“Blah, marriage,” Morvyn scoffed. “Repugnant.”
“Agreed,” I sneered.
“I take it the marriage wasn’t your idea then.”
I shook my head, a silent no.
“Well, no grotesque husband awaits you here in Naiadon, my dear. Marriage is not a common practice among sirens; our inclinations lean toward a moreliberatedexpression of love.”
They didn’t marry? That wasn’t even an option in Oakhaven. Unless you wanted to be a spinster who died alone in a hovel in the woods, or joined a drucia convent.
“But if you’re looking for a good time for the night, we can provide that,” he added, elbowing me in the side.
I flinched at the unexpected touch.
“Sorry,” he apologized with a polite nod, then created space between us. A minuscule but respectful gesture.
I paused, looking past the glass that surrounded the staircase, and stared in wonder at the sprawling castle that stretched beyond. Glass spires of stone and crystal reached heavenward, their edges blurred by the blue-green shimmer of the sea. “How is this place even here?”
“Well, I was never the best pupil, believe it or not.”
“I believe it,” I quipped.
He smiled, reveling in the remark, then continued, “But, I know King Aegir the Great created it. He is … well,wasthe king of all three seas. Hylos will tell you he still is, but his father has been missing for yearsnow.” The corner of Morvyn’s pale mouth dipped into a frown for a heartbeat.
I continued my ascent. “Is his father one of the missing sirens Hylos is looking for?” The sirens he thought my father took.
Morvyn reached my side, no sly smile to be seen. “Aegir was the first to go missing.”
My stomach sank. Hylos’s revenge on my father wasn’t just for his people, but his family.
The staircase gave way to a sizable circular room. Tremendous white marble bookshelves lined the walls, filled with hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts and books of various colors, their spines aligned, with scrolls tucked into honeycomb grids. My heart thrilled. I’d never seen so much literature in all my life.
Morvyn collapsed dramatically onto a white armchair, kicking his finned feet up on its matching ottoman and throwing a lazy hand around the room. “All the wonders of the sea, m’lady.”
It would take hundreds of lifetimes to read them all, and that made my very soul sing. So many worlds to uncover. So much truth to be garnered. At Granger House, books were lifelines to the world past my mountains. The only opportunity to be completely free. To wander safely through a thousand lives in the absence of my own.
I walked to one of the colossal bookcases, a ladder leaning against it. It was begging me to climb up and harvest its bounty, to reach the highest fruit. My eyes traced the shelves of books past a mezzanine filled with more volumes, which stretched to the glass ceiling that glittered with life in the hazy blue sea. Spectacular.
My fingers grazed their covers, most aged and worn.
“May I?” I questioned, looking to Morvyn, who watched me curiously.
“By all means,” he answered from his seat.
I picked up a red book, its cover making a crisp noise as I cracked it open. The scent of old paper and ink whispered from the pages that cascaded at my fingertips. The words were strange, neither in Oakhaven nor any of the other five languages I knew.
“Lumina’s always banging on about these books,” Morvyn remarked with a smirk. “I’m surprised she’s not around here with her nose stuck in one. She says they’re lost to the terra world, but we’ve plucked them from the depths, hidden away in sunken ships or forgotten cities.” He sauntered over to my side and peered over my shoulder. “Usually, I just look at the pictures.”
I looked up at him. “I don’t know this language.”
Morvyn plucked the book from my hands, his ice-blue eyes scanning the pages.
“That’s because it’s old Praetirum, a language that’s about six hundred years older than you.”
“Morvyn, I hope you’re not bothering her.” A voice rang through the room, warm and cantabile.
I turned to see a radiant siren dressed in a yellow silk dress with layers of tendrils that danced as she coasted our way. The color of her gown contrasted with her deep mahogany skin but matched her gilded fins, visible with each step.
