Chapter 26
“Ilove how after everything we’ve been through…” I spoke as we strolled through the city of Lydhavn, “We plan to, quite literally, just walk up to the Shaw Estate.”
“We have the element of surprise on our side, and we need this to be as visible as possible,” Audrey replied with a grimace. “The Lyndoruun press needs to report it to the rest of Hyvenmere.”
“I know, and yet, it’s still just us walking up to Ilia’s castle, banging on his door, and demanding he stop being a dictator.”
“He won’t,” Caelena grimly replied from her place a step behind us.
She was right, and even though the reality of what we were about to do made nauseating nerves churn in my stomach, I also felt peace with our decision.
Ilia wouldn’t just…stop. And while I admired Audrey’s determination to subdue him as ethically as possible, I was wholly prepared for the reality that he needed to cease breathing.
No man who had his mate murdered because she didn’t properly murder a child, like he told her to, was going to be reasonable.
Like Audrey said, strolling through the streets like this alerted everyone to what we were up to, just like we wanted.
After an hour of walking, sirens with cameras and boom-looking mics and badges that looked a lot like press identification, started to follow our march.
There were hundreds of siren women trained in hand-to-hand combat by Sergei and his men. I just hoped it would be enough.
The rest of the siren women and all the children stayed behind in the Fjellenheim Mountains, where Fergus and a handful of his men guarded them.
We convinced Fergus to stay, so that the sirens involved can be the ones who dethrone their king.
Liam, the only other non-siren besides myself, obviously would go wherever Audrey went.
We didn’t all march in one group. Instead, we entered the city of Lydhavn from various entry points. We needed the attention of everyone if our rebellion was to generate the support needed to not only take down Ilia but also maintain a peaceful transition afterward.
“Keep your children indoors,” Caelena would occasionally call to pedestrians who stared wide-eyed at our group.
They listened to her instructions without hesitation.
Our rebellion started to get larger, our separate clusters merging into one as we made it to the main road that would lead us directly to Ilia Shaw.
A handful of Sergei’s soldiers accompanied us, less than two dozen, but the rest of our army were women. All dressed in various interpretations of siren militia. Everyone with a mask over their mouth, sending a clear message.
Ilia could try silencing these mothers, but the mothers were stronger. They had experienced more pain and suffering and paralyzing fear than Audrey and I had in a very long time.
My muscles were sore, but it was easy to ignore the pain.
If we failed, and Ilia and his men ended up killing us all, I took comfort in the fact that Fergus was already forming a plan with his men to get the rest of the refugees out of the mountains through the back tunnels, where a handful of ships were currently sailing from Vanyara to meet them.
He assured us that his parents would remain unaware that they were missing a couple of ships from their fleet of thousands.
The refugees were getting prepared for that reality as we walked, briefing their children on the logistics of traveling inside the mountains.
Now, as the main road we marched on widened, Ilia’s estate came into view.
Caelena stepped forward on Audrey’s other side, at the same time Liam stepped back, scanning and taking one last note of everyone here. Sergei stepped forward to walk on Caelena’s opposite side.
The four of us led the charge, followed by Liam and the women. Sergei’s soldiers marched on the outer perimeter of our army.
If I died, Audrey would be here to mourn me, at least. But a certain detained siren also came to mind. Would Drustan actually mourn me? Or would he feel relief with my loss? Would this animalistic urge inside of him dim with my death? Or would that just tip the Mad Siren Prince over the edge?
To distract myself from possibly dying today, I started whistling.
It was my favorite tune, the tune that had been stuck in my head for months. Haunting me in my sleep. The one I had been working on producing on my laptop, on the drums at the Sun Bean. The tune that always danced in the air whenever I stepped foot in this realm.
To my surprise, after a few moments of me whistling, Caelena joined in.
I grinned at her but was surprised when she started whistling the next verse.
“How do you—?” I tried not to sound too offended that she knew my song. The song I had been desperate to write down and properly compose. I thought I had dreamt of it.
“I was going to ask you the same question,” Caelena raised a brow as she replied. “Though, I have my suspicions for why you know the former Siren Queen’s famous lullaby.”
My lips parted.
