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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aria

My body is still vibrating with dread after our failed attempt to lure the shifter ship—where a female aboard had nearly jumped into the water because of me . At least, I think it was because of me. My song isn’t effective against males, but could it be with females? If so, has that always been the case or is it something… new .

“Try to remain calm, or mother will know something is up.” Lyre gives me a small squeeze of reassurance before letting go.

My lips purse as I stare at my sister. “She always seems to know anyway when I’m trying to hide something.”

“Well, she hasn’t figured this out yet,” she says firmly, looking out in the direction of Lumen. “Have you even figured out what is going on?”

“No,” I say with a resigned groan. “I don’t know why I can’t be like everyone else. Why I’m cursed to not just be a siren but a terrible one.”

“Aria.” She says my name like a reprimand, but I know that she’s only worried about someone overhearing us.

“I am lucky to have you, Lyre,” I whisper, drawing my gaze up to meet her lavender one. “I don’t think I would still be alive if I didn’t.” Without Lyre, there would be no one for me to commiserate with. Though I haven’t told her everything , like the fact that I’m only attracted to females or about my secret cave, all she would need to effectively end my life is to share the secret about my song with our mother.

Lyre is quiet before gesturing for us to continue swimming. We move past schools of orange and white striped fish and small pods of miniature manatees. The seamounts come into view up ahead, the dark jagged rock stark against the bright blue of the ocean.

“When I was the youngest siren, before you were born, it was torturous. Allegra assumed her role as my personal tormentor right away. Sade had already joined the Queen’s Legion by then, so I think she was just bored. I may have been able to hide my emotions more quickly and easily than you, Aria, but I had no one else to lean on. When Dyanna was born, I was so excited to have someone to interact with that wasn’t tainted by the brutality of our queendom yet.”

The longing in her voice causes my own to catch in my throat. She’s never told me before what it was like to watch Dyanna grow up and how she went from an impressionable young siren to an unfeeling female.

“Dyanna was so curious and sweet as an offspring. She loved learning and would lay completely still if you promised to read her a book. Mother saw that softness in her, even when she was so young, as weakness. So she tucked her under her wing and didn’t let go. That docile disposition quickly gave way to indifference and apathy. I had to keep pretending that I wasn’t watching the destruction of innocence right in front of me. I learned to act as if I was proud of her—like her transformation was one to be applauded . And then you came.” She slows us down until we are floating in the water, hovering over the seamounts as she lowers her voice. “I protected you as much as I could, all in the hopes that you could preserve a part of yourself without their corruption. You are special, Aria. Not because you are my sister. Not because you are a princess of the Siren Queendom, but simply because you are you . I would not change any part of who you are.”

She holds my hands in both of hers tightly.

“I know it is difficult to constantly hide, but just remember, you have one person who truly cares about you. No matter what the queen or Allegra make you do. No matter how you might beat yourself up about it afterwards. You are good and humane. Don’t let those things get lost in the fray of everything else we have to pretend to be.”

Tears of understanding mix into the surrounding waters as I whisper, “You know about yesterday.”

My sister tightens her grip on me. “I’m sorry. It should have never happened again.” Swallowing is difficult as I struggle to put into words just how grateful I am for Lyre. How lucky I am to have her as a confidant. She smiles at me before withdrawing her hands and turning to look in Lumen’s direction. “I need to get back and return my books before Dyanna has my head. Are you going to visit them?” She nods to the seamounts.

“Yes. The young sirens will probably want me to play games for a bit, and I could use the distraction. Mother says she has a mission for me. Do you have any idea what it might be?”

Lyre’s brows furrow together as she shakes her head. “I haven’t heard anything. Whatever it is, I’ll help you as much as I can.” Her eyes linger on mine as she smiles and then dips her chin, turning to swim back towards our home.

