand and the guards moved away from her. Terena shot a look first at the commander, then silently to the king at his back. Her eyes filled with rage.
“Insurance, if you will,” the king said, almost bored. Sonah stood shaking at his side.
“For what?” Terena ground out.
“Compliance.”
Terena waited.
“You came here looking for something,” the king said a moment later, his shrewd eyes narrowed as he waved a hand to her. “But I need something as well. I can, of course, simply use the… what you came for, as assurance, but I’m inclined to think you might find a way around that, so… here we are.”
“Speak plain.”
He laughed, and she saw the guards shift. Terena knew speaking like that to the king—any king—would likely earn her a physicalrebuke but she was beyond caring at that point. The man had her sister as a hostage.
He clearly had no idea who he was dealing with.
“All right,” he said with a heavy sigh, resting his chin in his hand once more. “I’ll speak plain. Do you know the story of Bethana and Melanos?”
Terena blinked in confusion. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded. “The myth of the demigod and his lover. Poseidon killed him and turned the woman into a serpent. Aye. I know it.”
“Good. I don’t need to explain then.” He shifted, lacing his fingers together while his arms rested on the sides of his throne and shrugged.
“I need you to find Bethana and bring me her fangs.”
Sonah watched Terena.Her face slackened at the king’s words.
“What?”
The king turned out his laced fingers and looked at her expectantly. “Too much?”
Terena scoffed. She glanced at the commander, then back at the king as if he were mad. “You asking me to bring back fangs from a mythical sea serpent? Aye. I’d say that’s a bit much.”
King Altos grinned. “You know, I am starting to like you,” he said offhandedly. “I’m still going to need you to get me those fangs, though. If you want me to give you what you came for. Oh, and the Royal Taster, of course.”
Terena’s face reddened, her lips pursed in a way Sonah knew did not bode well for the king. Sonah tried to take a step, but the guard on her left tightened his grip until it hurt. As if sensing her pain, Terena’s eyes shot to her.
“Stay your men,” she seethed, “or this will not end well for them. Or you.”
The guards all unsheathed their swords; even the commander had his hand on the hilt of his as he watched Terena.
Sonah swallowed.
The king lost his smile that quickly. He shot up from his throne. “How dare you? I’ve indulged your rudeness because I need your cooperation, but I can force your compliance, with or without Sonah Yahn. And if you persist, I will make sure you never see the Twins.”
