With that, she dismisses me, backing up to join the now large group of sirens gathered around me. My eyes roam theirs, trying to find a friendly face—someone who might explain why my presence here matters—but no one speaks up. In a twist ofsharp irony, I am now the one wishing someone would defy Nia’s orders and stand up forme. I take one last look, my eyes finding the small ones of Tiana and then Karina hovering behind her. I don’t linger long, especially as Nia growls low from behind me. But I give the young sirens my most reassuring smile and then turn and swim up towards the surface.
While I didn’t consider the seamounts a place of refuge, visiting the females there felt like the onegoodthing I was doing. For once in my entire existence within the confines of whom I was born to, I felt like I was making a difference. Without that, who was I really? Just another face upholding the savageness of a female scorned two hundred years ago.
Here or not, it didn’t seem to matter. No one other than Lyre would even care anymore if I were to disappear.
The small pieces of sea glass before me glisten under the faint sunlight from above. The bright blues and vibrant greens are sorted out, a few pinks and yellows in their own little piles as well. Normally when I work on a new glass art piece, I have a vision in mind, an image that will imprint itself in my brain until I get it out through the placement of the colored glass. But today, there is nothing.
“Aria, are you in there?” Lyre’s voice outside my door is a welcome surprise.
“Yes, come in.” She opens the door, and I look up from a small pink table carved from the coral growing in my room. My fingers abandon the sea glass when I see the tension lining her face, worry swirling in her lavender eyes. “What is it?”
“Mother has asked that you meet her in the throne room. Allegra and Mashaka are there, as is Sade.”
I wonder if I am truly heading towards my own demise as Lyre and I leave my room. If I am, I cannot say that it wouldn’t be a welcome event. I try to focus on my mental checklist, but the closer we get to the yellow sea glass door, the harder it is for me to wear that mask of calm.
We enter the room to complete silence, my mother sitting upon her throne of decayed bones and rotted seashells. She watches us come down the middle aisle, Sade and Allegra hovering in the water on either side of her. Sade has opted not to wear her tritonelli seashell armor, instead letting her burnished orange and amber scales show. The deep brown of her skin makes her orange eyes glow, their intensity matching the tension in the room.
Lyre and I bow before our mother, my gaze focused down on the green scales at the bottom of my tail.
“Rise, daughters,” she commands. Lyre doesn’t spare me a look before she swims up the dais to Allegra’s side. My mother lifts her chin slightly as she stares down the steps to where I wait. “Aria, you have been keeping secrets.”
My chest constricts as I hold her unnerving gaze. I don’t dare speak first, unsure of which secret she is referring to. She rises from her throne, her massive golden trident in hand.
“It appears that I have underestimated just howmuchyou don’t value your position. Are you aware of how many sirens wouldkillto be in your place? They might even killtotakeyour place, and yet you betray your family out in the open.” The queen moves down the dais until she is only a few inches in front of me, her tail propelling her higher so that I have to tilt my head up to look at her. A horrific truth lies in the depths of her demeanor, one that she makes sure I understand. I am not her daughter but prey standing in the way of what she wants. I remain silent, both out of fear and from some tiny spark of self-preservation burning within me. “I know that you havebeen visiting the traitors of the seamounts. Giving them royal attention,” she hisses, dropping down in the water until there is nothing more than the width of her trident between us. “Giving them coin.Entertaining the young sirens there, as if they are not descendants oftreason.”
“I just feel bad for them—”
“Your bleeding heart can besentto them, then, if you so wish, Aria!” she shouts, backing up until her trident is pointed at my chest. The jagged edges of the diamond tips push against my skin, right on the edge of cutting me open. “I willnothave you be the weak link in this family. You have two jobs: enforce my rule and add to our family line. So far, you are failing at both of those, and I’m starting to feel inclined to agree with Allegra that we either banish or kill you.”
My talons dig into my palms as I look Allegra’s way, immediately regretting that I do. There is no recognition or familiarity in her dark blue eyes—only a gleeful rage that she is all too eager to act upon.
“But I have another way that you can atone for your transgressions. A way for you to earn your keep and convince me of your value.” My eyes are drawn back to my mother’s as she drops her weapon from my chest. Water flows more easily through my gills though my heart still rattles my ribcage. “I need something that is being stored on the Northern Island. You are going to go get it for me.”
I draw my brows together as a stuttering noise of confusion tumbles out of me. “You—you wantmeto journey to the Northern Island?” The journey is perilous and time consuming, taking five weeks alone just totravelthere. Though having that much time out from under the thumb of my merciless mother and sisters sounds like a wish come true, uncertainty roars within me. “Surely, one of my other sisters is more appropriate to task this journey with?”
“Let me make myself clear, Aria. This is not a request but ademand. If you refuse, I will punish you by destroying the traitors of the seamounts.”
Her threat hits deep, and I betray myself by letting my emotions seep out to the surface. She would kill her own people just to be rid of any whomightthink ill of her, and she’llhappilyput the blame onme.
“I cannot make this trip on my own,” I say around the quivering of my lips.
To my surprise, she nods her head in agreement. I’m afraid to move—afraid to hope that perhaps she will let Lyre accompany me. But the thought dies before it has time to settle with my mother’s next words.
“Mashaka will accompany you as your travel companion and enforcer—should you get any ideas about not returning. If that doesn’t sway you, remember this: the lives of the sirens in the seamounts now rest on your shoulders.” The queen’s lips curl up into a monstrous smile. “If you fail to return, I will slaughter them all.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bahira
When Tua had broughtme to my room, I had barely given it a second glance before quickly showering and passing out on top of the bed.
When I woke up this morning, I spent some time exploring it. It is rather large for a guest suite, bigger than even my own bedroom back home. I was shocked to discover that behind a wide expanse of curtains was a wall made of glass. It looks out to the back side of the palace, over a field of grass that is dotted with palm trees and walkways made of tan-colored stone. In thedistance, creating a skyline of its own, is the jungle. Its green is bold in color, the plants and trees growing without any space between them. It stretches for as far as the eye can see, and the curious side of me longs to traverse it. To see what mysteries it holds and how different it is from the kingdom back home.
The rest of my room is elegantly designed in the same light-colored wood as the first level. The large bed I slept on is centered against one wall with the bathroom tucked into a carved out section of the adjacent one. Fluffy rugs of white and gold are laid out on the floors, and sconces of glass holding flame gems dot the shimmering white stone walls. My favorite feature is the wall that has a built-in bookcase, the dark wood pulling attention to it in the otherwise airy space. There hadn’t been any books on it until I unpacked the mage journals I brought and stacked them on the lowest shelf.
It isn’t home, but it will do for the next three months.
On my first full day on the island, I spent half of it in my room and the other half exploring the floor I’m on. The entire palace is massive, and I marveled at the fact that I walked nonstop for ten minutes before I made it to the other side from where my room is located. Other than a few curious glances from finely dressed males and females, I didn’t interact with anyone. I also didn’t see Kai. Wherever he is staying, it must not be near my room.
I found what I think may be the royal library, located centrally between my room and what appeared to be a wing full of nobility, but the two guards stationed in front of it kept me from going inside.
