Other times, different things would drift into my thoughts—the way his cheeks would flush when he looked at me, his shaky hands as he instructed me in training—and these thoughts were worse... much worse. So I locked them away.
Aarna interrupted my reveries, craning her neck to look at Pisceon. “Cousin, I hear you’ve been training the Thálassians to contain the Drowned.”
“Cousin? I thought you wereFinn’scousin,” I blurted, eyeing Pisceon’s dark brows—so like Finn’s—but now I noticed his skin was the warm brown of the two Okeanós mermaids.
“My father was King Neptunus’s brother, and my mother was Aarna and Layla’s mother’s sister.” Pisceon’s eyebrows came together in exasperation.
“Was?” I said before I could stop myself.
Pisceon’s expression was hard as he stared back at me. “Both my parents died from the Shadow.”
My gaze shifted to King Proteus, and I noticed the Siren queen squeeze his hand.
“So you two are sisters.” I quickly changed the subject, glancing between Aarna and Layla. I could see it now: they had the same brown, amber-flecked eyes. Yet Layla had darker skin and thick hair, whereas Aarna’s fell in midnight tresses.
“Yes.” Laya laughed softly. “Our parents are king and queen of Okeanós. You will meet them at the summit.”
I smiled like I understood, but my head was spinning.
“I will join your training today.” Aarna’s grin this time was for Glacies, and I caught a faint flush rising in the pale-haired mermaid’s cheeks.
Side by side, they looked like two warrior women who could take on any Drowned and did not need to toil with us.
“Great.” Proteus clapped his hands. “Tonight, my sons return from Italy, and we will make merry.”
My stomach fluttered, heat pooling below my navel. I had missed the gorgeous purple-haired merman warming my bed.
After breakfast, I found Edward in the Thálassian library. My breath caught in my throat as I cast my eyes over the space. Vaulted stone ceilings paintedwith colorful frescoes met white marble shelves that wound down to the floor, each packed with an array of books.
The Mer could swim and browse the higher shelves, but the librarian had made Edward a ladder of kelp. She moved it along for him so he could peruse each section.
His cheeks were flushed as he climbed down the slick ladder, cradling a stack of ancient books. “Can you believe this place?”
“It’s magnificent,” I breathed, turning on the spot to take it in.
“Never would I have believed that any Mer could treat me so kindly,” Edward said, shaking his head. “The Thálassians have well and truly proved me wrong.”
I trailed after him as he made his way to a cozy curved alcove in one of the stone walls and started organizing his books on the table there.
“What are you reading?” I asked, picking up a worn tome wrapped in dark leather, its gilded front cover featuring a symbol of a shell.
“The Thálassians are distant kin of theA?tlanticus Mer, so they’ve preserved some of the original texts. Did you know theA?tlanticans could store power in objects? They passed that ability down to the Thálassians.”
“Like that necklace I almost bought at the Sunken Bazaar?” I lifted my chin in thought.
“Exactly,” Edward said, his throat working with excitement. “It’s quite fascinating, and look at this.” He thrust forward an ancient leather-bound book, its yellowed parchment worn thin with age.
My brows flickered. “What am I looking at?”
Edward exhaled in exasperation, pulling the book back and running a freckled finger down the page. “It’s a poem by an ancient Mer poet ofA?tlanticus.”
He rolled his shoulders, adopting a regal tone as he read aloud. “‘Quaking with rage, Poseidon’s voice doth boom. Manannán, you aresentenced to a life of shadows and gloom. Destined forever to walk beneath the sea, your fate is tied to prophecy.
“‘But the God of Seas and Skies was sly when he decreed: When my artifacts are united in holy trinity, my people will reclaim their power, and my son, Mer Prince Kyano, will be free.’”
He leaned toward me over the table. “Do you think this has anything to do with the prophecy?”
I made a face. “Deciphering the prophecy is more Morgana’s thing.”
