Chapter 39
Aren led the trainee guard who had misfired a shot in our direction to the guard houses. What happened to him after, I wasn’t told. Was he arrested? Charged? Sentenced to death? Let off with a warning?
I didn’t know.
All thought abandoned me as I gazed up at Kye, his eyes inches from my own. He’d crumpled me up into a ball so tight, I could hardly move. His long legs straddled my waist, abdomen hard against my ribs. His body heat sent a scarlet flush through my skin as his weight pinned me down, and I was thankful for the encased leather armor he wore. Without it, there would’ve been nothing to stop him from feeling my heartbeat in my chest like butterfly wings against a glass jar.
He watched me, his thoughts hidden behind the veil of his eyes. Angry? Vengeful? Sullen? Bitter? I couldn’t tell.
I leaned to the side, intent on delivering some space between our joined bodies. Sensing my actions, he tried to rotate his hip and knee, offering me an escape.
Then sucked the air into his lungs, teeth clenched.
“Don’t move,” someone said. “The physician’s on his way.” But I’d already frozen, struck still at the sight of pain lacing his brows together.
“You can wiggle out,” Kye murmured, his voice tight. “I’ll make room.” He tilted his weight again, the backs of his hard thighs rolling over my hips. Low in my abdomen, something primal and warm lifted its head, purring to life at the feeling of his body thrusted against mine.
I tried once more to extract myself, but I felt his muscles tighten, and the more he tried to lift away to grant me space, the stronger a tremor seemed to leech into his arm, stuck fast to the door.
“I’ll wait,” I finally said, though numbness had begun creeping into my feet.
Kye exhaled sharply. “Fine.”
Luckily, the physician arrived a few minutes later. My legs had long since fallen asleep, my ribs were sore from the prolonged jab of his armor, and I was certain I’d find bruises on the back of my thighs tomorrow. Kye’s jaw went taut as the physician broke the shaft and slid his arm from it, his breath pluming over my cheek in shallow bursts. Then he lifted away, the absence of his weight a relief to my aching tailbone, a strange emptiness carved into my stomach, leaving me somehow hollow.
Prince Hadrian helped me to my feet. “Are you alright, Lady Maren?”
“I’m fine.” I smoothed my dress, eyes shifting back to Kye, who was now standing before the physician, arm half-bandaged by an assistant as the physician checked him over for a concussion.
“You’re supposed to call me if you take a hit to the head,” I heard him chide the younger prince.
Kye grumbled something back, his eyes never leaving mine.
“He’ll be fine,” Hadrian said to me. “It missed anything important, and it was his left arm, anyway.”
I was only half listening. Bright scarlet had bloomed across the wrappings on Kye’s arm where fresh blood seeped through. He flexed his fingers softly, his mouth a hard line.
“I’ll walk you to your rooms,” Hadrian offered.
I shook my head, tearing my gaze from Kye. “Thank you, but I have to stop at a friend’s first.”
I’m sure it had only been grace and manners that had led to his offer, but he inclined his head, leaving me to walk alone through the door inside.
I wandered to Selena’s apartment in a daze.
If Kye had wanted me dead, that would have been the best opportunity. Instead, he’d not only saved me from an arrow, but he’d also thrown himself in the way.
Why had he done that?
“You’re late,” Selena said cheerfully as she swung her door open to greet me. She hesitated. “Something happen?”
“No,” I lied.
Selena spent another few seconds studying me. “Well, since you’re here now…” She smiled, indicating for me to follow her. She led me to the room that sat between her suite and Thaan’s, a private study.
“It’s mine more than his,” Selena said, her mouth quirking at the look of disgust as I caught Thaan’s scent in the air. “He prefers to walk down to the Advisory to work. But be aware when you’re in there that if he wanted to, he could come in. Have a look.”
My glass box was completed.
Constructed in the shared office, the box was large enough to have been two coffins resting side by side. Welded and sealed with silver corners and a silver base, the windows were thick panes of smooth, transparent glass. The water inside, collected from the Venus Sea, was a foamy pale green, and I could smell the salt as I approached it, at once calming and energizing.
“To help with evaporation, I devised an iron lid, though it’ll remain unlocked and open whenever you use it. You can practice in the mornings, resisting the urge to change as the salt touches your skin, and in the afternoons and evenings we can work on other skills.”
I nodded vaguely, mesmerized by the water on the other side of the glass.
“Starting tomorrow,” Selena added with a chuckle.
Damn. Even in glass, the water looked inviting enough for me to strip down to my skin and slip into it.
“I have something else to show you. Come on.” Selena guided me back to her dining table, where she pulled out a glass jar and upended it on the wooden surface. Something green and sodden landed with a wet smack. Seaweed. I gazed curiously at it. Its leaves frayed like a length of yarn that had been unraveled, leaving it soft and delicate, lacking in defined edges. Selena asked if I knew what it was.
“Kelp?” I ventured, although it was unlike any kelp I’d ever seen.
“Clypeus Viriditas. Shield weed. You’ll want to know what it tastes like.” Selena pinched a thread off the fabric-like grass, offering it for me to sample. I reached for it, and Selena quickly drew her hand away. “Don’t swallow it,” she warned.
