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He took it, eyes wide and clearly shaken, without words. The moment he did, Marek was by my side. Like the others, he was soaked from head to toe.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” he said, not lowering his voice. “You were brilliant, Nerys.”

“Thank you,” I murmured, wondering what was to happen next.

37

ROWAN

As we waited for their return, relief flooded through me. If there had been any question before on my path for the future, it had been obliterated when Nerys began to battle the queen. Knowing of the shard, realizing I’d never actually envisioned Nerys as queen, my thoughts ran wild.

What if the shard was enough of an advantage for the queen to win? More importantly, given her behavior leading up to the challenge, what if she “accidentally” killed Nerys, despite being against the rules, using that advantage? Even from this distance, it was evident Nerys struggled at the start.

When the water flew above our heads, and then moments later, Nerys flung it at the queen, everything changed. Murmurs of surprise, questions about why she’d have spent precious time harnessing water from so far away when surrounded by the sea, became gasps and shouts of delight.

“I knew she was powerful,” Kael said at one point. “Rumors of her skill reached Gyoria long ago. But I never imagined… this.”

Once, when the queen knocked her down, Aneri grabbed my hand and did not let go. Each time the queen struck, she squeezed it, as if feeling every blow.

But nothing, not even Nerys’s spectacular display of water-wielding, had elicited the same response as the pelagor’s appearance.

“What is that?” Mev asked, standing for a better look.

“A symbol,” Caelum had answered, “that Nerys is the new queen.”

He’d been right. Nerys had summoned the creature, using its surprise appearance to her advantage. When moments later, she knocked the queen to the deck, every person on the stands stood and cheered. It seemed everyone in Thalassaria cheered, the celebration beginning almost immediately. Music began to play. From the beach beside us to the town above, I spotted very few unhappy with the result. If the queen had legions of supporters, they’d have been swayed by Nerys’s display. She was, without doubt, the most powerful water-wielder in Elydor.

And Thalassaria’s new queen.

“They’re coming.”

Snapping back to the present, we watched a similar procession as when Queen Lirael and Nerys had first headed toward the docks, surrounded by members of the Tidebreaker fleet.

With one notable exception.

“Where’s the queen?” Mev asked.

“She comes toward us,” Aneri said in response. “If you’re speaking of the old queen, though she should be a part of the handing-over ceremony, it appears she and her supporters have gone already to Nymara, a remote and tranquil village to the northwest, where she will live out her days with the other remaining Thalassarian rulers.”

“Awkward,” Mev said, each of us looking at her, none knowing what she meant.

“It’s an expression. Like, ‘that’s gonna be strange,’ or ‘ill at ease.’”

“For whom?” Kael asked.

“Nerys. The queen. When she goes there someday. What if the old rulers don’t get along? And then all have to live in the same place?”

“Not all. The Balance,” Kael said, clearly distracted by the approaching procession.

Aneri didn’t wait for them to reach us. She and Caelum headed down the stands, toward Nerys. As much as I wished to do so as well, I didn’t trust myself not to make a spectacle of us, to embarrass the new queen, by pulling her into my arms and leaving no doubt about the nature of our relationship. I wanted to hold her and never let go.

“What now?” Mev asked Kael.

“The Balance. I’m sure I mentioned it before.”

At this point, Nerys was surrounded by well-wishers. According to Aneri, there would be a ceremony, but by law, she was already the Queen of Thalassari and had been the moment she incapacitated Lirael. The guards that had protected the queen earlier that day now surrounded Nerys, who appeared to be pushing them away so that she might greet all those who approached her. I might have worried for her safety if I didn’t know Nerys as well as I did.

“Pretty sure you didn’t.”