Allegra floats next to my mother, her malevolent eyes on me as I make my way to the end of the line. Next to her is my third oldest sister, Dyanna.Most of her time is spent running the palace library and researching everything from ancient artifacts to treaty deals that have been put in place since the Spell.Our mother uses Dyanna as her own personal resource center. The only sister missing is Sade herself, which isn’t surprising considering she forsake her royal status to instead lead my mother’s legion.
It’s then I realize that Iwasthe last one to arrive today.Shit.
I keep swimming until I’m at the end of the line next to Lyre. Colorful eyes bore into me from the gathered sirens below us, the swirling of their floating braids a kaleidoscope in the water.
“My beautiful sirens, it is a wonderful day to hear from you! Please, one at a time, tell me how I may serve you better.” My mother’s voice is tranquil today, brimming with power and ancient wisdom. She sounds genuine in her offer too—like a truly benevolent queen. Like someone who didn’t have two of her own kind murdered in this very room not even a day ago.
It is quiet for a moment before the first siren swims up the center aisle, bowing for a full five seconds before lifting up and addressing the queen. The female starts talking, and I try my best to focus on what her request is. It doesn’t matter what she’s asking for, my sisters and I will rule the same as our mother. So eventually, I let my eyes wander around the throne room, my mind going far away.
When the female stops talking, she drops into another bow as she waits for my mother’s decision. With a tap of her trident, my mother grants the female’s request. Allegra voices her agreement as well, and down the line it goes, our “yes’s” ringing out loud.
Time ticks by slowly as one by one more sirens come up and one by one my mother either grants or denies their requests. I roll my shoulders back, once again paying attention right as Lyre voices her agreement to whatever it is the latest siren has requested. I mimic her, continuing this pattern for what feels like forever until,finally,the last female is before us. Her braids are cut short, the light blue of her scales beautiful against herdark skin. She bows, but it’s noticeably shorter in length than it should be. I try not to bristle—hoping the queen doesn’t notice what I have to believe is anaccidentalslight.
“Your Majesty, it is an honor to come before you to make this request. I am Nia Adanna,” she announces.Why does that name sound familiar?
“Adanna? Nowthatis a name I haven’t heard since before the war,” my mother says with an air of curiosity.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I believe my aunt was friends with you prior to The War Of Five Kingdoms,” Nia says, and the recognition finally clicks into place. The Adanna line was one that was close to the Crown for a long time, each descendent friends with my own ancestors. They were trusted enough to live in the palace—until the war. My eyes dart nervously between her and the queen.
“That she was. Your aunt, Themu, was my mother’s closest friend.” Nia relaxes her shoulders and goes to speak again but is interrupted by my mother’s harsh voice. “Until she betrayed the Crown. Why have you come here? To reminisce on the ways your ancestor was a deceiver? A coward? Aliar?”
“N-no, Your Majesty, I simply came to make a humble request of you and your court,” Nia stutters, eyes flicking down the line of my sisters until they reach me. Her gaze holds mine for a moment, her icy blue eyes nearly penetrating before she finally flicks them away. And I know why. She lives on the outskirts of Lumen with the others my mother has labeled as descendants of traitors. Though I have never seen Nia before, shemustknow that I visit them. I force my palms flat against my sides as my eyes bounce from Nia to the queen.
“Then state your business so we can be done,” my mother snaps.
“As you know, my family has been living in the seamounts that line the capital since the war—”
“Yes, as punishment for your aunt’s indiscretions,” Allegra interjects.
A few sirensgrowlin approval of this consequence. The caves the sirens have hand-dug into rock can’t accurately be called homes. They are crude at best, deadly at worst.
Nia clasps her hands behind her as she adjusts her posture. “I understand, but I come before you to ask if some of us might be allowed back into Lumen to live. You see, we’ve outgrown the space in the seamounts.”
It’s silent in the throne room as my mother contemplates her ruling, and I force myself to relax my jaw though my rapid pulse flutters beneath my skin.
“No,” Queen Amari says simply, the single word echoing out.
“Y-Your Majesty, if you might reconsider—”
“I won’t. Your family is one of forsakers and oath breakers. Your aunt tainted your entire family line. I cannot, in good conscience, allow that sort of stain back into the beautiful city that is Lumen.”
“But we have no more room. No way to fit all of the other families that are forced to live there. We—”
“Daughters,” the queen interrupts again, “what is your ruling? Do you agree that we should not allow the descendants that so ruthlessly betrayed your grandmother and myself to live among us? Or should we heed her supposed pleas that an entiremountainis no longer habitable?”
Allegra barely lets our mother finish her sentence before she says “no.” Dyanna sounds bored as she also denies Nia’s request. With each answer, Nia’s shoulders round further as all the confidence she came into the throne room with begins to vanish right before us. Nia is not requesting much, not requesting anything beyond the right to basic and safe housing. Yet, because of a slight herauntcommitted two hundred years ago, she is being denied.
I hear Lyre’s soft rejection next to me, and I bite down on my tongue. I want badly to sayyes. I want so fiercely to turn to my mother and tell her that this is unfair. That treating her subjects this poorly isn’t what good rulers do. But I can’t. Nia holds my gaze, her eyes imploring, but all I can do is shake my head and say a quiet “no.” A small part of me dies at my cowardice, flaking away like rotting skin from a corpse.
That’s what being in this queendom does to anyone with a light spirit and soft heart. It doesn’t matter your station or your good intentions. If you don’t have the same beliefs and thoughts as the queen, then your ideas and input are inconsequential.Youare inconsequential.
“You have your fair ruling, Nia Adanna—relative of a betrayer. You may leave now.” The words seem like a request, but the tone suggests that this is nothing less than a command.
Nia hesitates for a second, her mouth dropping open to speak, before she bows quickly and swims out of the room.
“Thank you all for coming to your queen with your concerns. You humble me as always with your trust in my rulings. If you’ll excuse us, I need to discuss some matters with my daughters.”
My throat tightens, but I keep my position steady, going over my mental list to try and calm myself. The moment the last siren leaves and the sea glass door closes, Allegra is swimming down the dais quickly, Mashaka—who must have been hiding behind the throne—right on her fin.
