"I mean... If you had been given a choice between staying with Dorian or Bala or coming here with me... Would you have chosen me?"
"Doesn't matter," Lex said fast. "I swore to your sister—“
"What if—“
"Where is this coming from?" Lex asked, sitting up. "Have I given you any inclination that I do not want to be here with you?"
"That's not what I'm asking."
"So, what are you asking?"
"I am asking if you are following me because you trust and believe in what I can do and are not just here because you are fulfilling a promise to my dead sister."
Silence staggered between them, and Nyssa held Lex's gaze for longer than she knew it should have taken for her to answer.
"Why are you asking this?" Lex asked.
"Because I need to know if it is only to his people that I have to prove my worth to or if I need to prove it to you as well."
Lex considered her another moment, the pipe resting firmly between her lips. Nyssa could see the clench of her jaw, the tightness of her fingers around the end...
"Hey, Princess—“ Nadir bounded back onto the porch then, and Nyssa and Lex both straightened in their seats, their conversation put on hold.
"I almost forgot," Nadir continued. "I have a task for you tonight. If you're up for it."
Nyssa exchanged a glance with Lex, who shrugged, obviously not knowing what Nadir had in mind. "Okay," Nyssa replied hesitantly.
"Your sister had promised to help me with the water serpent during the next Deads. I thought the beast had quieted down as I hadn't seen her, but she came on shore again last night and messed with some of the docks. Think you would be up for speaking with her?”
Nyssa’s heart skipped. "You want me to speak with the sea serpent?”
"I would like to go with that option first, yes," he replied. "She's a century-old at least. I'd rather not kill her if I can help it. She usually keeps to herself. I’m not sure what's wrong with her."
A sweat had broken out in Nyssa's palms. "I... I can try, but she may not listen to me—“
"Perhaps the next round of Deads, Commander," Lex interjected.
"The serpent isn't a Noctuan," he informed them. "She just likes to use the darkness for hunting."
"Next week then," Lex argued.
"My men will want to kill her by then," he almost snapped. "I need to know what's going on."
"You will not—“
"Lex, it's fine," Nyssa cut in, her voice barely a whisper. "It's fine."
She knew it was a lie, but maybe... Maybe she could at least reach out to it. Try to let the creatures back in. For her sister. For Nadir and his people.
The voice in the back of her head kept telling her she would get eaten, but she pushed the thought away as she stood from the chair.
Nadir's gaze flickered over her, obviously seeing the hesitation in her features, but he didn't question it.
"Change clothes,” he told her. “If she pulls you under, you should at least not be held hostage by a wool dress."
Nadir lit a torch and escorted her out to the end of the jetty once she'd changed, Lex following behind them. The further out they walked, the more Nyssa's heart began to stammer. Hands gripping and opening, sweat pooled not only in her palms but also in every crease of her body. Her skin felt more and more uncomfortable the closer they got to the end until finally, she had to push breath into her lungs.
Breathe, Nyssari, she heard her brother and sister saying.
