Page 69

They swam in silence. The ocean was almost deafening, which was so strange. The waters were still, as if waiting in anticipation of something happening soon.

“Did she say when they were going to dive again?” Honour asked.

“No,” Soulara answered. She really should have gotten more information before she’d left, but Soulara hadn’t been there for a political reason. She’d been there because the woman she was completely enamored with had nearly died.

“I imagine it’ll be soon.”

Soulara shrugged, not answering Honour verbally. She had no idea what to say, in all honesty. They both knew what she’d been doing there, and they both knew that she and Autumn hadn’t made any plans to take down the humans.

“If Autumn could get us more information—”

“She’s being ousted, Honour.” Soulara bit her tongue. “The more she brings to us, the less they’ll trust her. She’s not trained to be in covert operations.”

Honour paused in her swim, looking Soulara over. “I understand she’s torn between two worlds, Princess. But she’s made her decision.”

“I don’t think she has.” Soulara’s heart ached at that thought. Autumn had helped them because she was attracted to Soulara, not because she was ready to abandon her entire people. “And I’m not going to push her to leave her entire world for one of loneliness.”

“Loneliness?” Honour parroted back.

Soulara sighed and continued their swim. It was a bit more leisurely paced this time. “If she commits treason and abandons her people, where will she go? She can’t swim beneath the water with me. And I’m the crown princess.” Soulara’s heart ached with pain. “I can’t ask her to live a life of solitude, whether self-imposed or not, for us to win a war.”

“You’ve got it bad, Princess.”

“Yeah. And look, it doesn’t make one fucking difference.”

They swam the rest of the way to the palace in silence. As soon as they entered the walls, Soulara pulled her hard steely cover back in place and went straight to her father’s throne room. Kaelin was there, along with another mer who looked very similar—dark skin, dark scales, dark hair, nearly black—but their eyes were a bright fiery red.

Except they were squinting.

Soulara eyed the other mer over and glanced to Honour. This was clearly the general from the deep soundings, but they were not some great general to huddle in the corner. Kaelin swam up next to Soulara, their chin tilted down.

“Do you have another pair of glasses?” Kaelin pointed to the ones she still wore every day. “The breathing she can get used to, but the light isn’t something I’ve adjusted to in all the time I’ve been here.”

“Oh.” Soulara glanced to Honour. “Yes, I was making you a second pair in case these were ruined. They’re in my lab if you want to retrieve them.”

Kaelin bowed and left the room. Soulara moved to the general. “It’s good to meet you. I’m Soulara, Princess of Reine.”

The general nodded slowly and uncurled herself from her position.

“I wish we could give you more time to acclimate to the upper soundings.” Soulara wasn’t going to touch the general, though that was her instinct. Kaelin seemed so opposed to touch, she wasn’t sure if it was a Kaelin thing or a deep sounding tribe thing.

“I’m Kyree. I bring greetings from my home and my tribe.” Even her voice sounded weak. Soulara wanted to command her to sit back down, but she had a feeling Kyree wouldn’t allow that. “The elders have sanctioned my being here in order to discuss this more deeply with you.”

Soulara bowed her head, giving as much honor to this moment as possible.

“We wanted to speak with you, Princess Soulara.”

“Soulara,” she corrected. She still wasn’t used to the title, and she didn’t want it to become a block in their negotiations.

Kyree grimaced. “My people would like to know more about this war you’re planning.”

“It affects every creature in the waters.” Soulara glanced at Honour, hoping she was going about this conversation the right way. There wasn’t much known about the deep sounding mermaids. They were reclusive and rarely let anyone in. It was only by happenstance that Kaelin had come to live in Reine, and Honour had been sent down to speak with them once before.

“We’ve noticed.” Kyree’s mouth moved oddly, as if the words were uncomfortable on her tongue. Her accent was thick, much thicker than Kaelin’s. “We’ve given thanks to the waters, but it’s harder to find food for our children.”

Soulara frowned. They hadn’t seen a food shortage in the upper soundings. But they were seeing issues with plant life growing because of the thinning of the water above them. “There’s an alien race called the humans that are on the surface. They’re stealing the water to bring it back to their home world.”

“Stealing?”