Chapter Fifteen
The chamber was nothing like the throne room. It was smaller, warmer, steam curling from a sunken tub set into the floor, the water already prepared with a floral scent.
A servant waited beside the tub. Older, with kind eyes and human ears, and her hair was a soft brown rather than silver.
“I’ll help you undress,” she said, her voice gentle and sweet.
She reminded me of Nam and my heart squeezed.
“I can do it myself.” I peeled off the soft pants and shirt. Would my new ones feel the same or would they have the rough scratchy texture like the clothes from Russo?
I had no shame being naked in front of people. Back in Jeju, we took baths in the low stream inside the cavern together. I dipped my toes into the water. Hotter than I expected, but bearable.
I sank in, closing my eyes, enjoying the warmth. She poured water over my hair, careful not to get it in my eyes. She seemed so kind, perhaps she would answer my questions.
“What do you know about the Seaborn?”
The servant’s hands stilled for a moment. “You don’t know?”
“Nobody’s told me.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I knew very little of our world since I’d been a prisoner prying oysters all my life, but I shut my thoughts down instead.
“You don’t need to be told, girl.” She worked a comb through my wet hair, before she spoke again. “There used to be a whole race of you. They lived in Jeju. They breathe underwater, stay down as long as they liked. And healed almost any wound too.”
Her statement confirmed why Jina, Minha, and I had stayed underwater without drowning when Mac pushed us into the sea.
Her voice went softer. “They even had a kingdom at the bottom of the sea. Your people dove for oysters to trade with the other kingdoms.”
Healed? If she’s truly Seaborn, she’ll survive. So that was what the queen meant. The reason why she cut me and Jina.
“They spoke to the creatures—whales, dolphins, even the oclego.”
“Oclego?” I didn’t mean to raise my voice.
“Yes.” She worked quickly, efficiently, scrubbing my back and arms. “On land the Seaborn looked like anyone else. But in the water, they had tails, like fish, strong enough to outswim even ships.”
I didn’t grow a tail. Perhaps that part was fabricated.
“What happened to them?”
The scrubbing paused. “A race that could live in the sea and on land, who could heal from wounds, who the ocean creatures obeyed… the other kingdoms decided that was too much power for anyone to hold. So they ended your kind.”
“Ended?” I swallowed.
I knew what the word meant. I just had to know for sure.
She nodded. “Across all seven seas, they gathered all the Seaborn in the span of one season. They called it cleansing the waters.”
The room had gone cold, not from the temperature.
“All of them?” I whispered.
How could people do such horrible things?
“Almost. You’re here.” She tapped my shoulders gingerly as if to say, I’m glad you’re alive. “The Seaborn didn’t go down easily without a fight. They have an innate gift for battle. Fast reflexes, perfect aim, but even that wasn’t enough to defeat the conquerors.”
That’s how I knew how to fight Russo and Barron. The reason Theron never asked where I’d learned to fight like a warrior, because he already knew.
“That’s what the histories say, anyway.” She worked soap through my hair with gentle fingers. “But histories are written by the kingdoms that did the killing. I’m certain many details are missing.”
“Well, at least they didn’t leave their wrongdoing part out.” Unless they were covering up something else.
“They made sure every kingdom knew they could be next without pointing fingers at any specific king or queen.”
“Do your people believe in gods?”
She wrung out the ends of my hair. “I don’t know what that word refers to. I’ve heard about it through whispers. The only one we pray to is our Seelie queen… well, forced to is the better word.”
The Seelie queen wasn’t a goddess. That told me how much power she’d bestowed on her people. But my instincts told me she withheld some parts, just in case I repeated anything that would get back to the queen.
I leaned closer to her and whispered, “What happens when she dies?”
“She doesn’t. She’s immortal.”
I stared at the ceiling, unable to fathom people in Caelum prayed to a monster who never died.
“Everything has an end,” I said. “Even a god.”
“I hope you’re right.” She caressed my arm. “Time to get dressed.”
The air hit my skin, cooler than I expected after the heat of the water when I rose. She helped me out of the tub and wrapped a cloth around my shoulders before leading me to a table where the battle suit lay.
My old pants lay discarded on the floor. Before Nira could take them away, I slid my hand into the pocket and closed my fingers around Minha’s dagger and the pearls.
