Chapter Nine #5
My feet moved on their own power, bringing me closer to her.
Brilliant, iridescent scales caught the orblight and reflected it into a million billion rainbows dancing through the water.
Dark ebony hair like silk ribbons swayed with the water, forming a halo around the loveliest face I’d ever seen.
Far more lovely than the one I saw in the mirror.
Shimmering, aquamarine eyes beheld me—twisting me in their pools. Dusky, desert-sand skin was smooth and unbroken—never knowing a scar, pimple, or blemish. Full, pouty lips twisted with her pert, wrinkled nose, and she looked at me like I was the source of her displeasure—or her salvation.
Emiana wasn’t the beauty of the east. This creature was. She was the beauty of this land and every other.
“But she—she’s a—a—”
“Mermaid.” Alisdair stepped out of the darkness. “Otherwise known as...”
My gaze trailed her long, dazzling fish tail.
“A siren.”
“What is she doing here?” I whispered, drawing closer. Her eyes... Such beautiful eyes...
“At the present, she’s attempting to kill you.”
The dry reply only just began to penetrate when that beautiful face morphed.
Hard, ridged, scaly lines erupted on her nose and forehead, appearing as fast as the second, jagged row of teeth that descended from her jaw.
A fierce, watery screech turned to bubbles in the water as she came straight for me—teeth heading for my throat.
Screaming, I lurched back and she struck the glass head-on—turning purple in her foiled rage.
“Careful, Princess.” A firm grip on my elbow guided me back. “Just because her voice doesn’t work on women, doesn’t mean she’s any less lethal to them. Too long staring into her eyes and it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”
“I—I don’t understand,” I cried. “A mermaid? A real mermaid? How can she be here? Mermaids went extinct centuries ago. Long before dragons did. She can’t be here!”
“And yet, she is.” Alisdair encircled her—his smile terrible to behold. “I told you, my queen. We found the vanishing island. A land where many an impossible thing exists,” he said. “It took some effort, and a few lives, but our soldiers brought her here—for us.”
“Us?” I repeated. “What are you talking about?”
Alisdair paused, pressing his hand to the glass. “She is all we need to win the war. Once I figure out how to harness her voice and use it at will—without killing myself—we will unleash it on the armies of Elva.
“They say a siren’s song is so beautiful.
So enchanting. Its majesty consumes you.
” He shook his head. “The second it ends, you realize you’ll never again hear anything so wondrous in your life, and that’s not a life worth living.
A single verse of her song, little bird, and the men will turn their swords on themselves—wiping themselves up without a single drop of spilled blood on our side.
My queen,” he breathed. “Our victory is assured.”
My eyes bugged, horror leadening my bones. “Stop saying our! That’s horrible, Alisdair. Worse than horrible! How can you even think such a thing!”
He turned a cool gaze on me. “How can I think to end the war quickly without sacrificing our people? What a ridiculous question. I could think of nothing else.” I blinked and he was in front of me—towering over me. “This is mercy, little bird. It’s what you once wanted of me.”
“This isn’t mercy, it’s insanity!” I shoved him back. He didn’t move an inch. “You can’t wipe out every man in Elva! Do you have any idea what that’ll do to the kingdoms?”
“Yes,” he said, smirking. “They’ll become matriarchies once again.”
“You—” I choked. “Wait, what?”
“Every vile person that fights to keep your women stunted and oppressed will find themselves on the other side of the veil, facing Meya’s judgment.
Once they are, the kingdoms can start over.
The forced magic bindings will stop, and the young, adolescent boys will be raised properly—without their fathers’ hatred and prejudices teaching them to look down on their own mothers and sisters.
“Elva will be cleansed, my queen, and yes”—he inclined his head—“there will be grief and tears and wailing, but you and I will lead our people out of the dark into the new age. All of Elva will be like Lumenfell,” he said, throwing out his arms. “Harsh, cold, brutal... but equal and free.”
I stared at him amid the shouts and barked orders from Foalan and the soldiers. “A return to the matriarchies,” I said slowly. “That is something you want?”
“Why would it not be? I was born in the old age, Princess. In the times of peace and equality. I can assure you,” he said, “it was a much better age than this one.”
“But, Alisdair—”
“You said you wanted the bindings, the oppression, and the wasting sickness to end.”
My throat tightened thinking of Mama slowly starving to death in a small, desolate room.
