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Chapter Eleven: Aria

“Aria, wake up! You’re going to be late!” Lyre’s panicked voice makes my eyes fly open, my heart racing in my throat as I haphazardly swim to the door to unlock it, swiping my ruby-colored braids away from my face. “Stars above, Aria! How could you sleep in so late ? You only have five minutes to get ready!”

“I’m sorry!” I scrape out, moving to my white coral and pink sea glass vanity. “I stayed up late doing glass art.”

While most of my sisters had taken up sparring as their hobby, I had never wanted to learn combat. I wasn’t interested in reading about the histories of our world either, like my sister Dyanna, so I spent my free time making art out of sea glass.

I study myself in the mirror and grimace. Dark bags hang under my eyes, dulling their hazel glow. The usually rich darkness of my skin tone is wan, making the even darker freckles sprinkled across the bridge of my nose more prominent. My full lips pull down in a frown, their color matching my skin’s pallor.

Knowing my appearance is a lost cause, I motion for Lyre—who is nervously pacing back and forth—to go through the door.

“We have to hurry,” she practically yells as she takes off down the winding hallway, her lavender tail leaving little bubbles in her wake. I rush behind her, going through my mental list as we near the throne room: jaw and shoulders relaxed, lips flat, spine straight, and attitude vicious. I repeat it again, making sure each body part follows suit. More straight. More relaxed. More vicious.

“Aria!” My concentration is broken by the raspy, familiar voice. “Aria!” she calls again.

Slowing down, I look over my shoulder to see Lore’s bright yellow tail glistening as she swims closer to me, her chartreuse braids wrapped around the top of her head tightly.

“Lore, I’m late for the queen’s assembly,” I say quickly, already turning to follow Lyre again.

She tugs on my hand, soft fingers wrapping around my own. “I know, and I won’t keep you but… I miss you. It’s been a while since we’ve had some time together.”

My shoulders sink and my stomach twists as she speaks. Lore and I met a few years ago at the annual Summer Solstice celebration. We bonded over the expectations thrust upon us by our mothers—though I wasn’t very detailed with her on what those expectations were. Still, we had found a sort of camaraderie with each other. And later that night, as we writhed against one another in bed, we found a different solace there too.

Lore squeezes my fingers again, her eyes lingering on my body.

“I’m sorry, Lore. Things have been crazy lately. I will find you after the assembly, and we can chat, okay?” I pull my hand from hers tentatively. She nods her head, eyes gleaming with hunger, before I spin back around and bolt to the throne room.

There is another large gathering of sirens here again. Only, instead of revelry, they will be asking for the queen’s favor. The decorations have been taken down, returning the room to how it normally feels—bare and cold. Spine straight. Jaw and shoulders relaxed. Lips flat. Attitude. Vicious. I scan the dais as quickly as I can while moving up the center aisle. Counting only five bodies, I nearly sigh in relief. I’m not the last one here .

My mother sits on her throne of bones and decay, her dark purple tail draped delicately over the seat of the chair and brushing the floor of the dais. Once I reach the base, I keep my eyes downcast as I tread the water, holding my bow to my mother as steadily as I did last night.

“Late again, Aria. I’m starting to wonder if you’re trying to send some sort of message. That perhaps you don’t value your family enough to show up when you are supposed to.” I grit my teeth together, my heart pounding so hard in my chest that I’m sure she must hear it. But I stay silent, bent over and frozen with the exception of my tail moving just enough to keep me in place. “You may rise, Daughter.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I unfold and swim up the dais stiffly, hoping my mask is still in place despite how I feel my blood rushing through me like an icy waterfall.

Allegra floats next to my mother, her malevolent eyes on me as I make my way to the end of the line. Next to her is my third oldest sister, Dyanna. Most of her time is spent running the palace library and researching everything from ancient artifacts to treaty deals that have been put in place since the Spell. Our mother uses Dyanna as her own personal resource center. The only sister missing is Sade herself, which isn’t surprising considering she forsake her royal status to instead lead my mother’s legion.

