“To bed then?” Podaxis asks with a little yawn.
“Nope.” I walk past the narrow corridor that leads to the bedrooms and go straight for the back door that opens to the alley. “We’re going out.”
Podaxis taps his pincers together in an anxious gesture, hind claws clacking on the wood floor. “But you said…to Martin...that we were staying in.”
“I meant it then, but I changed my mind.” I open the door to the quiet night and the destination that beckons me beyond. Closing my eyes, I try to imagine I can already hear the sound of waves, feel the spray of salt on my skin. When I open them, I see Podaxis watching me from the shadows of his carapace. “What?”
He releases a grumbling sigh. “For a fae who can’t lie, you are frighteningly good at it.”
3
We reach Cape Vega and find nothing but peaceful isolation. A black sky, a crescent moon, a soft wind. If I don’t look behind me where downtown Lumenas shines as bright as a beacon even from a mile away, I can pretend I’m far from civilization. Tourists don’t come to Lumenas for the beach, which means the cape is almost always empty. I still don’t dare come during the day. Only at night. Only when the moon is but a sliver of light.
I walk to the edge of the bluff that overlooks a wind-tossed ocean and breathe in deep. The air tastes of salt and smells of home. I close my eyes, trying to imagine I’m not here but where I wish I could be—Bircharbor Palace.
Not that I ever spent much time inside the palace itself. Bircharbor is located at the very edge of the Autumn Court, perched upon a tall cliff overlooking the eastern seas of Father’s domain. But dry indoor air, stuffy politics, and walking on two legs never had much appeal to me when I was growing up. I preferred life as a seal on the sandy beach below the palace or in my little lagoon at the base of the cliff. Protected by a wall of coral, the lagoon was the perfect place for a young selkie to swim without the dangers of the open ocean. When I wasn’t swimming, I was basking on sun-warmed rocks, playing with Podaxis, or nestled against my selkie brothers. Longing twists my heart at the thought.
“Are you certain this is wise, Maisie?”
I open my eyes and blink away thoughts of playful siblings and my crystal-blue lagoon. At least I have Podaxis. Not only is he my best friend, but he might as well be my brother too, considering we were raised together since we were both quite young. He was orphaned following a shark attack that killed his parents, found by my father, and brought home to be my companion. We took to one another like fish to water and have been inseparable ever since.
He climbs from my bag and I set him on the ground. Since we’re alone, I don’t bother correcting his use of my real name. “Wise? I don’t recall coming here for wisdom.”
He looks up at me and taps his pincers anxiously together. “It’s just that you really ought not to be this close to the ocean. You know I thought it was a bad idea to come to Lumenas at all, with such close proximity to the sea.”
He’s right about that. When I first went on the run and came to Lumenas, Podaxis made no secret of his concern. I would have been worried too if I hadn’t heard the rumors about the city. Anyone who speaks of it insists it’s the ultimate location to disappear to and start new lives. A city of brilliance, beauty, and debauchery. Where opportunities abound for artists, aristocrats, and thieves in equal measure. A place where one can easily get lost in the teeming crowds. Hearing all of this, I decided to take the risk.
And that risk has paid off. I’ve been living in Lumenas for over a year and not once have I come close to being found by she whom I evade. Aside from that one time in jail, of course. That was a beginner’s mistake.
“Podaxis, who should I worry about seeing me?”
“There could be…ruffians around,” he says, although I can tell from his tone that he doesn’t find it too likely.
“The only ruffians here are you and me.” I chuckle, glancing from one side of the beach to the other. The only imposing figures in sight are the towering stones that make up the magical perimeter wall around Faerwyvae. Each stone is at least twice my height and thrice as wide with no more than fifty feet between each stone. They rise from the rocky shore, lining it as far as I can see, standing sentinel against outside threats. Infused with unseen magic, the biggest army in the world couldn’t penetrate the invisible wall the stones create, for only one of pure fae blood may pass through it. That’s how it’s been since the end of the last human-fae war. At least, that’s what my father told me. I wasn’t alive yet. The war ended about twenty-two years ago and I was born a few years after that. But stories tell how the stones once stood as a divide, separating the human lands in the south from the fae realm in the north. After Faerwyvae was threatened by a human army that sought to wipe out all life on the isle in order to eliminate faekind, the fae rose against them and triumphed. That’s when the stones were moved. Instead of forming a wall that separated two species, they became a protective perimeter, allowing the humans and fae to live unified under fae rule. Now it’s impossible for humans to enter or leave the isle without a fae escort, and such things are highly regulated.
For the fae, there’s very little appeal beyond the stones, even for a sea fae. The magic of the wall only extends so far out into the ocean, and fae can’t thrive without our magic.
When it comes to this side of the stones, well, there isn’t much at Cape Vega to entice my kind to linger about. Below the bluff, there’s only a sliver of a shore, and it hosts not plush sand but rocks. The boulders peeking from the water’s surface are jagged and covered in barnacles. There’s hardly a beach for selkies to shed their skins and dance, much less an adequate perch for mermaids and sirens. Here I’m alone in the best sort of way.
I lift my chin and force confidence into my tone. “Queen Nimue won’t find me here.” I try to pretend saying her name out loud doesn’t make me shudder. Perhaps I should have used one of her alternate monikers. Like the city of Lumenas, she’s known by many.
Unseelie Queen of the Sea.
Killer Queen.
The Sea Witch.
Father’s Great Nemesis.
“If your father was frightened of her, you should be too,” Podaxis says. “I can’t imagine what could terrify a king in his own ocean. You must be careful.”
“I’m quite careful.”
“If you say so, Pearl.”
With a sigh, I sit, my legs extended slightly over the edge of the bluff. Podaxis takes a more conservative seat close to my hips. Then I take off my hat and let my short pink hair catch the wind. I luxuriate in the caress of the breeze dancing through every strand. After keeping my hair stuffed under a cap all day, it feels as good as a massage. Even though I feel safe in Lumenas, keeping my hair hidden is an easy precaution. Not that candy-floss-pink hair is unusual for a fae. My kind are known to have hair of all shades. But the combination of pink hair, golden-tan complexion, and an abundant spattering of freckles…well, that’s narrowing things down quite a bit. Throw in a girl carrying around her crustacean friend, and I’m as good as caught.
And if I’m caught…
