I don’t bother to respond, gritting salt between my teeth as I haul myself up on the rock. I sprawl out in an ungraceful attempt to catch my breath, while Lisian’s words tug at something buried in memory I can’t quite reach. Pushing it away for later, I gather my death to me and straighten my sopping shirt, gathering the strength I’ll need to face Lisian.
The sirens and I have always had a shaky truce: I saved them from the Aeternalis’ reign of terror, but in doing so, damned them to eternity of one horizon, one sea. Their vicious natures will never allow them to forget the slight, though it’s hard to blame them. I know better than anyone what it feels like to be ripped from a life of freedom and chained in place.
“I must admit, Lisian, I thought you and your sisters would flee the kingdom the moment the seas opened once more.” I push myself up to sitting, gesturing to the horizon expanding beyond this lagoon. Endless oceans, endless worlds. “Especially now thathe’sreturned.”
Lisian drums her long talons impatiently on the rock, the bangles jingling merrily. “Perhaps we’ve stayed for the same reason you’ve come back.”
“I see you still enjoy your ominous riddles,” I hum, because though her words say nothing in particular, they speak to the exact hope that drove me to swim out here. A way to barter.
“A girl’s got to have her fun,” she simpers with a shrug. “Besides, the queen has yet to fully come into her power and the wards at sea are still tempestuous.”
“No more tempestuous than you,” I reply levelly. “You would have once tried to drown me in the lagoon for keeping you inLetum, and now, you willingly chain yourself here. I want to know why.”
Lisian gives another little shrug, and begins stroking her hair once more. Blue fingertips run over the many gemstones woven into braids decorating the crown of her head, some of the jewels nearly the size of my palm. Sirens are covetous creatures, their treasure troves far exceeding that of any pirate I’ve met, in any world. But it isn’t only worldly items they hoard; oftentimes it is riches far more precious and exceedingly rare.
“I want to know why you’ve come to ruin my night,” Lisian pouts, mutinously eyeing a ribbon that’s slithered too close to her tail. “I was hoping you were that tongueless boy come to pay his debts.” She runs her own forked tongue over her teeth once more with relish. “His heart was overflowing with fun when my song captured it. I bet he won’t even need his tongue when I take him.”
Lisian sighs dreamily. “He probably won’t even mind a little light drowning.”
I swallow, wondering what the hell Tiernan’s gotten up to in my time away, but decide against pressing any further. “I’m here to make a bargain.”
This draws Lisian’s interest away from daydreams of wrecking poor Tiernan. Her tail stills, and her smile is lethal as she turns her attention fully to me. “Is that so?”
She straightens haughtily, tossing her hair over her shoulder in an effort to hide her eagerness. “The almighty Carrion King, Lord of Death and conqueror of the Everlasting? Now lowering himself to make deals with petty sirens?” Lisian lets out a delighted cackle. “Why, the winter wind will have it as the talk of the kingdom in no time at all!”
As if in response, the wind howls over our rock, as if already planning where to spread the news first.
“I am in no mood for games,” I warn in a low voice, releasing a breath of relief as I allow one of my ribbons to unfurl toward her. Close enough that Lisian’s laughter dies in her throat and rage sparks in her eyes.
“How dare you threaten me,king,”she hisses, her gaze tracking the movement of my ribbons as if they’ll strike at any moment.
“It wasn’t a threat. It’s simply a reminder that though I may ask for a bargain like a mortal man, you would do well not to mistake me as one. I am the same monster I’ve always been.”
Lisian’s necklaces quiver with her shudder, and she grips her arms like the air has suddenly gone cold. She sniffs, an attempt to recover some of her power, and sneers, “What could we possibly give you that your cursed power hasn’t already taken and ruined?”
“I want my ship.”
Lisian’s eyes widen, the first sign of surprise she’s shown. “The Indomnitus?”
I nod.
She blinks. “We do not involve ourselves in the wars of children and men.”
“The indifferent just as often become the victims of such wars, Lisian, if not the perpetrators. You will have to choose a side eventually, and by then, it will be too late.” I meet her eyes gravely. “Your kind refused to choose before, and look where we all ended up.”
Lisian sucks in a furious breath, her skin turning a deep shade of purple beneath her furious blush. “How were we to choose between a creator who despised our existence and an omen of death, Niko? Between a man who would destroy us or a man who would destroy everything?” Her talons dig into the rock, and her eyes flash. “That is no choice at all. Not for the sirens and not for the island.”
I watch her for a long moment, a wicked smile drawing slowly over my face. “You’ve already chosen a side.”
It isn’t a question, and so Lisian doesn’t reply. Her gaze flickers away from mine, and she fidgets with the jeweled necklaces laced around her throat like they’ve suddenly grown too tight.
“Or rather, it was chosen for you almost a year ago…on that very beach.” I point to the black sands in the distance where Willa had begged me for mercy—not for herself, but for an unfortunate siren she hardly knew.
Lisian’s gaze follows mine, a deep sadness for her lost sister reflecting in the turn of her frown. “You were a fair king to us, Niko, but you can no more help your nature than we can. The Queen of Dreams is a sovereign of freedom and possibility. We will not help you take what is hers, no matter what bargain you offer.”
My ribbons spear from me at the mention of Willa, and it takes everything in me not to scream as I draw them back to me. Inch by agonizing inch. Lisian watches them distrustfully, her disgust evident in every line of her face.
“I will give you a truth,” I tell her.
