“Go to Hel,skuurl.And take your whole cursed House with you.”
“You first, cousin.” Dilys pinched Nemuan’s trachea and gave him a slight shake. “You’ve lost and you know it. You’re going to die. There’s no way around that. But out of respect for your honored mother, I’ll give you a chance to preserve at least some semblance of honor. Return with me willingly to Calberna, testify against everyone who participated in your treason, and I promise the true depths of your depravity will not become public knowledge. You’ll still die a traitor’s death, but your House will be spared the shame of having their once-honored prince publicly branded a magic eater.”
For a moment, Nemuan looked defeated, but then he bared bloody fangs in a mocking smile. “You want me to identify traitors? Just look in the mirror,skuurl.” Nemuan laughed, then coughed up another bubble of air, seawater and blood. Eyes glinting with dull hate, Nemuan spat, “This much I will give you: my most fervent prayer to Numahao that you, too, may live to witness the destruction of your House and the loss of everything you hold dear.”
Dilys’s jaw hardened. He hadn’t really expected Nemuan to cooperate, but some part of him had hoped he would. “And that is your final answer?”
“The only one you’ll ever get from me.”
“So be it.” In one swift move, Dilys ripped open Nemuan’s throat and belly. Then he locked an arm around his cousin’s chest and swam towards the sharp drop-off of the continental shelf, calling out a Command as he went. He stopped at the edge of the shelf and let his body sink until his feet touched the sandy soil of the ocean’s floor. “By the grant of Numahao, and asMyerieluaof the Calbernan Isles, I declare you, Nemuan Merimynos, to be a traitor to Calberna, and in keeping with the laws of the Isles, I condemn you to meet the kracken.”
Weak and dying from blood loss and his injuries, Nemuan turned his head to see around Dilys’s body, and his eyes widened in sudden terror as he beheld the monstrous carnivorous leviathan slowly rising from the deep.
By the time Dilys swam back to theKracken,Summer had dispersed the last remnants of her storm. He rode a spout of water up to the main deck, went to his cabin to have his wounds tended and change into a fresh, unbloodiedshuma,then joined Gabriella in the cabin where Ari was recuperating. “How is he?”
“Not well,” she admitted. “Unlike with me, there was no Mur Balat to keep the Shark from doing damage to poor Ari. He’s got a broken leg, and hundreds of cuts and burns all over his body. There was a strange circle of runes drawn in red ink at the back of his neck. Whatever it was terrified him. When I asked him about it, he went wild and ripped his own skin off with his claws to get rid of it. He’s sedated now, and I recommend keeping him that way until we get him someplace safe where he can be properly looked after. I tried sharing some of my magic with him, to help him to heal, but I don’t know if it did him any good. If we were closer to Wintercraig, I’d say we should get Tildy to help him.”
“When we get back to Calberna, Uncle Calivan should be able to help him. He’s not quite as gifted an herbalist as your Tildavera Greenleaf, but he knows his way around healing potions.”
“That sounds good. We should probably put him on one of your fastest ships and send him back to Calberna right away.”
Dilys went still, his gaze suddenly very watchful. “You don’t wish to sail to Calberna?”
She realized immediately that he’d misinterpreted her request. “I do. Of course I do. But there’s something I need to do first. A vow I need to keep.”
Less than twenty-four hours later, Gabriella stood on the deck of theKrackenlooking out over Trinipor, the capital of Mystral’s slave trade, and the massive stone fortress that loomed over the city from the clifftops above. What until a few hours ago had been Mystral’s busiest, most profitable, and most deplorable slave port was now a ghost town. The thousands of men, women, and children who had been held for sale here were sailing towards Calberna, where the offer of safe haven or a small gold stake and transport to the port of their choice awaited them. The slavers themselves were either dead or in chains, preparing to be transported to several labor camps, where they would be put to work mining precious minerals until they earned enough money to buy back every slave they’d ever sold.
All that remained of Trinipor now were the empty buildings and slave pens, and the opulent, abandoned fortress of Mur Balat. Of Balat himself, there was no trace. According to witnesses, he hadn’t been seen in over a month. His coven of witches had declared him slain in a fiery explosion at sea, then fled in the night, along with half of his servants and guards. A few of the more brazen remaining guards had decided to claim Balat’s fortress and his slave trade for themselves. Most of them had perished fighting the Calbernans who’d come to put an end to Trinipor.
