Page 91 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

Tharan didn’t hesitate. He pulled his mother close, taking in her scent, squeezing her tightly, not wanting to let go.

She pulled him close, whispering in his ear, “All is not as it seems here.”

The hairs on the back of Tharan’s neck stood on end, but he played his part well.

“I love you too, Mother,” he said loud enough for the servant girl to hear.

The two parted ways.

“Marta will show you back to your chambers,” his mother said before slipping into her changing suite.

Tharan followed the servant through the elegant halls of the elven palace, past ancient carvings and beautiful paintings, through halls of sculptures, and vast greenhouses filled with plants Tharan couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams. But the plants recognized him. All bowed in their own way. If the servant girl noticed, she did not say anything. In fact, she did not look back at him at all. None of the staff did.

Pillars of light illuminated their path. Tharan wanted to reach out and touch it, though thought better of it.

“Where is everyone?” Tharan asked when the silence became too much.

“They are either in the dining hall, or they have gone home for the evening,” the girl said. “During the day, it is quite lively, with the king having nearly twenty children.”

“Twenty?” Tharan spat out in surprise. “I thought it was difficult for an original to conceive. How many wives does he have?”

“None,” the servant said matter-of-factly.

“Then how?” He knew the rumors. Sylph and elves used humans to keep their bloodlines going for a millennium. It was their dirty little secret, but he wanted the girl to admit it out loud.

They stopped in front of his chambers, where two members of the Hunt stood guard. “Here are your chambers. A meal will be brought to you shortly. I do hope you have a good night, Your Majesty.” She bowed. “And if you need anything, please ring the bell in your room, and a servant will be right up.” With a click of her heels, she turned and headed down the hallway.

Tharan lay on his bed. His heart ached for Aelia—to hear her laugh and run his fingers through her thick hair. Hoping he could still catch her; he twisted the stone in his ear.

“Tharan?” her perfectly high-pitched voice echoed through the void.

“Hello, my darling.”

She let out a breath.

“Oh, Tharan, there is so much I have to tell you. I royally fucked things up. I tried to contact you earlier, but you didn’t answer, and now I have the siren’s song, but…” she hesitated.

“Well, that’s good.”

“Yes, well, I may have had to cut off the siren queen’s head to get it. It’s a long story. The Undersea queen and Ursula were involved, and she tricked me and left me for dead. So, I had to cut off the queen’s head to escape a hoard of guppy baby sirens, and… DID YOU KNOW SHE IS—ER—WAS, QUEEN CALLIOPE’S SISTER?”

Tharan squeezed his eyes tight. “Shit.”

“Yeah, deep fucking shit.”

“I’m going to have to speak with Hopper about this. Calliope is not a forgiving woman.”

“I didn’t plan on killing her! Ursula tricked me! I swear!”

He rubbed his nose. Aelia and Ursula had a past. What had she said to Aelia to trick her again? His blood boiled, both at the deceit of the mermaid, and Aelia for allowing herself to fall back into her old ways.

“Aelia, what happened?” He tried to hide the anger in his voice.

“I…” she paused. “I needed her to get the song. I knew she would cross me, but I didn’t know how far she would go. I didn’t know she would try tokillme.”

Tharan took a deep breath, trying to keep his temper at bay.

“She is an assassin, Aelia. Killing is her job.”

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