Page 30 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

“ W e missed you at the race today,” Mother says over dinner.

I take a sip of my wine, feeling all eyes on me. “I went to mingle with the crowd. Isn’t that the point of these events—to get to know one another?”

Father nods, looking pleased with my response, but his is the only smile I see. Prince Thorne exchanges a dark glance with his father, King Florian, then turns to me. “I didn’t realize you were friendly with any members of our court.”

I take another sip of my wine to give myself a moment to think. “I wasn’t until today.”

Thorne and King Florian exchange another glance.

It looks to me like one of those silent conversations my father and I sometimes have.

The king clearly wants Thorne to do something, and Thorne is making a silent effort to resist. He evidently loses, because he looks back at me a second time and smiles.

“I can introduce you to some of my friends tomorrow if you like. You might have more in common with them than with the, uh, lesser nobility.”

I frown, but my father catches my eye and nods almost imperceptibly. I resist the urge to sigh. “Sure,” I say to Thorne. “I’d like that.”

Prince Thorne and King Florian look satisfied and go back to eating their dinner. I watch King Florian out of the corner of my eye. When he glances up, I notice that his eyes are a familiar emerald green.

A sense of satisfaction washes over me. I knew I wasn’t imagining things.

“ I think I’ve inadvertently caused a problem,” I say, marching into Magnus’s study later that evening.

My father’s adviser is standing by his large arched window, holding a bit of parchment up to the light. At the sound of my entrance, he lowers the paper and spins to face me. “Your Highness, good evening.” He smiles. “What was that you said?”

“I think I’ve caused a problem,” I repeat, stopping in the middle of the room and crossing my arms.

Magnus steps away from the window and crosses to stand behind his heavy oak desk. “What kind of problem?”

“Did you know that King Florian has a bastard son at court?”

Magnus’s eyebrows raise. “No…well, I should say, not officially. Why?”

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to think of the right words to describe the problem.

Normally I would go to my father with something like this, but he’s currently far too busy with the summit for such a trivial issue, and I’m sure he would somehow make this out to be my fault.

Magnus isn’t my first, or even tenth choice of confidant, but he’s the only person I can think of who would be able to help me.

“I spoke at length with the son today,” I explain. “I didn’t know who he was at first, but upon a second glance, it was impossible not to see the resemblance to the king.”

“If you noticed a resemblance, then I’m sure it’s no secret. What’s the problem?”

“I think the Vernalli royals must have noticed us speaking. I’m concerned they’ll think I was making some kind of political maneuver.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Magnus says bracingly. “They’re not likely to say anything to you about it.”

“It’s not me I’m concerned about.”

“Then who? Don’t worry about the summit, Your Highness. Nothing will derail our negotiations with Vernallis.

I grind my teeth. He doesn’t get it.

Because of course, like my father, Magnus would only ever think about politics. He doesn’t care about individual people.

“I’m worried about the son and his family,” I explain slowly.

“It occurs to me that my accidental intervention could look like favoritism, and in that case, Florian might want to get rid of the embarrassment. Perhaps a trip out of their own kingdom might be a good opportunity for there to be an ‘unfortunate accident’ that mysteriously removes the threat to their line of succession.”

Magnus raises his eyebrows. “You care what happens to Florian’s bastard?”

I fight to keep my tone even. “Only so much as I care about what happens to any friend. He was a good guy. I don’t want him killed because I didn’t research the parentage of who I randomly chose to sit with.”

I hold my breath as Magnus looks down his nose at me. I wish I hadn’t come to him with this—I should have just swallowed my discomfort and asked my father about it. Or, better yet, I should have handled it myself.

“Fine,” Magnus says finally. “If you’re concerned that your friend will be harmed within the borders of Hydratta, I can take care of that for you. I’ll ask extra guards to watch him and his family…but I can’t control what happens when they return to Vernallis.”

I nod. “That’s good enough. Thank you.”

“Kastian,” Magnus calls after me as I turn to leave.

I stop short, startled. Magnus hardly ever uses my first name—not at least without a “Prince” ahead of it. I turn back around. “Yes?”

“While we’re discussing it, I should mention that this isn’t the first I’ve heard today of your new acquaintances.”

My stomach sinks. “I really didn’t know who Daemon was. I?—”

“It’s not the bastard prince I’m talking about. Who was the girl?”

