Gabriella bit her lip. First she had gotten into an argument with Calivan, and now the queen. She hadn’t wanted to start her first day in her new home getting in fights with every member of Dilys’s family, but the idea of suddenly becoming responsible for the governance of an entire nation was more than a little overwhelming.
“But must it be so right away?” she pressed. “So much has happened so quickly,moa Myerial.I need time to settle into my new home and become familiar with the ways and traditions of my new country. To give Calbernans a chance to get to know me, and I them. And also to work beside you, to learn to be a queen worthy of ruling of these great Isles.”
“This is unnecessary. You are a Siren. Your worthiness is unquestionable.”
Beside her, Dilys shifted his weight from one foot to another. The slight, nearly imperceptible motion made her aware of his growing unease. Gabriella’s hackles rose. She laid a hand on Dilys’s arm, and forced a pleasant smile. “I appreciate your confidence in me,Myerial.I suggest we discuss the particulars of the succession later, once myakuaand I have had a chance to rest from our journey.”
“Very well, but I must warn you, I will not change my mind on this matter.”
“Then our discussion should be lively indeed, because neither will I. And Dilys can tell you how stubborn I get when I’m determined not to do something.”
Dilys gave a laugh that sounded only slightly forced. “Oh,tey,mylianais the proverbial immovable object.”
“Is she?” Alysaldria arched a brow, power vibrating in her voice.
Gabriella met the challenge of her mother-in-law’s golden gaze head-on. “Tey,” she replied with an answering rumble of power, “she is.”
The two of them stood there for several, long, silent moments—the two greatest powers in Calberna—taking each other’s measure, each refusing to be the first to look away. Summer had spent a lifetime soothing others and subtly Persuading them out of their snits, but the right to self-determination wasn’t going to be a battle she won with charm. Not this time. Dilys’s mother was clearly used to mowing down all obstacles in her path through the sheer force of her will and her power, but Gabriella was done being Sweet Summer. She was a creature of great power, and she would not be bullied into doing anything she did not wish to do.
Besides, if she everwasto take over rule of this queendom, she could not afford to let theDonimarisee her back down from the very first challenge of her authority. That was one of the lessons she’d learned from her father: no one respects weakness.
Abruptly, Alysaldria broke into a wide, bright smile, the dimple flashing in her cheek. “Ah, my son, yourlianawill keep you on your toes.”
Dilys let out the breath he’d been holding and answered his mother’s dimpled smile with one of his own. “I know it well,Nima.And I thank Numahao daily.”
His mother rose from the throne. “Come,moa alanna.Allow me to introduce you to theDonimari.”
Chapter 28
The next several days passed in a whirl for Gabriella as she settled into her new life. Ari had roused and was on the mend, although due to all he’d suffered, his memory of his time in captivity was riddled with gaps. In Gabriella’s opinion, the loss of those particular memories sounded more like a boon than a curse. There were a few of her own she wished she could forget.
Dilys was embracing his new role as a married man with relish. He’d resigned his commission in the Calbernan navy in order to take over the day-to-day running of House Merimydion’s conglomerate of businesses.
Although Gabriella had remained steadfast in her refusal to take the place of Alysaldria asMyerial,the two of them had worked out a compromise. Alysaldria would continue to act asMyerialfor the immediate future. In return, Gabriella agreed to spend five hours a day apprenticing with Dilys’s mother, becoming acquainted with the current state of Calbernan affairs and the duties of its queen so that she could both assist theMyerialand prepare for the day she eventually assumed the throne. AtMyerialAlysaldria’s insistence, Gabriella also spent another five hours a day with Lord Chancellor Calivan, who had assumed the responsibility of bringing Gabriella up to speed with the history of Calberna, its royal families, and everything known about the Sirens.