“It’s time,moa haleah.” Dilys touched her arm gently.
“Everyone is out, right? The city and fortress are empty?”
“Tey.Just as you ordered.”
“Good.” Her hands clenched tightly around the ship’s railing. Scores of Calbernans floated in the water below, waiting. She took a deep breath, then another.
Gabriella had insisted on visiting her former captor’s palatial home, to see with her own eyes the princely life he’d built for himself on the backs of his victims. She toured the holding pens, the cages, the locked rooms where he kept recalcitrant and magically gifted slaves, letting each new outrage fuel the molten kernel of fury bubbling at her core until the pressure had become so fearsome that holding it in felt like trying to stop a volcano from erupting.
She probably should have excused herself when the Calbernans discovered the rooms in Balat’s palace that housed a dozen naked young women wearing magic-restraining collars and the blank, hollow-eyed look she recognized all too well. But even now, with her rage-fed power threatening to shatter her control, her heart also swelled with pride for Dilys’s men, all of whom had been so gentle, so incredibly tender and compassionate towards those who had suffered so terribly. Feared mercenaries the Calbernans might be, but when it came to Mystral’s most vulnerable, no one had a bigger heart, or a greater capacity for giving.
Dilys’s hands clasped her shoulders, his touch warm and reassuring. “I am here, Gabriella. Do what you must. The men and I will make sure no one gets hurt.”
She nodded, unable to speak. Her throat was tight, her magic swelling to a painful crescendo. She squeezed the ship’s railing until her knuckles turned white, took a final, deep breath, then let out a Shout like no other. Magic poured from her throat, her fury, her vengeance, her grief, and her pain unleashed in a scream that blasted across the water and slammed into Trinipor like a hammer of the gods. Trees and buildings were ripped from their foundations. Stone shuddered and groaned. She Shouted and Shouted and Shouted, releasing all the rage and fury and grief inside her until Mur Balat’s mighty fortress, the entire city of Trinipor, and several miles of the northern Ardullan coast crumbled and collapsed into the sea. In the water, the scores of swimming Calbernans absorbed the shock wave of the sudden collapse, taming the resulting tsunami before it could start, swimming fast away to disperse the energy in harmless bursts spread out across the Olemas.
When it was over, Gabriella leaned back into Dilys’s strong arms. She felt drained and weary and sad, and the only reason she wasn’t collapsing into broken sobs was because Dilys was there, his love and his strength pouring into all the empty places inside. Her sisters were gone, the men who’d hurt them and her were dead, she’d put an end to the Trinipor slave trade and wiped Mur Balat’s base of power from the face of Mystral. She’d done all that she could to avenge her loved ones. It still wasn’t enough—probably never would be—but it would have to be enough for now.
She turned to wrap her arms around Dilys’s waist and pressed her face to his chest, letting the beat of his heart and the safe haven of his embrace soothe her raw emotions. “Let’s go home,moa akua.To Calberna.”
Chapter 27
TheKrackensailed slowly into the pristine turquoise waters of Cali Va’Lua’s main harbor. Standing on the deck beside Dilys, wearing the sea-green gown his crew had made for her, Gabriella felt her stomach fluttering with a jumble of nerves and excitement.
Until the day of her abduction, she’d never traveled beyond the borders of the Æsir Isles. And except for a few childhood trips to Seahaven, to visit her mother’s family, and her recent journey to Wintercraig, she’d never left Summerlea. In fact, after her mother’s death, she’d rarely traveled beyond the walls of Vera Sola.
Calberna, with its crystalline waters, pink sand beaches, and swaying tropical palms, was the most exotic and beautiful place she’d ever been. Almost like a like a slice of Halla on earth. Everything was bright and beautiful, and the air was so thick with exuberant joy it was intoxicating to her senses. Thousands had gathered to welcome the first Siren to return to Calberna since the Slaughter. They lined the docks, as well as every ship in the harbor and every wall and walkway as far as she could see. Cheering, bright-eyed, sun-bronzed folk throwing flowers, and loops of blossoms and glossy green leaves as theKrackensailed past.
“Sirena!” they cried, and, “Myerielua!”
