Desperation finally overtook her system. “Erik, stop!” she pleaded. “Think about this. You can’t possibly believe you’re going to be able to just get away with murder. Celesta isn’t going to just ignore my death. She’s going to be suspicious.”
“Not when the truth is revealed that you were so overcome with heartbreak and shame over having abandoned your ghostly love that you threw yourself into the sea. It’s a pity that he won’t even be able to come and visit your grave.”
Her stomach twisted. Erik ducked down and set one foot outside the cave, then seemed to have a second thought. He turned and knelt down in front of her, grabbing for the ropes around her wrist.
“Just to be sure,” he explained as he tightened the knots there and at her ankles. “You do have a frustrating habit of getting away. This time though, I don’t intend for there to be any chances. I will return myself with my men to confirm your death and dispose of the body. Farewell, little Enna. Don’t worry, I’ll leave the light for you. I would feel compelled to tie a gag around that smart mouth, but, well…we both know that your magic won’t be an issue.”
After one final tug on the rope, he was gone.
Sienna tugged against the ropes until her wrists and ankles were raw and bleeding. The icy sea water continued to rise. She managed to roll over to the wall and use it to stand, buying herself a little extra time, but it was only a matter of hours before the water was deep enough to cover her head. With her arms and legs bound, she was unable to swim or tread water. She would be dead weight at the bottom.
And then I really will be dead weight.
A mixture of tears and hysterical laughter escaped her at the dark joke.
When I do die, this is not the way I want to go. Almighty, please.
“CASPER!” she yelled, wincing at the sharp pain in her throat. “JEM! DEVRI! Can anyone hear me?”
She knew it was useless. Devri was at the Festival, and Casper had left, presumably taking Jem along with him. If they did come, it would be to catch the smugglers at midnight. She would be long dead by them.
The water had risen to her waist, and she leaned her head back against the wall in exhaustion.
I guess this is it.
She closed her eyes. Salty tears streamed from her eyes and mingled with the cold sea water. On the bright side, her skin was so numbed that she could no longer feel the rope burns. She forced her breathing to slow down.
If I’m going to die, I’m going to make it count. If Jem and Casper are here later. I need to find a way to let them know what happened.
Taking a deep breath, she dropped down into a squat in the water, feeling around for the loose rock that had been absolutely now help in sawing through her ropes, but might suit her purposes now. She gripped it between numb fingers, thankfulthat Erik at least had not tied her hands behind her back. and slowly scratched out a message on the wall:
“As dear old Mormor used to say, trust no one, especially yourself.”
She knew Casper and Jem would understand what she was trying to say, and she could only hope that it was innocuous enough that Erik and his smuggler friends would pay it no mind.
The rock dropped from her fingers, as she rested her forehead against the wall. The water was almost to her shoulders.
Almighty, keep Papa safe. Don’t let him mourn too much. And Devri. And Casper.
His face as she had last seen it flashed in front of her eyes. He had looked so completely broken and hopeless. Knowing him as she did, she was certain that he must be convinced that she would turn him away once she discovered the truth.
Let him know that he was loved. That heisloved.
A surprising sense of calm took over as she waited for death’s inevitable arrival. She closed her eyes, shutting out the dim, flickering lantern and the sight of the rising water. The melody of the sea, so familiar that she often tuned it out, rose to the fore. She could hear the steady rise and fall of the melody over a cold, swirling tremolo. The notes flowed through her, practically begging her soul to use them as she once had.
It would have been so simple if she could only use her voice. She pictured the music in her mind, hearing it as she would have sung. She would have focused on the water around the ropes, weaving in a song of ice to freeze it. Then all it would take would be a few hard blows against the rock, and she would be free.
Sienna knew it was futile. but she also knew that Devri would be quite disappointed if she knew that Sienna had not tried everything before giving up. She rose onto her toes to lift her chin out of the water, took a deep breath, and started to sing.
The sound was scratchy and out of tune at first. Her voice cracked over notes that had once been as easy as sliding a warm knife through butter, and completely refused to sound the pitches at the top of her register. She changed keys, choosing a lower one, and tried again.
The longer she pushed, the easier it became, like getting a wheel turning after months of disuse. When she saw the ice crystals forming around the rope, she nearly stopped and wept for joy, but the rising water forced her to keep moving quickly.
The magic was rather sloppy—the ice varied in thickness, and it had trailed up and over parts of her arms and hands—but she had done it. She lifted her hands above her head and pounded her arms against the wall until the ice shattered, breaking the rope along with it.
With her arms free, she could at least tread water enough to keep herself afloat while she iced over the rope at her ankles. Then, taking a deep breath, she dropped underneath the water. It took a little bit of feeling about to find a rock large enough to break the ice, but finally her legs were free.
The water around her was completely black, the lantern having been drowned out several minutes before. She shot upwards from the floor and found when she broke the surface that there was just barely enough room for her to turn her head sideways and fill her lungs with one final breath before swimming for the entrance.
