King Dolian loosens his grip on the brand but tightens the hand holding my chin. I don’t struggle when he turns his head enough for his lips to graze my cheek. “You will earn your title, Rhea. I will make sure of it.” He leaves a ghost of a kiss on my skin and then releases me completely, returning to my chair and gesturing for me to sit. He takes his own seat after, and begins talking with Simon, as if nothing that has past was noteworthy. The numbness I begged for earlier finally makes itself present. At different points, I feel the gazes of everyone in the room on me, but I ignore them all in favor of staring at a strawberry on my plate.
The king says something about having the rest of the day to myself, and I nod as he and Simon leave before getting up from the table to join Xander where he waits. We walk in stilted silence, though I’m not sure I could say anything if he did try to speak with me. It’s when we are halfway to my room that he stops, and after another step, I do too, looking back at him.
“This way.” He doesn’t add anything else, doesn’t even wait for me to follow before he’s walking down a corridor to our left.
I swallow, my eyes darting in both directions. A few guards stand post here and there, maids and male servants entering and exiting the corridors around us. I could go back to my room—and in all likelihood, I should—but everything in that space feels suffocating. It already holds too many bad memories, and the thought of being stuck there for an entire day alone… I hurry after Xander.
“Where are we going?” I ask, entirely too shaky.
Xander doesn’t answer at first, not until a semi-familiar glass door is in front of us. I remember it from the brief tour the king took me on.
“The library?”
He nods, his lips in a flat line as he stares at the space through the glass on the door. “I figured you might want to be distracted for a bit,” he answers, something uncharacteristically tender in his voice. I stare at him, bemused, and he tucks his hair behind his ear. “If the library doesn’t sound appealing, there is an old aviary in the west wing that might be more in—”
“This is perfect,” I interrupt, swallowing roughly. “Thank you.”
“King Dolian will be occupied for most of the day.”
I nod, hearing his unspoken words.He won’t bother you. I take a step forward—eager for that distraction, to lose myself between the pages of someone else’s world for a bit—before I pause and look over my shoulder. I open my mouth to saysomething,though I’m unsure what. It doesn’t matter, however, because Xander is already retreating down the hall.
I follow the king’s command the next morning when he sends Eve in to dress me and tell her to leave my hair down. I expect to be told to meet him for breakfast, but she surprises me when she says, “You’re to accompany the king to a meeting.”
Chapter Fourteen: Aria
ThunderrollsoverheadasI break the surface of the water, Dyanna’s pink braids stark against the gray clouds from where she floats in the water in front of me. Ahead of us, Queen Amari and Sade stare at the shore and the line of golden guards standing behind the Spell, the top of a small castle poking up in the distance behind them.
“Is the king expecting you to attack him?” Dyanna asks.
“He’s simply showing off as males do,” our mother answers, her head tilting to the side. “Stay close to me and do nothesitate to sing should he decide to try something.” She sinks beneath the surface, and my sisters and I follow. The tear in my fin from the rogue siren attack is still tender, made more so after days of travel, and the ever-present nervousness within me intensifies as we near shallow waters. Throughout our journey, my thoughts drifted briefly to the fae—Myla. What will she think when I’m absent for our first meeting? Would there be ramifications because I didn’t show up when I said I would?
Queen Amari lifts her trident, bringing us to a stop. She transforms, legs and feet replacing her tail while her scales recede into her skin, only a faint shimmer remaining. My leg muscles shake as I push myself up through the thick layer of the Spell to stand, my head lifting above the water while my lungs draw in a breath of the salty air. The tightly woven ruby-red braids around my head loosen into ringlet curls, their length cascading over my shoulders and down my breasts, the tips brushing against my hips.
I adjust the strap of my satchel so it crosses over my chest, the bag covering the juncture of my thighs. Dyanna does the same, though her shorter pink curls don’t cover much of anything on top. Our mother’s black hair cascades all the way down her torso to the tops of her thighs, and she lifts her chin proudly as she approaches the shore with a confidence that can only come from knowing you are the most powerful creature attending this meeting. A crown of shining silver embellished with rare teal seashells, oval-cut diamonds, and delicate strands of blue eelgrass woven within it sits perfectly centered on her head, this piece of jewelry one I have never seen before.
Dyanna and Sade stand together at her right, leaving me alone on the queen’s left while we approach the shore. As I look at the guards lined up across from us—their visibly wide eyes easy to see even through the Spell—I wonder if they realize just how much danger they’re in.
“King Dolian, surely you don’t intend for us to conduct our business separated by the very thing that has left my kind secluded for so long?” my mother says, her voice magically carrying over the roaring of the waves behind us.
Despite the swollen dark storm clouds above, the unmistakable gleam of a gold crown catches my eye, its wearer centered amongst the thirty or so guards. He’s finely dressed, his clothing dark except for golden thread forming intricate patterns on the vest he wears. His trousers are tucked into shiny tall leather boots. A woman stands at his side, her lavender dress fluttering at her ankles in the wind. She has no crown upon her head, but the king reaches a hand out to her as he moves to take a step forward. When she hesitates, he leans over and says something to her that makes her stiffen before she concedes and lays her fingers into his waiting palm.
One of the guards nearest to the king moves with them, taking his helmet off to reveal dark shoulder-length hair, discontent painted all over his expression. Together, the three of them walk through the Spell, stopping only a few steps past it.
“I am nothing if not always agreeable to your terms, Queen Amari. You should know that by now,” the king says, his voice holding a higher-pitched tenor than I would have presumed.
The woman at his side draws her brows together at his response, but her attention stays pointed in my mother’s direction. I study her features—the healthy glow of her skin and the honey color of her hair—and recognition of where I’ve seen her before causes my lips to part on a quick inhale. The reaction turns her gaze to me, her lovely green eyes meeting mine with open curiosity.
“And we will ensure it stays that way,” my mother responds. The guards remaining behind the Spell shift their stances, some even partially drawing their swords as if sensing the threat of my mother and sisters from just her words alone. The lone guard atthe king’s side raises his hand, steadying their movements. The siren queen turns her dark eyes to the woman we captured from the Mage Kingdom. “I was half afraid you would not bring her. You were ratherpassionateabout getting her back in one piece.”
“I thought about keeping her hidden, to be sure, but the allure of learning more about her magic was simply too strong to resist,” he says, looking over to the woman as he brings their joined hands to his lips.
“Such a lovely little thing you are,” my mother purrs. Lightning flashes in the distance, followed by a crack of thunder that makes the woman jump. The king’s fingers grow tighter around her hand, and she grimaces at the contact.
“Whatever it is you would like her to show you, now might be the time, as I’d prefernotto get rained on,” the king chides, his dark hazel eyes narrowing.
My mother hums as she takes a step forward. “What is your name?”
“Rhea,” the woman offers quickly. “My name is Rhea, Your Majesty.”
