Chapter 26
LAVENIA
Upon seeing Fox dart away, Smokkar let go before I even needed to compel him to drop the blade. His grip left my torso, and everything was blanketed in darkness.
“Smokkar,” I said, hands outstretched in the deep blackness. After a moment, my eyes adjusted, and I saw a glowing, squid-like body escape through the hole in the floor. Heart in my throat, I was terrified he followed Fox. Regardless of what her plans might have been, even if she would tell the Sea Queen what Smokkar had told me, I didn’t care. All I knew was I didn’t want her to get hurt.
I was unused to moving through the water on my own, and the fabric of my gown swirling around my legs made things awkward. I dove toward the hole, and as I shimmied through, my dress caught on the roughly carved opening. Just as it tore, the sting of a cut on my hip made me hiss in pain.
“Smokkar, leave her alone!” I shouted, hoping to protect the tiny creature who had been kind to me.
I attempted to blow all the air out of my lungs, forcing me to sink to the bottom of the spire we’d come in through, all the while searching for the glowing squid and the tiny pink seahorse. But with the slash across my throat, my lungs worked of their own accord. What I sought to do was impossible, so I did my best, pulling my arms through the water as I made my way down. I could have sworn I saw Smokkar, lengthy tentacles trailing behind him, disappearing through a window. Light from the moonpearls drifted in, illuminating a space littered with what appeared to be items from a shipwreck. Broken crates and furniture covered the ground, and algae crusted over the top of the pile.
“Foxglove?” I called, hoping she was perhaps hiding in the debris.
The sea went still and silent the moment I spoke, and my stomach tightened. I was alone, unable to defend myself. Of all the sharp-toothed creatures in the depths, I wasn’t sure how many were seaborn or how many could be reasoned with. Did the Sea Queen control the entirety of the vast ocean? Or was it only the seaborn in her thrall? Looking down at my hip, I saw the cut on my skin through the tear in my dress. The trickle of blood was slow, but I wasn’t sure how much was necessary to draw the attention of any number of predators. I placed my hand on the wound, probably doing little to stem the flow.
A huge shadow crossed over the window, blocking out the limited glow from the moonpearls.
I froze. The weight of the dress pulled me into a slow descent, but I maintained my stillness. I couldn’t draw attention to myself, not with some massive beast just outside the spire. I couldn’t know how large it was, or how easily it might slip in through the window, so I relaxed, doing my best to make my heartbeat calm as I sank.
Only when I heard a scuffing noise did I allow my eyes to focus. When a tentacle as thick as I was slid in through the window, I wasn’t sure yet if I should have been relieved. Perhaps it wasn’t Estri and was instead another monster coming to claim me as prey. Or perhaps it was Estri, intending to kill me for the knowledge Smokkar had just given me. Enormous, her body only seemed to grow as she crawled across the ground. When she moved over the shipwreck detritus, I became certain it was the Seaborn Queen.
It was as if she perused each item; a curious tentacle moved things around, holding a shattered mirror up to her giant eye before dropping it to curl around an algae-covered vase. As I sank to the ground, I remained motionless, uncertain of what she’d do. That enormous eye swiveled toward me, unblinking, and I didn’t have time to shriek as she lunged.
The harsh lines of her face came into dizzying focus as she brought herself close to me—shifting that massive body and wrapping her strong tentacles around my middle.
“What are you doing here, sweet Lavenia?”
Remembering what she had said of the ocean singing to her, I thought it best to avoid lying. Though, I dreaded having to tell her the truth. “Smokkar brought me here.”
“And what did he tell you?”
“I think you probably already know that.” I looked away, but her fingers gripped my chin, turning my face toward hers. Her eyes were all widened innocence, especially unsettling as they darted to my mouth.
“No. He took you to the one place where I do not hear the whispers. What did he tell you?”
“Why don’t you hear the whispers there?”
