Chapter 53
I'd expected to dine in one of the palace's grand halls. Instead, Thalassis brought me back to his study, that comfortable, private room where he'd first greeted Rìan and me.
He had me sit beside him on the low-backed sofa while the slaves filed in, pushing silver carts so heavily laden they groaned beneath the weight.
Within minutes, dishes crowded every inch of the table before us—steaming white fish resting in fragrant broth, split crab legs glistening with melted butter, bowls of tiny pink shrimp, roasted vegetables I didn't recognize, thick slices of warm bread, soft cheeses, assortments of tropical fruits, and crystal decanters filled with chilled white wine.
An enormous silver platter heaped with crushed ice dominated the feast. Nestled in the ice were dozens of half shells, each cradling a glistening, plump gray thing.
He leaned forward, his knee brushing mine. His fingers hovered over the platter with almost childish excitement before settling upon one of the largest ones. He lifted it delicately from the bed of ice and turned back toward me.
"You've never had an oyster."
"I've never even seen one."
"They're a Pelagan delicacy,” he said, squeezing a wedge of lemon over it, juice running down his fingers.
Before I could protest, he lifted the shell toward my mouth. I hesitated, my nose wrinkling.
“It won't bite,” he murmured, his eyes settling on my mouth.
When I parted my lips, he tipped the shell. The oyster slid onto my tongue all at once, cold, wet, and impossibly slippery. I clapped a hand over my mouth as I fought the overwhelming urge to spit it back out.
Thalassis laughed so hard his shoulders shook while I battled the texture, forcing myself to swallow. It was every bit as dreadful as I'd feared—slick, almost slimy—but once I managed to get past that, the flavor itself wasn't unpleasant.
It was clean. Briny. As though the scent of crashing waves had somehow been distilled into one tiny, gelatinous blob.
"It..." I frowned, still trying to decide how I felt about it. "It tastes like the ocean."
"Indeed." He selected another oyster from the platter before leaning a little closer, lowering his voice as though sharing a secret. "They're said to be an aphrodisiac."
A smile spread slowly across his face as he offered it to me. I shook my head.
His grin only widened. "More for me." He tipped it into his own mouth, swallowed easily, and set the empty shell aside.
I spent most of the lunch listening as Thalassis talked about the Tidelands, about Pelaga. When we were finished eating, he waved a dismissive hand and the servants sprang into action, clearing all the food and plates efficiently before disappearing out the door, leaving us alone.
Thalassis reached for a decanter and filled my wine glass, holding it out to me.
I hesitated. After Solmire, I'd come far too close to losing myself at the bottom of a bottle, chasing oblivion instead of facing everything I'd done and everything I'd lost. I hadn't touched wine since.
But this was one glass. A small price to pay if it kept Thalassis's attention exactly where I needed it while Rìan searched for the second Gate.
Besides, he'd encouraged me to drink the Ambrosia when I'd wanted to refuse.
If he'd been willing to take that risk to further our plans, surely I could endure a single glass of wine.
I wrapped my fingers around the stem, taking the smallest mouthful I could manage. Gentle warmth bloomed through my chest, familiar and comforting. Like greeting an old friend.
As the conversation moved from one story to the next, I found myself taking the occasional sip without thinking much of it. Every time the level in my glass dropped, Thalassis reached for the decanter, topping it up before I even realized he'd done it. The wine never seemed to diminish.
By the time I noticed the pleasant haze settling over me, softening the edges of my thoughts and loosening the tension in my stomach, I could no longer guess how much I'd actually had to drink.
I reclined against the sofa, folding my legs beneath me and propping my head against one hand as I listened to Thalassis talk. He was remarkably engaging. His laughter was infectious, his manner warm and charming, and his stories so fascinating that I hung on every word.
The conversation drifted into a comfortable lull. Thalassis swirled the wine in his glass before setting it aside, his easy smile fading into something more thoughtful.
“Tell me, Elowen.” His eyes settled on mine. “Where is Aedric?”
My heart lurched. For one dreadful moment, I thought he knew. That Rìan was searching for the Gate. That he wasn't Aedric at all.
He studied me intently, weighing something behind those ocean-blue eyes. Then the corners of his mouth curved into an amused smile. “I'm simply surprised he hasn't come crashing through that door yet. He's never struck me as the sort to leave his mate alone with another male for very long.”
Relief washed through me so quickly it left me almost dizzy.
