Asta approached cautiously, but when she looked around the curve of the ramp and saw Maren and Svanhild carving a path through the mayhem, she followed. Kaid, Aerik, and Revna followed closely behind, holding off the Ryktarvans coming up the ramp.
When they reached the top of the tower, King Aerik burst through the door and swam to his wife’s side. Arielle had a large gash on the side of her head and swayed slightly. Something was wrong.
Kaid pushed past Asta, pulling the trident from his mother’s grip and aiming it at the sea witch. “Get her to the mender!”
Revna grabbed one side of Queen Arielle while King Aerik grabbed the other. However, they had nowhere to go. It had taken all of them to fight through the enemy warriors to get here. There was no way they could fight their way back down while supporting the queen as well. It all had to end here.
Asta inspected Queen Yrsa, spotting only minor abrasions. How had she harmed Arielle so badly when the siren queen held the trident?
Kaid raised the trident, pointing the prongs at Yrsa, teeth bared. His trident tattoo illuminated the same gold that the trident was made of. “Now it’s a fair fight, witch.”
The finfolk queen cackled. “What makes you think you’re superior to your mother in battle? You couldn’t even escape my castle without your girlfriend rescuing you.”
“You misunderstand. I would never dare say I surpass my mother’s greatness. However, you were fighting her when she was at a disadvantage.” Kaid gripped the pronged staff tighter, sending a humming glow through the metal. “The trident will respond to any merfolk using it, but it only recognizes one owner at a time.”
Queen Yrsa’s eyes flicked to Maren, a flash of confusion appearing and vanishing rapidly. “And that is not the all-powerful Empress Arielle?”
“No. It’s me.” Kaid sent a blast of magic from the tip of the trident careening toward the finfolk queen.
Chapter 60
The trident took over for Kaid, trapping Queen Yrsa in small water funnels and disorienting her, wrapping currents around her throat, countering her scattered lightning blasts with its own.
Yet, it could not directly end her. Kaid understood that now, being the true owner.
The magic of the trident maintained balance by not allowing itself to take the life of a merspecies leader.
Aside from that, the trident’s magic was stretched thin as it controlled the surrounding elements, protecting as many Naltanians as it could.
Meaning, Kaid needed to get close enough to the queen to kill her himself. Trapped on a tower, ideally, would be the easiest way to corner someone. But when that someone had lightning magic that could end opponents without the wielder even needing to lift a finger, that posed a conundrum.
While Kaid attempted to formulate a plan, Asta, Maren, and Svanhild kept the doorway clear. Kaid had no idea when Maren and Svanhild had swapped kingdoms, but he was not going to argue against having such skilled beings on their side.
Now that Asta and Maren weren’t fighting against each other, they actually worked quite well together. It was uncanny how similar their combat styles were, which was probably why they were always fair opponents for each other.
Queen Yrsa began firing off uncontrolled lightning currents, charring the colorful walls surrounding them. The blue streaks slithered through the water, but everyone managed to dodge them—though Kaid could have sworn one struck Maren. Seeing as she hadn’t fallen, he must have been wrong.
The sea witch growled in frustration, sending a second wave of frenzied lightning currents toward them. Everyone scattered, but Asta cried out, falling to the floor.
Kaid rushed to her side, keeping the trident aimed at the finfolk queen as she maniacally laughed. A streak of black, charred hair cut through her signature blonde and her eyes fluttered as she struggled to keep them open.
Maren was next to Asta in an instant, inspecting the damage, but nothing was visible besides the black hair. “She must have been grazed on her head,” Maren told Kaid. “If she’s fighting passing out, it wasn’t a full hit. She will be okay, but she needs a mender to diffuse any lingering currents within her.”
Kaid stood back up to his full height, understanding that both his mother’s and Asta’s lives relied on him ending this quickly. He used the trident to bring on currents, pushing QueenYrsa back and pinning her against the wall. Lightning still blasted from her fingertips, scattering along the walls and floor. How was Kaid going to get close enough to kill her?
Maren calmly swam up to Kaid. “I can do this.”
Without another word, Maren wrapped her fingers around the trident. Kaid didn’t let go at first, pondering. He had sworn a blood oath to not give the relic to anyone seeking tyranny. If he let Maren take it, and she turned on him, he and everyone he loved would drop dead.
Something in his chest told him to let go. Maren held the trident as she swam toward her mother. Lightning currents flickered through the water, wrapping themselves around Maren and the golden staff, but not harming her.
Maren was truly on their side.
At first, Kaid thought that maybe Queen Yrsa could control who the lightning harmed, but once he saw the expression of astonishment on the finfolk queen’s face, he knew that was not the case.
The finfolk princess stopped in front of her mother, observing the dark-haired beast pinned to the wall.
“Maren, my precious heir. You never told me that you—”
