It takes me a few tries to get the words past my lips, and when I do, they come out hushed. “Y-your father,Myla’sfather, is the king of the fae? Myla is aprincess?”
“Oh, fuck,” Navin grumbles, tilting his face up to the sky. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”
Oh gods. My hand covers my mouth as my magic pools at the back of my throat, responding to my panic. I hadn’t just bound myself to any fae but theprincessof the fae. And she hadn’t just bound herself toanysiren but a sirenprincess. I can’t decide if it’s terrible luck or unfortunate irony, but either way, it leaves me momentarily speechless as I stare at Navin. If anything happens to Myla while she is with me, what will they do? Do they know the details of our deal?
“Hey, it’s okay,” Navin murmurs, walking to me and placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Just… pretend I didn’t say anything.” My gaze shoots up to his, and he winces. “Right, terrible advice. But Myla doesn’t wear her status like other royals do. She would prefer that you not know about it, but since you now do, I can guarantee she would want you to act as if she is the same cranky fae she always has been.”
“And what of your father? Does he know of the deal? What if he decides to punish me by doing something to my kind for trapping his daughter into this life debt?” My voice shakes, a mixture of worry and anger gnawing at my throat.
“He doesn’t know about your deal with her, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care enough to interfere. In fact, he’d probably hope that you failed,” he grits out, his fair cheeks flushing pink.
“What?”
Navin steps back, heaving a sigh as he turns to look out at the ocean. Sunlight streams in from the holes in the stone surrounding us, highlighting the different medallions on his leather uniform. They glint, bronze metal flaring. “Myla is a princess, yes, but in our kingdom, that means practicallynothing. Just— Promise me that you won’t say anything to her. That you will treat her as you have been.” He turns to look at me, onyx eyes pleading. “Please.”
The ocean breeze brushes against my cheek, stirring my curls. I take in Navin’s stricken expression, the words he gave me, and what I know of Myla from my own experience before I nod. “Okay. I promise.”
Chapter Forty-One: Aria
Lyrerubsherbellyabsentmindedly as she stares at the ceiling from where she lays on my bed. “So another trip to meet with the mortal king?” she asks, and my shoulders hike towards my ears. I had made it back from my impromptu meeting with Navin just as my mother had summoned us. Dyanna and I are to accompany her to the Mortal Kingdom once more.
“It appears so,” I say, returning my focus to the sea glass in front of me. Dropping the last blue piece into its designated pile, I grab the large white stone that will serve as the canvas, itsflat top smooth. An image takes form in my mind, and without examiningwhymy brain conjuredthatup, I lay the first glass piece down. “And it’s just Dyanna and I joining her this time.”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Sade commands the Queen’s Legion, and with all the new recruits being added, it would be pure chaos for her to be gone even a few days.”
It is true enough. It took nearly two days to reach the Mortal Kingdom where the king waits, and that is with very little stopping.
“Mother has spent quite a bit of time in Dyanna’s library.”
I lay another piece of sea glass down, this one black. “Has she found whatever it is she is looking for?”
“It’s hard to say,” Lyre answers, turning to lay on her side. Her lavender braids have grown during her pregnancy, their ends now past her collarbones. “Though based on how Dyanna looks when I catch her at the end of the day, one would think the queen was torturing her the whole time.”
I snort, laying another black piece down. “You know how Dyanna is with her books.” She works in the library that houses all of Lumen’s important literature, only accessible with permission from the queen, yet no one dares to enter even with said permission without first gaining Dyanna’s. She can be as vicious with the protection of her books as our mother is with, well, everything else.
“I suppose that is true.” She chuckles before lapsing into silence. Scooting closer to the edge of the bed, Lyre watches as the bottom edge of my art piece begins to take shape. “How is the search for the seamount sirens going?”
“I found something that belonged to Nia when I was out covering the area Sade assigned to me,” I lie, tucking my braids behind my ear. “Though Sade believes that the location I found it in is either old or it was left there as a distraction.”
She drums her fingers along the bed. “You were gone for a long time yesterday.”
I drop a piece of sea glass as I clear my throat. “I was out looking for the sirens. Why, did someone ask for me?”
Lyre sits up, draping her fin over the bed. “Lore was looking for you.”
My fingers curl in towards my palms, and though slight relief rushes through me at having missed her, it carries a kernel of annoyance. Lore believes I amhersand hers alone, regardless of the fact that she hasn’t been mine in a very long time.
“I was able to distract her with a mission to Sade. Our sister owed me a favor, and I called it in then.”
My eyes flutter closed as I drop my chin to my chest. “I’m sorry. You didn’t have to do that. Lore is…” I don’t know how to finish that sentence. Lyre knows of our history, and in the beginning, Lore and I were not exactly secretive about our attraction to each other.
“Aria, you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?”
I nod, rolling black sea glass between my fingers. “I do.”
“Good. Because if we are truly going to dothistogether, we need to have complete faith that the other has our back.” Her hands frame the swell of her belly. “I will protect you, and I know you will do your best to protect us.”
“I will,” I vow, reaching to lay my hand gently on top of hers. “I’m working hard to ensure I’m the strongest I can be when the time comes. I won’t let you down.” Though I mean them, the words feel hollow. I have no experience to back them up, not in the same way Lyre does. She made the effort to protect me anytime she feasibly could. All I had done was cower.
