King Dolian smiles at the torment on my face, one of his hands gently brushing the loose strands of his hair back while the other releases its hold on me. “She wasinterestingin her mortal form, with hair as white as snow. She lived for a while after her capture, frothing at the mouth behind bars like any wild animal. But when she couldn’t be broken, when she wouldn’t give the commander or I what we needed, she ceased to be a problem at all.”
“You’re lying,” I rasp, shaking my head. This is his brand of torment—nothing more than a game of manipulation.
The king ignores my accusation, his savage satisfaction at the way this information has broken me undeniable on his face. “Tomorrow, I will take you to my army, and you will do for them what you did for the sirens. What you must have done for that shifter. If this is to be your cursed mage magic, then I will use it tomykingdom’s advantage. Rest easy, my darling, knowing that what you’ve done—what youwilldo—will change Olymazi as we know it. The good and bad—it all rests on your shoulders.”
He then orders me to go to my room, my swaying body stumbling down the hall as I make my way to the door marked with a golden flower. Magic rages through me until I’m past the threshold, the door firmly shut behind me before I lean against it. I don’t believe him,can’tbelieve him, yet that conviction runs hollow as I reminisce on my time with Bella in the tower. As I realize, with a shocked gasp, that therehadbeen a time when I healed Bella.One timeI had flooded her body with my magic, my intention to save her from the arrow, but it had donesomuchmore than that. I remember when Alexi brought her to me, and I had mistaken her lethargy as sadness about being locked in the tower. Really, she had been suffering the effects of passing through the Spell. She was dying because she wasn’t in her own kingdom.
I had saved her that day, only to doom her to something more horrific.
I close my eyes against the tightness in my chest as I slide down to the ground, sitting back on my heels.But when she couldn’t be broken, when she wouldn’t give the commander or I what we needed, then she ceased to be a problem at all.Bella had survived her time in the tower with me. Survived trekking through the woods and running from the guards, only to get shot and shift back into her mortal form before being dragged back here. Thrown into a dungeon andtorturedfor information that I could only assume was aboutme. And then she died alone. All because she knewme. Because I had saved her and damned her in the same moment.
And Xander? Xander hadknown.
Chapter Fifty: Aria
OfallthethingsI thought I might have to fear on this journey, I naively assumed working around the hunts would be the worst of it. But Sade’s unlikely advice prior to us leaving for the Mortal Kingdom had worked. The hunt of the mortal ship had been successful—though it had taken the smaller group longer for their magic to ensnare those on the ship. When they finally leapt to their deaths from the deck of the supply vessel, the legionaries descended upon them with a fury. It wasn’t a large crew, which meant there weren’t enough to go around. Thefemales fought with each other, vicious snarls and even a few clashings of claws had erupted. And I had been able to slink away, hiding nearby until the chaos calmed and I could return and act as if I had done what was expected of me.
No one batted an eye. No one berated me for proof. I was all but invisible as consumed as they were with their own urges.
I had felt lighter as I transformed into my mortal form and walked onto the beach. But I had been wrong. So very wrong.
Rhea’s magic was unlike anything I’ve seen before. Unlike anything I’ve everheardof. I had watched her kill with it, and I had watched her heal. And she had clearly suffered for it both times. As I sink beneath the surface of the water, passing through the thick layer of the Spell, a sense of wrongness coats my skin.
I watch the legionaries look over themselves as my mother instructs everyone to return to Lumen, Dyanna swimming at her side. They wear their legion-issued shell armor and clutch their identical spears, but I see the unsure way their hands roam over their scales and tails, looking for anomalies as a result of Rhea’s magic.
My chest tightens as my tail undulates in the water. There are now sirens—ones trained to fight and obey only the siren queen—that are able to pass through the Spell. There is no telling just how she might use them or who might be destroyed for standing in her way.
It’s late in the evening the next day by the time we enter Lumen, and though my body is begging me to collapse into my bed, I need to go to the treasure cave and see if Nia has left any new communication for me. Slowing my pace, I drop far enough back that I can no longer see the queen and Dyanna through thelegionaries ahead of me. Once we reach the palace grounds, I break from the group—my heart beating in my throat—as I pivot in the direction of the cave. But I only make it a few lengths before a powerful voice calls my name.
“Aria? Where do you think you are going?”Jaw and shoulders relaxed, lips flat, spine straight, and attitude vicious.I repeat my mantra as I turn to face her. Legionaries float on either side of her, both with similar shades of ruby-red scales as my own. But where my scales slowly shift in an ombre pattern to yellow and then green, theirs stay red down to the delicate fins that tip their tails. Trident in hand, my mother comes towards me, her dark eyes relaying no emotion. “I asked you a question, Daughter.”
“I thought I might see Lore,” I blurt out. It’s the only thing I can think to say that might not immediately be picked up as a lie. Lore lives near the legion garrisons that are stationed away from the palace. Queen Amari tilts her head, black braids snaking around her shoulders and the crown she still wears on her head, and for a moment, I worry that I’ve been caught.
But my mother’s expression turns unnervingly soft, the small smile forming there unnatural. “A small bit of advice, Aria, before you go off to meet yourlover.”
Nausea curls in my stomach at that word. Lore wouldneverbe such again.
“Remember that rarely is a choice of the heart ever the right one. Loyalty. Honor. Duty. Those are the things that should guide you in life.Thoseare the traits that will ensure your safety.”
“Yes, Mother.”
My chest is tight as I watch her and her legionaries swim back towards the palace, and once she is out of sight, I let my shoulders round and drag a hand over my face. Shaking my arms out to dispel the rest of my nervous energy, I swim the rest ofthe way to the cave without interruption. Passing through the long strands of floating kelp that hide the cave’s entrance, I let my eyes adjust to the lack of light in the space as I root around for a crystal I keep in my satchel. Its light is a faint yellow, but it’s enough for me to see. My heart dips beneath my ribs when I notice nearly an entire shelf of memorabilia is now gone. Lifting a small rock nestled between a ring with a blue gemstone and a gold necklace, I find the note she’s left. My hand shakes as I unroll it, settling on the cave floor so I can use one hand to lay it out flat and the other to hold the crystal.
Aria,
Sade has begun sending out legionaries to systematically comb through the outposts, including the ones that lead to Eersten. Three of our own were caught, and I can assume they’ve either been killed or brought back to the prison. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of us—offspring included—find ourselves in the same position. Without those weapons, we will not stand a chance.
I have given you time to prove your claim that you want to help, that you care, and you have managed to fall even shorter than I dared to give you credit for. No more waiting. No more excuses.
I suppose you’ll find out soon enough whether or not your queen truly cares so little for blood.
-Nia
“Shit,” I whisper, eyes closing as I tilt my head back.
I have no idea how old this letter is. Nia could have planted it the day I left for the Mortal Kingdom, or she could have left it today. Then again, even if she planned onsomehowtelling my mother about this cave—about how I’ve helped the seamount sirens—the queen was also gone. That left notifying Allegra or Sade, the latter of which could use that information to figure out that I’m not actually looking for the seamount sirens like she believes me to be.
Tipping my head forward again, I open my eyes and crumple the letter in my hand. “Think, Aria.”
