“You’re right.” Edward rubbed his chin, eyes distant with thought.
“As much as I’d like to stay here and read ancient poetry with you, we’d better get to training. Pisceon may be chiseled like a god, but he’s a moody prick who will have our heads if we’re late.”
Edward chuckled, neatly stacking his books before following me out of the library.
Pisceon hovered before the line of Mer and Siren trainees, a thick coil of green seaweed net bundled in his hands. We slipped quietly into place at the end of the queue.
“Some of you may not have the skill of combat.” His voice rumbled like a distant storm. He unfurled the net with a wrist snap, and the strands whispered through the water like a living thing. “This,” he said, “will give you just as much power over the Drowned as a seasoned warrior like me.”
“One could scarcely imagine him more arrogant,” Edward huffed.
I stifled a giggle. “He’s totally hot, though.”
Edward made a noise of indignation, earning a sharp glare from Pisceon.
“One motion,” the merman instructed. “One clean throw. Hesitate, and the Drowned will tear it from your grasp.”
I gathered up the net as Edward stepped into the role of a Drowned, facing me head-on. I bit my lip as I bundled the slimy weed into my chest. “I apologize in advance for my clumsiness.”
Pisceon glided behind me, his cobalt tail stirring the water as he brushed his thumb over my hip. “Now throw—from here,” he said.
With a twist of my body, I hurled the net outward, where it curled over Edward, weighted down by shells and stones woven into its edges. It settled on the seafloor while Edward struggled beneath it. I pulled the draw line tight, trapping him within a web of seaweed.
“Good.” Pisceon let out a dry laugh as Edward writhed like a cat caught in a sack.
“Always a fan of acaptiveaudience, weren’t you, cousin?” a deep and amused voice said from behind us.
I spun around. Finn hovered nearby, his emerald tail glittering as it flicked behind him. Dark hair drifted around his face, and a smile tugged at his mouth as he watched Pisceon instruct us.
Beside him stood Morgana, sleek fur clinging to every curve of her toned body. Her long red hair flowed down her back, and her face lit up when she spotted me. She was clutching a silver box tightly under her arm.
I squealed, sand kicking up behind me as I ran to throw my arms around her.
“Excuse me, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Edward’s grumbling reminded me that he was still caught in the net.
Morgana and I rushed forward, giggling as we freed him. He surfaced, rosy-cheeked and muttering under his breath.
Finn rested a hand on Morgana’s lower back, then gestured toward the castle. “We’d better report to the king and queen.”
I winked at Morgana, who flushed and quickly pulled away from Finn. She cast a nervous glance toward Glacies, and I followed her gaze, but Glacies and Aarna were too busy laughing and tossing the net between them to notice Finn and Morgana’s arrival.
“I’ll accompany you, cousin,” Pisceon grunted. “Keep practicing,” he yelled at his line of Mer.
“We’ll come too.” I followed behind the group, dragging Edward with me. I needed to know everything that had happened on that trip.
We trailed them into the throne room, where King Proteus and Queen Peisinoe awaited us.
“Welcome back!” King Proteus threw open his arms, gliding from his throne to embrace his nephew. “Was your trip successful?”
“It was.” Finn dipped his chin at his uncle, then locked eyes with Pisceon and nodded, and it seemed Pisceon’s shoulders sagged with relief.
My eyes narrowed into slits, and I turned to Morgana to see if she’d noticed, but she wasn’t watching them; her eyes were tracking the darkened veins in Proteus’s neck, and pain flickered across her face.
“So you found the prophecy?” Proteus asked, absentmindedly touching the dark tendrils.
“Not yet, uncle, but we believe this box could hold the answers, and Inegar is bringing the key to the summit.” Finn gestured to the silver treasure cradled in Morgana’s hands as he ran a finger along her arm.
Edward’s eyes narrowed, and he let out a noise of disapproval beside me.