My stomach sinks lower. “His sister, I think. Or, maybe a cousin?” I say, trying to make it sound as if I’m not sure. “She’s untitled. I’m not entirely sure how she ended up at this summit.”

He looks at me shrewdly, leaning over his desk. “But you spent a lot of time with her?”

My stomach churns. I suddenly feel as if I’m being scolded by one of my childhood tutors. “I think you must have been misinformed. There wasn’t anything going on that you should be worried about.”

He raises an eyebrow at me. “Do you know what that girl is?”

Beautiful.

Interesting.

Entirely too tempting.

“No, what do you mean?”

“Several courtiers reported to me today that you were spending time with a siren. That’s not a good idea. Not for you or for the future of this court. The sirens have abilities that would make any man behave against his usual nature.”

My eyebrows raise, not least because this is the first I’m hearing that Magnus has courtiers who report to him—about me.

Does my father know that’s happening? Did he perhaps put Magnus up to it, or is the advisor acting alone?

And all that aside, what does he mean Odessa is a siren?

“You have to be mistaken,” I say sharply. “I told you, she’s the Baron of Ashwater’s cousin. Her family is all Fae.”

“And how do you think sirens came to be?” he says, a note of condescension in his tone.

“I don’t know. I never thought about it,” I growl, unable to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

Magnus sinks into the chair behind his desk and gestures for me to sit in an armchair across from him. I decline, choosing to stay standing.

He narrows his eyes at me, but continues his explanation. “The sirens are only ever born female, so in order to keep breeding they crawl out of the oceans and entice Fae males to father their children. Technically, all sirens are half Fae—though that half doesn’t often materialize.”

“Usually, the sirens return to the sea before their daughters are born and the spawn never know what life is like to live on land. Rarely, however, a siren is coerced or imprisoned on land long enough for the baby to be born and raised among the Fae. Then, they become something altogether more dangerous.”

“More dangerous in what way?”

“In the sea, sirens are predatory pack animals. They live and hunt in large groups, and communicate telepathically. Their thoughts are constantly connected to one another in a hive mind, where the only decision maker is the leader—usually called the queen. All sirens have higher intelligence and the capacity for independent thought, but they don’t use it.

The queen is the only one who thinks and behaves similarly to the Fae. ”

The hair on the back of my neck stands up, but I shake it off. “I don’t know what this has to do with Odessa.”

“All sirens have the ability to compel Fae to do anything they want, but they rarely use it for reasons other than breeding. A siren who was raised on land, however, would become a sort of queen in her own right because she wouldn’t be connected to the hive mind of other sirens.

She could use her powers of compulsion for anything she wished. ”

“You must be mistaken.”

He puts both palms flat on his desk. “I wish I were. All but the oldest of our kind have forgotten that for generations Fae tried to breed landlocked sirens intentionally to take advantage of their unique powers. Every kingdom in Ellender wanted one because a queen with the power to bewitch her subjects would be unstoppable.”

A shiver travels over my spine. A ruler with complete and total control over their kingdom. I can actually see exactly how that would be appealing, but more importantly, I can see how it would be a crime against nature. Rulers shouldn’t have total control or else they become dictators.

My mind is reeling, but I force my face and voice to remain stoic. “You’re not old enough to remember that.”

He laughs. “No, but I’m well educated and I’ve read about how the attempts to breed sirens was abandoned and even outlawed in some places.”

“Why?” I ask, in spite of myself.

“Because they’re nearly impossible to control, and their persuasive abilities made them dangerous to the very rulers who sought to use them. Your friend is exceedingly rare, and also quite young. I doubt she or her lesser noble family know exactly what she’s capable of.”

A sudden, sharp burn sears through my chest, like a bolt of lightning striking from within. My heart races, pounding against my ribcage, and an overpowering protective instinct surges through me.

“This is all very interesting,” I say, forcing my tone to remain neutral, “but I really think you must be imagining things. I don’t think that girl is a siren queen, or whatever you want to call her. Even if she was, I barely spoke to her. I doubt I’ll see her again.”

He raises his eyebrows at me, then sighs, looking resigned. “Fine. I hope you’re right, because it wouldn’t be good for a prince of Hydratta to be bewitched by a siren. Your future is too important for that.”

I turn on my heel and walk out of the office. “Don’t worry, Magnus, I’m well aware of what my future holds.”