“What was that?” Lumina said as she looked back at me.
Morvyn turned too.
Heart still, I trained my eyes on them, avoiding what had my true full attention.
I shrugged my shoulders like I’d heard nothing at all.
Morvyn and Lumina passed a look between them. Then they turned back toward the stairs.
With one last glance, I noted the spot above their heads that still glowed, increasing its light as I trailed them out of the library. Something on that level of the library called to me and I needed to know why.
Chapter 12
We descended the winding stairs, then turned down another lengthy hall made entirely of glass. It extended like a bridge over a vast, dipping ocean field. Sirens swam beneath, weaving through a forest of swaying sea grass, toiling in the gold-green strands. It was incredible.
“Many sirens live and work in the castle. Those below are tending to farms or fishing,” Lumina explained.
“Do they not need to breathe?” I asked.
“We take breath from the water as you do the air upon land.”
“Then why a castle if you can live out there?”
“Great question. Many of our kind do still live in the open sea.”
“Ew, just imagine,” Morvyn interjected.
“Some have their own homes, modest and grand, that are completely submerged. However, King Aegir built this castle, Naiadon. It was the first of its kind. Mirrored after the castles upon land. Today, the other noble families—we call them Circles—have created structures of their own to emulate this one. But Naiadon is the largest and most grand to date. Here, we are out of the ocean’s elements.”
“Plus, we can have pretty guests, like you,” Morvyn added with a playful wink.
“I suppose there is some truth to that.” Lumina put a finger thoughtfully to her chin. “Many say King Aegir created this castle for his lover, Hylos’s mother.”
I surveyed the castle stretching into the distance, all stone and sparkling glass. Its peaks rising from the depths. All of this for love.
“Lumi, you make pickups sound sounsexywhen you follow them with facts,” Morvyn said as we passed through a stone archway into a large rotunda. Its imposing stone dome looming above was supported by matching columns that divided various halls and chambers.
Sirens hurried in and out of the passages, each adorned in vivid hues. They moved through the other archways carrying large baskets, or wielding spears. All marched purposefully to their destinations. They were spellbinding.
My stomach flipped as extraordinary colored eyes flickered with curiosity in my direction. Their gazes quickly diverted when they recognized Lumina and Morvyn flanking me. Clearly my guides were important and feared.
“Don’t mind them,” Lumina said at my side. “They rarely see humans. They’re all far too busy preparing for the celebrations to be bothered, anyway.”Celebrations?
The crowd thinned as we turned down a narrow hallway lined with glowing orbs of water lights that cast dancing shadows on the walls. At the end stood a towering, studded door. Lumina waved her hand past it, and with an illustrious hum that radiated from her, water formed and spun out of her fingertips before swirling into a hole in the door, like a key in a lock.
The door clunked open, revealing a room filled with treasure.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight before me.
“Brilliant, isn’t it?” Morvyn said as he and Lumina entered.
Following him, I carefully avoided the piles of gold coins scattered about. Magnificent objects of all shapes and sizes topped short pillars that stood at intervals. Glinting crowns, tiaras, a necklace with black sapphires so large they could fill my palm. Riches filled every corner of the space.
“The treasury holds all of Naiadon’s greatest jewels,” Lumina declared, her voice resounding in the filled chamber.
Morvyn picked up a delicate tiara, its ornate details catching the light, and placed it on his head. “I call it Naiadon’s Hubris Hall. I swear Hylos has taken every girl he’s ever fancied at least once to show them thefamily jewels.” He elbowed Lumina, who didn’t laugh.
He snatched up a tarnished metal crown, spun to me, then placed it atop my head with care.
