“Stay away from her!” Arlo roared, still thrashing in Calypstra’s watery grip.
The queen looked between Arlo and me knowingly. “Catarina said you were below the sea, Elowyn, held prisoner by that little fish prince. She was working on your demise. She didnottell me, however, of Arlo being with you … But I see now you two must have formed some sort of bond below. Now for lying …” The queen smiled back at Calypstra, wagging a finger at her and tsking. “For that she will be punished.”
She looked back down at me with a false, saccharine smile, drawing a pointed thumb over my cheek. “Yes, well, I suppose we can find some use for you instead.”
“Get the fuck away from her!” Arlo screamed in a guttural, pained yell.
She met his eyes and cocked her head, tossing her flaxen curls, her painted red lips cutting into a vicious smile.
“My long-lost son, I will not leave the Lady Elowyn Blackthorn alone. Finally, you’ve picked a suitable match. We should celebrate!” She looked back at Calypstra, who held onto her power with fear and pain welling in her eyes. “No offense, Cat.”
“You’re the queen’s son?” I asked.
Arlo went rigid in the watery grip that burbled in the silence.
The queen was Arlo’s mother.
He was not just a captain.
He was a noble.
“Oh.” The queen reveled. She looked down at me, still on the ground. “He didn’t tell you. How interesting. Probably because he’s been running from me ever since theincidentwith his wife. He’s always been like that. Avoidant. But enough chit-chat. I look forward to hearing the full story at Whiterok.” The queen snapped her fingers and pointed to me.
In a breath, frigid water wrapped around me, squeezing hard.
Shoving back at the water, I screamed, “Let me go! Let me bloody go!”
“Cat, dear, a little peace and quiet, please. We don’t need any looky-loos.”
Calypstra nodded, and water snapped in front of my mouth, splashing up my nose. A matching form was spinning across Arlo’s face too.
“Ah, much better. Well, now that we have both the ladyandmy son, we need to expedite things a bit. Catarina, I’ll have a carriage for you out front in five minutes. My guards will escort these two to Whiterok, where we can deal with family matters a little moreprivately. Then, Cat, go back to that siren nest, fuck him until he can’t think straight, and lead him by his emptied balls into battle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Calypstra answered, resolute.
“And Catarina …” The queen paused. Her yellow eyes seared. “Remember, if these two don’t make it to Whiterok, if they escape by some strange coincidence, my little granddaughter will be ingravedanger.”
***
Calypstra dragged us in watered shackles to a dark alley. A horse-drawn carriage pulled up. It was made of metal with bars over its windows. Behind me rose Blackthorn Castle in shadowy stone.
Calypstra removed the water-gag from Arlo’s mouth.
“Why are you doing this?” he gasped.
“Cate.” She paused, her eyes searching him. “To keep her safe, I have to do as she says. Otherwise I would never do this, I love—” She looked at me, agony and jealousy burning in her black eyes.
It all made sense.
She watched us fall for one another. That look of disgust on her face whenever I neared wasn’t hatred. It was jealousy.
“Ced is caring for Cate though,” Arlo said.
Then it fully hit me, like the cold, hard sea that night I nearly drowned.
The queen. Cedric. Arlo. Why the sirens’ disappearances seemed to point back to Whiterok, to Cedric. Cedric was behind everything, along with his mother.
“He is as much your mother’s slave as I.” Calypstra’s tone was different now with Arlo. Softer. Sadder.
