Chapter 57
After making sure the orphans returned to the safety of the village, Asta told her friends and father to take care of themselves and Dyri. She prayed to any god or goddess that would listen to save the pup.
Thurs returned not long after the Ryktarvans fell, nudging Asta with her muzzle.
“Only one,” Asta said, and Thurs nudged her again. “Fine. One each.”
The Salendronean princess turned away as the kelpies made a meal of the fallen enemies. The rest would be pulled away by the rising tide where they would return to sea.
“We have to go, sister.” Maren kept her distance as she spoke, her grip remaining tight on her sword.
Revna eyed her menacingly, the ice in her gaze sending a chill through Asta.
She had not heard such a pleasant tone from Maren in years.
Asta stormed toward Maren, her sword pointed at her sister’s throat. “What’s your game? What do you want from me?”
Maren did not flinch. “I cannot tell you until this is over. There’s too much at stake. I know I have done everything to make you distrust me, but understand it was not real. I need you to have faith in me.”
“That’s a big ask from the princess of our enemy kingdom,” Revna seethed.
“I’m not the enemy.” Maren’s gaze switched between Asta and Revna, before settling back on Asta.
“I’m not your enemy, Asta. I’m your sister.
The one who played sirens with you. The one who would hide under buffet tables at balls with you.
The one who needed to push you away to keep you safe—though that did not work the way I hoped it would.
Of course, I never suspected that the lost prince would end up moving in with us by sheer happenstance.
That changed the trajectory of my plans.
Especially since you had grown to care for him by the time I confirmed who he was. ”
Asta shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why did you push me away?”
“You won’t understand until we’ve won.”
Revna pointed her jagged dagger at Maren now. “Define ‘we.’”
“I cannot,” Maren sighed. “Trust me, or don’t. Either way, no harm will come to you by my blade.” She dropped her sword into the sand at Asta’s feet.
Asta knew that her sister didn’t need a sword to be lethal, but she also knew the significance of giving up your weapon when two are pointed at you.
She lowered her weapon and picked up Maren’s, turning and mounting Thurs who had finished her feeding.
Revna mounted another kelpie, and Asta pointed at a third.
“Get on, before I change my mind.” Maren climbed onto a kelpie with ease.
She was always better at riding than Asta was.
Asta tossed Maren’s sword back to her. “You’ll need that. Don’t force me to kill you, sister.”
And then they rode like three merfolk had never ridden before, returning to battle. When they got there, would they be fighting against or with each other? Asta did not know.
Maren yipped as the kelpies approached Naltania, her warrior cries bouncing off the reef below.
Something in Asta’s chest tightened and she cracked her knuckles.
She saw Maren watching her and hid her hands.
Her sister lifted her arms above her head, her red hair billowing in the currents around them, and let out a finfolk shriek.
Asta couldn’t tell if it was camaraderie, or hope, or a final goodbye between them, but she, too, raised her arms and released a siren scream.
Once they crossed over the reef, the battlegrounds were in sight. Revna dove off her kelpie and disappeared into the front lines while Asta searched the chaos for Kaid.
Maren hovered next to her, also searching the mayhem, but for who? Her sister’s brow furrowed and worry crept across her features.
A water funnel the size of a hurricane approached and Asta and Maren steered their kelpies away from its path of destruction.
Ryktarvans were pulled into the funnel and sent flying up into the skies above.
Trails of blood drifted heavily throughout the water and soldiers bellowing commands to their inferiors echoed all around.
A flash of gold caught Asta’s attention and she followed the light, her eyes landing on Kaid and his parents, Arielle still wielding the trident.
Asta turned to show Maren where to follow her to, but her sister was already guiding her kelpie straight into battle.
Asta quickly realized that Svanhild was within the group that Maren was approaching and once she got there, Svanhild hugged her tightly.
Maren shouted indiscernible words and the Ryktarvan warriors surrounding them stopped fighting the Naltanians, instead turning their blades on other Ryktarvans.
Asta frantically reached into her satchel to ensure the comb and mirror were still there and when her hands wrapped around the handles of each artifact, she let out a breath of relief.
But how was Maren making the Ryktarvans turn on each other?
It wasn’t something she had time to ponder right now.
All she knew was that Maren had secured a fraction of trust within her.