It’s then I realize that I was the last one to arrive today. Shit.

I keep swimming until I’m at the end of the line next to Lyre. Colorful eyes bore into me from the gathered sirens below us, the swirling of their floating braids a kaleidoscope in the water.

“My beautiful sirens, it is a wonderful day to hear from you! Please, one at a time, tell me how I may serve you better.” My mother’s voice is tranquil today, brimming with power and ancient wisdom. She sounds genuine in her offer too—like a truly benevolent queen. Like someone who didn’t have two of her own kind murdered in this very room not even a day ago.

It is quiet for a moment before the first siren swims up the center aisle, bowing for a full five seconds before lifting up and addressing the queen. The female starts talking, and I try my best to focus on what her request is. It doesn’t matter what she’s asking for, my sisters and I will rule the same as our mother. So eventually, I let my eyes wander around the throne room, my mind going far away.

When the female stops talking, she drops into another bow as she waits for my mother’s decision. With a tap of her trident, my mother grants the female’s request. Allegra voices her agreement as well, and down the line it goes, our “yes’s” ringing out loud.

Time ticks by slowly as one by one more sirens come up and one by one my mother either grants or denies their requests. I roll my shoulders back, once again paying attention right as Lyre voices her agreement to whatever it is the latest siren has requested. I mimic her, continuing this pattern for what feels like forever until, finally, the last female is before us. Her braids are cut short, the light blue of her scales beautiful against her dark skin. She bows, but it’s noticeably shorter in length than it should be. I try not to bristle—hoping the queen doesn’t notice what I have to believe is an accidental slight.

“Your Majesty, it is an honor to come before you to make this request. I am Nia Adanna,” she announces. Why does that name sound familiar?

“Adanna? Now that is a name I haven’t heard since before the war,” my mother says with an air of curiosity.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I believe my aunt was friends with you prior to The War Of Five Kingdoms,” Nia says, and the recognition finally clicks into place. The Adanna line was one that was close to the Crown for a long time, each descendent friends with my own ancestors. They were trusted enough to live in the palace—until the war. My eyes dart nervously between her and the queen.

“That she was. Your aunt, Themu, was my mother’s closest friend.” Nia relaxes her shoulders and goes to speak again but is interrupted by my mother’s harsh voice. “Until she betrayed the Crown. Why have you come here? To reminisce on the ways your ancestor was a deceiver? A coward? A liar? ”

“N-no, Your Majesty, I simply came to make a humble request of you and your court,” Nia stutters, eyes flicking down the line of my sisters until they reach me. Her gaze holds mine for a moment, her icy blue eyes nearly penetrating before she finally flicks them away. And I know why. She lives on the outskirts of Lumen with the others my mother has labeled as descendants of traitors. Though I have never seen Nia before, she must know that I visit them. I force my palms flat against my sides as my eyes bounce from Nia to the queen.

“Then state your business so we can be done,” my mother snaps.

“As you know, my family has been living in the seamounts that line the capital since the war—”

“Yes, as punishment for your aunt’s indiscretions,” Allegra interjects.

A few sirens growl in approval of this consequence. The caves the sirens have hand-dug into rock can’t accurately be called homes. They are crude at best, deadly at worst.

Nia clasps her hands behind her as she adjusts her posture. “I understand, but I come before you to ask if some of us might be allowed back into Lumen to live. You see, we’ve outgrown the space in the seamounts.”

It’s silent in the throne room as my mother contemplates her ruling, and I force myself to relax my jaw though my rapid pulse flutters beneath my skin.

“No,” Queen Amari says simply, the single word echoing out.

“Y-Your Majesty, if you might reconsider—”

“I won’t. Your family is one of forsakers and oath breakers. Your aunt tainted your entire family line. I cannot, in good conscience, allow that sort of stain back into the beautiful city that is Lumen.”

