Page 49

“Pink?”

“Your hair.”

This is a conversation I really don’t want to have. If my uncle finds out about my curse, he might be threatened by me—and why wouldn’t he? I hold the potential to become the most powerful leader undersea, and that’s the one thing everyone seems to know about Queen Sirena other than her hair color.

“I’m not criticizing it.” My uncle leans forward. “I rather like it.”

I take a deep breath before starting off the story slowly to test the waters. “After the trident chose me, we connected. Then my hair changed on its own.”

Tiberias’s eyes widen and his face pales.

He knows exactly what I’m talking about. He sees me as a threat now. Just like my dad. He’s going to want to get rid of both of us. I should’ve lied about the whole thing.

Silence settles between us. It lingers. Feels like forever.

“Like Queen Sirena,” he says.

My heart nearly explodes out of my chest. I just nod, not trusting my voice.

“How much do you know about her?”

There’s no way I’m telling him about her killing her father to grow into her powers. He’ll probably want me to kill my dad. Or maybe he’ll want to get rid of me.

Uncle Tiberias leans forward. “From what I’ve read …”

My pulse drums in my ears. He knows. I’m going to have to kill my dad before my uncle kills me. I should’ve gone back to my life on the land with my mom. Why do I have to keep making horrible decisions?

“Queen Sirena was a kindhearted ruler.”

I give him a double-take. “That’s what you’ve read?”

He nods. “The oceans lived in peace under her rule. All of our kingdoms had great prosperity on her watch. She only used her powers when necessary, and rumor had it that was why she had such a long and successful reign.”

“Oh.” Relief washes through me. “What do you think about my hair? Does it mean anything?”

Tiberias rises and makes his way over to my side of the desk. He cups some of my hair in his palm and studies it. “Before it changed, was it the same strawberry color as it had been when you were a child?”

“It was.”

“And the trident did this?”

“Right.”

He cups some more of my hair before letting go. His eyes grow intense, like he wants to say something but is holding back. Then he goes back to his seat and sighs.

“You don’t know what this means? My hair?” I ask.

“Perhaps you’re the next Queen Sirena.” He gestures behind me.

I turn around. That’s when I see a painting of a mermaid queen with pinkish-purple hair and a glowing trident. She looks less like me than the drawings from the old books, but the resemblance is still there. I spin back around. “You have a painting of her?”

He nods. “I’ve always been fascinated by her story, ever since I was a young boy. My brother made fun of me relentlessly until I stopped talking about it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He glances behind me, presumably at the painting, before looking at me again. “Do you want to know a little-known fact about her?”

“Okay.” Curiosity burns. Does he know about the curse? Is he going to suggest I kill my dad to get him out of his way?