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Abyssal

T he revelation of Malkeevo’s location had spread through the Undersea far faster than I’d expected. After a morning of fabrication and spell work, I’d emerged from my chamber to find the currents swirling with whispers of the riches that had already been found within its walls.

Along with what had not.

For once, the princess’s lovers hadn’t disappointed me. I couldn’t have asked for an opportunity more perfect than the one they’d presented.

“What a gloomy surprise.” The vile queen sneered down at me, lounging on top of her repulsive den of coral. Two pawns sprawled beside her, no doubt aiding the queen in celebration of her perceived victory over the merfolk. “I don’t recall summoning you, puppet.”

It wasn’t like me to seek her out willingly; that was true. To expose myself to her malice without being called.

But necessity demanded action. And as much as I despised the queen and her cruelty, it was time to play my hand. “My apologies, but I thought it best not to wait.”

“Oh?” She dragged a clawed finger along a pawn’s bare chest while emitting a low hum, indifferent to the eyes that watched. “ Speak quickly, then, or prepare to be thrown out. ”

The command snapped into place, leaving my mind to struggle to keep pace with the words tumbling out of my mouth. “I had a thought that might be of some interest to you, Your Majesty.”

Oh , how I detested this woman.

“ Go on, ” she purred, reclining against her throne, savoring the power she held over me.

“Word is spreading that Malkeevo was discovered last night. However, I overheard the Rook confessing that his knights have already failed to locate the merfolk’s trident within its walls.”

The queen’s mood instantly darkened as she straightened, her eyes narrowing to slits. “Are you telling me my finest warriors have failed to retrieve it?”

“Indeed,” I replied, watching the fury ignite in her eyes.

Her anger surged, and the intensity of it made her pawns shudder as her nails dug into their flesh. She whirled to the one on her right, hissing. “Summon the Rook to me at once.”

He scrambled to obey, his tentacles nearly tangling in his haste.

Her gaze snapping back at me felt like a thousand needles piercing my skin. “And if this information you’ve brought to me is accurate, what do you propose we do about it?” she demanded.

It was the perfect opening. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better opportunity than this.

“I think it would be wise to have the princess visit Malkeevo,” I stated carefully. “Guarded, of course.”

“The princess?” The queen’s expression darkened further, a truly impressive feat. “And what use would she be there?”

This was it. I couldn’t afford a misstep. “She has had many interactions with the merfolk, has she not? Spent time with them. Some in your court have even claimed that she still acts like she belongs among them. Perhaps there’s a chance she might notice something your knights have… overlooked.”

A slow smile slithered across the queen’s face, turning my stomach. “Interesting,” she crooned. “Very interesting. Oh, I do enjoy the way your mind works, puppet.”

Her praise was like poison to me. This was perhaps the first time I’d ever felt such revulsion at receiving a compliment.

“I aim to please,” I intoned, forcing a bow.

She reclined on her throne again, claws drumming against a tentacle. “Very well. Ensure that someone takes her. A knight, preferably. Perhaps the princess can finally be of some use to us.”

The command descended on me with the suffocating weight of a boulder. I mustered a terse “understood” before retreating, leaving the queen to mutter snide remarks about the Rook’s incompetence to the pawn beside her.

The Rook was far from the only incompetent one here.

As I slipped out of the throne room, the next stage of my plan was already taking shape in my mind. All that remained was convincing the princess’s knight to deliver her to Malkeevo.

Harini would be a fool to refuse the queen’s request.

No, she wouldn’t refuse. She would take my dear captive to Malkeevo, where the final phase of my plan would unfold. As much as it irked me to depend on the princess’s lovers, I had to trust that this time, they would carry out their part.

Yes, everything was falling into place perfectly, except for one crucial oversight—how would I endure my dear captive’s absence?

“Aracos doesn’t like this plan, Master.” My familiar’s voice whined with disapproval, but I barely registered his concern, my own hearts aching with a deep, shared despair.

The solution was clear. Protecting Claira was paramount, even if it meant suppressing my selfish desires.

Teleporting just outside her chamber, I took a moment to compose myself, slicking back my hair before parting the seagrass curtain. “Pardon my intrusion…”

What’s this?

Inside, I halted at the sight before me. A hulking figure jumped at my sudden appearance, surrounded by half-eaten platters of fish in an otherwise empty chamber.

“Puppet,” Harini choked out around a full mouth, frustration lining her face as her tentacles groped for the weapon lying next to her.

Ah—frustrating, indeed . It seemed that Harini, the princess’s knight and supposed protector, was indulging in a gluttonous feast instead of maintaining her duty. My eyes narrowed as she grasped her weapon, leveling it at me. “Where is the princess?” I asked, cold and controlled.

“Not here,” she replied with a rough laugh. “Why do you care?”

How easy it was for her to push the limits of my patience.

“The queen has requested that the princess visit Malkeevo,” I said, keeping my voice smooth and measured, although the urge to lash out and make quick work of this new weapon was almost unbearable. “You are to be her escort.”

Harini’s reaction was nothing short of explosive. “Malkeevo? The queen wanted me to take her? ARGH! ” Her eyes flashed with anger as she snapped at me, “You’re too late. She already left!”

My hearts hammered in unison. “Left? Left for where?”

“Malkeevo!” she spat.

“Impossible,” I muttered, the last threads of my composure fraying. “The princess couldn’t have gone alone.”

“Oh, she’s not alone.” A note of smug satisfaction crept into her voice. “She enlisted Jagati to escort her. He said it would be his honor .”

Jagati. The name ripped through me like a cold blade. He was precisely the last knight I wanted anywhere near Claira. “His honor …” My voice strained under the weight of my enmity, dark magic sparking in my clenched hands. “When did they leave?”

“Who knows?” Harini snorted, a cruel twist of the blade. I’d once held her in higher regard than her brother, but now I was beginning to doubt that judgment. “Oy! Does this mean I’m free to leave my post and head to Malkeevo?” she questioned as I whipped around, calling out to Aracos.

“Help me find her.”

He was quick to answer. “Yes, Master.”

Jagati… The thought of my dear captive alone with that brute made my blood seethe, my magic craving a ruthless release.

It seemed the plan was changing. Without wasting another moment, I teleported away.