Calypstra raised her cup.
“And here’s to our most honored guest of all,” she said, her voice a soft purr.
Her eyes fell onto me.
“Princess ElowynBlackthorn.”
Chapter 19
My stomach sank.
The sirens all buzzed with whispers.
The nearest twin whipped her head toward me.
“Are you joining Hylos in the war against King Eadric Blackthorn?”
Against my father.
“Is that why you’re here? As an ally?” the other said.
My heart lodged in my throat.
Hylos looked nearly as shocked as me as he eyed Calypstra. But her charcoal-lined stare didn’t meet his. No. Instead, she watched myevery breath.
“Yes,” Hylos said loudly, reining in the room, “to ElowynBlackthorn, our most honored guest here in Naiadon. We thank her for her visit. Let us all raise a glass,again, to Nymphaea and thank her for all she brings to our table, including those beyond the sea. Praise be to Nymphaea!”
The guests raised their glasses again, eyeing one another with confusion, but still echoing the words, less enthusiastically than before.
“Praise be to Nymphaea.”
The room was spinning.
Hylos drank deeply and sent a mere glance to the choir, urging it back to life, their song filling the room again with beauty. But my heart only raced with the speeding tempo.
Everyone in the banquet hall had one thing in common. Besides being violent, powerful creatures.
Oakhaven was their enemy.
Hylos had called them to Naiadon this evening to discuss war against the king and his country, and now they knew who I truly was. His daughter.
Why was the music so loud? The swirling siren lights’ spinning made me dizzy. The captain was right; I had grown too content. Complacent. Relaxed. I should have been more careful. More calculated. And now they all knew my true identity. How long had Hylos known?
Raylik’s chair skittered back loudly as he abruptly rose from his seat. The sound sent me lurching. My nerves were wound tight.
Muscles strained and fists clenched, he marched toward Hylos.
Nixie nodded to him once, as if she understood his destination. Then looked at me. I avoided her soft, rose-colored gaze.
“Move over,” Nixie demanded to the twins.
Each scowled in her direction.
“We do not take orders from made sirens,” one snapped.
“Our cousin’s mate or not,” the other added.
“I said, move over.”
