Nervous, more than a little stunned by the abrupt turn of events, she did as Dilys’s mother instructed, stepping forward and taking a seat in the pearl-encrusted throne. Taking her cue from the way Alys had opened the Gathering, she announced, “We declare this Gathering concluded.”
An hour before sunset, Gabriella, Dilys, Alysaldria, and tens of thousands of Calbernans from the surrounding Isles sailed or swam out to the edge of the Argon Abyssal some seven miles south of Cali Va’Lua to witness the execution of thekado’idoCalivan, former prince and Lord Chancellor of Calberna.
Gabriella’s new gills proved to work perfectly as she swam down to the submerged outcropping called Traitor’s Rock, and gave the order to summon the kracken. Undersea Tongue was a new language to her, and one she would still have to learn, but Dilys had taken her to a private pool earlier and practiced the command with her until she’d been able to say the words clearly while underwater.
She did not flinch or look away as the man who had caused so much pain met his fate. Nor did Alys, but when it was over and they returned to the palace and exited the weightless environment of the sea, the strength of Calberna’s formerMyerialgave out. She collapsed beside the main palace’s moon pool and was rushed to her chambers where the summoned doctors examined her and declared her to be Fading.
“There is nothing we can do,” the senior physician quietly informed Dilys and Gabriella after concluding the examination. “Without the will to live, no magic or medicine can hold her to life.” She patted Dilys’s hand and bowed to Gabriella. “I’m sorry. This is a very sad day in a string of far too many very sad days. I will leave you to say your final good-byes.”
They were standing in the receiving room just outside Alys’s bedchamber. As the doctor bowed again and let herself out, Dilys put his arms around Gabriella and held her close. She could feel his body trembling, overcome with sorrow. “I am not ready to lose her,” he said hoarsely.
“Neither am I.” She’d known Alysaldria less than a week, but in that time, she’d come to both admire and love the woman who had given Dilys life. The depth of that love was probably owed at least in part to the deepening of the bond between herself and Dilys, but it had also been wonderful to have a mother again. Gabriella had never truly realized just how much she craved that maternal bond, or how much strength and happiness she derived from it.
The door to Alys’s bedroom opened and her personal valet stepped out.
“She is asking for you,moa Myerial.She wishes to pass on her gifts before she goes.”
Gabriella made a choked sound and grabbed Dilys’s hand, squeezing tight. She knew his heart was breaking, too, but nonetheless, he wrapped her in his arms and offered her his unstinting love until they both felt strong enough to enter Alys’s bedchamber and approach the frail, Fading woman on the bed.
Gabriella was shocked by the change that had come over Dilys’s mother in the scant hour or two since Calivan’s death. The formerMyerialhad quite literally begun to waste away. Her skin was sallow, her eyes and cheeks sunken. The flesh on her arms had gone paper thin, hanging on her bones. The vibrant gold of her eyes was fading to a pale, sickly yellow.
“Nima!” Dilys breathed, clearly appalled and horrified by her rapidly degenerating condition.
“No!” Gabriella rushed to Alys’s bedside. She’d thought Alys’s Fade would take days... weeks... months, even!... but judging from her drastic physical decline, it would be a miracle if she lasted the night. “No!” Gabriella said again, and this time she Spoke in Voice of power. “You won’t do this. You won’t Fade tonight. I Command you not to Fade.”
Alys lifted a shaking, skeletal hand to pat Gabriella’s hand. “Some things, my dear, not even a Siren can Command.”
“I’ve only just found you. I’ve only just begun to remember the joy of having a mother again. Please.” Tears gathered, then spilled from her eyes. She stroked Alys’s hand. “I know what you must be going through, without yourakua.The fear of such a loss almost kept me from claiming your son as mine. So even though I know the pain you must feel each day without him, I’m still asking you to stay. Please. Dilys isn’t ready to lose you, and neither am I.”
“My child, you don’t need me. Neither of you do. You have each other, and that is strength enough to last a lifetime.”
“Call me greedy, then, but I need you, too. My mother died when I was very young. I’ve missed her terribly over the years. I had hoped, when Dilys told me about you, that I would find a new mother in you. And I have. Please, please, don’t take my new mother away from me so soon. I couldn’t bear it.”
“Gabriella—”
“Please!” Gabriella interrupted. “If you won’t stay for Dilys or me”—she dragged Alys’s hand to her and placed it on her belly—“then stay for your grandchild.”
For the first time since they’d entered the room, a spark of interested flared in Alys’s eyes. “You are... with child?”
Dilys clasped Gabriella’s shoulders, and said, “A granddaughter,Nima.A daughter of our blood. A Siren, like her mother.”
Gabriella craned her head back to look at him in surprise. “How could you know that? I only just realized I was even pregnant!”
He bent to press a kiss on her forehead. “Yesterday, when I was trying to keep you alive, I took control of your blood and found her there, inside you, working as hard as I was to save you.”
“You didn’t say anything!”
“There hasn’t been time.”
Gabriella turned back to Alys, taking the thin, frail hand in hers once more. “There, you see? You’re going to have a granddaughter. Don’t you think she deserves to meet you, at least?” She stroked Alys’s hand. “After all, you did vow from the Sea Throne that you would personally ensure she was born animlaniwith gifts worthy of the throne. Would you want her growing up knowing her grandmother was an oathbreaker? And not just that but someone who would break a vow made from the Sea Throne?”
Alys arched a brow. “Are you not above holding a dying old woman to her vows?”
“I’m a lot more ruthless than most people think.”
A wan smile curved Alys’s lips. “So I see. That is a trait that will serve a queen well.”
“Yes, but is it working? Will you stay? Will you fight your Fade... for us?”
