This place truly had to be important if they were all ready to follow Hylos to it after being dragged from their beds by guards against their will.
Hylos’s eyes settled upon me.
“You dare take a human to the Holy Mother’s womb?” Draveen demanded.
The others muttered their disapproval as well.
“It is an affront to Nymphaea,” Melquin grumbled under his breath.
“Elowyn Blackthorn is ourally. As I am hers.”
The room fell deathly silent.
It would have been a nice sentiment if it didn’t feel like a manipulation tactic.Allies. Officially. Against my father, and against Oakhaven. Bynaming me so, he implied that everyone who took this leap of faith with him was making a similar declaration. Which was the first step for him assembling an army against Oakhaven.
It was a well-played move, especially accompanied by the show of force. Dragging us all here in the night yet allowing us to make the ultimate choice, so he said, to follow him wherever this holy site was. Then surely to follow him into battle. It was a trust fall into the night in the name of war.
To stop Hylos, I would need to know his plans.
“I accept,” I said.
A smile quirked the corner of Hylos’s mouth.
“Youallwill be safe in my charge,” he said to the room, but I knew the words were meant for me because I wasn’t safe at all. Which made my heart drum.
Hylos raised his hands over the pool. Deep percussive tones thundered from him and vibrated through the water, sending it churning.
Then, eight beasts surged from the depths.
I stumbled back, the memory of the kelpie snapping into my mind as horse-like chuffs escaped from the creatures’ snouts, steam tumbling in their wake. Their heads resembled white horses, but instead of velvety pelts and silky manes, they had hard, sleek skin, with spines where ears should have been.
Hylos, with practiced ease, swung his leg over the back of one of the beasts, aligning perfectly with the hard ridges. He gripped the two spines on its neck and shouted, “Onward!” The creature bucked, turned, and its hard-shelled tail cracked against the water’s surface as it plunged beneath the water.
The guards nudged me forward. With cautious steps and a trembling hand, I reached out, brushing my fingers over the creature’s hard, plated side. It whinnied at my touch, just like the horses I loved to ride at home.
Summoning my courage, I hoisted myself onto the creature’s back, mirroring Hylos’s seat. My hands tightened around the makeshift reins and with a flick of its tail, it propelled itself around, cutting through the water with an effortless plunge as we dove into the black sea.
Chapter 30
Naiadon faded behind me, swallowed by black sea. The blue light of my mother’s prayer beads cradled me. Ears popping at the depth, I inhaled, only to choke on salt water.
Panic clutched my heart. What if the bracelet didn’t work anymore?
I gasped again; the briny water burned in my chest, but was somehow breathable. Like sawing breaths after running hard—scorching, inadequate, but necessary.
My mount surged upward fast. I held on tightly, its speed forcing me back into the seat. Breaking through the water’s skin, we emerged from the surface, and above hung a never-ending plane of twinkling silver stars. The glass-flat water surrounded me like a mirror of liquid night. I had not seen the sky in weeks and it was glorious.
My beast caught up to Hylos’s, racing atop the water, both our creatures gliding effortlessly through the waves.
Hylos, smiling broadly, shouted, “The sky welcomes us!”
A laugh flew from my chest at our speed and the sight of the stars. Despite everything, this tasted like freedom, even if it was only for a fleeting moment.
Our beasts dove into the water again, Hylos’s azure glow at my side as we went deeper and deeper into the sea. He was the only thing that felteven remotely familiar here. A blue light at the other end of a strange, ever-stretching tunnel.
Until the others showed. Halos of light surrounded us in winking flashes of pastels that raced beside us, then faded. High-pitched bursts of melody zinged through the water. Sirens.
Welcome, King Hylos.
