Page 21

Chapter Twenty: Aria

Come with me, Daughter. Let’s see if you truly live for your queendom or for yourself.

My mother’s voice echoes in my head as we swim towards the back exit of the throne room and down one of her private hallways. My tail fin’s movements are jerky while I fight to stay in control of the dread rotting thickly within me.

“Did you know that when I was your age, I had already birthed one offspring?” she lilts, the magical cadence of her voice powerful. I swallow roughly, failing to keep my shoulders from curving in on themselves. I fear that I know where she is leading me, and I can’t do it again. “Everything I have done—every choice, every seemingly barbaric action taken and word spoken—has been for my people. For the siren sisters we share these waters with. But we should have so much more .”

I know this. It is a declaration she has made plenty of times in the past; it is why things are the way they are for our people. I don’t mention that when she was my age, there wasn’t a spell cast out over Olymazi. The War Of Five Kingdoms hadn’t happened. Our siren song wasn’t weakening, and getting pregnant was easier.

There had always been a balance to things. The mortals could easily have children, their numbers robust and plentiful. But they didn’t have magic, so their only defense lay in those numbers. The fae had their dragons and extended life, but they conceived at far lower rates than even we did. The shifters had strength and the ability to change forms, but only to one animal, and their lives were not as long-lived as our own. The mages could bend and manipulate the magic of Olymazi to their will, and with a nominally extended life, they were otherwise no stronger or different than mortals. And sirens—we can shift into beings of two worlds. Our song can control the minds of men except that our survival is completely dependant on them. And over the decades, the ability to lure them has begun to dwindle.

The hallway we swim down is dark, the normally brightly lit crystals built into the walls covered in a film of black algae. It leads to an open courtyard, and there in the middle, surrounded by floating stalks of bright green kelp and bundles of neon grass, is my sister Sade. Her scales reflect gold and burnt orange flares all around her on the seafloor as they catch the rays of sun filtering in from the surface. On her lips, her claws digging into his arms so roughly that red blood drips slowly down them, is a male. Though I can’t see his face, I already know that his eyes are glazed over, his lips moving at Sade’s command as they continue to devour each other’s mouths. Through that kiss, siren magic keeps him alive for now.

Sade unseals her lips from his, and my heart jumps into my throat, my talons curling into my palms. This must have been why she wasn’t at the assembly.

“It fucking took long enough. Aria, he’s all yours,” she sings, winking as she swims past me.

My mother smiles somewhat warmly at my older sister before her face settles back into its usual measured indifference.

My eyes bounce back to the male, whose body is slowly sinking to the ocean floor as the magic from Sade’s kiss begins to wear off. He looks to be in his third decade, his fair skin dotted with freckles while his longer orange-red hair floats around him.

“Will you honor your people, Aria? Or will you be responsible for this male’s death?” I’m already responsible for his death. The only reason he is here is so that my mother can prove a point. Tears well in my eyes, while acidic nausea churns in my gut. Not again. Not again. “Hurry up and decide; the magic is nearly gone.”

The male’s light blue eyes start to clear, that magical veil covering them receding as they widen and look around in panic. I grit my teeth, terror and guilt bleeding together inside of me and keeping me frozen in place. My mother clicks her tongue, swimming to me until she has her gold diamond-tipped trident pointed at my heart.

“This,” she says, poking at my chest until a prick of pain clears the wave of emotions holding me in place, “will get you killed. You are not doing this male any favor by not fucking him. The only thing you are doing is proving to me that you do not value your role within this family. Within a queendom that you were bred to protect. Mark my words, Aria, if you do not perform your duties as I expect, then there is no place for you here.”

She removes the trident, and I quickly swim to the male. The magic is all but gone, and he thrashes wildly as reality seeps into him. I don’t open my mouth to sing, as it won’t work anyway. My mother may think she knows everything about me, but this secret is one that only one other being is aware of.

It had taken a few hunts for me to realize that my song held no magic. I, a siren princess, cannot lure males in with my song. I can feel the magic build in my throat despite the fact that it doesn’t work. If it were not for Lyre always going on hunts with me and using her magic for us both, I’m sure that my secret would already be exposed and I would likely be dead.

So I seal my lips over his, my tongue diving into his mouth and caressing it in gentle strokes. Immediately, his movements calm, his body becoming pliant to my will. At least this part of my magic is effective.

I force my hands to his belt buckle, my talons slicing the leather easily. My gaze stays pinned on the now glassy one in front of me as a tether to reality, even though all I want to do is disappear. It seems more respectful, more dignified—if that could be true at all in this situation—to not close my eyes and pretend I was doing anything other than violating him. Even as he moans his pleasure at my touch, it isn’t real. It’s manufactured and just so horribly wrong.

