Page 10 of Depths
My hand drifted up to my raw cheeks and then checked the arrangement of my hair, which Gita had changed slightly, piling my braids higher on top of my head in a scalloped shell pattern. Then I nodded to the servants, who opened the double doors. In sea kingdom formation, we swam rather than walked through, me in front, Felipe and another guard behind me. The entire room bowed their heads at my entrance, and for a second, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people I’d need to meet and entertain. My eyes sought Sahar, who had come ahead of me. I needed to focus on at least one friendly face.
I spotted her next to a few young men, not far from the glass throne I’d get to sit on for the evening’s festivities. Luckily, someone had seen to my comfort and added a sea sponge to the seat so that I had a cushion. The throne, while beautiful and carved to resemble a perfectly symmetrical scallop shell, was not the most comfortable, as I’d discovered last week during my audience hours.
As the crowd rose out of their bows, I swam forward with a soft, hopefully confident smile. My wings fluttered behind me, pushing water back as though it were light as air. Though I never said it aloud, I still constantly marveled at the magic that made this undersea world feel light and weightless, at the fact that each breath didn’t feel like a heavy swish of water in and out of my lungs.
Making eye contact here and there, I took in the ballroom, a room that looked like a bubble chopped in half. Glowing mother-of-pearl walls rose into a dome. Magical torches flickered along the walls in rows, set in elaborate blue glass sconces shaped like sea fan coral. The blue of the glass and the flickers of orange flame contrasted magically in a way that stole even my breath away.
I could only imagine what the sea men who had come here to compete thought of it. My eyes drifted over the crowd, making brief eye contact with several very attractive men. Heat flared up my neck when one of them, a tall, dark-haired stranger, stared up and down my figure deliberately.Oh my.
I quickly slid my eyes away from that dangerous distraction and focused on the older couples clustered around the room. Many of the competitors had made the journey to the castle with their families, and so, luckily, the ballroom wasn’t filled only with men, otherwise I might have had a heart attack from muscle overdose. Most of the men were shirtless, as was Okeanos’ custom.
I passed a man with arms the size of a tree.He’d snap me in half!It took a lot of effort not to let my eyes widen, and even more not to mentally cross him off the list just because he was gigantic. Perhaps he was part giant, like Ryan, another brother-in-law of mine. Perhaps he was kind like Ryan.
My eyes met Tina’s, the squi-maid I’d transferred this morning, and she bobbed her head respectfully though her eyes darted away from me. She looked lovely in a bright orange skirt with bits of matching coral arranged in her hair. I’d requested, much to the scandalized dismay of Sahar and my castle steward, Brontes, that the maids be given dresses and attend tonight’s ball.
Brontes, a shark shifter whose wrinkled face was nearly as lined as the rotting plank that served as his desk, had argued ferociously against my proposal. “Your Majesty! It’s just not done!”
My argument was that I’d never be able to entertain thirty competitors at once, and they all needed dance partners.
And so, the castle dressmakers had gotten the commission of their lifetime. Of course, Okeanos’ dresses were a bit less work than those made by the seamstresses in Evaness. The sea women mainly went topless, because the mer didn’t have the same human views on modesty. It was something that took a bit of mental adjustment for me, and I had to work hard not to stare, particularly whenever the women swam quickly, their tails pumping back and forth and breasts bouncing. I wanted to face-palm on their behalf. But alas, I was the odd one out underneath the waves. No one else found it the least bit embarrassing, not even the maid when I was blown over by a current two days past and accidentally grabbed her breast. I felt my cheeks heat at the memory, embarrassment coloring them bright pink. I was lucky that she hadn’t been one of the maids here who resented me, the ones who darted dirty looks in my direction when they thought I wasn’t looking.
They thought they were clever, but I was no fool. I knew I was lucky to have a loyal guard and a ruthlessly efficient, undead half-sprite named Posey at my back. Without them, I’d have been a sitting duck, an easy target. I glanced around but didn’t spot Posey, who hadn’t wanted to attend the affair.
“One of those idiots is bound to rip my limbs off! And they’re only hanging on by a thread as it is!” Posey had smoothed back the petals she had in place of hair—as she was part flower sprite—her rotting flesh adding credence to her words. It was no surprise the zombie hadn’t come, but still a bit of a letdown. I enjoyed her company.
