Chapter 2
LAVENIA
I woke up shivering.
As I tried to open my eyes, it felt like my lashes were being ripped free from my skin. Reaching up, I rubbed my hand over my face, and everything was painfully dry and gritty to the touch. Finally able to pry my eyes open, I could see. Squinting, everything was blurry as I took in my surroundings. My stomach growled and cramped, and I desperately needed to relieve myself.
In just a few moments of consciousness, I realized I was not doing well at all.
I was in a gods damned cave, walls glossy and sleek, with no way out. It smelled of damp rock—like the palace after a storm when the flooding dungeons wafted their scent upward. It didn’t smell of sea foam or the ocean’s brine, which I found surprising. In the center of the stone floor was a hole, eerily perfect in its shape. The single torch light shimmered on the water’s surface, glittering like tiny diamonds, but it couldn’t pierce the unyielding dark. I took a deep breath–in through my nose and out through my mouth–and when the corner of my lip split, I hissed in pain.
Looking around, I couldn’t make out any details on the dark walls, but the press on my divinity told me enough. Perfectly smooth lava rock, dampening my gifts. I didn’t know how I got there, how long I’d been there, or what I might do to escape. My arms and legs were stiff, but that could have been because the only padding beneath my body was a thin bed of seaweed. Groaning as I sat up, I found myself wrapped in a sailcloth. Rough fabric stiffened by saltwater rubbed against my skin. I didn’t remember changing, and the idea of someone doing it for me unsettled me. Reaching up, I picked at the salt crusting in my hair, and when I examined my scalp for some sort of head wound to explain my confusion, I yelped.
My braids had grown out nearly a thumb span.
My heart raced, and my breaths grew shallow. How long had I been asleep? How long had I laid here in this dark cavern? I began a more thorough examination of my body. My nails, once short, were now as long as my mother’s. My panic grew more pronounced, and everything began to itch. The stone beneath my legs, the sailcloth wrapped tightly around my torso, the salt drying out my skin. Every touch made my insides tighten. I picked at the fabric, unable to control my erratic motions.
How long had I been there? How was I alive?
I could feel everything—the cloth on my skin, the cold stone beneath my feet. It became overwhelming. I wanted to rip off my covering. I wanted to bathe the salt from my body. Any comfort which would calm my racing heart was out of reach, and my breaths came too quickly. Panting, I grew light-headed fast.
I rested my chin on my knees, rocking forward and backward to calm down. I didn’t want to faint. Nothing explained the missing time, but I’d done this to myself. This had been my choice.
I’d agreed to the Seaborn Queen’s bargain.
One night with me, and I will give you my armies.
A tear rolled down my cheek, but I wasn’t sure how it was possible. I’d never been more dehydrated in my life. I wanted to jump into the hole in the center of the cavern in search of relief. My skin felt like sandstone, and I needed to quench its thirst, but knew the saltwater would only make things worse. I’d gotten myself into a horrendous situation.
I couldn’t entirely blame myself. No, Mairin was at fault. Mairin betrayed me to her mother, Estri, the legendary Queen of the Seas. Mairin—a woman who saw my weaknesses, and who I thought cared for me despite them—did this to me. I’d trusted her, and she had only been using me to get her fucking pendant.
Well, if she wanted to return to the ocean, so be it. I would make it a priority for Mairin to never return to land. Be it by blade or royal decree, she’d never leave the water again. Not after what she had done. The moment the Sea Queen carried out her end of the bargain, I would make Mairin pay. By the looks of it, I’d spent many a night here, so the deal should have been honored. Estri owed Vesta her armies. She owed me my escape.
Come back to me after, and I will give you the world.
I shook my head, unable to deny the truth. She hadn’t meant sleeping in a cavern when she’d asked for a night with me. Closing my eyes, I remembered the way her voice had seduced me, made me grow pliant and willing after she’d captured us. She’d meant a night in her bed. But I’d clearly been asleep for a long time, and that meant her armies weren’t on their way to help Rainier defend Lamera from Declan and his Folterran forces.
Perhaps, by now, there was no Lamera left to defend.
“Hello?” I called out, voice raspy from disuse. It took all my energy to climb to my feet, muscles screaming in pain. How had I been immobile for so long and not starved to death? Though I was ravenous and parched beyond measure—with an achingly full bladder—my body wasn’t much worse for wear. I stumbled toward a wall, using it for support as I relieved myself.
“Aonara’s tits,” I cursed under my breath. I, surprisingly, found myself missing Dewalt, wondering what he would have done in my circumstance. He wouldn’t have gotten into a mess like this. He would’ve known the ship following us was manned by pirates. Fiona never would have taken control of our ship, and we wouldn’t have been forced into an impossible position with Estri. But if faced with the Sea Queen as I was, would he agree to whatever she asked? If Rainier had given him the responsibility to make allies of the ancient power, would he have hesitated?
I only had to ponder it for a moment. Of course, he would have done everything without question. For Vesta and for Rainier, Dewalt would have given in to her and probably enjoyed himself in the process.
Pressing my head against the cavern wall, I found that the cool dampness did little to ease my stress. I was so hungry that my head ached, and I thought of compelling a fish to swim up so I could grab it. Disappointingly, my plan quickly fell through when I reached for my divinity, only to remember the lava rock encasing me.
“Fuck,” I groaned, using the wall to support myself as I made my way over to the torch. Though it did little to brighten the cave, proximity to its light made me feel slightly better. Sliding down the wall, I stared at the hole in the ground. I supposed there was nothing to do but wait. Someone—or something—would come from that hole and either kill me or feed me or fuck me. It was just a matter of when.