“Why not?”
It was Calivan who answered. “There are many demands on her time. Queendoms, like kingdoms, don’t govern themselves.”
“Well, perhaps that will change now that Dilys and I are married and can be here to help.”
Dilys smiled and lifted her hand for a kiss, happy that Calivan’s earlier, uncharacteristic blundering hadn’t put her off the idea of making Calberna her home.
“Perhaps, it will indeed.” Calivan nodded to the gondolier, and with an answering nod, the muscular Calbernan thrust his pole into the water and pushed off.
The city was clustered at the base of a great mountain peak that rose sharply into the sky, its steep surfaces forested in lush green foliage broken by dozens of tall cloud-fed waterfalls. The slender watercoach glided smoothly through the crystal-clear waters of the city canals towards a tunnel in the side of the mountain.
Schools of brightly colored fish swam in the crystalline waters beneath the boat. It was astonishing to Gabriella that any city’s waters could remain so clear and unpolluted, even on Calberna. She started to say something about it to Dilys, but just then a Calbernan male and three small boys swam underneath the boat. They rolled over on their backs to grin and wave as they passed by.
Her mouth fell open. “My word.”
Beside her, Dilys laughed. “Someone’s showing off. That’s another of my cousins, Maru Ocea, and his boys. They will meet you properly at the palace.”
“Ocea? Any connection to—?”
“Tey.Maru is married to Ryll’s sister.”
She watched the man and his three sons, four dark shadows knifing swiftly and effortlessly through the waters, until they swam so far ahead she couldn’t see them anymore. Not once did they surface for air. “So it’s true that Calbernans can breathe underwater?”
He shrugged. “It’s true.”
“How?”
“A gift of our physiology. We have gill slits. Here.” He traced a finger down the side of his ribs. “They seal when not in use, but when we swim, we can open them to breathe the oxygen in the water.”
“Like fish.”
“This upsets you,moa kiri?”
“No, I’m not upset. Maybe a little disappointed.” She bit her lip and smiled a little sheepishly. “I was sort of hoping it was more Calbernan magic. The kind you could work on other people, so I could go swimming like that, too.”
“Ah.” He was smiling again. Relieved. “I’m afraid not.” Dilys laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. She leaned back against him and snuggled closer when his arms wrapped around her.
“Our children, will they be born like you? Able to breathe in water?”
His arms tightened a little at the mention of children and his lips found her neck for a kiss that made her eyes close in quiet bliss. “Tey.Allimlaniare. Does that thought disturb you?”
“No, not particularly. But how is it possible? Your people have been mating with outlanders almost exclusively for over two thousand years. Genetically, speaking, you should have bred out almost all Calbernan traits by now.”
“I explained to you about the ability of Calbernan males to store and use the magic gifted to them by women of power.”
“Yes.”
“Well, native-born Calbernan females have a gift too. Not only can they fuel the magic of our males, but they can pass all or a portion of their gifts to others. Every female bearing Calbernan young will visit theimlaniwomen of her House during her pregnancy, and theimlaniwill pass a portion of their seagifts to the young. The closer the blood ties, the more magic theimlaniwomen will share with the unborn child—especially if the child is a daughter. It is how we survived after the slaughter of the Sirens. To keep our race alive, the strongest of our remaining women shared their power with the next generation, and upon their deaths, they gave what remained of their gifts to theMyerial.And everyMyerialthereafter passed that power along with her own to her successor. My mother, when she inherited the throne, received all the accumulated power ofMyerialSiavaluana II and all theMyerialsthat came before her. She would have passed that power to our daughter, but since you are a Siren, the Sea Throne and theMyerial’s gifts rightfully belong to you. And you can pass both to our daughter in time.”
“What if we don’t have a daughter?”
“If we have a son who marries and bears a daughter, you will pass the Sea Throne and your gifts to her. Should you perish without a daughter or granddaughter of your blood, then the throne and your gifts will go to my mother’s uncle Aleki’s daughter Aleakali Maru. None of Siavaluana II’s children bore her female grandchildren while she was still alive, and Aleakali Maru is the eldest granddaughter of Siavaluana I, born while her aunt, Siavaluana II was on the throne, and thus granted a queen’s gift while in the womb.”
“That seems very confusing.”
“Calbernan succession is always determined by whichimlanidaughter has the closest and most recent blood ties to the line of theMyerials.Allimlanifemales who belong to the House of the current queen or the House of a previousMyerialreceive a gift of power from the currentMyerialwhile still in the womb. That power will be added to her own, thus making her and her daughters stronger in their gifts, and ultimately restoring the Sirens to Calberna.”
“But I have no blood tie to theMyerials.Won’t there be objections to my taking the throne?”
