Chapter 19
My stomach sank.
The sirens all buzzed with whispers.
The nearest twin whipped her head toward me.
“Are you joining Hylos in the war against King Eadric Blackthorn?”
Against my father.
“Is that why you’re here? As an ally?” the other said.
My heart lodged in my throat.
Hylos looked nearly as shocked as me as he eyed Calypstra. But her charcoal-lined stare didn’t meet his. No. Instead, she watched my every breath.
“Yes,” Hylos said loudly, reining in the room, “to Elowyn Blackthorn, our most honored guest here in Naiadon. We thank her for her visit. Let us all raise a glass, again, to Nymphaea and thank her for all she brings to our table, including those beyond the sea. Praise be to Nymphaea!”
The guests raised their glasses again, eyeing one another with confusion, but still echoing the words, less enthusiastically than before.
“Praise be to Nymphaea.”
The room was spinning.
Hylos drank deeply and sent a mere glance to the choir, urging it back to life, their song filling the room again with beauty. But my heart only raced with the speeding tempo.
Everyone in the banquet hall had one thing in common. Besides being violent, powerful creatures.
Oakhaven was their enemy.
Hylos had called them to Naiadon this evening to discuss war against the king and his country, and now they knew who I truly was. His daughter.
Why was the music so loud? The swirling siren lights’ spinning made me dizzy. The captain was right; I had grown too content. Complacent. Relaxed. I should have been more careful. More calculated. And now they all knew my true identity. How long had Hylos known?
Raylik’s chair skittered back loudly as he abruptly rose from his seat. The sound sent me lurching. My nerves were wound tight.
Muscles strained and fists clenched, he marched toward Hylos.
Nixie nodded to him once, as if she understood his destination. Then looked at me. I avoided her soft, rose-colored gaze.
“Move over,” Nixie demanded to the twins.
Each scowled in her direction.
“We do not take orders from made sirens,” one snapped.
“Our cousin’s mate or not,” the other added.
“I said, move over.”
Orange eyes rolling, they relented.
“Spoiled girls,” Nixie hissed as she sat in the chair beside me.
Lumina’s eyes were on me now too. “We can leave after this course,” she said gently.
Nixie added, “Absolutely, we can leave as soon as the excitement calms down and—”
“No.” I cut her off.
Calypstra had established the stakes, and now I needed to adjust. I mastered my looks and steadied my breath.
I raised my eyes to meet Calypstra’s. She still had that stupid grin on her face.
Coolly, I took a drink from my chalice and raised my chin.
They will not see us falter. Vega’s words, which she had offered me when I was walking to my doom, echoed in my mind.
I would not forget them now as I drowned in despair.
“I am fine.” There was no going back now. “And refer to me as Lady Elowyn. That is the appropriate title.” I ate a bite of my meal despite being sick to my stomach. Nixie quirked her head in question as she looked to Lumina.
“Not Princess Elowyn?” Lumina asked.
“No. Just Lady.”
After all three courses, the plates vanished and the room’s lively chatter faded into a murmur. Although I didn’t hear the conversations, my father’s name likely still lingered on the lips of every bloody siren in attendance that evening. Heavy on the tongues of his unknown enemy surrounding me.
Hylos rose to his feet and addressed the guests. “Let us all walk through into the symposion.”
The party rose from their chairs, chalices in hand, and flowed through the archway that connected the rooms.
Hylos stood at the exit and smiled warmly at each departing guest while Calypstra slunk to his side like a shadow and Hylos’s friends encircled me.
“Are you okay?” Morvyn asked, his marbled features softening in concern.
I shot him a piercing look. “Do you care how I feel?” I glanced around at the circle, each of them sent by Hylos to watch my every move.
To keep me prisoner. To keep Arlo’s men prisoner.
Each of them readying to go to war against my father.
“You’re ordered to spy on me, not care about me. Drop the charade. All of you.”
Morvyn shrank as hurt settled in his pale eyes.
“Calypstra should not have done that,” Raylik said in his low timbre, standing behind Nixie, who looked on in silence. A look of worry and maybe anger. But was that false too? What was true here?
Hylos said he would allow me time to share my identity, but that had clearly been a lie. I was a fool for letting them dress me up and parade me about. This was clearly a trap I fell straight into, just as I had in my father’s court before.
Lumina watched me, her lip twitching downward.
Did she regret telling me her story? Regret sharing her past maltreatment on my father’s own soil with the daughter of her leader’s greatest enemy?
But was it even a true story at all? If my father’s castle was a place of illusions and lies, as Cedric had said, then this place must be a nexus of deception.
Hylos stalked to us, smile rapidly fading. “Morvyn and Lumina, ensure the guests are comfortable. This evening needs to go perfectly. There can be no more errors—”
“Did you approve that ridiculous display?” Lumina snapped. She hadn’t spared Hylos a glance, let alone a word, in the time I’d observed them together until now.