“Ever since the Slaughter of the Sirens some twenty-five hundred years ago, Calberna has made a national mission of seeking out and either liberating or destroying all written records about the Sirens,” Calivan informed Gabriella as they walked down a spiraling glass tube that led from the main, central hub of the palace to a smaller, completely submerged structure built some forty feet deeper in the volcanic crater. “Our primary goal was to erase all proof of their existence and their abilities—to delegate them to the realm of myth and legend. The hope was, of course, that when the Sirens finally returned to us, the world would have forgotten the true extent of their power. The world would, therefore, have no cause for alarm at their return, and no reason to ally against us, thereby allowing the Sirens to quietly increase their numbers and return their great strength and great gifts to our people.”
“Dilys told me about the Slaughter,” Gabriella murmured. “I can understand why Calbernans felt the need to take such precautions.”
Although she paid complete attention to what Calivan was saying, her gaze drank in the sight of the undersea world just beyond the walkway tube’s glass walls. The waters were darker here, in the depths of the crater. You could still clearly see the bright sunlight overhead, but below, the watery world became shadowy. The round glow lights running along the walkway’s ceiling illuminated a different reef from the one in the brightness overhead. Fewer fish. The corals and the fish both darker and less colorful than the relatives that basked in the warm, sun-drenched waters above, but beautiful nonetheless.
Biross and Tarrant, two of Gabriella’s new guards, walked behind them, their massive hulking presence making her feel comfortable. Four of theMyerial’s own guards accompanied them as well—two at the front and two in the rear. A protective detail that, Calivan informed her, had become standard ever since the deaths of the previousMyerialand her daughter.
“The histories of the Sirens have been preserved for posterity in the private library of theMyerials,” Calivan continued as they walked. “Documents describing the various gifts and great feats of Calberna’s greatest Sirens. Histories of their battles and sacrifices. Personal memoirs of the Sirens, their mates, and their most trusted confidants and advisors. Fascinating stuff. TheMyerialsand Lord Chancellors through the ages have maintained this information in the hopes that it might be used to train future Sirens to manage their gifts.”
Gabriella nodded. “You think there will be information there that can teach me how to better control my Siren gifts?”
“I know there is.” Calivan smiled down at her. The sheer silk of hisobah—a rich copper, today, that set off his greenish-blueshuma—swung about him with each step, making the scalloped fringe of pearls, aquamarine beads, and tiny oxidized copper discs that edged theobahsparkle and chime. “The study of magic has always been a particular hobby of mine, especially when it comes to magic that could aid or threaten a Siren. Alys—my sister—might not be a full Siren, but she has always been remarkably gifted—one of the strongestimlaniborn to our people since the Sirens. I set out from an early age to learn everything I could to protect her and prevent an attack such as the Slaughter from ever happening again.”
“I can understand that.” Gabriella thought of her own sisters, and all the ways she’d stifled her own magic in order to keep them safe from it. “Sisters are precious.”
“They are indeed.” There was a strange sadness in his golden eyes and a wistful melancholy at the corners of his mouth turned his expression pensive and slightly regretful. Then he smiled again, and the fleeting expression vanished. “And now that you have come to Calberna—Mystral’s first Siren since the Slaughter—I can show you the skills and artifacts I’ve amassed over the years to keep Alys safe and strong.”
“I look forward to learning anything you can teach me. Dilys may have informed you that I’ve always been... afraid to use my magic. I haven’t always been able to control it. That’s why I insisted on bringing Biross and Tarrant with me today.” She nodded at the two towering warriors walking behind her. “Since we’re going to be doing magical exercises, they’re here in case I call up too much magic and need someone to bleed off the excess.”
Calivan arched a brow. “Dilys said you were quite gifted.”
“Dangerously so. I’ve kept my gifts suppressed all my life. It’s the only way I’ve been able to stop from hurting people by accident, but that’s not an option anymore. My magic has become too powerful to be bottled up all the time, and it replenishes at such a fast rate, I worry about keeping the pressure from building too high.” She regarded him hopefully. “Does that sound like a problem your magical studies can help me with?”