“The coral’s life force cannot withstand the magick which reinforces my prison. It pains me to sacrifice their lives. But it must be done.” Her gaze didn’t leave my mouth as she answered. I ignored it as I thought of the white corals—bleached, I realized. As if all life had left them. Perhaps she was speaking truthfully.
“Tell me about Rhia’s mortal form, and I will tell you what Smokkar said,” I replied, surprised by my boldness. To barter with the ruler of the seas—who could end me with a single thought—I must have truly gone mad. But ever since she’d mentioned I looked like Rhia, I’d been intrigued. The information felt important. “You said she shared a body?”
“ This is what you want to know? It is quite dull,” she said. Estri lifted her hand, twirling a long, pale finger into my curls. “Bringing an immortal body to the mortal plane has its disadvantages—or so she thought,” she murmured, with no small amount of irritation in her voice. “She shared the body of a woman in Olistos, using her form to visit me.”
“Why? Why would anyone agree to that?” I asked, though I wondered if I’d dare say no to a goddess wanting to share my body.
“Why wouldn’t she? It is a great honor, is it not?”
“I suppose, but how long did Rhia use this woman’s body? Didn’t she have a family? Didn’t they miss her?”
“Time does not matter to a god,” she snapped. “But do not fret. Rhia also had a tender heart. The mortal woman had fallen off a creature perhaps, hit her head maybe? I cannot remember, nor do I care. But she was bedridden. She allowed Rhia to use her body, and Rhia allowed her to feel while she borrowed it.”
“So she was there, just...stuck in her mind while Rhia...”
“While Rhia visited a kingdom the mortal never could have imagined? While Rhia feasted and indulged? Do you think it was a torment to feel everything as Rhia sucked and fucked away her time in my domain?”
My chest went tight, and my cheeks heated. Though Estri held me close, I did everything I could not to look at her. “Above, the Myriad portrays Rhia as—I didn’t know she?—”
“You think I don’t know how they portray her? The gods? You think I don’t know what they have erased ?” she hissed. “I did not provide my seaborn armies out of the kindness of my heart. My hatred for the Myriad is fathomless, my jewel. Folly, to think any of the gods care for more than pleasure and penance.” She brushed a rough thumb over my chin, and I finally met her gaze. Her pupils were wide, and those eerie pale eyes had a faint glow as she stared at me. The slant of her mouth curled up at the edges. “Now, tell me. What did he say to you?”
“Did Rhia heal the woman after? When she was...finished?”
Estri’s eyes narrowed when I ignored her question, but she tilted her head to the side. Long, dark red strands of hair fell over my arm, feeling almost slimy as they dragged over my skin.
“I think she might have,” she admitted, crimson brows lifting. “If my other form hadn’t eaten her first.”
I could only stare. Slowly, one of the Sea Queen’s tentacles moved, wrapping around my leg from thigh to ankle.
“You ate her? Why would you eat her?”
“I grow tired of your interrogation, even if you are my guest.”
I swore the water grew colder around us, and I wasn’t sure how much farther I could push my luck. Certain she was about to kill me over what Smokkar had told me anyway, I asked one more question.
“Were you in love with each other?” I whispered, aware that my simple curiosity could be deadly. When her tentacles tightened on me, drawing me closer to her, I closed my eyes.
“What is love to a god?” Her whisper skated over my skin, and a chill ran up my spine. “When Rhia told me she was returning to the eternal lands, to them , I couldn’t stop my truest form from taking over. I didn’t bother quelling my rage. Now, before you bring me to that same point, what did my son say to you?”
“He showed me your prison,” I said, aware of her vanishing patience. “I think he meant to threaten me.”
I wasn’t sure if it was me or Mairin I was protecting by leaving it at that. If Estri had lied, had heard everything Smokkar had said, what would she do? If what Smokkar had said was true, the Seaborn Queen would already be wary of Mairin. At the very least, she’d quickly catch on to any plots against her. So, would divulging more put her at risk? Despite my almost inconceivable anger toward the merrow, I still didn’t want to see her in danger. As it was, she seemed almost as trapped as I was. With her pendant at throat, why hadn’t she left?
