Chapter 50
The scroll contained information from various siren scouts calculating the largest band of finfolk troops they had ever seen. They would arrive in a day's time.
The castle was in complete chaos, sirens speeding past in every direction. Shouting erupted around every corner as generals instructed troops and prepared for the onslaught. Windows were being reinforced with driftwood and doors were being barricaded.
Asta watched the pandemonium from atop the grand stairs, her hands shaking as she remembered the battle she had fought to free Kaid.
At least this time, she would have him by her side.
Asta felt that familiar tightening in her chest and she wrapped one hand with the other, cracking her knuckles one-by-one.
Your friends will die. Crack. Kaid will be forced to marry Maren. Crack. The sirens will be slaughtered. Crack.
With every terrible thought, Asta cracked a knuckle, and eventually they stopped. With one final pop, the tension in her chest dissipated and she could breathe again. Kaid, noting Asta’s fidgeting hands, moved closer to her.
“Son!” King Aerik called for Kaid, speeding in their direction. “Your mother. She’s asked to borrow your trident.”
Kaid stared at the golden staff in his hand, confused. “It’s not mine. It’s the royal sirens.”
Aerik chuckled. “There is no denying that it calls to you. And although it will work in any royal siren’s hands, it seems destined to be its most powerful in yours.”
Then why are you taking it elsewhere? Asta thought, but did not intervene.
Kaid handed over the trident, his hold lingering on the metal before his father pulled it away. Even with her limited knowledge in magical affairs, Asta could see that the trident had chosen Kaid above all else.
Asta followed Aerik, Kaid swimming up beside them. Kaid’s father darted out of the castle, meeting with Arielle at the gates where she took the trident from her bonded.
Queen Arielle raised the gleaming pitchfork far above her head, aiming it at the sky beyond the sea. The golden metal began glowing, the water around them charged with a strange feeling Asta had never experienced, heavy with magic.
Above the water, Asta could see the sky darkening, laying an eerie gray blanket over the castle and surrounding coral.
The surface of the water became so choppy that she couldn’t make out anything above, only the faint light of a stormy sky.
Around the underwater fortress, massive water funnels started to form, pulling sand from the seafloor up with them.
The funnels hovered in place, as if on guard for the arrival of the finfolk troops.
King Aerik handed the comb and mirror to Asta. “Keep them safe. You will know when the time is right.” Asta nodded, somewhat confused by his ambiguity, tucking the relics into her satchel and securing the latch. “Now go get some rest. We don’t have long, but the scouts will alert us.”
Asta turned to leave but the sight of Thurs zooming past caught her attention. She then noticed the flashes of emerald surrounding the castle, the entire herd on patrol. Asta flagged down her kelpie, the temperamental mare stopping before her.
“You don’t need to be here. This isn’t your war.” Asta ran a hand down the bridge of the kelpie’s nose. “Go to shore and be safe. Keep your herd safe.”
Thurs whinnied, nudging Asta’s hand away.
She stomped a hoof into the pearlescent tiles of the balcony in protest. Asta knew the kelpies would not leave her even though it was for the good of the herd.
Asta was the leader of northern kelpies, tamer of the alpha.
They would fight fiercely beside her until the very end, whatever that end may be.
Thurs swam off, assisting the siren soldiers in their patrol as hundreds of emerald water horses joined in.
Kaid pulled Asta away and back into the castle. They needed to prepare.