I watch her for a moment, willing her sweet words to replace the anxious ones in my mind. Once she is out of sight and I feel my heartbeat steady, I swim down to the base of the seamounts. I’m met with complete silence when I reach the bottom, the lack of sound sending a wave of unease up my spine. I try to peer inconspicuously into the homes that are carved there, but not a single crystal gleams with light within the dwellings, making the darkness and quiet ominous as I continue swimming.

“What are you doing here?” The familiar voice causes me to startle as I quickly look behind me to see Nia floating there. “You are no longer wanted here.”

“What?” I question, my surprise growing when I see colorful eyes catch the light of the sun streaming in from above. Dozens of sirens swim out from their hiding spots, their expressions ranging from apathy to pure disdain.

“Did you think after what happened yesterday that we would want you here again?” Nia’s voice is vicious and her anger palpable as she moves closer to me, her fingers bent and claws poised to strike.

“Nia, I’m sorry.”

She scoffs, her light blue eyes alight with fury. Her anger is not misplaced, I just wish there was more that I could do.

“You are a princess , Aria. That holds weight. It holds value to the other sirens that blindly follow your royal family. If one of you were to speak up, were to show others that there was a possibility of someone disagreeing with Her Wickedness , it would create a waterfall effect. Others would follow suit.”

“It’s not that simple, Nia. I can’t disagree with her. She will be no less brutal in her punishment of me than she is with anyone else. It does not matter that I am her daughter.”

“That’s a pathetic excuse, and you know it.” She moves so that she is directly in front of me, her teeth bared until I can see the points of her canines. Despite the appearance of her soft blue hair and scales, she is nothing less than a predator—hungry for retribution.

“I care about all the sirens of this queendom. A fact I would have thought proven by my spending time here. I do not want you stuck in this life, but I am only one person. And your aunt—” My words are abruptly halted when Nia slaps me across the face. My hand flies to my cheek, tears welling in my eyes as I bring them back to her.

“You will not utter one single word about my aunt. She was twice the female you or your pathetic excuse of a queen could ever be. She told me what actually happened, you know. What your mother and grandmother did during the war. We are doomed to a life in the seamounts under the barrier of the Spell that they are the cause of.”

Confused, my eyes bounce from her to those gathered behind her. “Nia, how is that possible?” It is well known that her aunt died during the war in a battle fought on the surface.

She scoffs. “I wouldn’t dare utter any word to you that I don’t want the queen learning. Leave, Your Highness, and do not come back. You are not welcome here.”

With that, she dismisses me, backing up to join the now large group of sirens gathered around me. My eyes roam theirs, trying to find a friendly face—someone who might explain why my presence here matters—but no one speaks up. In a twist of sharp irony, I am now the one wishing someone would defy Nia’s orders and stand up for me . I take one last look, my eyes finding the small ones of Tiana and then Karina hovering behind her. I don’t linger long, especially as Nia growls low from behind me. But I give the young sirens my most reassuring smile and then turn and swim up towards the surface.

While I didn’t consider the seamounts a place of refuge, visiting the females there felt like the one good thing I was doing. For once in my entire existence within the confines of whom I was born to, I felt like I was making a difference. Without that, who was I really? Just another face upholding the savageness of a female scorned two hundred years ago.

Here or not, it didn’t seem to matter. No one other than Lyre would even care anymore if I were to disappear.

The small pieces of sea glass before me glisten under the faint sunlight from above. The bright blues and vibrant greens are sorted out, a few pinks and yellows in their own little piles as well. Normally when I work on a new glass art piece, I have a vision in mind, an image that will imprint itself in my brain until I get it out through the placement of the colored glass. But today, there is nothing.

“Aria, are you in there?” Lyre’s voice outside my door is a welcome surprise.

“Yes, come in.” She opens the door, and I look up from a small pink table carved from the coral growing in my room. My fingers abandon the sea glass when I see the tension lining her face, worry swirling in her lavender eyes. “What is it?”

“Mother has asked that you meet her in the throne room. Allegra and Mashaka are there, as is Sade.”

