“Records of that time period also showed taxes went uncollected, and rebellions broke out.” Lumina stated the hard facts rounded in sadness. “It was chaos. Then one day Aegir vanished.”
“Vanished?” I asked.
“Gone, without a trace. Hylos was only fifteen, and after months of the king’s absence, Aegir’s trusted inner circle named Hylos the regent in his father’s stead,” Nixie said.
“We weren’t here then.” Lumina shook her head, hurt settling in her eyes. Like it was a crime she was guilty of. When she was likely too busy going through her own hardships in Oakhaven.
“But Hylos had Raylik and Morvyn at least,” Nixie said. “Can you imagine?” She elbowed Lumina playfully, trying to shake the sadness brimming in her eyes. “This place must have been a disaster! Hylos as regent of all three great seas, with Morvyn at his side.”
Lumina let a smile slip.
Nixie giggled, twinkling in pinks in the sunshine. “Sacred Mother, this place probably smelled like a brothel and those three had to be drunk off their asses every night.”
“At least Raylik was around to keep them in order,” Lumina added.
“He was probably so relieved when we arrived.” They both laughed now, light reflecting off their skin and dancing around us on the spread blanket as they leaned into one another.
The little siren girl in front of me stuck her tongue out at her brother. A melodic chime followed, and water whipped through the air, splashing his face.
He scowled, wiping a wet black lock from his forehead.
“They match in coloring, like Raylik and his cousins,” I said, pointing my chin at the two.
“Very observant,” Lumina praised. “Sirens usually inherit their coloring from their mothers, originally for camouflage. For example, those from the ancient Twynox lineage, who stay in the deep sea and don’t mingle with other Circles often, have kept their original gray and black hues.”
“They don’t get out much,” Nixie joked.
“But here in Naiadon you will see sirens of all coloring. But relatives often have correlating coloring. As you likely share your mother’s eyes or father’s hair.”
I was all my father. I knew that. From my red hair to my amber eyes.
The two children ran around in circles, giggling. How different my life would have been with a sibling, with a family, especially with a brother.
Then maybe my mother would still be alive.
Summer 5339 AT
45 days away from Naiadon. Away from Aegir. Each night marked with innumerable tears. The grave look on Aegir’s face when I finally appeared at our meeting spot, a cove on the Nettle River beside Guardian’s Watch, was horrendous. I never want him to feel that agony again. I know in my soul that he came for me each night. I knew he waited for me. He would for eternity.
Tonight, he pleaded with me to stay in Naiadon for good. He spoke of marriage, a wild thought considering his people do not even believe in such things, but he said he would marry me if it meant I would stay, and he would make me a siren, like the other sirens here. But his unwelcoming court already looks at me like a scourge. If Aegir married a made siren it would topple all he has worked for, surely. But I know him, he wouldn’t care. He spenthis life building this powerful kingdom below the sea and he would give it all up in a heartbeat for me. A love like that is dangerous.
I cannot stay. His purpose is to rule his people, and mine is to elevate my family. I am young and, many say, beautiful. With the proper match, my family will rise in ranking. I cannot stay in Naiadon past dawn, even if it is where my heart dwells.
Aegir sleeps soundly now, in his bed, and I lie next to him, writing in this little journal, listening to his breathing. How can one man be so perfect?
How will I ever tell him I’m to be married? A match too great for my father to reject. That if I don’t marry him, if I were to disappear and never return to shore, my family would surely be in grave danger.
Chapter 24
With a sweep of Hylos’s palm, he conjured a deep-timbre sound that rang through the air, buzzing in my chest and lighting the massive cartography table, which was carved from a large piece of coral. The light bathed the books that lined the dimly lit shelves of his study.
“Let’s start with what we know. All the sailors we’ve captured have followed these routes.” Another song drummed from him with a wave of his hand, and water in strings traced paths upon the map like twine-wide rivers.
“Our current location?” I asked over the dissipating hum of his song.
“Here.” Hylos pointed far off the coast, to the northeast of Oakhaven.
I’d had my suspicions that we were far from land, and he confirmed it. It would be impossible to swim from here if I ever managed to get through one of those entry pools.
