“Ilryth.” His name is a caress on the back of my mind. “I love you.”
The smile that spreads across his face is brighter than the midday sun. “And I love you.” His attention drops to my mouth. He licks his lips and I squeeze him tighter still. “Victoria, I—”
We are interrupted by a sudden and ominous silence. Without warning, the singing of the chorus that has continued in the background has halted. I’d filtered out the constant noise. But its absence is noticeable.
“What—”
In response to my unfinished question, a single note hums across the Eversea—five voices in perfect harmony.
“They’ve decided,” Ilryth says solemnly, his arms slackening. I barely resist pulling him back to me.A little bit longer. A little more time for him and me to simply exist.
But the tides of fate have been pulling us along since the beginning. It’s impossible for us to find any kind of headwind that would be able to fight against them. Just as our arms relax completely and we drift apart, the chorus rounds the balcony.
All of them still carry their spears and their expressions are a mix of grim and serious. The only one who seems happy is Ventris, which further supports my theory over the game Fenny might have been playing. She’d been gambling for a different outcome. One that I now suspect she ultimately lost.
“We have reached a decision,” Remni announces. “Your anointments shall be refreshed and then, come the dawn, you will be sacrificed on the shores of Lady Lellia so that your bodies might be offered to nurture the Lifetree—an apology for your affronts—and your souls can return to Lord Krokan. Hopefully, combined, it is enough to appease the old gods and end this once and for all.”
CHAPTER50
There’sno point in arguing. Even though objections blaze across my thoughts, I keep them for myself alone, hidden behind a calm mask. Ilryth seems to have reached the same conclusion, as he remains perfectly still. Though the muscles in his jaw flex briefly. The only thing that betrays his agitation.
In trying to save their seas, the chorus has damned us all. But knowing where they stand—that they will be a hindrance and not a help—is progress in its own way. It cements that there’s little point in seeking their assistance further. Ilryth and I are on our own.
My thoughts swirl like a tempest. Pressure propels me. It is the wind in my sails and the guide by which I chart my course.
“If this is what the chorus has chosen, then we shall abide by your decision,” I say, bowing my head slightly.
“Good,” Remni says. Ventris looks wildly skeptical at my compliance, but he keeps his mouth shut. Remni exudes an aura that now is not the time to try her patience. “We will take you to her sands now, so that you may be properly anointed before the Lifetree prior to your offering to our lady.” Remni passes her spear from hand to hand, clearly looking uncomfortable with what she must say next. “However, given your talk of cutting down the Lifetree, we will need to bind and confine you.”
The warriors round the balcony, wrapping thick ropes of kelp around our wrists that remind me of what Ilryth sealed his armory with. They lead us by bound hands up toward the Lifetree in complete silence. The chorus stays behind, but not without a final look from Fenny. She focuses mostly on her brother, but her attention drifts to me. There are volumes unspoken and she is too hard a woman to read for me to piece together what her true intentions are. She’s out of sight before I can even try, a fading shadow.
Back on the surface, so many leaves have now fallen that the once white beaches have been turned silver. The foliage clumps in the surf that laps at our ankles as we emerge. I doubt it’s my imagination that the boughs above seem to be more barren than even a few hours ago.
“She’s dying.” Ilryth’s words are a ripple across the back of my mind as we enter the tunnel that leads to the main beach of the Lifetree.
“We’ll save her.” My determination is as clear as the daylight that awaits us on the opposite end.
The beach is empty now; there are no worshippers singing their prayers. Whatever contingent was here when we first arrived must’ve left, or was sent away by the chorus. Our only company are the handful of warriors, the spears that pierce the pristine sand, and the shining axes that are lined up neatly along the large roots that envelop this sheltered beach. I try not to stare at them with too much hunger in my eyes as we pass. But it’s difficult when my fingers twitch, urging me to grab one and run to the door.
“In here,” one of the warriors commands. He gestures to an opening between two of the massive roots. The other warriors make a semi-circle around us as their leader undoes the bindings on our wrists. “If we hear even so much as a note, we have orders from the chorus to end you then and there, anointing or no.” He glares at me, as if he’s barely holding himself back from making good on the threat right now. “The chorus will be sending someone to anoint you.”
With that, he positions his back to the opening and Ilryth and I have no choice but to venture inside.
We squeeze through a narrow passage of roots. My eyes take a moment to adjust and, when they do, I’m reminded of a flipped-over bird’s nest. It’s as if someone has tried to capture us beneath a basket. Sunlight peeks through interwoven roots, casting beams of light that dapple the sand.
“I thought sirens didn’t have jails,” I mutter, massaging my wrists. Small wonder Remni looked so uncomfortable about this.
“We don’t, especially not on the island of the Lifetree. This space is usually reserved for sacred prayers and silent meditation as it is nestled within Lady Lellia’s embrace.” Ilryth stares up through one of the holes in the woven ceiling of roots.
“The sirens’ aversion to prisons will be our benefit. They could’ve kept us bound and tied. We have a head start on escaping since we don’t have to worry about undoing those ropes.” I start to walk along the circumference of the space. The walls are like a living tapestry, some of the roots thicker than three ship masts together, others thin enough that I could snap. I peer into gaps, looking for places that might open to form passages.
“There isn’t another way out. I’ve been here before.”
“Were you looking for one when you were last here?” I try and squeeze through one of the spaces between roots, even though I already know it’s much too small.
“I can look around the entire space with a single turn.” He does so for emphasis. “There isn’t a way out.”
Frowning, I place my hands on my hips. “So, what, then? Do you want to give up? Just, let them kill us? Let Lady Lellia die and take the whole world with her?”