I tried to refocus my thoughts toward the women whohadattended. Nearly every maid had accepted my offer—one Queen Gela would have called a bribe. Hopefully, it would endear me to the female population of the staff. Because, as I’d heard a thousand times throughout my childhood, “A castle rises or falls based on the happiness of those within its walls.” While Gela didn’t teach me to believe emotions were appropriate for a queen, she did believe in using them against others. I didn’t prescribe to all of her theories. But some ... some rang true as a bell.
The happy faces of a few maids made me hope that I might have made the right decision. And their joy made me feel good. Because my favorite part of growing up in a castle had been feeling like my family was huge, full of hundreds, not just my parents and Bloss.
My gaze landed on Declan, who hadn’t turned around and ridden off into the shoreline like I’d told him to do. The overbearing know-it-all stood near a punchbowl at the end of a table full of food along the far wall. Declan spoke with some man I didn’t know in serious tones, his blond hair turned eerily blue by reflections from a nearby sconce.
Bloss had sealed his fate by sending him to me. I’d have to find some utterly obnoxious way to get rid of him now if he didn’t sneak out soon.
What a shite she is,I thought fondly, touching my necklace again as I sat down on my throne and halfway cursed how well she knew me. She’d sent the one husband of hers she knew I was closest to, trying to manipulate this whole debacle. For all our faux hatred, Declan knew he held a prized place in my heart. And to him, I would always be a precious, precocious little sister. I knew exactly why he was here, even if Declan didn’t. Bloss wanted me to call off this tournament, cede the crown, and focus all my energy on finding a cure for my heart.
As if it would besosimple. Bloss needed to step back.
“Bitch,” I muttered, my ire overcoming me in a way Queen Gela would have found utterly disappointing.
Felipe leaned close. “Sorry, Your Majesty, I couldn’t quite catch that.”
I glanced quickly at him, then stared at the sigil on his chest. It was a seahorse that had been fashioned with metallic spikes like spears protruding from its back. A violent representation of Okeanos’ historical sigil, fitting of my birth mother. A monster’s sigil. Now mine.
Felipe cleared his throat, recalling me from my wandering thoughts and forcing my eyes back up to his. “I was cursing my sister.” The honest truth spilled from my lips unbidden.
Felipe pressed his lips together in amusement. He could infer enough from this disastrous interaction with Declan to understand why, I was certain. “I see.” He gave me a curt nod and went to take his place at my right side, a hand on his spear, his presence warm and comforting in a room that felt like it was full of curious and judgmental eyes.
A gong sounded and the conversation in the room came to a slow, faltering stop as everyone in the room turned to my throne. Though I’d just had all eyes on me on the balcony, that was different, more removed. This time the gaze of the crowd felt heavy, like a weight on my shoulders. I used my best calm and courtly face and gave a soft smile as I raised a hand. “Welcome all. I’m delighted to have you join the Syzygos Tournament. I look forward to meeting each and every competitor tonight. The best of luck to you all.”
The crowd clapped politely in response to my announcement, and I did the single gracious head nod and smile I’d watched Gela perfect at functions like this when I crawled through the hallways and bribed the footmen with sweets so I could peer through the cracked door.
Not so long ago, that had been my greatest exposure to these “adult functions.”
Now, I had to keep my eyes from widening as the music started up and the dancing began. Sahar stepped out in front of my dais to give me a moment to adjust and have a drink before I had to speak with all of my suitors.
I forced myself not to gulp the fermented kelp bubbles that a server brought to me. The taste was similar to ale but with a briny tinge. The important thing about tonight’s bubble was that it was potent, intended to get everyone in the castle into a festive mood. I wanted to down the glass and ask for two more. Instead, I sipped at it delicately, eyes on the swim floor.
Watching a ball underwater was fascinating. Instead of being bound to the floor for a dance, the participants moved through space, weaving up and down, creating diagonal lines through the water. Whereas circles and squares were common dance formations back in Evaness, cubes and three-dimensional diamonds were the norm here. My eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the fluttering skirts of the women, the formal shell necklaces strung around each man’s neck.
