Lyre moves in front of me, another siren passing behind to go towards the stern of the ship, as I wait to see the males enraptured by our song. Well, not exactlymysong, but the chorale of my siren sisters.
Two hands land on the railing, and dread fills my veins in anticipation of what I will witness—what I will have to do. Sometimes, I get lucky, and there aren’t enough males on the ship. Sometimes, Lyre is able to distract Allegra so that I can sneak away and give the illusion that I’ve done what I’m supposed to. But a quick look towards my eldest sister reveals her attention already on me. It seems that with my mother’s latest punishment, Allegra is more vigilant of my movements. Making sure mydutyis being fulfilled.
Curly brown hair appears over the railing of the ship, and my eyes widen as I take in the facial features—femininefacialfeatures. Our gazes lock, her attention solely on me. My voice falters as I watch her climb a rung of the railing and then another before she is harshly yanked back. I stop singing, my focus moving to Lyre while adrenaline burns through my veins.
I hear Allegra hiss from her position near the front of the ship. “Shifters!” she growls before dipping under the water, our sign to abandon the ship and follow her.
I glance at Lyre, but her focus is on a teal-haired siren swimming on my other side. The female’s eyes move from the ship to me, lingering briefly before she ducks her head under the water to follow Allegra.
“Did you see that?” I whisper, catching her amethyst gaze as the ship moves farther away.
“Yes. Come on, we better go.” We both sink under the water and follow the rest of the sirens back to Lumen. My mother is going to be furious to find out that we targeted another shifter ship. She may even chastise Allegra for it, but the thought of my eldest sister getting reprimanded doesn’t take the edge off of my anxiousness.
Did I nearly call a female into the water?It’s impossible. My song, the very magic that is supposed to lure the opposite sex to mate with, doesn’twork. At least, it doesn’t work on males, but is there a chance it works onfemales?
And what will it mean if Lyre isn’t the only one who saw me almost call one into the water.
Chapter Twenty-One: Dolian
Two weeks prior
My teeth grit togetheras I watch her run towards the trees, holdinghishand. The familiarity with which they interacted causes the rage already simmering inside me to intensify.
She is mine.
I am not your queen, she had yelled with more fire than I had ever known her to have. It should anger me, to hear her deny what I know to be fact, but instead, all it does is ignite my yearning for her even further. I knew a certain kernel of defiance was glimmering within her; I had just been wrong that it was only a remnant of her father. No, this brand of rebellion was purely created from her mother’s side, and despite my wishesto, I couldn’t hate it. I couldn’t snuff it out entirely. Not when it reminded me of Luna.
“Do you want me to go with the rest of the King’s Guard, Your Majesty?” my personal guard, Jorah, asks.
“Yes. Inform the captain that if he values his head, they will be brought back to me by any means necessary.”
Jorah nods before running behind me to find the captain in the throng of golden-armored men.
Turning on my heel, I begin my walk back to her tower, my steps slow and staggered as I try to refrain from limping. For nearly twenty-two years, I have kept her safe and hidden in plain sight. Everyone knows the princess lives, theheir to the throne, but they all think that she is nothing more than a woman grieving, lost in the turmoil of her mind. This lie prevents questions from arising about my reign. Unfortunately, it appears Rhea had been keeping things frommeas well.
She has magic.My grip on my sword tightens as I cross the crushed wildflowers to the base of the tower, the voices of men and clanging of metal fading into the forest. How could she have hidden that from me for so long? All this time I had been waiting…
They will find her and bring her back.And when they do, I will get answers.
Rolling my shoulders back, I open the arched door of the tower, and my boot immediately hits something hard. Lifting my sword, I stagger back and strain my eyes to see into the darkness. “Show yourself to your king!”
A muffled groan sounds out in response, and I allow my grip on the sword to loosen. Stepping forward again, I squat and squint my eyes to try and make out who is in front of me. My free hand reaches out for what must be a gag—barely made visible in the silver light of the moon shining through the door behind me—and yank it down.
“It’s me,” the man—Xander—gasps.
“What happened?” I growl, helping one of my Trusted up.
“There is a small blade strapped to my thigh,” he rasps, wobbly on his feet. Finding the blade, I cut the bindings from his hands before handing it to him to remove the ones at his feet.
“Tell me how this happenednow, Xander.” He had been missing for an entire day, and though I was inclined to believe that he was perhaps incapacitated, one can never be too sure when in my position. No matter our personal relationship, I learned firsthand how quickly a man could change allegiances with the right motivation.
“Her guard,” he says, leaning a shoulder against the stone of the tower as he runs a hand through his hair. “She attempted to escape yesterday, and—”
I cross the space between us quickly, my forearm coming to his throat as I slam his head against the stone. “What did you say?”
“She tried to escape yesterday,” he wheezes, the pressure I put on his neck causing his breaths to become labored.
My anger is a living monster within me, and I welcome the way it turns my impulses into murderous ones, my thoughts all screaming to drive my sword into his neck. Regardless of the blood that flows in his veins. But Ineedmore information, so reluctantly, I let him go. His coughing is like nails dragging along stone while I wait for him to elaborate.
