Page 6

That was not information I could divulge. “To speak with the queen.”

“Unfortunately, I require more information than that.”

Unfortunately, I am unable to give it to you.

I didn’t say as much, however. “I’ve been sent to speak to your queen on behalf of King Galfrid concerning the return of his daughter.”

It was information she would have already. By now, word of the return of the lost princess had spread throughout Elydor.

“Would King Galfrid not send an Aetherian for such a purpose?”

“He would,” I offered diplomatically. “Normally.”

She waited.

I had nothing more to offer beyond what I’d told her.

“I am afraid?—”

“Princess Mevlida is a friend,” I said, my words the only truth I could give her. “I have a unique perspective on her return, one your queen will wish to learn of, especially as it may impact all Elydor.”

That got her attention.

“We were told the princess was taken by Kael of Gyoria and returned to her father.”

“She was,” I confirmed. “I will be glad to share more of that tale with you, but I’ve been traveling for many days, with some urgency, at the behest of the Aetherian king. If we might make our way to the palace…”

I stopped at that, my implication clear. If Nerys wished to know more about a topic every person in Elydor was curious about—why and how Mev came through the Gate—she would take me to the palace.

“Very well,” she said finally. “You will be reunited with your belongings once inside, with the exception of your weapons. Those will be returned to you when you are no longer on palace grounds.”

As expected.

I smiled, hoping to put her at ease since Nerys, though undoubtedly powerful, could not read my own sincerity and had little cause to trust me.

Thankfully, she turned away just as the emotion she was now feeling settled into my consciousness. It was not mistrust, as I’d expected on meeting her. Or wariness, given how little I was able to share about my intentions in meeting the queen.

It was the one thing I couldn’t guard against.

Desire.

4

NERYS

He rode as effortlessly as he smiled, this human with hazel eyes that spoke of riddles. Skin nearly as tanned as a Thalassarian and brown hair, neither long nor short, marked him as a human who, unlike the other clans, had no one universally defining feature. His warrior’s clothing could pass for Gyorian. Most humans were more readily identifiable, but this one blended in well as an Elydorian.

He was also exceedingly handsome.

Even more so than the one I nearly partnered with so many years ago. Like my parents, he too had met an untimely death. I’d long ago released the notion I was somehow cursed, yet I knew no others who had lost so many dear to them. Immortality was the gift Elydor had bequeathed to all those who inhabited this realm from its celestial beginnings. Even so, our death was possible and, if some were to be believed, more likely around me.

“The silver fish.” Rowan, my human charge pointed to the stream we rode beside. “What are they? I don’t recall them.”

“You’ve been to Thalassaria before?”

“I have,” he said, offering no further explanation. Most humans who visited the palace were noblemen, but this one’s title did not identify him as such. I was surprised the queen granted him an audience with so little information about the nature of his visit.

“They are called nera and can only be found on palace grounds. It’s a sacred species tied to the history of the first king of Thalassaria.”