Hesitant, I accepted the plant, placing it gingerly on my tongue. I wasn’t repelled by the salty taste of seaweed, nor the slimy texture. The flavor reminded me of grassy shrimp, springy and crisp. Selena handed me a napkin and I spit in it, cringing as I folded the fabric into a wad, unsure what to do with it.
“It tastes like seaweed,” I said plainly, though I knew I’d recognize it were I to taste it again.
Selena raised an eyebrow. “It grows in vines on the ocean floor in cold climates. It’s sparse here in Calder but common in Rivea and Krava. If you find yourself on the coast of either of those countries, you’ll find it in local markets and taverns. With a name like ‘shield weed,’ can you guess what it might be useful for?”
Probing the corners of my mouth with my tongue, as though the taste might offer me a clue, I shook my head.
Selena took the napkin from me, tossing it in a linen basket for her maid to wash. At opposite ends of Selena’s dining room table, we faced each other over the little porcelain plate. “If a human eats it, they can’t be incanted. If you eat it, you’ll lose your Naiad abilities until it’s fully out of your bloodstream. About a month.”
Surprised, I gave the little clump another glance. “Is it poison?”
Selena smiled, crossing her arms as she stared at the green ball of weedy yarn. “The ash of it is. Fresh and green like this, it might have only upset your stomach, had you swallowed.”
“How long does it stay in a human’s body?”
“The study of its effects is somewhat limited,” Selena said, sighing. “To understand what little we know about shield weed, perhaps it’s best if you understand first what happens when you incant someone. Have you heard the term love drunk?”
Despite my aversion to vacous people, I was intrigued. “Yes.”
Selena pulled the plate closer to herself, plucking a thready leaf from the mound, turning it slowly between her thumb and pointer finger. “When someone becomes infatuated with someone else, their system is flooded with the love hormone oxytocin. You may look at someone, hear their voice, feel their touch. The how doesn’t matter, really. Your body responds with a rush of feeling, and that feeling is excitement, pleasure, sensuality.”
A brush of soft lips against mine. Warm breath, sweet and minty, across my face.
Heat crept under my skin, and I shook it away, forcing myself to pay attention.
“When you incant someone, when you sing to them, the same happens. Their bodies flood with oxytocin upon hearing your voice at almost toxic levels. It doesn’t hurt them to be a vacous for a day. But it’s like a drug. It consumes its host, and with prolonged incantation, you can and will kill someone. But…” Selena slid the plate away, leaning forward on her elbows and folding her hands, smiling softly at me. “When a human eats shield weed, their system blocks that flood of oxytocin. They still feel their natural love. They’re simply immune to our song. For how long depends on their metabolic system. If they eat a small amount only once, it will probably metabolize in a fortnight. For someone who eats shield weed as part of their regular diet, it might take a month.”
I pressed my spine into the back of the chair, avoiding Selena’s eyes. The emptiness in Pike’s gaze hovered in memory, and my stomach gave an oily flip. I hated incanting.
Reading my expression, Selena straightened.
“Calder sits on a precipice of war with its neighbor from the north, and you’re blood-bound to be part of that fight.”
My head snapped up. The war with Rivea? Thaan had mentioned a war while on the ship, but no one had really spoken of it since.
Selena continued, “Who knows where the battle may take you? In the sea, there are pirates. On the road, there are robbers. The journey to war is just as dangerous as the fight itself.
“It might be a responsibility of yours to incant soldiers, physicians, and leaders, for whatever means deemed necessary. If they lose a leg, you will convince them they don’t feel pain. If they lose a friend, you will convince them to avenge their comrade’s honor. And if, in the small hours of the night, they lose hope, as men often do when fighting a battle that is larger than themselves, you will convince them that faith is all they need.
“Not all incantations are wrong, Maren.” Selena dropped her gaze to the mushy grass on the table. “And if we’re to enter a conflict with a country where shield weed grows rampant, you need to be aware of the possibility your men will harvest it for food, and unknowingly put it on your plate as well.”
“What will you do with it?” I asked, my throat suddenly dry as I watched Selena.
“I don’t know yet. It took a while to acquire. I had to find someone who knew what it was first, and where to find it, and then wait for them to return from Rivea, just so you could see it firsthand.” She tilted her head. “Did you have something in mind?”
“It’s a water vine, so its roots don’t need soil?” I asked, though it was more statement than question. We both knew I was the botanist between the two of us. Selena lifted her brows, waiting. I glanced to the door behind us at her office, and the glass box of Venus Sea water inside.
“Hmm,” Selena said. “Not a bad idea. It’s worth a try.”
We went into the office together, Selena waiting as I unlocked the lid. The seaweed plopped unceremoniously into the water, unfurling like a creature stretching after a long nap.
“Is it safe to swim with?” I asked, uncertain.
Selena smiled. “Of course. Might encourage algae growth, though.” We watched the shield weed relax, then Selena motioned for me to follow her back through the door. Sitting down at the table, Selena flicked her palm at me, a silent order to straighten my back. Having just reclined into the chair, I sighed and drew myself up.
“There is another exception to incantation,” Selena said, ignoring my protest, though the corner of her mouth twitched. “You can’t incant a person you’ve matedwith.”