Chapter 75 Aria #2
Sade nods in agreement. “Allegra is desperate to be a part of any conversation with the queen, and Nia dropped the perfect information into her lap. Or that is what Allegra believes anyway.”
“Can we back up?” I ask, pushing off the bed to begin swimming in front of it. “How did you know we would be at the cave tonight? That we were going to come for the weapons? Any of it?”
“I knew something was going on the day you brought me Nia’s necklace. Nia never would have left it behind for us to find of her own volition.”
My brows scrunch as I look at my older sister. “You knew it was bait meant to get you off their trail.”
“Yes. My legionaries had already combed the area I gave you thoroughly after the sirens left the seamounts. The odds of you finding that necklace after them were low.” At Lyre’s scoff, she amends her words.
“I didn’t say they were impossible; I said they were low.
No offense, Aria, but you aren’t a trained soldier.
I gave you a section of the outskirts of Lumen to search because I knew that you needed an excuse to get away from the palace.
” I jerk my head back, my eyes widening as a noise between a yelp and a cough leaves my mouth.
Does this mean she knows about Myla? “Well, that and the fact that I already know where the seamount sirens are.”
“And the cave?” Lyre asks, seemingly alright with the barrage of information that Sade’s just shared—unlike myself.
Sade shrugs, not bothering to smother her smile. “When I realized that Aria had to be in contact with Nia, I began following her. Our baby sister is not very good at making sure she’s alone before she goes to her super secret cave of forbidden items.”
“That she is not,” Lyre says with a chuckle of her own, sending heat flaring to my cheeks.
“Sorry, I’m not some super spy like you, apparently,” I retort weakly.
Sade snorts, while Lyre attempts to cajole me by holding my hand.
But despite my embarrassment, I meant what I said.
Sade has managed to fool everyone about her loyalties.
Another realization has my head snapping to her.
“It was you, wasn’t it? The one who warned them that the legion was coming. ”
The mood in the room sombers in an instant as Sade unfolds her arms and lets them hang loosely at her sides, her fingers curling inward.
“Yes.” Her eyes take on a distant look. “The call to attack had been given so abruptly, I didn’t have time to do anything but send Cali ahead of the rest and hope that they listened to her warning.
Thank the gods they did, but I knew they would have to abandon everything in order to get out in time. ”
The weapons. Their belongings. Everything needed for the offspring. All of it was left as the sirens fled the only place they had been allowed to call home.
“You say you know where they are now?” Lyre asks.
“They’re in Eersten. Which is where the weapons and the items in your cave will go.”
“You once told me that would be one of the first places Mother would look,” I say, heart pounding in my chest as I recall not only what Sade said, but what the female I had met in Eersten, Izel, told me of how my mother was taking sirens to add to the legion.
“Isn’t it foolish for them to stay there? ”
Sade’s demeanor shifts again, something ruthless taking over.
“Had you asked me a few months ago, I would have said yes. Our mother’s devotion to finding and murdering the seamount sirens, as well as anyone who might oppose her reign, was undeterred.
But now she is distracted with her plans on land.
Her involvement with King Dolian has led to Allegra and I ensuring that everyone stays in line.
With Allegra bound to the palace, I’m the one with eyes everywhere. ”
“So you can make sure that those in Eersten are overlooked when searching for the supposed traitors,” Lyre surmises.
“Yes. Though Allegra and the queen are highly suspicious of the inhabitants because it’s still the only place capable of hiding them.
Izel will make sure that it stays that way, and she will have some time to focus on what is coming next while the queen is distracted.
” Izel, the teal-haired siren that lives in Eersten.
“She will also make sure Nia stays put there.”
“Does anyone else know?” I ask, sitting back down on the bed. “That you’re pretending?”
“No. Only a handful of the legionaries that I trust and now you two. Every other correspondence I’ve had, whether it be with the sirens of Eersten or otherwise, has been anonymous.”
“Why? Why risk it at all? The queen trusts you, and that is not something that has come easily,” Lyre says, her voice hard.
My eyes bounce from one sister to the other, something unspoken passing between them.
With Sade in her seventh decade and Lyre in her fourth, there is a large amount of history they had together before I was born.
But whatever situation Lyre is insinuating, Sade seems apathetic.
“At first, I did buy into everything our mother said. About our history and what was taken from us. About what we were owed and how it was our duty to take it by any means necessary. As our song began fading and our numbers reduced, it only strengthened that belief. For many decades, I was a faithful daughter in every sense.” Sade looks away from us, her lips pursed in a harsh line.
She doesn’t have to add anything else. Somewhere along the line, things changed.
Perhaps it was a single moment or many smaller ones strung together.
Whatever it was, Sade is risking everything now to be here and to undermine our mother.
Bravery doesn’t have to be loud and flashy to be worthy.
“So now what?” I ask.
“Once we are sure the cave has been cleared, I will have to present you to our mother for the traitor accusations. It’s the only way to appease Allegra and keep her from getting suspicious.
I’ll tell them what I found or, rather, what I didn’t find.
” My throat works with a rough swallow, panic once more creeping along the edges of my mind.
“And then your fate will be determined with a vote.”
Great.
“But there is something we’ve yet to discuss,” Sade says, looking right at me.
I nervously tap my fingers against the scales at my hips as I shift between her stare. Lyre offers me a small smile of encouragement. “I was sort of hoping you had forgotten about that.”
Sade’s brow arches. “Forget that your magic works on sirens? Don’t think that will be happening any time soon.”
“Did you know?” Lyre asks me, her gaze soft. “That your magic worked on our kind?”
“No,” I rasp, just as shocked by the revelation as they are. “I swear it. I only knew that it worked on females, but I assumed that excluded sirens.”
“Interesting.” That’s all Sade offers as she heads towards Lyre’s door, apparently done for the evening.
“Sade, no one can know about Aria’s magic. If the queen finds out—”
“You needn’t worry about that, Lyre,” Sade interrupts, her fingers closing around the door handle. “Another of Aria’s secrets will be kept safe with me.”