I dare to speak just to him, hoping that with the shell and enough practice, none of them will hear. “It’ll be all right,” I say.
“Don’t speak to me again unless I address you,” Ilryth says firmly. I would think he was being rude, if not for the worry that bleeds around his words. He’s trying to protect me. I can feel it in the song that hums in my bones, stronger than ever.
I nod slightly and look forward once more, bracing myself for whatever waits on the other side of the traveler’s pool.
CHAPTER25
Swimming down.Night and starlight. Swimming up in a new location. I think I’m beginning to get the hang of moving by way of traveler’s pool as I’m less disoriented with every time I pass through.
The traveler’s pool I emerge from is nestled in the center of an underwater garden, teeming with life, framed in by stone walls and a birdcage trellis over top. Anamneses, larger than the ones Ilryth magically grew in the trench, cast a pale light over the space, protecting it from the red rot floating through the currents just beyond the birdcage. The ghostly trees stretch up from beds of mosslike vines of seaweed, dotted with rocks and coral that have been sculpted into swirls and geometric shapes, framed by gently swaying fans.
Ventris hovers in the glow of one of the anamneses, hands behind his back, as he waits for everyone else to emerge.
“Take the duke to the judgment chambers while he awaits the next singing of the chorus,” Ventris orders his guards.
Ilryth still wears a scowl but doesn’t object. He has far more self-control than I, as I can’t stop myself.
“You are not going to throw him in jail,” I say firmly.
Ventris blinks at me. “Jail?”
“It’s the place where humans lock each other in cages,” Ilryth explains.
“Ah, thank you. Your endless knowledge on humans never ceases to astound.” The way Ventris says “astound” leads me to believe he doesn’t truly mean it. Ventris looks back to me. “Your Holiness, there are no ‘jails’ in the Eversea. We do not cage people like beasts.”
“You…don’t?” The concept is foreign to me.
“No. Duke Ilryth will be kept comfortable, as any would, but especially befitting of his station, until the chorus can gather and discuss the best path to any reconciliation for his crimes.”
“There were no crimes. I was the one who demanded to go. Iforcedhim.” It’s not fair for him to bear the burden of my mistakes. I made my family suffer in that way; I won’t allow it to happen again with him.
“That is for the chorus to decide. I do not question the ways of your people. It is not for you to question the ways of ours,” Ventris says to me, tone as cool as the nighttime sea.
“Don’t worry, Victoria.” Ilryth summons my attention, locking eyes with me and giving a small smile. It does little to reassure me when he’s still being escorted by an entire pack of guards. Would they need that many to subdue him? He’s not even armed. “I’ll be all right. We’ll see each other again soon.”
His ease is the opposite of the warning he gave me moments ago. Ilryth appears relaxed and calm. But I know appearances can be deceiving. As a duke, he is as skilled as I am in concealing true feelings.
“Very well.” I nod. “I look forward to seeing you again, Ilryth,” I add for Ventris’s benefit. I want there to be no doubt that I will not be calm and quiet if any ill were to befall my duke.
Ilryth is escorted away. I’m relieved that the warriors don’t lay a hand on him. He seems at ease, at least on the outside.
“Now, if you will follow me, Victoria,” Ventris says.
“I prefer ‘Your Holiness,’” I say coldly. I want distance between us, not familiarity. This man gives me an uneasy feeling and I have long since learned to trust my gut.
Ventris’s face betrays no emotion. “Of course, Your Holiness. I wish to see you to your chambers so that we may continue your blessings and preparations. Goodness knows there are many still that we will need to place upon you to make a human even partly worthy of standing before an old god.”
“You seem to hold an odd amount of disdain for the human who’s going to be your people’s sacrifice.”
Ventris leans forward, his mouth visibly fighting a frown. “If I had been there the night Duke Ilryth claimed you, you would never have born the markings of Lord Krokan as the sacrifice. If it had been solely up to me, I would’ve swum to your sad, magicless world and expunged the markings myself before it was too late. But I was outvoted when it came to this little experiment.”
“You’d rather see one of your own be sacrificed instead?” That’s a better alternative in his mind?
“It is anhonorto give one’s life to Lord Krokan for the sake of the old gods—a blessing I doubt you comprehend.” He’s right. I definitely see this as more of a curse than a boon. “But what is done is done. I just hope this risk Ilryth has chosen for all of us doesn’t result in Lord Krokan’s rage increasing.”
“It won’t,” I vow. If I hadn’t been determined before, I am now. Ventris reminds me of all the men who told me I couldn’t make a good ship captain because I was too young, or too emotional, not cutthroat enough, or lacked the right morals as an oath breaker.
“Now, if you’ll follow me.” He might phrase it politely enough, but it’s apparent that the sentiment is begrudging…and that I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.