“That doesn’t happen without war. Without sacrifice,” he hissed. “So now is the moment you decide.”
I snapped up, eyes wide.
“Will you fight for your freedom, or die on your knees?”
I didn’t speak for so long, he turned away. “Can you undo the binding spell? Can you free my—?” The curse stole mom off my tongue. “Can you free the women of Elva?”
“I can’t,” he said honestly. “I’ve tried to unbind you every night since you got here.”
I started. I wasn’t expecting that.
“It’s a simple spell, but a powerful one. The magic it’d take to free you would kill me, but this”—he raised his clawed hand—“has no such limitation.”
It took me a second to understand what he meant. “The beast curse?” I whispered. “It undoes the binding spell? That’s why all the women in Lumenfell are free?”
He nodded. “The binding is put on the person you are. But when you change, you become someone else. When that happens, the chains that were once on your soul simply... fall away.”
I looked into his eyes. “Elva would be a better place if the curse consumed the land.”
I said it. I hated myself the moment it fell from my lips, but... I wouldn’t take it back.
“Until, of course,” I continued, “we all turned into mindless beasts—swinging from trees and flinging our feces.”
“One thing at a time,” he breezed. “First we conquer all in our path, then we save it.”
“Meaning only once everything and everyone is under your power, will you finally destroy the heart?” My blunt words went straight to the point. “At least it makes sense now. Why you’ve let this go on for centuries. It’s a ransom, and all of Elva are your hostages.”
“My queen, how many times must I tell you?” A slow, wicked grin twisted his lips. “All of Elva are our hostages.”
My fist balled, aching to punch that smile in. I hated what it revealed in myself. I hated even more that I couldn’t voice the denials screaming in my head.
“Unless, of course,” Alisdair continued, stepping back. “You’ve decided to die on your knees.” He gestured to the siren. “If that’s the case, say the word, and our only hope of complete victory will be returned to the swamp we fished her out of.”
“Send her back,” I said without a second’s hesitation. “I want Elva to return to the days of equality and freedom, but not this way. What you mean to do is slaughter, not mercy.”
“Hmm. No.”
“What?” Disbelief colored my tone. “You just told me to say the word.”
He shrugged. “Because I assumed you would choose correctly. You’re still not ready to do what needs to be done.
That’s fine. When the change has taken you and all that simpering civility is smothered by the true beast within—you’ll see things my way.
Even more, you’ll know what it is to be free again, and you’ll be willing to give that gift to all the people—no matter what it takes. ”
“Oh, save your manipulative speeches!” I spat. “You’re not doing this to free Elva. You’re doing it to get revenge against my father!”
His grin went nowhere. “Why can’t it be both?”
“No,” I ground out. “You’re not torturing that creature in the name of wiping out half the population of Elva.
I do want to fight for the end of the bindings and the freedom of the women of Elva, even if it means going to war, but you said this is our fight.
If you mean it, you’ll stop making decisions without me.
“We rule together. We fight together. We decide together. Equals. Anything less and you’re no different than the shitty, evil bastards who held me down when I was ten years of age, and ripped my magic away from me while I screamed.”
His smile melted away. Slowly, he ate the distance between us. “If you’re saying this—if you mean this, you’re telling me our nightly runs are at an end. You’re forsaking Lyrica and allying yourself with me as my queen. My wife.”
I didn’t look away. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
Alisdair gave me a long look. “Well, then, there’s only one thing to say to that.” Stepping back, he bowed. “As you wish, my queen.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. The mocking in his tone rang loud and clear.
“My wife has spoken,” Alisdair called, rising up. “The mermaid will be kept here—safe, unharmed, and untouched—until we decide the best way to wage and win this war. Together.”
All the words were right, but I didn’t trust a single one of them. “You promise me?”
“I promise,” he replied—light. Easy.
“Will you ink that promise on your skin with runic magic?”
The corners of his mouth quirked down. “I’d say yes, but you can’t read runes, so you still wouldn’t trust me.”
“Very true,” I said, smiling. “That’s why you’re going to teach me to read runes. Add that to our many lessons.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
Once again the urge to punch him overwhelmed. Only Alisdair could mock me while giving me exactly what I want.
I cast one last look at the siren, then flicked away when our gaze connected. “Foalan, will you heed our orders?”
“Yes, my queen.”
Now him, I believe.