“I hear this song every time I come to Hyvenmere,” I explained “Sometimes it’s faint, sometimes it’s louder—”
“Does it get louder the closer you are to your mate?” Caelena asked with a raised eyebrow. Audrey stared at me after Caelena’s question, her face numb with what we were about to do. I opened my mouth, ready to reply, then shut it. Realizing I had no idea how to respond.
Because the closer we marched to the Shaw estate, the clearer the tune played in my mind. Caelena hummed, clearly accepting the answer my silence provided her.
Sergei started to hum after that, and then, in a low baritone, he started to sing words in an ancient siren language.
It was reverent and haunting. A song designed to bring comfort while fully aware of the gruesome reality we faced. I couldn’t understand the words, but as Caelena and other siren women behind us joined Sergei with their powerful voices, I was overwhelmed by the strength brewing in our rebellion.
Audrey and I hummed along, not needing to know the lyrics. Just honored to be part of the act of defiance.
We approached the gates to the Shaw estate, where a dozen siren soldiers stood outside of it, weapons out and defense positions taken. Eventually, the song ended on a haunting note, and Caelena lifted a hand to get everyone to halt.
Hundreds of women faced a dozen soldiers.
There was one who stepped forward, lowering his sword just a touch, as his eyes studied our group. Recognition flared.
“Is Carmen with you?” the soldier asked.
My face fell, watching his eyes continuously scan our mob over and over again. His body was braced for battle, but his mind was elsewhere.
Caelena and Audrey stayed silent.
“What about my son?” he asked, cautiously stepping forward once more. “Is he with her? Are they safe?”
Caelena stared at him hard, and I wondered how exactly she was sifting through his mind. Weighing the pros and cons of being honest with him, while also understanding that as long as Ilia lives, secrets must be kept.
“We are here to speak to the king,” Caelena answered instead.
The soldier’s brows furrowed as he focused in on Sergei, “…Are you a traitor?” he asked.
Sergei didn’t need a moment to think about his response.
“I am loyal to the people of Lyndoruun. Ilia is not.”
Another soldier guarding the gate, standing near the back of the defense, cursed and raised his sword higher.
“You’ve stolen our females,” he spat.
“We are not possessions to be taken,” a familiar woman’s voice—Martha, her name was—called out from behind me. “Or livestock to be rid of.”
I smirked at her words.
All of the soldiers stiffened, glaring behind their masks, looking more alert as they studied the group in front of them. All except the one who asked about his partner. His child. He started to lower his sword just as his companions started to tighten their grip.
“Let us through.” Audrey nodded toward the guards. “Or we will go through you.”
“We are loyal to the king!” a different soldier near the front yelled. “Take another step, and you will be charged with treason!”
Without a word, the soldier who inquired about his family swung his sword, swiftly removing the arm of his neighbor.
“Shit,” Audrey muttered.
Everything happened so fast after that.
Roots and vines erupted from the earth, startling the soldiers, who began to charge us.
Audrey’s red hair lifted with static as her eyes and fingertips illuminated that magical glow.
The soldier who inquired about his mate shoved his companions into the snarling roots, allowing Audrey to detain all of them immediately.
They cursed and shouted and gargled, gasping at the foliage that bound their bodies and necks, elevating them off the ground so their boots couldn’t find stability.
Some were cursing at us; others were just desperate to save their own breath.
The only soldier not bound by Audrey’s command was the first soldier.
Audrey clenched her hand and instructed the roots to move the guards out of our way, making enough room for Caelena to step forward.
The first soldier turned and pulled on the handles of the gate.
“Shit,” he muttered. “It’s locked down.” He pounded his fist against the door and yelled.
“One sec,” Audrey grunted, stepping forward.
Her hold on the detained soldiers was still intact.
She was grinding her teeth together, and part of me wondered what kind of brain power Audrey was experiencing to control eleven different roots to hold off eleven different, powerful sirens.
It wasn’t until I followed her forward that I realized the roots also covered their mouths, keeping them from the ability to use their sinndra on Liam and me.
Audrey grunted and stomped her foot forward, digging the heel of her boot in the ground. At the same moment, I watched with awe as roots erupted from the earth again. This time, wrapping around the large steel door.