Page 149 of Between Fear and Favor
Though I’d grown more confident in myself, I didn’t think I could handle waiting for that moment. For now, with Mairin and Foxglove injured nearby and many of the seaborn desperate to leave, I could find the courage. If I hesitated, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
Estri’s hands slid up my dress, and I knew she would find the comb soon if I didn’t move it. Tugging at my clothing, I unwrapped it from my body and made myself nude before her. Within the wadded up fabric, growing heavy in my hand, Rhia’s comb remained hidden.
The Sea Queen’s mouth moved higher, trailing kisses up my breast bone as her fingers caressed my sides. I bit the inside of my cheeks as hard as I could, hiding my distaste, and I heard Mairin whimper. I couldn’t think of her watching this. I couldn’t think of what might happen to her if I failed.
And as the image of Mairin’s dead body heaped atop mine filled my head, I was pushed into action. I unraveled the comb from my dress with one hand as I ran the other through Estri’s hair. Leaning forward, I shifted my weight as if I were trying to lie down on top of her. Circling my arm around her neck, I bent low, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“How sweet,” she said. “I hope you are far less gentle when you kiss me elsewhere.”
My stomach twisted tighter as she pulled me down to her. Keeping the tortoiseshell comb in my free hand, I hid it behind my back. My hair floated into my eyes, the curls looking black as night with my newly monochromatic vision. I felt detached from my body, from my mind, as she settled me against her. Holding me within the cradle of her thighs, she wrapped her legs around me. Adjusting, I shifted my weight to press down harder.
Bracing myself on one elbow, I inhaled and closed my eyes. For a brief moment, memories ran rampant through my thoughts. My brother and Dewalt laughing together, Mairin’s smile, Elora’s frown. I thought of Lucia and Emma and I watching the clouds while laying in the meadow. I was hopeful that I’d be remembered just as fondly if I failed.
Slowly dragging my hand down, acting as if I planned to balance on the other elbow as well, I smiled down at Estri to keep up my ruse.
But her jaw was tight, and her pupils had flared wide. Before I had a chance to react, she gripped my wrist so tightly in her hand I cried out. There was a dull snap as she broke the bone.
“Did you forget the sea whispers to me, my jewel?” she seethed, before flipping me over beneath her. She laughed as I screamed. I dropped the comb and tried to push her off, but the struggle was futile. “It will be one of my daughters who kills me if Rhia’s followers speak true. Why throw yourself on the sword?” she asked.
“You made me,” I grunted, “a princess of the sea.”
Wrenching that broken arm free from her grasp, the pain nearly causing me to black out, I distracted her. She began to shift, using her slowly forming tentacles to pin my arm down. I screamed from the pain once more and gritted my teeth. But in the struggle, I remembered my other weapon.
One of her tentacles slithered over my mouth as I screamed, but I bit as hard as I could, all while reaching for Rhia’s tiara. The glow of the moonpearls cast Estri into a horrifying nightmare as her cheeks hollowed out and her face elongated. Her mouth was gaping, growing larger as if she intended to swallow me whole.
Nearly dropping it, I was able to grasp the headpiece in my hand. The reaching shards of coral were not nearly as sharp as the tines on Rhia’s comb, but it grew warm and heavy in my hand and I knew it was my only hope. Before she could turn into the enormous creature which could kill me without thought, I had to end her. Her skin had already begun to take on the same leathery appearance as that enormous beast which had easily killed Hyše, and I feared it was too late.
Using all the force I had in my good arm, I shoved the tiara up and into her throat. For a moment, she didn’t react as the coral pierced her skin. The twisting peaks were jagged and rough, and I pushed hard enough that a few embedded themselves into her skin. Her eyes widened and those razor-edged teeth snapped at me as shimmering blood spilled out of her neck and clouded the water between us. Through a sparkling haze, I watched as the goddess took her last breaths.
“What have you done?” she breathed, words garbling as her eyes dulled. “How?”
“Lavenia!” Mairin shrieked as Estri collapsed on top of me. Her body shrank, returning to her more human form, and blood continued leaking out of her. Without meaning to, I breathed it in, swallowed it, bathed in it, and my body began to ache all over again.
If I had thought the fire of Estri turning me into a seaborn was horrific, the pain I experienced as her gleaming blood coated and invaded me was divine torture. I couldn’t push the Sea Queen off before blackness overtook me, and I was swept away.
Chapter 67
ELORA
“Where are they going?Why aren’t they coming back here?” I asked, frowning at my grandmother.
“Perhaps you should send the boy into their dreams tonight and ask them yourself. I’m sure if it was safe to tell us why and where, they would have done so,” Shivani said, hurrying down the hall in front of me. Various members of the court flattened themselves against the stone walls, eager to get out of her way. I’d never seen so many people in the palace before. One man carried a large wooden box, and I tried to figure out what he was carrying as he struggled to heft it out of Shivani’s way.
As we got closer, I realized it was full of silverware. I couldn’t stop the wrinkle of my nose when I understood why. They’d been hiding within the palace while the city was under siege, and they’d brought their valuables with them.
I didn’t much like the capital, aside from Reminy’s beautiful bookstore, but I’d been eager to get back. After arriving earlier in the day and being immediately set upon by soldiers because Shika landedonthe palace, I realized it wasn’t the capital I missed at all. It was Mama.
I missed Rainier—my otya—as well, but it was different.
In all of my life, I’d never gone so many days without seeing Mama. Though I was still cross with her in some ways, much of that had settled. I was ready to see her again.
“Well, how are we to get—” I paused, not sure how much I should say aloud. “The important things we brought with us need to be delivered,” I said, proud of how I’d side-stepped revealing too much information to anyone who would overhear us. I’d stuffed an entire bag full of winterfrost roses from the garden we’d found, with the intent to give it to Mama.
“Elora, I just told you. Though I loathe the very idea of you sharing a look with that boy, let alone a word, ask that wretched Folterran to help you.”
My grandmother gathered her skirts, ascending a tall, spiral staircase with great haste. I bit my tongue, wanting to defend Cyran.
But Cyran had kissed me and hadn’t spoken about it since. He’d turned quiet and introspective, though he hadn’t lost his wit. But he acted as if we hadn’t shared a moment from my actual dreams.
