“Let’s go,” Lyre whispers as my other sisters who are floating next to us begin to disperse into the crowd.
A shriek cuts through the revelry, followed by a quieter grunt of pain. I scan the space, finding Allegra as she stares down at Darya, her trident pierced so deeply into the siren that none of the three prongs are visible above her body.
“What is the meaning of this?” Queen Amari asks casually, soundingbored.
“She waited weeks to tell us that her sister had betrayed us. She should have come right away, but instead, she chose a liar over the safety of her queendom. She deserves death as her sister did.” Allegra yanks the trident from Darya’s now dead body, smiling as Mashaka uses his bottle nose to poke at the dead siren’s scales.
“A fair judgment, my daughter. Come now, everyone, the time for celebration is upon us!” Two more legionaries in seashell armor swim up to grab Darya’s body, taking her quickly through the partygoers and out of the throne room.
Drums are brought out as well as conch shells and string instruments, and a band begins to play, the melody seductive and rhythmic. I shoot Lyre a quick look—one that says I’ll meet her in my room in a little bit—before I pretend to mingle with the crowd.
No one attempts to talk with me, as everyone I pass either gives me space or stares at me like I’m the next one that will be called a traitor. What they don’t understand is that I don’t want to betray my mother or this queendom. I don’t want to put anyone at risk or see anyone hurt.
Keeping my chin high as I swim towards the back of the room, I’m startled when Mashaka abruptly appears, his gray rubbery nose poking at my chest painfully as he lets out a high-pitched noise.
My heart leaps into my throat as I try, and fail, to get around the delphinidae. Panic tears at my insides knowing that if Allegra sees me trying to leave so soon, she’ll force me to do something horrific to prove my loyalty to our mother—toher.Eyeing the door, I watch as a small group of sirens swims towards it. Knowing I have to time it perfectly, I feign moving to the left just as the group reaches the door. Mashaka falls for my bluff, and I immediately take off to the right, darting between sirens as I race towards the door.
He lets out a screeching noise, butluckily,I am able to squeeze through the door before it shuts, slamming it closed in front of Mashaka and holding it there until I hear his retreating squeaks of frustration. Relaxing my shoulders, I hastily proceed to my room, propelling myself through the winding, open tunnels connecting the floors of the palace.
While only those with royal blood are able to swim past the first floor—an ancient enchantment keeping them from doing so—I don’t like being out of my room on my own at night time. I am not a beloved daughter of the queen, and Lyre is the only oneof my sisters who is activelykindto me. The rest either view me as competition for the throne or ignore me completely.
I don’t want the throne, nor do I even want to stay in the palace. What would it be like to not have to be a part of this world? To not have to pretend to be something so cruel? As I reach my room, a ruby-red jewel placed in the middle of the door, I wonder how much longer I can continue on before I turn into the very thing I’m afraid of.
Chapter Six: Rhea
I walk over tothe windows in Flynn’s sitting room and look down at the palace grounds outside. Set atop a small hill and surrounded by some of the biggest trees I have ever seen, the palace is nothing short of marvelous. Despite being three stories, it stillblendsinto the surroundings. What I’ve seen so far of this kingdom is so vibrant, the plants and trees integrated into the structures and not merely pushed out of the way to make space for buildings. Even inside, multiple potted plants dot each corner—varieties which I’ve never seen before.
Flynn had brought me to his bedroom on the third floor before leaving to say goodbye to his sister as she embarks on a journey to the Shifter Kingdom. The sitting room is indeed veryprincelywith its dark wood floors and rich-colored accents. A deep blue and gold oval rug lies in the middle of the space while two green couches face each other across it, a wooden table between them. To the right of where I stand, in front of a wall of windows and a sliding glass door that leads to a balcony, is a square table with four chairs. A bookcase stacked neatly with different tomes lines a wall to my left, a fireplace with a light wood mantel next to it. There’s a door on the adjacent wall, one that must lead to Flynn’s bedroom.
The whole space reminds me of him—elegant, unexpected, and confident. I’m angry that it even smells like him, and more than that, I hate that I’m comforted that it does.Stupid, naive woman.
It’s everything my tower wasn’t, and still, my body seems to feel the needles of confinement creeping in. I’m no longer locked in a prison—not even locked in this room—but it doesn’t seem to matter as my lungs struggle to inhale deeply enough. Time creeps by while I’m lost in my thoughts before Flynn returns and I feel him come up behind me, my eyes shutting as I try to focus on taking a full breath.
“Rhea, please talk to me. Let me try to explain everything. I swear to you, I—”
“Just tell me,” I insist, turning away from the window to face him.
His face falls before he drags a hand down it and gestures for me to take a seat on one of the couches. He doesn’t join me, though, opting to stand.
“Four years ago, we felt a burst of magic come from the Mortal Kingdom. We had never felt magic radiate like that before and certainly would have never expected it from akingdom that was supposed to be magicless.” A line forms between my brows as I think his words over. I was unaware of any sort of event that might have caused such a thing, but of course, I wouldn’t know unless Alexi or King Dolian told me. “It was you,” he continues, adding to my confusion. “Four years ago, you used your magic on Bella to save her life, didn’t you?”
I start to shake my head but stop short when I realize that he’s right. It had been four years since that fateful night when Alexi had brought Bella to me and it was revealed to both of us that I had magic.
“I don’t understand how you could have felt my magic from all the way in a different kingdom,” I protest, digging my nails into my thighs. “Can you sense other mages’ magic?”
“Yes. I can feel their magicalsignature.It’s like a slight vibration in the air when they are near.”
“But I wasn’tnear,” I emphasize.
“No, you weren’t, but it was you, Rhea. Your magic—it’sstrong.”
Something about those words makes my panic flare higher, coursing through my veins with icy trepidation. The dark, ancient otherness inside of me swirls as if at attention.
“You’re wrong. I may somehow be a mage and have magic, but I’m not strong with it. I’m not strong at anything.” The idea that I had yet another thing that made me stand out amongst everyone else, anotherflaw, is a burden I don’t want to bear. There is alreadyso muchstacked upon me, waiting to crush me with one false move, how can I possibly add anything else? How can Isurviveanything more?
Flynn’s eyes soften when he recognizes the fear roiling in my own. He takes a step towards me and then kneels on one leg, both of his hands resting tentatively on my knees. “Rhea, itisyou. I can sense you. My parents can sense you. And your strength”—he drops his voice low, tilting his chin down slightly—“is something I admire about you. It’s one of the reasons I love you. That you haven’t allowed the things that would normally cripple anyone else to do the same to you. Your strength has very little to do with your magic and everything to do with what is in here.” One of his hands lifts and comes to rest above my heart.
My breath catches, the trickle of air I’m able to get in barely reaching the depths of my burning lungs. My heart pumps wildly under his palm, but he keeps his hand there as if he canwillme to believe him. “Then what happened?” I ask, looking away from him.