I wonder if I am truly heading towards my own demise as Lyre and I leave my room. If I am, I cannot say that it wouldn’t be a welcome event. I try to focus on my mental checklist, but the closer we get to the yellow sea glass door, the harder it is for me to wear that mask of calm.

We enter the room to complete silence, my mother sitting upon her throne of decayed bones and rotted seashells. She watches us come down the middle aisle, Sade and Allegra hovering in the water on either side of her. Sade has opted not to wear her tritonelli seashell armor, instead letting her burnished orange and amber scales show. The deep brown of her skin makes her orange eyes glow, their intensity matching the tension in the room.

Lyre and I bow before our mother, my gaze focused down on the green scales at the bottom of my tail.

“Rise, daughters,” she commands. Lyre doesn’t spare me a look before she swims up the dais to Allegra’s side. My mother lifts her chin slightly as she stares down the steps to where I wait. “Aria, you have been keeping secrets.”

My chest constricts as I hold her unnerving gaze. I don’t dare speak first, unsure of which secret she is referring to. She rises from her throne, her massive golden trident in hand.

“It appears that I have underestimated just how much you don’t value your position. Are you aware of how many sirens would kill to be in your place? They might even kill to take your place, and yet you betray your family out in the open.” The queen moves down the dais until she is only a few inches in front of me, her tail propelling her higher so that I have to tilt my head up to look at her. A horrific truth lies in the depths of her demeanor, one that she makes sure I understand. I am not her daughter but prey standing in the way of what she wants. I remain silent, both out of fear and from some tiny spark of self-preservation burning within me. “I know that you have been visiting the traitors of the seamounts. Giving them royal attention,” she hisses, dropping down in the water until there is nothing more than the width of her trident between us. “Giving them coin . Entertaining the young sirens there, as if they are not descendants of treason .”

“I just feel bad for them—”

“Your bleeding heart can be sent to them, then, if you so wish, Aria!” she shouts, backing up until her trident is pointed at my chest. The jagged edges of the diamond tips push against my skin, right on the edge of cutting me open. “I will not have you be the weak link in this family. You have two jobs: enforce my rule and add to our family line. So far, you are failing at both of those, and I’m starting to feel inclined to agree with Allegra that we either banish or kill you.”

My talons dig into my palms as I look Allegra’s way, immediately regretting that I do. There is no recognition or familiarity in her dark blue eyes—only a gleeful rage that she is all too eager to act upon.

“But I have another way that you can atone for your transgressions. A way for you to earn your keep and convince me of your value.” My eyes are drawn back to my mother’s as she drops her weapon from my chest. Water flows more easily through my gills though my heart still rattles my ribcage. “I need something that is being stored on the Northern Island. You are going to go get it for me.”

I draw my brows together as a stuttering noise of confusion tumbles out of me. “You—you want me to journey to the Northern Island?” The journey is perilous and time consuming, taking five weeks alone just to travel there. Though having that much time out from under the thumb of my merciless mother and sisters sounds like a wish come true, uncertainty roars within me. “Surely, one of my other sisters is more appropriate to task this journey with?”

“Let me make myself clear, Aria. This is not a request but a demand . If you refuse, I will punish you by destroying the traitors of the seamounts.”

Her threat hits deep, and I betray myself by letting my emotions seep out to the surface. She would kill her own people just to be rid of any who might think ill of her, and she’ll happily put the blame on me .

“I cannot make this trip on my own,” I say around the quivering of my lips.

To my surprise, she nods her head in agreement. I’m afraid to move—afraid to hope that perhaps she will let Lyre accompany me. But the thought dies before it has time to settle with my mother’s next words.

“Mashaka will accompany you as your travel companion and enforcer—should you get any ideas about not returning. If that doesn’t sway you, remember this: the lives of the sirens in the seamounts now rest on your shoulders.” The queen’s lips curl up into a monstrous smile. “If you fail to return, I will slaughter them all.”