“No. She is unaware of the event.” Wrinkles formed on his brow, the truth etched in them. He didn’t trust her to be aware of the event.
“Yes. Sure, I will attend.”
I couldn’t stop looking for an escape now, not after this conversation.
“Good. The guards will come for you tonight.”
Hylos poured the remnants of the wine into his chalice.
“Want more?” he asked.
I would need it to keep me sane at this point. It felt like Naiadon’s walls were closing in around me and soon I would drown below in these depths. “Yes, please.”
“I’ll grab another bottle,” he said, walking to the other end of the room and pulling a bolt of dark-blue fabric onto a hook. It exposed a small wine cellar that Hylos stepped down into.
Then I saw it, just briefly. An object as tall as him leaning against the back of the cellar wall, shrouded in a cloth.
My heart raced.
It couldn’t be, could it?
“What is that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from quivering.
“What?” Hylos asked. Bottles clinked as he selected the one he wanted.
I rose to my feet and walked toward him, trying to get a better look. “That thing, covered and leaning up against the wall?”
Hylos reappeared. “Oh, that.” He glanced at it as he walked past, a wine bottle in hand. He untucked the fabric and it flowed back into place, hiding the small room and the object inside.
“It’s a painting.” A frown dragged on the corner of his lips.
“A painting of what?” I was holding my breath.
He winced like the thought pained him. With a wave of his hand and siren song, the wine bottle’s cork popped. He caught it smoothly in the air.
“Of my mother.”
My heart sank. It was the portal out of Naiadon.
Winter 5339 AT
Aegir has warmed to the idea of me becoming a mother. Even if it is not his child. At first, he was furious. Distraught even. But one night, amid the quiet of his bedchamber, the sea twinkling in silver moonlight, he confessed his love for the child growing within me. Because the babe is mine, and I am his.
Aegir fusses over me incessantly, showering me with attention and care like a doting parent-to-be. From rubbing my sore, flattened feet to bringing me jelly sweets. He can’t resist the urge to caress my growing belly. His love for the unborn child is evident in every touch.
He’s convinced it’s a boy. He claims to sense a strong energy from the small flutter in my womb, that the child’s inner song is brave and wise. I hope he’s right. Every powerful man wishes for a son. Maybe that would quell my husband’s callous nature.
Chapter 29
Asuffocating darkness wrapped around my senses as someone forced thick fabric over my head. Hands pulled me from sleep.
“What is the meaning of this?” I shouted, fighting their hold.
No response.
When had I even fallen asleep? I was reading seconds before, eager to learn more about the portal and how it functioned while trying to stay awake for whatever event Hylos had planned.
Fuck. The journal.
