“Catarina is dead,” Cedric said.
“I know she’s one of those monsters but by law—”
“No. Not because she is one of those creatures. Because of the things she has done. Arlo, they kill a person’s soul.”
The same things he’d done. Because I wasn’t there to stop him from doing them. Because I left once before. Selfishly. And now I was back, at the king’s daughter’s bedside, in rapture as she slept.
But how could I not be? She’d been through so much and had somehow become a wonderful woman, not a petulant princess but a humble, kind soul who sat with my men like they were her equals.
She was the opposite of her greedy father, who’d spent the country’s money like it was his own. On tournaments, gorging on food and drink at decadent feasts, bundled in fur and fabrics that could clothe hundreds, all while his people starved and froze.
I wanted to guard her kind heart. Take her away from it all. From Mother. From the king. Especially from Cedric, who looked at her in a way that made me want to cut him down where he stood. Was it truly love that made him look at her that way, or was his soul too twisted? Did he only love her for what she could offer him? How he could wield her?
He put her on my ship to ensure she made it to him.
So he could put her on the throne and be king himself.
I wanted to steal Elowyn away from every single prying eye. Because this world broke so many through suffering. Like Catarina. Like Cedric. Like me. But not Elowyn, not yet.
“Mother forced Catarina to do horrible things.” Bitterness flooded my mouth as I rose. “Same as you.”
“Now so will you both,” he answered flatly, stowing away his emotions, although hate burned deep in his eyes, simmering his words. “Because you didn’t take Elowyn away.”
“Have you tried forcing her to do anything?” I jeered.
“Yes,” he answered, lips pursing, allowing me to see that emotion. That rancor. Cedric tried forcing her to marry him and he failed. Now I would.
The smile on my face was absolutely joyless. “And how did that go, Ced?”
“Why did she jump into the ocean,Arlo? I need to know if we’re going to figure out why she’s in this state.”
Back to his schemes and plotting.
“The sirens, she cared for them deeply. Thought they were her friends. She sees them as people. That siren king—Hylos, he’s called—planned an attack. Elowyn has a good heart.” I let that part settle. A good, uncorrupted heart. Not like Cedric’s or Catarina’s. Not poisoned. Not yet. “She wanted to stop him so that innocent people wouldn’t get hurt.”
Cedric’s head ticked to the side, his tell that the machinations within his mind were turning.
“What now?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him, but he buttoned up the look.
“Nothing,” he answered.
I didn’t believe him.
Behind us, wood creaked, drawing my attention to the open window, which revealed a tall, slender man crouched in the frame, perfectly balanced.
“Make your intent known.” Cedric said swiftly, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword at his waist.
The man quirked his head as he looked between me and my brother, his features obscured by brown fabric that enveloped him from head to toe, leaving only a strip of stark-white skin and piercing, ice-blue eyes visible.
Fantastic. Could things not get any fucking worse?
“Do you know who she is?” Morvyn asked Cedric, that ridiculous, puckish hint in his voice.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
“Do you care for her too, then?” Morvyn’s words were directed at Cedric, who watched him cautiously as the siren casually perched on the windowsill as if it were a bench, crossing his arms.
“Who thefuckare you?” Cedric spat in a voice I knew to be the last sound many men had heard just before their deaths.
