Page 73 of Of Song and Darkness

“If he touches a single hair on your head, I will rip him in half whether it’s your fight or not,” Kai growled in my ear, sending goosebumps across my flesh.

“He won’t get the chance,” I promised as I turned to face Orm. “I had a good teacher.”

“You have to be joking,” Orm scoffed. “The princess against the captain of the guard?” Orm stalked closer. “I will slaughter you before you take your next breath.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. She has faced greater monsters than you.” Kai’s whiskers brushed against my cheek as he leaned over my shoulder. “No mercy. You end him this time.”

“With pleasure.”

I turned to my father, who was holding the crowd at bay with the might of his trident. “Orm betrayed you, Father. He made a deal with the sea witch to be her servant in exchange for protecting him from Dark Water.”

“I am not completely clueless, Rhea. Why do you think I am allowing this battle?” My father smiled, handing me his trident.

I reached for it, my hand brushing against the cool metal. “You want me to use your trident?”

“You are my daughter,” my father answered with pride beaming in his eyes.

Orm rushed toward me like the coward he was, taking me by surprise. He raised his trident high, preparing to sink it deep into my skull. I glimpsed Kai out of the corner of my eye as he readied to end Orm, but I raised my father’s trident, blocking his blow.

Orm’s trident was so close to my face that the tip brushed against my cheek, drawing blood. I ignored the sting as I shoved against his suppressing weight. Orm’s face blanched to the same color as his pale hair, and his eyes simmered with anger as he realized his adversary was more predator than prey.

Orm attacked again and again, but each time I was ready for him. Kai’s words rang in my ears about studying my opponent, and this particular rival had a telltale sign of arrogantly curling his upper lip before he struck. Orm was quickly losing patience as I evaded each blow, and his anger engulfed him.

“I will not be made a fool of by a mere princess,” Orm declared.

The smile that curved my lips was more deadly than sweet. “Haven’t you heard? I’m not a princess. I am a sea demon.”

Orm's tail muscles tensed, a coiled spring of fury, as if the very currents themselves trembled in anticipation of his attack. The water around us seemed to hum with the impending strike.

But I was ready.

As Orm surged forward, his movements swift and lethal, I danced with the fluid grace of a seasoned warrior. With a deft twist, I parried his blow, narrowly evading what could have been a fatal strike. In that split second of vulnerability, I seized the opportunity presented to me.

With a surge of determination, I struck first.

The look in Orm's eyes betrayed his surprise as my weapon found its mark. His pupils dilated, mirroring the shock that rippled through his body as I drove the three prongs of my father’s trident deep into his abdomen. The water around us momentarily stilled, as if even the currents themselves paused to witness the outcome of our clash.

Gasps resounded in the water from the sirens, and my body began to tremble.

Orm sputtered as the water turned murky, tainted with his crimson blood. A tiny thread of guilt wove its way through my conscience as his body stiffened and sank to the ocean floor. I had never killed another siren, and even though Orm deserved it for everything he had done, I still felt guilty.

“Remove this bilge from my sight,” my father called to the guards, who quickly rushed forward to dispose of the body. He smiled as I handed the trident back to him. “You have impressed me today with your strength.”

I looked at Kai whose face seemed to beam with pride. “We should go.”

Meleea rushed to me, enveloping me in a tight hug. "I'm going to miss you, but at least now I can be queen."

"Aquarius will be much better off with you as queen." I smiled, gently pulling away.

"Yes, with me as the queen and you as their protector, along with that gorgeous being." She winked, nodding toward Kai, and I laughed at her remark.

My heart dipped as my mother approached and crushed me to her chest, holding me like she never intended to let me go.

My father pulled her away, hugging my sobbing mother to his chest. “Just because she is banished doesn’t mean we’ll never see her again.” His words held a promise that had a smile blossoming across my face.

Kai pulled me to his side, wrapping his arm protectively around my waist.

“I love you all,” I exclaimed before Kai shot through the water, pulling us back to the surface—and to our destiny.

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