The females gathered behind me hiss in disapproval, bubbles swirling from their frenzied movements. Allegra’s smile is a vicious thing, as if she can already taste the bloodshed that is dancing around in her mind. When I look at the queen, there is an emotion I’m not sure I’ve ever seen from her before. It isn’t quite shock or disappointment or anger but some mild mixture of the three.
“However,” Sade continues, her voice loud enough to be heard over the chattering sirens, “when I entered the cave, I did not find the items and correspondences that Nia claimed would be there. It was empty. No sign that anyone had kept anything there.”
“Impossible,” Allegra growls, darting to Sade and stopping right in front of her face. “That is alie!”
Sade’s expression remains bored, one hand holding her trident while the other lays lax at her side. “By all means, Allegra, go check for yourself. Ask the queen for permission to prove that I’m wrong. Surely, you, someone who has not left the palace in months, must have proof that what I’m saying is incorrect.”
“Don’t insult me, Little Sister,” Allegra snaps, her talons growing from her fingers. “We both know that Aria is sympathetic to those traitors. That she is the weakest of us all. To suggest that there is nothing when we were told there wouldbemanythings there to prove Aria’s pathetic bleeding heart is to suggest your own compliance to her treason.”
Sade leans into Allegra’s space, towering over our eldest sister in a way I had never noticed before. Because Allegra has been bound to the palace, her muscles have grown smaller, her curves more voluptuous. But Sade is sculpted, her body a testament to her training. There was a time I believed Allegra was the fiercest of us all, but as Sade forces her to back up with nothing more than a low-pitched growl, I recognize that I was wrong.
“To suggest that my intentions—that my heart and soul and blood—are not fully devoted to this queendom is to show your stupidity, Sister. Perhaps the better question is why Nia would come toyouof all sirens with this information.” She turns to look at our mother. “My Queen, I am nothing if not your humble servant. Ask me to take you to the cave, and I will. I have no love for those who aim to hurt us, and I do not believe Aria is one of them. Is she aloof? An annoyance? Someone I wouldn’t trust as a member of the Queen’s Legion? Absolutely.” Despite knowing the words were coming, I still lift my shoulders with a cringe.
“You have always shown your loyalty to me, My Daughter,” Queen Amari says, making Allegra tense at her side. “It is notyourdevotion I question but hers.” She nods to me with her chin, her face now perfectly masked with indifference. “Princess Aria, you are accused of treason in the highest order for helping those I’ve banished and working with them while they avoid prosecution. You’re also accused of direct violations of our laws regarding those we kill for our benefit by attempting to honor their lives after death with a collection of treasures and trinkets found that belonged to them. Have you anything to say before I give my final judgement?”
“Your Majesty, I am innocent of these accusations. To believe I am guilty of them is to assume that I have not only secretlybeen helping an entire group of sirens underneath the noses of Sade and Allegra but underyoursas well. As my sisters have pointed out, and as I knowyoubelieve, I am not the kind of siren capable of such sleuthing. I may have shown empathy to the youngest of the sirens when they lived in the seamounts, but I would like to remind some of you here that I was gone when they escaped. It would be impossible for me to have contacted them when I wasn’t even here. Nia Adanna is a vengeful siren, and it would not surprise me if her reaching out to Allegra is less about paintingmeas a traitor and more about weakening the queendom by tearing our family apart.” I practiced my answer to this question in the mirror on repeat last night, Sade helping me perfect it. The shake infused in my voice is real enough, as is the slight tremble in my hands. I had never stood up to my mother before, never once defended myself. But I am not alone in this, and too much is at stake to risk failing now.
My mother’s gaze is uncompromising as she stares down at me, and my stomach churns at not being able to even guess which way she is leaning towards. “We will vote on your fate, then,” she says, looking down the line at my sisters. There are only three as Dyanna had been given permission to sit this hearing out in favor of her pursuit of whatever knowledge my mother wants her to find. Lyre is the first to speak.
“I find Princess Aria Malika not guilty,” she says, her voice steady and calm. I swallow, my gaze falling to Sade.
“I find Princess Aria Malika not guilty.” The sirens behind me feign shock at this, apparently sure they were going to witness me being punished today. There is still a chance of it. Regardless of how my sisters vote, the final decision is the queen’s. Allegra’s vote is, predictably, one finding me guilty.
All the attention turns towards my mother. Her eyes haven’t strayed from their position on me, her gaze piercing as if she is hoping to see the truth by looking hard enough. A part ofme wonders if she is waiting for the right opportunity to finally strike me down. Not that she needs one. As each second ticks past, the knot in my stomach grows larger. Sade has already vowed to help me escape should this take a turn for the worse, but leaving is not something Iwant. Not unless Lyre is at my side.
The queen’s trident meets stone three times again, and in the silence that follows, she announces her decision. “Based on the information presented and the votes of my daughters, I find Princess Arianot guilty.” Brief chaos erupts, siren voices riding the current of the water as the queen rises and leaves the room, Allegra close on her tail. It isn’t until Lyre joins me at the bottom of the dais that I let my mother’s decision wash over me.
“This is good news,” Lyre says, her hand coming to my shoulder.
All I can do is nod. Itisgood news, and for reasons I don’t quite know how to verbalize, that scares me even more.
Chapter Eighty-Four: Aria
Dayslater,Istillquestion why Queen Amari didn’t take the opportunity to rid herself of me when she had it.
She and Dyanna returned to the Mortal Kingdom, and this time, I was not invited. Guilt surged at the instant relief that hit me.
It is late in the evening when I meet Sade and Lyre in the latter’s room. Sade had confirmed that the weapons and memorabilia from the cave had made it to Eersten with Cali and Althea. Izel would make sure that the sirens were kept hiddenand that Nia would stay pacified. With Allegra forced out of whatever command she might have had over the legion, and our mother more concerned with her business with King Dolian, Sade’s hope is that she can divert attention away from Eersten. At least for a time.
Silence had blanketed the space between my sisters and I, but it didn’t last long as Sade brought up my magic. “When did you realize it was different?” she asks, swimming restlessly at the front of the room.
“A few weeks ago before I went on the mission to the Northern Island. I knew my magic didn’t work on males at that point, but that day, I was forced to sing and nearly drew a female on a shifter ship into the water.”
“Prior to that, I would always go on hunts with Aria. To make sure that no one could tell her song wasn’t luring males in,” Lyre adds. She leans back on her bed, head lolled to the side and resting on her shoulder. Dark circles hug the skin beneath her eyes.
“So you discovered that you can draw females in,” Sade muses quietly. “And then what? Did you try to use it after that?”
“Of course not.” I’d be happy to never use the magic again.
“Why?”
“Because the purpose of our magic is to procreate. I cannot do that with a female, so why would I subject one to suffer death at my hands? Especially another siren?”
“Practice,” Sade says, shrugging her shoulders when Lyre shoots her a scowl. “You will not be able to wield a power you have not practiced with.”
“Again, I cannotmatewith—”
“I’m not talking about who you fuck, Aria.” The sharpness of her voice silences my own and causes Lyre to sit up a little straighter. “What Queen Amari is preparing for on the surface is unprecedented. Despite how she views mortals as weaker, theywillfight back if she tries to overthrow them. Our songs are not just tools to aid us in getting pregnant. They areweapons.” Her orange eyes gleam as they look at me. “Even yours.Especiallyyours.”
