“Ahnna!”
He fought against his uncle, trying to get free.
“You can’t go in! It’s full of sharks!”
As though he couldn’t see that. As though there was any mistaking the gray shapes surging through the churning sea. But it was his wife in that water. It was the love of his life. It was Ahnna.
Another Ithicanian vessel approached, Aren at the helm.
“She’s in the water,” James howled at him. “Get her out!”
The king’s eyes widened with panic, but before he could move, the froth and foam turned crimson red.
104
Ahnna
Fingernails dug into her legs,Lestara’s grip seeming preternaturally strong as Ahnna tried to kick her free.
Get out get out get out!
The panicked words blurred into one in her head, because all around were sleek shapes and fins, the sharks lured by the battle. But Lestara wouldn’t let go, and Ahnna sank beneath the sodden weight of the other woman’s gown no matter how hard she swam.
Fight.
Ahnna twisted downward, drawing back a fist to strike at the other woman. Her fist connected with Lestara’s face, but not before Ahnna saw the gleam of steel. Pain exploded in her abdomen. The bubbles around her turned red, and Ahnna barely managed to get her arm up to block Lestara as she tried to stab Ahnna again.
The knife flipped out of Lestara’s hand, sinking into the sea.
But the damage was done.
Blood pulsed from the puncture, crimson clouds of it staining the water. Ahnna knew all too well the sort of madness it caused in Ithicana’s sharks, and the flashes of fins all around her moved faster.
They’d come for her soon.
And Lestara wouldn’t let go.
With a viselike grip, she clung to Ahnna’s clothes. The goldenfabric of her gown billowed out around her, layers upon layers of skirts, and they were like a lead weight as Ahnna tried to drag them both up to the surface. Her lower abdomen was in agony, her lungs burned, and with every passing second, the surface grew darker.
She punched her fist into Lestara’s face again, then at her fingers to try to get loose, but Lestara only smiled at her through the darkening water.
Harendell’s queen wasn’t trying to live, and what was pain to someone who sank toward death’s embrace?
Except Ahnna wanted to live.
She slammed her forehead into Lestara’s face, then reached down and fumbled a knife out of her boot. Her arm carved an upward arc, the blade slicing a red line across Lestara’s face. Blood bloomed red, but the taste of it in the water drew the sharks closer. A tail fin struck her hand, knocking the blade from her grip, and it disappeared into the darkness.
Down and down and down.
Her strength was faltering, the loss of blood and the need to breathe turning her legs weak.
Lestara pulled herself close, the churn of fins causing their bodies to circle as they stared into each other’s eyes. The queen’s eyes were manic and wild, and Ahnna swore she could hear the woman’s voice in her head as bubbles trailed from her lips.I have won.
Then a gray shape shot toward them, jaws gaping wide.
Lestara was torn away from Ahnna, and the world turned red.
Harendell’s queen hung in a cloud of floating skirts and blood, half her torso ripped apart. The eyes locked on Ahnna’s were now filled with terror.