“But we have no more room. No way to fit all of the other families that are forced to live there. We—”

“Daughters,” the queen interrupts again, “what is your ruling? Do you agree that we should not allow the descendants that so ruthlessly betrayed your grandmother and myself to live among us? Or should we heed her supposed pleas that an entire mountain is no longer habitable?”

Allegra barely lets our mother finish her sentence before she says “no.” Dyanna sounds bored as she also denies Nia’s request. With each answer, Nia’s shoulders round further as all the confidence she came into the throne room with begins to vanish right before us. Nia is not requesting much, not requesting anything beyond the right to basic and safe housing. Yet, because of a slight her aunt committed two hundred years ago, she is being denied.

I hear Lyre’s soft rejection next to me, and I bite down on my tongue. I want badly to say yes . I want so fiercely to turn to my mother and tell her that this is unfair. That treating her subjects this poorly isn’t what good rulers do. But I can’t. Nia holds my gaze, her eyes imploring, but all I can do is shake my head and say a quiet “no.” A small part of me dies at my cowardice, flaking away like rotting skin from a corpse.

That’s what being in this queendom does to anyone with a light spirit and soft heart. It doesn’t matter your station or your good intentions. If you don’t have the same beliefs and thoughts as the queen, then your ideas and input are inconsequential. You are inconsequential.

“You have your fair ruling, Nia Adanna—relative of a betrayer. You may leave now.” The words seem like a request, but the tone suggests that this is nothing less than a command.

Nia hesitates for a second, her mouth dropping open to speak, before she bows quickly and swims out of the room.

“Thank you all for coming to your queen with your concerns. You humble me as always with your trust in my rulings. If you’ll excuse us, I need to discuss some matters with my daughters.”

My throat tightens, but I keep my position steady, going over my mental list to try and calm myself. The moment the last siren leaves and the sea glass door closes, Allegra is swimming down the dais quickly, Mashaka—who must have been hiding behind the throne—right on her fin.

“How dare she come in here and attempt to embarrass you that way!” Allegra shouts. “It is a disgrace to ask for such an accommodation to be made for the bloodline of a forsaken!”

“Calm yourself, Allegra. She will be dealt with once enough time has passed. When is your next group of sirens going out hunting?”

“Tomorrow at dawn. We’ve gotten word from our scouts that there should be a few supply ships crossing the waters from the Mortal Kingdom to the Fae Kingdom.”

“Good. I want you all going on this hunt tomorrow morning. We need to make sure our line of succession is secure. I have no doubt that there are others out there who sympathize with Nia. Who think that a weaker queen is what they want to see rule our realm. We cannot let that happen.” My mother swims down from her throne, Allegra coming into position behind her and to the side. “You all represent a long line of fierce rulers who do not waiver in their duties. It is on you to ensure that you help uphold the values of our queendom to keep our people safe.” She gives everyone a hard look, lingering on me the longest. Historically, sirens weren’t expected to begin going out to find males until they reached twenty-two years of age. Under my mother’s reign, that rule has been bent and younger females are now being told they have the “great honor of fulfilling their duty to the queendom” sooner.

“You are all dismissed. Except for Aria.”

I swallow roughly as I fight the nausea now churning in my stomach. Lyre glances at me quickly—that small look relaying her anxious feelings—before she takes off with everyone else until I am alone in the room with my mother.

“Aria, why do you insist on making me look bad in front of our people?” she begins, her trident held tightly in her hand at her side.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It is not my intent to do so.” Shoulders and jaw relaxed, lips flat, spine straight…

“There are only so many times I can hear you say that before I begin to realize it isn’t the truth.” The silence between us is heavy, as if the ocean is slowly freezing solid and entombing me here. But it’s just terror icing my veins and making my body stiff. “Come with me, Daughter. Let’s see if you truly live for your queendom or for yourself.”