Page 115 of Rise of the Siren Queen
“I won’t marry you.”
The words come out like frostbite, deadly and final. “And you’re delusional if you think you’ll ever wear my crown.”
Then I slam the link shut, cutting him off mid-laugh, but not before it slices through my skull like a serrated edge.
Hewon’twin.
Not again.
I will freeze the ocean before I let him take anything else from me.
Fuming in my study, I replay every step I took in the field like abroken reel, again and again, but aside from the cursed shell, nothing stands out. Nothing explains how he keeps getting so close. The thought alone scrapes against the raw edges of my mind.
A knock breaks the silence, too soft to startle me, but it does. My nerves are thin and frayed, like salt-soaked threads.
“Come in.”
Sienna enters first, with Kieran at her side. I hadn’t even registered their return from Erythion. My sense of time has been bleeding.
“Tell me we have permission to punish him by our means.”
No greetings. No false courtesy. I don’t have the patience for games today.
They exchange a glance, subtle but telling. I don’t miss it, but I’m too coiled to dwell on whatever quiet conversation passed between them.
“Yes, he did,” Sienna says. But her words hang unfinished, like a thread fraying at the edge of a blade.
“What is it?” My voice is a cold cut.
It’s Kieran who answers, rubbing the tension from his temples like it might actually go away. “He wants something in return.”
Of course he does. No one in that court moves unless their pockets or egos are lined.
“He knows about your visit to Nyssaion,” he continues. “Wants to know if you found anything about his daughter.”
That bastard. I swallow my outrage.
“Fine. I’ll send a letter. A report. Whatever he wants.” I’ve lied to worse men in council chambers. Wrapped truths in silk and poison before. I’ll do it again.
But Sienna doesn’t move.
She holds up a shimmering cream-colored shell, spiraled and glinting in the low warm light. “He wants it recorded. And sealed with a truth oath.”
My blood runs cold.
That shell is enchanted. It binds the speaker to truth by elemental law.
My pulse hammers in my ears. My vision tunnels. I promised Lena,I swore,but I’ve waited too long to make this right. To makehimpay. That promise has cost me enough already.
So I choose duty. I choose revenge. I choosevengeanceover forgiveness because I don’t deserve the latter.
Half-truths. That’s all I need. Accurate words, strategically chosen. It’s not the complete story, but it will beenough.
“Fine,” I say, my tone lifeless. Burned out. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Are you sure, Iryen?” Sienna’s voice is soft, but laced with unease.
I straighten my spine like armor snapping into place. “Yes.”