Hylos’s face flashed with surprise at this too.
“Shouldn’t you watch your tone when speaking to your king?” Calypstra said, still behind Hylos.
My hand ached to slap her.
“Leave us,” Raylik ground out in her direction, like he was waiting to descend on her at any moment.
But Calypstra remained unfazed, all smiles despite his growl.
“Is that your wish, Hylos?” she purred.
“Yes. I’ll meet you in my bedchamber after the symposion,” Hylos replied curtly, not sparing her a glance.
“Of course, my king.” She slipped between Lumina and Hylos. Lumina watched, unable to look away from the lingering kiss Calypstra left on his cheek, even though it looked like a knife plunged into her gut.
Then Calypstra, ass on full display under the sheer black dress, sauntered away.
“King. Should we all call you King now? Have you given up on your father too?” Lumina said sharply, boldly.
Everyone tensed.
“You know I prefer to be called King Regent, Lumi,” Hylos said, his tone softening.
She winced at the nickname, like that was the worst thing he had ever said to her, but she shook it off.
“Do you understand the danger this puts Elowyn in? You wish to go to war with her father, yet declare her identity to all here. Nymphaea sends those to the ocean to be saved, Hylos. You have failed the Holy Mother and Elowyn with these actions.”
My stomach sank. She was right; I was in danger, more so now than before. Caught wounded, bleeding in the center of swarming sharks.
Lumina’s warm eyes locked with Hylos’s ocean stare until he could no longer hold her gaze, his eyes retreating instead to the banquet table littered with half-drunk wine glasses.
“Yes, I understand.” he responded softly, passing a nervous hand through his blue hair.
“And will Calypstra face any punishment for putting Elowyn in danger? Or did you direct her to do so?”
“I would never have done that,” he said, hurt, as if he could not believe Lumina would think such a thought. But he hadn’t answered Lumina’s other question.
“She will face no consequences then,” Lumina said, shaking her head, “because bedding some immoral bitch is more important than honor. Once again.” She brushed past Hylos to the connecting room to carry out his orders.
Morvyn’s eyes went wide as he trilled a whistle. “Oh shit.”
“Shut up, Morvyn,” Hylos said, stepping forward, only a flutter in his jaw showing how much Lumina’s words had hit their mark. “You go too. Help her,” Hylos repeated.
Morvyn looked between myself and Hylos like he had more to say to me.
“Now,” Hylos growled, his demand final.
Morvyn complied and followed in Lumina’s wake.
“Nixie, you and Raylik will escort Elowyn to her chambers. Raylik, remain outside her door for safety and—”
“No,” I said.
His eyes flared, blue lashes fluttering. “This is not up for debate.”
“You invited me this evening. Why?”
“We are not having this discussion right now—”
“Why, Hylos?” I repeated.
“To have you hear of the situation in Oakhaven. I was hoping you would—” He looked down to the marble floor, searching for the right phrasing.
“Hoping I would join you,” I said. If he couldn’t put it plainly, I would. “The daughter of your enemy would be a phenomenal pawn in your war. Is that right?”
“Not a pawn. I would only want your help if you agreed.”
“Is this how you form alliances then? Start with entrapment, hold them against their will, then reveal their identity in front of a crowd of their enemies, hoping to twist their arms to bend to your will?” I challenged, meeting his gaze.
“I did not order Calypstra to do that, and we are not your enemy,” he insisted, disbelief coloring his tone.
“You plan to attack my country. You are my father’s enemy.
” The words settled in the air, red-hot and charged.
The only way I would be safe in a situation like this on land would be to bow and swear fealty to the leader that held me hostage.
That was what I should have done. I clenched my teeth.
My vain, prideful heart pounded at the thought. “But I will join your symposion.”
“Elowyn, now that they know who you are, it will be harder to protect you,” Nixie said, her mauve eyes softening as she looked up at me.
“You just said they are not my enemy.” I laughed bitterly, ignoring Nixie’s plea. “Which is it, Hylos?”
“Sirens are unpredictable. Brutal. Especially those not from Naiadon. Here, we are more accepting of humans, but the deeper sea sirens are not,” Hylos added.
“You have invited me this evening, knowing damn well who I was all along, and now I wish to hear what you have to say. Just like every other royal guest here.”
Even if I was about as royal as a blade of grass, gaining more knowledge was imperative. My plans for escape would need to be expedited, and the more I knew of the sirens, their plans, and their minds, the easier it would be for my father to stop them. If I could even get out of here alive.
“Fine.” Hylos relented. “Raylik, do not let her out of your sight.” He looked back to me. “I assume you have experience meeting with the elite?”
“Of course,” I scoffed. A lie.
“Good. Keep your wits about you and stay with Raylik. He will ensure your safety,” Hylos advised, searching my eyes for any sign of hesitation. But there was nothing more to say.