Malka lifts her chin and slices the air with her stare. “She does, for we are the Mahananda’s?—”
When she emits a choked rattle, I think Cathal has disobeyed my command not to disperse the sorceresses, but he stands there, wreathed in smoke. Wreathingmein smoke. I stare back at Malka, noting only then the bent beam of iridescent light that surges from behind me and arcs onto her. Clutching her throat, she falls to her knees, then crumples face-first into the stone soaked with one of her sigils.
Shrill cries reverberate against the scooped, sunstone land.
“Karma,” Fallon murmurs. “Anyone else believe my mother isn’t the rightful monarch? By all means, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Best to encourage them to speak than to hold their peace, Little Bird,” Lorcan murmurs. “Always good to weed out one’s enemies at the start of one’s reign since we accumulate so many new ones later.”
“Hopefully my mother’s collection of enemies won’t be as bountiful as yours, mo khrá,” she replies.
“Depends if she takes back your father. He’s a little rough around the feathers.” Lorcan’s odd comment stiffens Cathal’s posture and makes Fallon’s face swerve toward her mate’s.
I can tell words are exchanged. Many. I imagine she’s informing him that Cathal has a new mate, though I’m surprised, seeing as Lorcan and Cathal are so close, that news hasn’t reached him yet. Then again, Cathal’s a private person.
Two Crows suddenly swoop low—one carrying a green-haired male, the other a blue-haired female.
It’s time. As Enzo and Agrippina disembark from their winged steeds, I murmur my intent into their minds. I inform them of the risk that the Mahananda might not want me. Might not send me back. Agrippina rolls her eyes while Enzo just stares without blinking.
Do you both approve of my decision to ask the Mahananda for the Shabbin crown?
Agrippina tucks her hair behind her ear.You don’t need our approval, Daya.
I do, for I cannot rule over this land without the both of you at my side.
Naturally.Agrippina’s smile grows.I call General.She must remember that Enzo cannot hear her in skin, for she repeats her claim out loud, which makes the Crow King snort and Fallon beam as though she was her daughter instead of her…instead of herothermother.
Enzo?
You’ve always been my queen, Day. You forever will be.
My throat rolls over a swallow that feels bladed as I turn and take one step onto the Mahananda’s glassy surface.If I don’t return, please know that I couldn’t have picked better denmates.
If you don’t return, odds are we’ll be gulped down by the Mahananda right along with you, so you can tell us then,Agrippina says.
That stops me because I didn’t think that my disappearance would lead to theirs.
Her expression grows serious. “Youwillreturn.”
I try to pull my foot back, but it adheres to the Mahananda’s surface.
“Of course, she’ll return,” Fallon says, but doubt must creep over her heart because she glances at Lorcan.
“She will.” Does he say this to placate her and reassure me, or because he truly knows what happens next?
I try to read my fate in his golden stare, but it’s as hard as the Mahananda’s surface. Since it’s too late to turn back, I set my other foot onto the source of all magic. For a heartbeat, nothing happens and I think that perhaps the Mahananda doesn’t want me as its keeper, but then…
But then, I sink.
Chapter 48
Zendaya
“Hello again, Zendaya of Shabbe.”
I stand on a surface that is as hard as glass and as black as Crow feathers. “Mahananda?”
“Yes, daughter of Meriam and of the ocean.” My skin tingles from the velvet resonance of the voice. “Tell me what you seek.”
