Page 76 of Kingdom of the Two Moons

With that, she takes my hands and holds them in hers. “You are a part of this world, as you can see. Magic likes you; it welcomes you. It wants you here, home.” She touches my chest, as if to make a point. The question must be so obvious in my eyes that Nidaw chuckles again. “You have elven blood in you and, now in contact with magic, your fae blood is reacting to it.”

“How do youknowI’m not fully human?” That Riven knows, well… he obviously knew my parents but Nidaw…

Nidaw tilts her head at me. “Did you never notice in the human world that you were different? You also wouldn’t have tasted chocolate in the fruit if you were human,” she says with a glint in her eyes.

It was a test, then.I push the thought away into the line of so many others I don’t want to think about—the fact that a lot of fae here seem to be watching my every step.

Instead, I say, “But my ears.”

“Your ears, your teeth. From a distance, they lookalmostpointed, have you never noticed? And your canines, not as large as elven ones, but not human either.”

I don’t know what to say. What that means for me. What that means for my parents. If this is true, one of my parents must havebeen an elf. The fact that I know so little about any of it hits me hard, but I swallow it down for now. Like I always do.

“And besides,” Nidaw adds knowingly, “you’d have already died if you were human. No human survives exposure to raw magic for long.”

“But why… why am I here?” My voice drops to a whisper. Iwill notallow myself to contemplate what Nidaw has just revealed. Not now, when I need so many more answers.

Nidaw lets go of my hands. “Because there was a prophecy, given by the greatest of the oracles this world has ever seen. By Kalleandara herself.” Her eyes widen with fear and awe as she speaks the oracle’s name.

“What does it say?”

The siren shakes her head to cut me off. “I know that this is why you are here. Fate brought you here.”

“But—”

“No buts. Remember what I said? About chance and choice. Fate is inevitable, but we—the siren folk and the nymphs of the sacred springs of Avandal—we don’t listen much to prophecies, because they’re always cryptic, always vague, and one can only interpret them. But no one, not once in history, has ever been able to predict the future correctly, not even the high oracles, even if they claim they can. It always comes down to choice and chance in the end.”

At that, she puts a hand to my heart. “Listen to it, Melody. I know you have the gift to see a creature’s true character. Use it wisely and be glad for what you are. Half-breeds are so rare, but so special.”

“Why? Why are they special?”

Nidaw just taps my chest again.

With that, she steps back and leaves me behind, more confused than ever.

***

Later, when the same taciturn servants come and wash me and dress me up like the previous night, all I can think of is the evening aheadof me. The closer we get to the celebrations, the more nervous I become.

My skin itches even more than last night when they dry me off, and I have the feeling it’s not just the scrubbing. I try hard not to scratch as they apply some flower-scented oil before they start to paint me gold again. Then Nidaw is back at my hair. This time, she takes some of the upper strands back and braids them into two buns she adorns with silver lacework, the rest of my hair falling loose down my body.

“Stop fidgeting,” she says, as she spins me around to face her. Then she applies some thick, black kohl around my eyes before she dusts my lips with golden powder.

Those golden specks on Caryan’s lips, mirroring the gold in his eyes.

The laughter, the humiliation.

The beautiful, blue-skinned woman on top of Riven. His head tipped back, his sensual lips parted.

I can’t think about it. Won’t.

When I look in the mirror, I’m frightened by my own reflection. The woman in there is a stranger.

“Adorable,” Nidaw says behind me, as if she somehow read my mind, gently combing one last time through my hair.

I look down at my hands, then say quietly, “You all are so beautiful here.”

It’s true. There is no one who is close tonormal-looking, not by human standards. Here, I feel like the ugly duckling compared to the elegant way they move, the way they carry themselves, straight-backed and heads high, with their long necks and sculpted bodies and natural grace.

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