“But he did not tell you who inhabits it, did he?” she asked, and her hand caressed my cheek. “And you didn’t think of it either, my sweet girl.”
“No, he didn’t,” I whispered. Her tentacles shifted against my body, and my breaths quickened. She could kill me in the blink of an eye.
“Anyone who ventures beneath the waves bends to my rule or they die. Why would I choose this for them, if death would be far easier?”
My heart jumped into my throat—erratic. Could her prisoners really be who came to mind? When Smokkar had mentioned Estri’s favored daughters, I’d scoffed at him. But he’d been speaking true.
How could someone do such a thing? The longer I stared at the hole in the ceiling, though, the more I knew she spoke true. Mothers could do truly horrific things.
“You refuse to kill them—your daughters,” I said. She didn’t move, merely tilting her head. Her jawline was sharp, and she’d never looked less human to me.
“Return to your chambers, treasure,” Estri said, throwing me toward the window with shocking strength. Her tentacles released me and I glided through the water, twirling like part of some unsettling dance step.
When I found Fox waiting alongside the rude merrow from before the ball, relief twisted low in my stomach, but I wasn’t sure what exactly it was for. I didn’t speak as the merrow dragged me between the spires, finally bringing me to the one I knew housed my chambers.
They were completely underwater when we arrived.
There was no place for me to walk or lay on the bed of seaweed. The merrow laughed before darting away, leaving Fox with me to navigate the new situation. She darted into the room, swimming to its center, before shifting into her humanoid form. It felt intrusive to watch, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away. Her skin lightened as she grew larger. Suddenly, her tail split into two legs, and the change hastened as she approached the height I’d seen her reach before. It was unsettling to see her skin’s texture fade away, becoming as smooth as mine while the frills along her spine turned into hair.
“Is she punishing me?” I asked, awkwardly swimming forward. Estri’s magick from the ballroom didn’t extend to my chambers, making it nearly impossible to walk along the floor as I had before.
“I do not know, Princess. But it is not so bad, is it?” the shifter asked. Large, pink eyes looked hopefully at me, and Fox nodded encouragingly. “Perhaps she will give you another form if you ask her nicely.”
“That’s possible? I thought that had been a joke. Why wouldn’t she have given me a merrow’s body from the start?” I supposed she could have given me any type of secondary form, but one that was more human seemed ideal. Blinking, I stared at Fox with an open mouth when I realized exactly what her words implied. “She could turn me into a seaborn? With..with that kind of magick, she could do terrible things. Amazing things.”
Fox’s eyes widened, nearly bulging out of her head. “No, no, I—” The small woman looked over my shoulder and swallowed hard. “I only jest. I do not—she cannot?—”
I narrowed my eyes, but slowly nodded. For whatever reason, I wasn’t supposed to know about the depths of magick the Sea Queen supposedly held. I did not believe for a moment that what Fox had said was only a joke. The seaborn shifter was clearly afraid of revealing a secret to me. Even though Estri had said it herself, I hadn’t believed her. Perhaps that had been intentional? The poor woman’s chest heaved, and Fox’s mouth opened and shut several times as she stared.
“Silly me,” I said, shaking my head and chuckling. “I suppose I was too excited over the prospect of turning into a creature as beautiful as yourself. A cruel joke, Foxglove,” I chided, but I knew my words rang hollow.
She visibly relaxed, chin wobbling. “I am so sorry, Your Highness. I did not—I did not mean to get your hopes up.”
“Perhaps you can make it up to me tomorrow? I’d love to speak to the elder you mentioned. The leatherback, I think you said?”
“I suppose I can ask him,” she said, voice high. Fox swallowed, still appearing fearful, and I wished to remove that trepidation from her.
“Now, how does one go about sleeping in the water like this?”
When she inhaled deeply, allowing a tentative smile to soften her expression, I relaxed. But it didn’t stop me from wondering why Estri wouldn’t want the seaborn to speak of her power. How much magick did the Seaborn Queen possess?
I vowed to find out.