Nira’s eyes flicked to my hand, then away. Since she didn’t ask about the dagger, either she hadn’t seen what I’d taken, or she’d decided not to speak a word of it.
The material was nothing like what the soldiers wore. No plates, no buckles, no heavy metal. Just dark and weightless, that shifted and formed as I pulled it on, molding to my body like it had been made for me alone.
“How is your queen immortal?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She fastened the buttons up my back.
“Surely someone does.”
Her hands stilled briefly. “If they do, they haven’t told anyone. And if they did, it would be wise not to speak of it.”
I tried a different angle. “Theron has a chamber here?”
“He does.” She knelt to tie the sash at my waist, cinching it tight.
“What do you know about him?”
“You shouldn’t be asking these questions.”
“I’m asking anyway.”
She stepped back. “I’ve told you what I know. The rest isn’t mine to give.” She pointed to a chair. “Now, sit.”
I did as told, and she ran a comb through my hair.
“The queen said I wouldn’t be fighting alone. Do you know what she meant?”
She took a strand of my hair and folded one section over another. “There will be others like you in the arena.”
I spun to face her. “You mean other Seaborn?”
“Perhaps. I don’t know, girl.” She turned my head back forward and continued to twist my hair.
“Do you know anything about the boarox?”
She took another section before she answered. “Some say they have poor eyesight. That bright colors blind them, like orange, red, pink. And they can be lured with bait.” She paused, fingers working through another section. “Their tusks are razor sharp. They don’t like fire. And they can’t climb.”
“How do you know this?” I cringed when she pulled too tight.
“People talk. Especially the ones who’ve lost someone to that arena.” She smoothed the braid and reached for the next strand.
“Why does everyone listen to the queen when they know what she’s asking isn’t right?”
She came around to face me, hands dropping to her sides. “She has us all under her control. If you don’t do what she commands, you don’t pay for it, the ones you love do. You don’t live here, girl. You do not get to judge.”
My shoulders lowered. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a prisoner in Jeju in a cave my entire life. I’m learning manners, other cultures, and finding my footing in this world.”
I’d told her too much. But she reminded me of Nam with a trusting face, and I’d let my guard down.
She crouched, and I’d thought she was going to scold me, but instead her voice softened and pity etched into her expression. “You’re a Seaborn. Rare and precious.”
Not a question but a statement.
I pursed my lips and nodded.
She patted my hands on my lap and went back to doing my hair. “If you ever get a chance to escape, take it. Or you’ll never see the ocean again.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I just lowered my head. Every part of me wanted to break down, but I wouldn’t let that happen. Nam and the rest of my family had to be waiting for me. And Jina, she needed me to be strong.
“What’s your name?” I wanted to remember this kind woman.
“Nira.” She smiled somberly.
“Your family lives in this castle too?”
“My husband passed away, and my daughter…” She swallowed, her eyes glistening. “Prince Pierre took her and I never saw her again.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Never mind me.” Her voice lightened. “You’re finished. Take a look.”
I turned to face the mirror. The suit fit like a second skin, flexible with every movement. I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror. I had only seen a section of my features from the reflection of the water, but never all my face.
My dark hair fell past my shoulders, still damp at the ends. My frame was taller than I’d realized, but thin in a way that spoke of years of not enough nourishment.
My face was paler than Nira’s, the kind of pale that came from a life lived underground. Sharp cheekbones. Hazel eyes looked back at me—a mesmerizing, multi-tonal blend of brown, green, and gold that shifted depending on how I turned toward the light.
I didn’t know what I’d expected. But not this.
I had no battle skills. No experience. Killing Russo was luck. Theron had stepped in with Barron. And now I was supposed to walk into an arena and face a monstrous creature.
“You look beautiful. What’s your name?” She searched my face, waiting.
I was beginning to unravel who I was. I now understood what everyone meant by Seaborn.
Let the queen do as she will. I swore on my life I would get back to the sea.
Nothing was going to stop me. I had a reason to live, a duty I’d promised myself I would fulfill.
That oath would carry me through whatever came next.
“Star,” I said, tucking Minha’s dagger into the sash at my waist and covering the top to keep it hidden.
Stars prevailed in darkness. So would I. I would show them what happens when you cage a being that was born to be free.