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In response, he moved closer to the water, so I followed. From this vantage point, I could see her. Nerys had been shielded by a rock outcropping that stopped just short of the waves which crashed against it. Behind them, as the water ebbed and flowed along her bare ankles, she waved her hands. In response, funnels of water rose above the sea and then crashed back down.

She did it again and again, the sea itself responding to her will. With a single sweeping motion of her hand, the water in front of her stilled, unnaturally, eerily calm. Then, with a sharp flick of her wrist, the calm shattered. A towering column of water erupted from the surface, twisting and spinning into a perfect spiral that defied gravity, reflecting the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of shimmering blues and greens. With her arms outstretched, she turned slowly, her movements fluid, almost like a dance. The spiral followed her lead, coiling tighter and tighter until it exploded outward in a rain of droplets that sparkled like diamonds.

Never in my life had I seen anything like it. Chills ran along my spine as my mind raced, unable to decide if her movements were beautiful or terrifying in their intensity.

Both. They were both.

I turned to Caelum. “I’ve never seen a Thalassarian do such a thing.”

His secret smile told me why Caelum had brought me here. “And you never will.”

Our eyes met. I knew the question to ask. And frankly, I knew the answer already too.

“Can the queen do that?”

Caelum shook his head, the movement barely discernible.

“Does she know what Nerys is capable of?”

He sighed. “To what extent, I am not certain. Nerys would never do as much”—he gestured to her as Nerys continued to manipulate the sea before her in awe-inspiring ways— “in front of the queen, or anyone, for that matter. With a few exceptions.”

“Who does she trust to show that?”

Who can I trust?

“Me.Aneri. Marek. And a few others.”

I did not know Marek, but that was a question for another time.

“How will she feel about me seeing this?” I asked, still uncertain why Caelum had allowed it.

“Ask her for yourself.”

Turning my attention back to Nerys, I realized she had spotted us. Arms now at her sides, she hardly moved at all.

“Go,” he said. “Speak with her.”

Caelum wasn’t coming with me. I stepped forward.

“And Rowan?”

I turned back to look at him.

“If you betray her, I will kill you.”

Bowing his head, as if he’d not made that statement but instead had told me to have a good day, Caelum retreated. I didn’t doubt his words, but neither did I worry. I had no intention of betraying Nerys, but I did intend to get some answers from her.

10

NERYS

I could not have been more surprised to see him.

That Caelum had taken Rowan to me was more than a little out of character for him. When my parents had died, it was he and Aneri who had lifted me up, but they did so in very different ways. Aneri, as kind and loving as my mother, and Caelum, more stoic and relentless than my father had been. I could never guess what he was thinking and only once, in a quiet moment after training, had he admitted wishing for that rare thing only a small fraction of Elydorians experienced.

A child.

I’d already known I was like a daughter to him, but that conversation had confirmed it. Since then, he’d never truly opened his heart again to me, but once had been enough. Now, with each step Rowan took toward me, I tried to understand why he’d allowed a stranger to him, a human, to see me this way.