Page 20 of The Dark Sea Calls

Rainn and Tor had been on the way to becoming allies, if not friends.

I didn’t want to think about Shay or Cormac.

I had almost successfully pushed the princelings from my thoughts entirely since coming to the cradle, but the mention of the lake had me wondering if they missedme. Had they thought me dead when they found a bare room and nothing to show for it save from Lady Bloodtide’s knife?

I stared up at a starlight sky over the dark sea. The clouds were so high that they hugged the constellations, leaving ink stains of pink and purple overhead. What I wouldn’t give to fly as the Sirens did. To spread my wings and take to the air, leaving my troubles behind.

My body felt as heavy as it had on the dried river path, and I could not lift my burning arms. I needed to exercise more—in the water and on land—if I ever hoped to survive without magic.

Unless…

Perhaps the Kraken’s eye could helpme.

I shook my head to clear it, feeling the grainy sand in my hair. The glow of the moonlight was blocked by a shadow as Arden’s face came into view. His cheek was covered in blood from a wound that had since healed.

Cannon fire no longer punctured the night. I shielded my eyes to see him better, though I wished I hadn’t when his angry face greeted mine.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“Not a word,” Arden ground out through gritted teeth. “Get up.”

I did as he said, brushing the sand away from my body. Aine and Erin waited in the trees with the other recruits. Moira chewed on her lip, shooting Arden nervous glances. She must have told him what I had done.

I didn’t speak as I stepped toward the group. Keeping my shoulders back and my head held high. When Colm met my eyes, his new golden wings glittering in the moonlight, he nodded once but didn’t say anything. The Fae didn’t do thank you’s. They held the same kind of bondage as bargains and promises.

The Siren Queen’s nest was a world away from the glittering party I had walked into on my first night in Belisama’s Cradle; nevertheless, the sight of the stone cavern, with its domed ceiling and skylight, coupled with its perch adorned with branches and bedding, was just as intimidating as it had always been.

I stepped into the room, very aware of the lack of other Fae. My footsteps echoed against the stone floor until I paused in the middle of the room, standing in the patch of light shining from the skylight.

One moment, I was alone; the next, I was not. A woman stood before me with a crown made of the same branches that cushioned her bed. Her gaze bored into mine as if she were looking at me through a glass lens. Detached. Accessing. There was no buffer between me and the Siren Queen, with her endless eyes and her wings made of night. She moved without sound, at one with the air and darkness.

“Colm said that you faced the Kraken.” The Queen tilted her nose to look down at me, though she was a head shorter than I was. “You didn’t approach, but you got its attention. Would you like to explain?”

“I—”

Though the Siren Queen had asked for an explanation, she quickly interrupted me. “Arden told you to stay on the cliffs. Yet, you, a female that has not reached majority, has not traversed the Dark Sea or met any of the horrors that call it home, felt that you could do something that my flock could not?”

“Colm needed help.” I protested weakly.

The Siren Queen’s eyes narrowed. “I am not arguing that he needed help. I want to know why the Kraken pulled back and allowed Colm Feathermoon to touch the stone at the bottom of the crevice when every other Siren in history has bled for the honor.”

Something stole my voice. A loud booming presence inside my head told me that speaking of my bargain with the Kraken was not wise. I had spoken to and understood the beast, which was a secret I needed to keep.

“Arden had been pulled aboard the ship, and Colm needed a distraction,” I said, meeting her eyes in challenge.

The Siren Queen licked her lips before nodding to herself. “Quite.” She paused before tilting her chin to the doors from which I had entered, “Walk with me?” It wasn’t a suggestion but a command.

I didn’t see a way out of the conversation without drawing suspicion, so I nodded stiffly, and we fell into step with each other. Close enough that our elbows brushed as we walked out of the throne room.

It was hard not to feel claustrophobic as we walked through the cradle. The sandstone paths were windy and thin, with steps that seemed endless. My calf muscles burned with every step, but I didn’t complain—I had the impression that the Siren Queen would have pecked out my eyes if I did.

Finally, we passed another set of heavy doors before reaching an open archway, revealing an impressive hall devoid of any life save for the two rows of Silvers standing sentry. I heard their whispers as we stepped into the room. The possibilities and endless worlds that stood on each mirror's other side.

My eyes caught on a silver with a black sea glass frame. The smooth cloudy glass, with hundreds of pieces connected, tied with what looked like midnight black reeds. I tried to think where I had seen such an unfamiliar plant before. I was sure I had seen it, but my mind refused to provide the answer, no matter how much it clung to my tongue.

“The Hall of Silvers,” The Siren Queen said grandiosely. “No doubt you have seen something similar in Cruinn Castle. Caoimhe made my collection look paltry by comparison.”

I wanted to ask the Siren Queen how she knew my mother, but that would reveal my hand. I had no idea what sort of familial concoction she believed me to be, but I needed to know she wouldn’t sell me back to King Irvine.

---