“I swear it,” she said, clasping her hands together.
It felt too good to be true. Suspiciously so.
“Alara Eldoris, you will not listen to her. It is a trick,”snarled my grandmother, voicing my thoughts.
“There is no trick,” said the Crow. “Have him confess his love for you before the next full moon and the curse will be lifted.”
My brow wrinkled. “The next full moon? That’s only weeks away.”
“These are my terms,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“Fine,” I said, crossing my arms. “I have some terms of my own.”
“Oh?” Her pitch rose as if she was intrigued. “And what would those be?”
“You must agree that you will not harm me in any way, and the moment mytaskis complete, you’ll return me to Vantillios immediately.”
She clasped her hands in front of her body. “Is that all?”
No. There had to be something I hadn’t thought of. “And no harm can come to anyone in Vantillios either,” I added quickly.
Her high-pitched laughter rang through the air. “Surely you do not believe I hold sway over every danger in your kingdom?”
“Fine. No harm can come to anyone in Vantilliosby your hand.”
She held her palms up. “Very well. I will not touch—”
“Harm,” I said firmly.
“I will notharmyour salt-loving subjects. Anything else?”
“Enough of this. Go back inside,” my grandmother snapped. She flicked her hand, waving me off like a child. “This conversation is over.”
My eyes flicked to her: the woman who, as far as I knew, hadn’t tried to break the curse. “No.” I crossed my arms and held my ground.
She straightened her back and raised her chin. “I am still your queen.”
“And what will you do if I disobey you? Throw me in thedungeons?”
Her mouth set into a hard line. “I am protecting you.”
My words were all venom as I said, “Like you protected my mother?”
She flinched as if I had struck her.
Temper flaring, I turned my attention back to the Crow. “Any othertermsof yours I should be aware of?”
“During your time in the mortal lands, you cannot reveal yourself to be Velcarin, and you cannot return to the ocean. Do either of those things, and our bargain will be void.”
I gaped at her. To conceal the fact that I was Velcarin was understandable. The mortals wouldn’t take too kindly to me being Mer. But to not return to the ocean was complete insanity. “And how do you propose I hide what I am if I can’t return to the ocean? My legs will transform into my tail after twenty-four hours on land. It would be utter suicide.” Mer became ill if they didn’t return to the ocean to replenish. Our bodies would begin to shut down and we’d eventually die.
“You need not worry about that,” she said, waving off my disbelief. “A solution has already been seen to.”
My grandmother and Doran continued to protest loudly while the assembled crowd hung on to every word, drinking in the spectacle. Continuing as if she could not hear them, the Crow said, “What is your answer, child?”
My grandmother put her hands on my shoulders and forced me to meet her gaze. “You cannot consider this. She wants—”
The Crow held up her hand, and pale blue light hurtled towards my grandmother.
