Chapter 26 #2
Esmyra’s eyes narrowed on the witch to find he was already watching her intently. “I don’t trust him.”
“Nor do I.”
Two guards stepped forward from the mist with chains. Silently, they hoisted the captive from the deck and strolled past Esmyra, back down the gangplank.
The walk up the carved path from the harbor to the palace was borderline unbearable. The silence from Azarian and the guards just left Esmyra alone with her thoughts once again, spiraling just as they had on the ship.
By the time they reached the front gates of the palace, a lump had formed in her throat. They pushed open the grand doors, and at the top of the great staircase, waiting beneath a stained glass window, was Syrena.
Crowned in woven coral and pearls, draped in blossom-colored silks, the queen stood with her hands resting gently on the banister, her lips lifted slightly in welcome. But her eyes—those calm, doe eyes—were locked solely on Esmyra.
“I see you made it back,” Syrena said, each word clipped.
She’s definitely mad.
“Aye.” Esmyra stood straighter under her stare. “And I’ve brought with me the new Queen of Lephyrin.”
Syrena’s gaze flicked to Elowynne. “Interesting. And how did you manage that?” she asked as she began to glide down the staircase.
Esmyra’s lip twitched up in a smirk. “Let’s just say her hands will need to be spread apart and bound to the wall so she doesn’t take that shiny velsinyte ring off.”
Syrena raised a brow as she met Esmyra in the center of the foyer. “Bring the queen to the dungeon, Azarian.”
The sound of shifting armor echoed as the guards dragged Elowynne’s body between them.
Syrena turned from her then, heading toward the castle’s east corridor.
Esmyra stared at her sister’s back, unease swirling through her at the sudden dismissal. “Is everything okay?”
Syrena’s steps halted, and she half peered over her shoulder as she said, “Everything will be soon.”
What could that possibly mean? Had something happened when she was away?
“Are you upset with me for leaving?” Esmyra couldn’t help the sass in her tone as her hip jutted to the side.
Syrena turned back to face her. “I assume you found what you were looking for by taking the queen?”
Esmyra didn’t appreciate her twin answering her question with one of her own. “For now.”
“Good.” There was a pause, a long stretch of silence between them as her sister’s eyes roamed over her. “Is there a reason you’re still wearing your mortal guise?”
“I prefer it,” Esmyra admitted, and it was the truth. “While I know you waited centuries for the day to claim your former self, I hadn’t. I’m still trying to get used to it.”
“Hmmm,” Syrena purred. “If that’s what you prefer, then I suppose I can’t argue. However, when we’re in front of our subjects, I request you to present yourself as the goddess.”
Esmyra gritted her teeth, her eyes tightening. “Aye.”
“They’ve waited generations to see the sea made flesh. We’re their power. We’re still their hope,” Syrena finished.
Something bitter rose behind Esmyra’s teeth. Inside her mind, the protest burned louder than words. How can I be someone’s hope when I can’t even find it for myself anymore?
Let alone for an entire godsdamn kingdom.
She swallowed hard, spine straightening even as her stomach turned. “And if I no longer want to be Kaelypso?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them, but she couldn’t deny it to herself anymore.
Syrena’s eyes widened beneath furrowed brows. “Well, you don’t have much of a choice now, do you?”
The truth of it settled like an anchor in Esmyra’s gut. “Aye.”
Maybe I’m just pretending, she thought. Maybe I’ve always been pretending, and the goddess is real while I’m the lie that lives beneath her.
“I expect you will be staying in Maerinys as requested now that you have your captive?” Syrena challenged.
Esmyra gave a tight nod, hiding the thoughts plaguing her. “As you wish.”
But inside, something frayed. Because she didn’t know how much longer she could pretend to be what Maerinys needed. She didn’t know how much longer she could stay when all she wanted to do was run.
Away from her life.
Away from her past.
And away from the heartache that seemed to leach off her back like a fucking reaper.
“What’s your plan for the elven down below?” Syrena broke the silence.
Esmyra shrugged as she blew out a breath of annoyance.
Syrena scoffed. “You need to think of the bigger picture here, Esmi. She could be the key to how we can control Lephyrin’s crown.”
Esmi.
A fire inside of her lit at the use of her nickname. The nickname her father gave her. The nickname only he and Jak used. Syrena had used it that day down at the lagoon when she was teaching Esmyra the way of Maerinys, but she didn’t think she’d said it since they met.
Now that she thought of it… she was certain she’d never mentioned it before.
Esmyra’s mind drifted to the Veil of Visions. The looking glass into the realm that allowed her to watch her father’s murder. The world’s mirror that only Syrena had access to for nearly a thousand years.
Her head cocked to the side, her brows furrowing as she believed to finally put some pieces of the puzzle together.
The mark on her wrist, binding her life to Syrena’s, began to pulse faintly.
A constant reminder of what had been taken from her, regardless of the reasoning. Esmyra’s choice had been ripped away.
Syrena gave her a soft smile, but it only put Esmyra on edge. Her chest felt tight as her thoughts clawed for escape.
She didn’t want this—didn’t want to be chained to anyone. Not even the goddess she shared her flesh with. But now Syrena was all she had. Her twin was the only person left that still recognized her as something more than a monster or a broken soul.
“I have been with you all your life, Esmyra,” Kaelypso reminded her, and she would do anything to be able to silence the goddess from speaking. “You’re not the darkness they named you. You never have been.”
Her eyes fell to the marble floor, and her thoughts drifted to the creak of ship wood, the spray of saltwater on her skin, and the roar of laughter from her crew as they passed the bottle around.
The thrill of the chase. The rebellion. The freedom.
There once was a time where she saw that as nothing but a gilded cage, and she wished she could go back in time to show that lonely little siren just how wrong she was. That life had burned so brightly, and now it was nothing more than ash in her hands.
Those thoughts began to suffocate her. She never fucking wanted this. She hadn’t asked to be reborn, to carry the burden of a lost kingdom and a sacred bloodline.
Esmyra had only ever wanted the sea and a life carved by her own rules. But that life was gone, and the truth of it was finally sinking in.
She walked to the window, resting her hands on the sill as she looked out at the endless sea stretching beyond the city. “I’m still your little siren,” she whispered, hoping her father could hear the words even from the afterlife. “Even if I don’t feel like me anymore.”
Syrena cleared her throat from behind her and Esmyra turned, leaning back on the windowsill.
“Was this truly necessary?” Esmyra asked, lifting her wrist to show her mark. “Swear to me this was the only way.”
There was a subtle tightening around Syrena’s eyes. “You’re tired, Sister. All that you’ve seen, all that you’ve done… it’s weighing on you. I understand your hesitation. But yes, this needed to be done.”
Esmyra ached to trust that what her sister was saying was the truth. But inside, her mind screamed.
“This is a shackle permanently snapped on our wrist,” Kaelypso whispered. “I do not trust your sister.”
“Aye. And I don’t trust yours.”
Esmyra closed her eyes, the weight of it all threatening to crush her. Finally, she managed a shallow nod.
“Thank you, Esmi. Binding our goddesses will be our salvation until the end of time. You’ll see.” She winked before turning away from her and disappearing around the bend.
If this was their salvation, then why did Esmyra feel like she was about to drown?
I need to remember who I was before all of this. She blew out a breath as her thoughts swarmed her, but then her eyes widened.
Esmyra craved familiarity, desperately needing her father and crew. And she knew exactly what would bring them to her.