Without consideration for the magic tether holding me, I launch myself from the whale bone. The tether snaps taut, attempting to hold me back. Those invisible hands claw at me, pulling my skin.No. I grit my teeth, muscles straining, legs kicking.I will not be held back a second longer.
There’s apopbetween my shoulder blades. I glide effortlessly out into the open water that had mocked me just a few hours ago. I look back at the cage for a second, betrayed.How dare you,I want to say. I had been trying all night to escape and now the magic snaps.Rude.
Pumping my arms and legs, I swim as fast as I can without having the aid of a tail, keeping a close eye on the distant wall the warriors had disappeared behind. I scan for any signs of the monstrosity they were fighting. Before I know it, I’m at the duke’s side.
His head continues to hang, lips slightly parted. He doesn’t stir at my sudden presence. There’s no twitching of the fins on either side of his face. Circular bruises ring his midsection and arms, plus a few other minor scrapes, but he seems otherwise all right… But looks can be deceiving. I reach out and press my palm against his chest.
Lightning cracks through me. Light flashes behind my eyes, as bright as staring into the sun, momentarily blinding me as scorching pain runs up the new and old drawings inked into my flesh. I hiss but refuse to withdraw. Instead, I hold it more firmly against his chest.
His heart is beating, but faintly.
“Fine, you’re alive, come on then.” I can’t decide if I’m grateful or not that I feel his fluttering heart. It’s not as if I am particularly fond of this man. But…that doesn’t mean I want him to die, either.
I grab his arm and sling it around my shoulders. The pain is subsiding, but in the back of my mind I begin to hear murmuring.Coward…how dare…do it… As unnerving as the whispers are, I work to ignore them. Right now, the only thing that matters is getting help. I try to swim but it’s awkward with his mountain of muscle, and I’ve no idea where to take him.
“Fenny! Lucia! Sheel! Someone!” I imagine my thoughts echoing across the manor. I think of each of their faces as I say their names, hoping that it will connect with them.
Maybe I’m a quick study with magic, because it works.
“Your Holiness?” Lucia’s soft voice laps as gently against my thoughts as a small wave would on the hull of a ship. It’s an odd sensation when I can’t see the speaker. Though, not as unnerving as it otherwise might have been had I not had a song humming in the back of my mind for years.
“Holiness?” The word rips across my mind in confusion.
“Yes, you are the offering, the holy extension of our Lord—”
“Duke Ilryth is hurt!” I blurt, sensing the explanation was going to drag on far longer than necessary.Marked with the old gods, seen as holy, got it.
“What?” So much confusion in that one word.
Oh bloody… Did she hear my other thoughts? So much for being a quick study. I focus on two words, “Come here!” The young woman rises from one of the coral towers of Ilryth’s grand estate. “Over here!”
She turns and finally sees us; we’ve just about crossed the small gap between the wall and the estate. Her lips part. With mouth wide open, she sings a sharp note. I know an alarm when I hear one.
Sheel is the second to arrive, a wooden spear in his hand as he emerges from a balcony. Fenny also swims up above the rooftops, wielding a short sword made of sharpened bone and looking surprisingly fearsome for a woman who had seemed only uptight and matronly so far. Lucia is already halfway to us and Sheel is quickly catching up.
“What are you doing out of your anointing chamber? And the offering should not be making contact with others, lest you disrupt your disconnection from this world!” he growls at me, baring his teeth. I notice he has six canines—four on top, two on bottom—rather than just two as humans have. As if his mouth is part shark. “What misfortune have you brought upon us for your blasphemy?”
“The next time your duke needs saving, I’ll gladly let him die if that’s your preference,” I snarl back, baring my own teeth, even though they’re not nearly as fearsome as his. Sheel seems taken aback by my tone, straightening away.
“Die?” There’s genuine confusion in the question. It gives way to horror as he really looks at Ilryth for the first time. “Don’t tell me he went with the warriors into the trench.” The words feel like they slipped out, unintended. A thought Sheel had meant for himself.
“I certainly didn’t give him these wounds.” I shift my grip on Ilryth. It’s awkward trying to swim with the mountain of muscle this man is. He is still completely limp. “They seem serious.”
“They are,” Lucia says as she takes the opposite arm from me. Her eyes are wide with worry. A panic deeper than even Sheel’s. The familial resemblance between her and the duke was apparent from the first moment I laid eyes on them both. Even though Lucia’s soft features are nothing like Emily’s strong jaw and intense eyes, I see my sister in her worry. “But his physical wounds are not nearly as worrisome as the ones we can’t see.”
Isn’t that always the truth?I think. Lucia gives me a weary smile. She must’ve heard. I pretend she didn’t.
“You need to stop touching him, Your Holiness. Let me help.” Sheel takes the arm I’m holding on to as Fenny arrives.
“What happened to him?” Fenny’s words are filled with worry, but her brow is furrowed with disapproval.
I don’t miss how Fenny also looks in my direction with accusation. I give her a small glare as well. Why is it that they all think I have the ability to bring misfortune upon them when I’m the one who’s been sitting in a cage; the one who they plan toliterally sacrifice?
Fenny glances away. I’m not sure if she heard my agitation or not.
“The worst, I suspect,” Lucia says gravely. “But we’ll look after him. Go and lead a hymn with the people of the duchy—one of protection and safety.”
Fenny nods and speeds off in the opposite direction of where Lucia and Sheel are headed. I glance between them and ultimately decide to go with Ilryth. The only reason I have a chance to catch up is because they are burdened by Ilryth’s weight.
