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Jade’s lips parted. “Is that true?” She’d never heard such a theory. But the numbers of Awakened on land had dwindled during the last few centuries. And King Seidon had grown stronger and stronger. Could that be why?

Electra shrugged. “Does it matter? She believes it. And one of her sisters overheard her saying to her own general that once she has the crown, she’s going to exterminate every other Awakened under the sea.

” When Electra straightened, her shoulders edging back, she looked every bit the general, despite the colorful top and skirt she wore today.

“Forgive me for not sitting idly by and waiting for that to happen.”

The breath Jade drew in trembled through her. “I wouldn’t expect you to. But…is there nothing the queen can do? She is still the ruler—”

“She was hardly ever what one would call a kind ruler. We were her possessions, her slaves. This mark…” Electra raised her hand, showing the white Awakened mark on her palm.

“This makes us hers. Any mer with magic forfeits all right to a life of their own choosing. The queen tells us what we will do, who we will marry, whether we may have children. How we live and when we die.”

Jade nearly choked on her next sip of coffee. “How would she…?”

The hard look Electra sent her silenced the end of the question.

“Simple. She puts a disobedient Awakened in chains, slices their palm, and lets them bleed out. You do know enough about water magic to know we can’t clot without it, right?

It’s why we put saltwater pools everywhere, even inside the dome. ”

Jade nodded, but her head was swimming again. “But why?”

“Power.” Electra stated it like it was at once obvious and her greatest enemy. “It’s what they feed on. Ralia, for certain. And Mariana is even worse.” Her nostrils flared. “That’s why we have to act. They set a coronation date for Mariana—and it means a death date for the rest of us.”

Jade let go of her cup lest her shaking hands spill it. “That’s horrible. I…I don’t know how I can help. But I will, if I can.” She hated how they’d brought her here, and she fully intended to get home again, to reassure her family. To say the words to Storm that still burned in her chest.

But this was no surprise to the Triada. This was all part of his plan, right?

Maybe she was meant to help these rebels find freedom.

She knew the Triada valued life, as apparently neither Ralia nor Mariana did.

Perhaps it was time for the violence of the mer to end.

Perhaps she could somehow help with that.

Her hostess turned to the opposite counter. “You’ll either help or they’ll kill you—you may as well know that now.”

The words made her spine straighten. “And what if I can’t ? What if…” She looked down at her palm, absent any mark despite the Ceremony undertaken in Finn’s throne room. “What if I’m not magical?”

“Then Finn will kill not only you, but Librus, and quite likely me, for being wrong.” Electra reached for a bowl and a few canisters. “But don’t worry. My brother is never wrong—it’s annoying.”

Jade’s fingers clenched into a fist around her unmarked palm.

A reprieve, that’s what she’d known it was yesterday when her blood didn’t flourish down here, not like it had above.

Time, perhaps, to learn. To decide what she would do.

To find friends? Maybe. Who was to say what the Triada’s plan was?

But she would discover it. She would learn all she could about these people, both the ones who had kidnapped her and the ones they meant to use her against.

A weapon—they meant to make her a weapon. She wasn’t sure how. How could she know, when she didn’t understand the first thing about what they called sky magic? But ultimately, she would decide if she used whatever gifts the Triada had given her for them or against them.

At the moment, their cause seemed just. Yet they spoke so easily of killing. How was she to discern what the Triada wanted her to do?

Electra pulled out an array of food. “You’ll need to eat if you mean to keep the serum from dragging you under again today. Breakfast, then your lessons will begin.”

“Lessons?”

Electra was already back at the bench. “You heard the prince. He wants you to be well-trained before the wedding.”

“I…” She didn’t even know how to rebut that statement. She couldn’t make enough sense of it to know what part to dispute. “That…”

Electra laughed—a real, full laugh. “I know. I admit, I’m not a fan of his plan. But he’s my best hope of living a life of my own, so you know what? If he says teach you how to act like a queen and control your magic, then I’ll teach you.”

“Magic.” She looked down at her hands, at the two fingers that had been cut.

Her thoughts clashed and fought with her.

She wanted to discover what plan the Triada had for her.

But she also wanted to go home . Back to Storm and seize the chance to tell him she loved him.

Back to Arden, to their parents. Back to the world she knew.