“I could go and see if he's awake,” I offered. “I'm sure he'd join us if you'd like.”
“No.” Thalassis turned to face me, draping one arm along the back behind me. With his free hand, he reached up and brushed a loose strand of hair from my face.
“To tell you the truth,” he said quietly, his fingers tucking it carefully behind my ear, “I much prefer it this way. Just the two of us.”
He took the glass from my hand and set it on the table before turning back to me.
“What do you think of the Tidelands?”
He was far closer than I would have liked.
“It’s beautiful.”
“And what do you think of me?”
The question caught me completely off guard. I hesitated, painfully aware that the wrong answer could be taken as either an insult or an invitation.
“You've been a wonderful host,” I managed at last.
The hand behind me shifted. His fingertips found the nape of my neck, lightly grazing my skin. I remained where I was.
“There is one thing left I haven't shown you, Elowen,” he said, his voice sinking to a low, velvety murmur. “Something I've been looking forward to.”
I swallowed, forcing down the unease rising in my stomach.
“What is it?”
An unctuous smile darkened his mouth. “Me.”
His hand tightened around the back of my neck. Before I could react, his magic unfurled.
It struck like a tidal wave. Invisible force swept through me, gliding over my skin before sinking deeper, past muscle and bone, reaching toward the very center of my being. It felt wrong—violently, instinctively wrong.
The sensation tore me backward through time—to the Aethereum, to Aedric's power reaching into places no one had any right to touch.
Every instinct in me rebelled. Something sacred was being breached. It wasn't my body he was reaching for—it was something far more intimate. Something that belonged only to me.
I tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go. His hand closed around the back of my neck like a vise as his power continued its inexorable descent, probing ever deeper until I felt it touch the sleeping heart of my own magic.
No.
Panic flared.
No, no, no—
But my magic didn't understand. Ever hungry, ever curious, it stirred.
Like a snake sensing the first tremor beneath the earth, it uncoiled with eager fascination, winding instinctively toward the foreign presence that had invaded its domain.
It reached for his magic before I could stop it, brushing curiously against it, circling it, tasting its shape.
Horror hollowed me out.
Stop.
I threw every ounce of will I possessed against it, desperate to drag it back, but it ignored me entirely, enthralled by the vast reservoir of power before it.
Thalassis inhaled sharply, his pupils flaring wide as he felt it. Every trace of his charm vanished, replaced by a cruel, avaricious hunger.
I swung at him, but his hands closed around my wrists before the blow could land. He held me fast as light erupted beneath my skin, writhing with a will of its own.
"Yes..." The word escaped him in a ragged whisper, reverent enough to make my stomach turn. "Yes, Eidra."
I strained against his grip.
"Bond with me." His voice dropped to a hushed rasp, enthralled not by me, but by the force coursing beneath my flesh. "Bond with my power."
His breathing hitched as my magic grazed his again. His eyes fluttered shut for the briefest instant, an obscene moan catching in his throat. "Together… the Tides will be the most powerful Court in all Elantis."
“No!” I cried out.
Another wave of his magic drove into me. I fought back nausea, desperately trying to reel my magic back in. His head tipped back slightly, a shudder of pleasure running through him.
"So wild," he breathed, his voice thick with awe. "Gods..."
I tore one hand free, instantly battling the heavy folds of my skirts, my fingers scrabbling frantically through layers of silk. The dress had become its own prison, every pleat tangling around my hand as I searched for the sheath strapped against my thigh.
"Get off me!"
He seized my wrist and forced my hand flat against the hardened bulge beneath his trousers.
Revulsion surged through me. I wrenched against his grip with everything I had, twisting so violently that pain lanced through my shoulder, but he held me fast, deaf to every protest, lost entirely in whatever fantasy my struggling had conjured in his mind.
I could feel the bone knife strapped against my thigh—only inches away, if I could just reach it.
He ground himself against my palm. Then, without warning, his free hand fisted the front of my dress and yanked. The air split with the sound of tearing as the fabric ripped clean in two.
His eyes heated as they caught on my bare skin, my heaving breasts. His fingers flew to his trousers, grappling with the buttons.
It was the opening I needed. I bucked my hips as hard as I could. Thalassis lurched forward, hands splaying to catch himself. I rolled onto my side, drew my knees to my chest, planted one sandaled foot square against the center of his chest, and shoved with everything I had.