Page 115 of Female Fantasy
And the third, flesh, fire, and the truth of the histories.
Nico. The boy of my past and the man right in front of me.
When the squatting bird chants twice, go forth to the fallacies of your soul.
The pigeons. They chirped twice just moments ago.
Do not use your mind or your eyes to guide you. Follow the moonlight of your heart. Beware the goat dressed as a lamb. Only then will you defeat the fool and the red-painted maiden and land in the arms of the steady tide.
I have already underestimated Harry Lester, his nephew, and his band of thieves. The only way I can defeat Thomas the fool and bloody Clarisse is to follow the moonlight of my heart. To look inside myself and let that truth guide me.
For what you seek, you hold in the marrow of your shrouded words.
I am a reader. A writer. Words have always shown me the way.
They will not fail me now.
I know what I have to do.
“Well, well, well,” the false queen coos. Her voice is honey-coated granite, as if she has not yet spoken today. “What do we have here?”
I can hardly hear her over the vibration of the water all around us.
Through the churning sea, I see Ryke. He is on bended knee, his brow knitted, doubled over in pain. Straining with every muscle in his body to fight his way closer to me.
Talassa raises a powder-white brow. And Nix, the horrid creature who laughed at my suffering—who tortured me for hours, taking joy in it—flinches under the heat of his sister’s gaze. Pure stolen power radiates from her taloned fingertips.
“If I recall correctly, I gave you strict orders to grab the girl and do whatever it took to extract information about the rebellion from herwithoutalerting the prince and his merryband of insurgents.” She bares her canines, as impossibly white as her hair. “Or am I mistaken?”
Nix gulps. “That is correct, sister,” he says quickly. “I mean, Your Majesty.”
Her red eyes narrow until they are mere droplets of blood leaking from sliced skin.
“Then why have I intruded upon what appears to be a heartwarming scene of reunited lovers?” she snaps. “Why is the girl the picture of health? Did your villain monologue really last long enough for the two to reconcile?”
Behind her, someone snickers. Naia emerges from the darkness, her nose curled. She sneers at her twin brother.
“Did you, at the very least, obtain the intelligence we were after?” Talassa asks.
Nix grits his teeth. “No, Your Majesty.”
In an instant, a collar of bubbling water chokes the next breath out of him.
“Then what exactly are you good for?” Talassa barks.
Naia claps her hands, delighted.
“It is not what you think.” Nix struggles to speak through her chokehold. “The girl and the prince—they are interloched! I could not take her without alerting him. They are drawn to each other like plankton to the light. Prince Ryke is able to draw life force from her without killing her or putting his own health at risk.”
“And why should I give a flapping fin about that?” The queen’s dark cheeks burn scarlet to match her eyes. “Do you think you are smarter than me? One step ahead?”
She spits in Nix’s face, the moisture turning into a searing concoction that stings his eyes. He cries out, blinded.
“You fool!” she shouts. “Everyone in this ocean with eyes could see that the two were interloched at the Ball of Sinking Stars. They were glowing as bright as the moon! My pupils practically burned.” Talassa shakes her head in dismay. “Although the power bit is…interesting. Curious. I suppose it makes sense that lochs would be able to recharge one another’s life force. After all, they are rumored to share one soul.”
She looks into the distance, thoughtful.
I steal a glance at Ryke.