And yet… this was where she’d always wanted to end up.

Not like this. Not by force. Not coerced into a marriage with a perfect stranger.

But the Triada could use for good what the mer meant for ill.

Perhaps she could somehow make more of a difference with these insurrectionists than she could have as a diplomat.

She closed her eyes, not so sure she had the sort of faith that could lead her through this minefield.

But she had to try. “I don’t understand how I can learn anything about controlling magic before I have it.

” Jade scooted to the edge of her chair.

She would have stood for emphasis but feared her legs would give way.

It had been at least twenty-four hours since she’d eaten. Maybe longer.

Electra squeezed citrus over something in a bowl. “What do they teach you people up on land? Controlling magic is like controlling any other part of your body. Or perhaps more like controlling your emotions. You can exercise those now, and when you’re Awakened, you’ll be a faster learner.”

When she was Awakened. She’d always thought it would mean the death of her dreams. That she’d be forced to find something new, to train. But at least King Seidon still gave the Awakened choice. He’d certainly never commanded anyone to marry him.

“And,” said a new voice from behind her.

She turned and saw Librus walk into the kitchen.

He too was dressed differently today, but his clothes looked nothing like what any of the priests wore on land.

He gave her a smile. “Electra will also be teaching you boring things like royal etiquette and deportment and diplomacy, while I will be teaching you who you are. Good morning, Jade. I hope you slept well.”

She hadn’t. “Honestly, I kept dreaming of the dome failing. What…what happens if it does?”

Electra rolled her eyes and muttered something about “a stupid sander question.”

Librus winked and moved over to investigate whatever breakfast his sister was making.

“Don’t mind her. The domes have never failed, but if they did, we would have ample time to evacuate, and there are waystations between all of them to allow for a safe exodus to the next city. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

The rest of his greeting made it through the fuzz of her brain. “Wait—what do you mean, teaching me who I am?”

“The prophecies,” he said.

“The what?”

“The Holy Writ that speaks of this new magic you have in your blood. Sky magic.”

He’d said that yesterday, but it made no sense. “There is no sky magic. What would that even mean? That I could…what? Fly?”

He chuckled, yes. But he also shrugged. “Maybe. Who’s to say? We’ve never seen it before.”

Yet they were willing to bet their lives on it not only existing, but existing in her.

Wrapping one of her hands around the mug again, Jade tried not to think of yesterday’s coffee. Yesterday’s breakfast. Mama and Papa and Arden.

She failed so utterly that tears surged to her eyes. They must be so worried. And Arden—was she all right? The hawk had dropped her, yes, but what did that mean? Where had she landed? What if it had been from too great a height, or into the sharks that had swarmed at the scent of their blood?

When Jade lifted her gaze again, the siblings were staring at her. They’d have noted her tears. They could probably guess why she shed them.

But it wasn’t just her family, her sister, the dread of a life lived without her loved ones.

It was them too—these siblings who were doomed to die for being who they were.

Who thought treason a good alternative. Who thought that somehow she could save them, with a magic she’d never wanted and knew nothing about.

She shook her head. “You shouldn’t rely on me for any part of this plan of yours. I’m…nobody.” She hadn’t meant to remain nobody, but she’d wanted the somebody she became to be her choice.

Was that perhaps why the Triada had granted the reprieve? To give her time to choose whatever gift he’d given her? The thought made her stomach churn.

Librus surged forward, startling her when he dropped to a knee and took her hand in his. He touched a finger to the cut. It glowed. Then he traced a circle on her palm that lit up and died away behind his touch.

Her breath tangled.

His didn’t. “You are far from nobody, Jade Bleu,” he murmured. “You are the one the hawk guards. You are the one who beauty has followed. You are the one who can finally give us the ability to live.”

Rebuttals clamored in her mind, but she couldn’t make her tongue speak them.

Perhaps he heard them anyway. He smiled up at her, encouragement bright in his eyes. “You ask how we can teach you to use magic before it’s Awakened in you?” He placed his hand against hers, palm to palm, and pressed.

Heat seared her flesh—yet it didn’t burn. It…moved. Spread. Consumed.

Librus’s eyes glowed as bright as his hand. “We can teach you, my lady, by lending you some of ours.”