I had fought it the first time Queen Amari ordered me to fuck a male in front of her. I had pushed back and said that I wouldn’t do it with an audience. I swore that I was dedicated to this queendom and my role within it, and all that small defiance had done was cause her to bring in more to witness it. The first time I had sex was in front of the cruel jeweled eyes of my mother’s vicious supporters, guards, and even a few of my sisters. And her . And now, though it is just her and I and this unfortunate male, it feels as if the eyes of the entire Siren Queendom are bearing down on me.

I don’t love my home, not in the way I think a princess should. I do not want to contribute to our royal line, and I absolutely hate forcing my body onto someone else. I’ve wished for more than just the cold writhing of someone under a spell. It is foolish and hopeless and clearly pointless to feel that way, but my yearning heart wants it all the same.

“Aria, I don’t have all day.” My mother’s harsh voice brings me back to the present.

I shift my lower half and yank the male’s trousers down. Then I perform what is expected of me under my mother’s watchful eyes.

My legs are barely shifted back to a tail when my mother sticks her trident out in front of me, trapping me in place. She doesn’t have to speak a word; I know what she wants me to do.

I watch as my magic bleeds from his eyes, replaced instead with all-consuming panic as he begins to thrash. The lack of oxygen slowly deprives his brain, and his lifeless body eventually sinks to the ocean floor. I will the tears to hold off a little bit longer, running through my mental checklist and adjusting my body—hopefully well enough that she will let me go.

All I want is to leave.

With calculated languidness, my mother scrapes her trident against my chest as she withdraws it from in front of me. “It is good to see that your loyalties do, indeed, lie with your people. You will be joining them on the hunt in the morning, and then I have a special mission for you.”

Her black eyes coat me in an imaginary darkness that seeps from her. It pokes and prods at me like it’s looking for a way to corrupt me. What she doesn’t realize is that she already has—I am already irredeemable. Nodding my head, I bow deeply, and Queen Amari finally leaves me, a broken shell of a siren struggling to keep her heartbeat steady.

“Surround the ship now!” Allegra shouts as our party fans out around the large vessel. Lyre swims beside me as usual. Both of our faces are grimly set as we move to the far side of the large wooden ship, my muscles straining to keep up with the speed it’s sailing at.

Allegra whistles, our sign to get to the surface and start singing. The ship is fast in the water, waves crashing off of it as it moves. But our powerful bodies keep up, streamlining with the current as we were made to. I follow Lyre up, my head breaking through the water as I begin to sing, joining the chorus of the other sirens. Our voices harmonize effortlessly, the chilling melody blanketing the ship from all angles. Magic tickles the base of my throat, while my tail propels me faster.

Lyre moves in front of me, another siren passing behind to go towards the stern of the ship, as I wait to see the males enraptured by our song. Well, not exactly my song, but the chorale of my siren sisters.

Two hands land on the railing, and dread fills my veins in anticipation of what I will witness—what I will have to do. Sometimes, I get lucky, and there aren’t enough males on the ship. Sometimes, Lyre is able to distract Allegra so that I can sneak away and give the illusion that I’ve done what I’m supposed to. But a quick look towards my eldest sister reveals her attention already on me. It seems that with my mother’s latest punishment, Allegra is more vigilant of my movements. Making sure my duty is being fulfilled.

Curly brown hair appears over the railing of the ship, and my eyes widen as I take in the facial features— feminine facial features. Our gazes lock, her attention solely on me. My voice falters as I watch her climb a rung of the railing and then another before she is harshly yanked back. I stop singing, my focus moving to Lyre while adrenaline burns through my veins.

I hear Allegra hiss from her position near the front of the ship. “Shifters!” she growls before dipping under the water, our sign to abandon the ship and follow her.

I glance at Lyre, but her focus is on a teal-haired siren swimming on my other side. The female’s eyes move from the ship to me, lingering briefly before she ducks her head under the water to follow Allegra.

“Did you see that?” I whisper, catching her amethyst gaze as the ship moves farther away.

“Yes. Come on, we better go.” We both sink under the water and follow the rest of the sirens back to Lumen. My mother is going to be furious to find out that we targeted another shifter ship. She may even chastise Allegra for it, but the thought of my eldest sister getting reprimanded doesn’t take the edge off of my anxiousness.

Did I nearly call a female into the water? It’s impossible. My song, the very magic that is supposed to lure the opposite sex to mate with, doesn’t work . At least, it doesn’t work on males, but is there a chance it works on females ?

And what will it mean if Lyre isn’t the only one who saw me almost call one into the water.