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Chapter Thirty-Six: Aria

Sitting with Lyre on my bed, we both stare at the aged book between us. She had come by my room after the queen had dismissed me, a large tome in hand that she had stolen from the library after overhearing what our mother wanted. I am leaving tomorrow morning to journey around the Continent to the Northern Island, a small plot of land technically part of the Siren Queendom, to retrieve an old set of rings that are supposedly enchanted by a past queen.

“Enchanting items isn’t a magic we possess anymore, but millennia ago, one of our queens did. I found an archive of some of the items she enchanted,” she says, flipping the pages as we pore over the different items listed.

There are books and swords and jewelry documented, all ranging in magical capability. Some magic was small, like armor that never nicked, while others were more grand, like a necklace that could be worn to soothe an aching heart and swords that gave the wielder immunity from our song. I turn the page, scanning it for anything that might mention rings.

“Here,” Lyre says, pointing at one of the listings. The details of the rings it describes are slightly different from what my mother told me—silver instead of gold, diamonds instead of pearls—but perhaps the enchantment would still be the same. “The bearer of the rings, so long as they have royal blood, will be able to command the magic of it. Placing the ring onto another will yield control over their autonomy to whoever the bearer wishes, whether that be themselves or another. Only can one of royal blood break the spell and end the enchantment for all who wear the rings.”

My brows furrow as I click my talons together. I can’t at all think why my mother would want such a thing when she already controls everyone by fear alone. Lyre must think the same, as she shakes her head, looking up from the pages to me.

“Why? Why send you, of all people, to retrieve this?”

“She threatened the sirens of the seamounts if I don’t. It’s just another way to control me since I’m not producing heirs as she wants.” Lyre flutters her lips, her exhaustion showing when she yawns heavily. “Go, sister. It’s late, and we both have to be up early for my send off.”

She closes the book and tucks it under her arm as she swims for the door. “I will try to keep her attention elsewhere while you’re gone,” she says, looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes sparkle in earnest, but guilt chews on my conscience.

“I can’t have you do that, Lyre, nothing that will draw her focus to you.”

Her lavender brow lifts in challenge, the corner of her mouth rising to match. “I have been alive far longer than you have, Aria. I know how to handle myself.” Sending a wink my way, she says goodnight and shuts the door behind her.

I continuously circle my room in the minutes after, little bubbles fluttering around me as I do. It will take me over two months to travel around the Continent and return. And if I didn’t come back on time…

A knock on my door startles me, and assuming it’s Lyre, I rush to open it. Lore hovers in the hallway, her long yellow braids pulled together into a thick plait that lays over her shoulder. Her dark skin gleams in contrast under the light of the crystals.

“Lore, what are you doing here?” I ask, my heart plummeting to my stomach.

Bright yellow eyes caress my body as she interlaces her fingers in front of her. “I was hoping we could chat.” She pulls her lower lip into her mouth, dragging her teeth along it while I hide farther behind the door.

“I don’t know, Lore. I have to leave in the morning, and I—” My words are forced to a stop when she rushes forward, weaving her hands into my hair and drawing me into her.

“You look like you need to relax, Aria. And I want to help you do that. Please, let me help you.” Her voice is soft and melodic, not with magic but from her own lust.

“I am leaving tomorrow morning,” I whisper, my eyes darting out into the hall. My mother had not said I had to keep my departure a secret, and when I asked her what she would tell people about my absence for so many weeks, she merely laughed.

If Lore is surprised by my news, she doesn’t show it. “Then let’s make tonight worth it.” Her fingers drag slowly down my shoulders as she crowds me, guiding me backwards towards my bed. “Come on, Aria, you and I both know this is what you want.”

I start to recoil, the word “no” bubbling up my throat, but when she is in a mood like this—so clearly ready to take from me, whether it’s being offered or not—I don’t know how to deny her. When her hands drag over my breasts and descend, her eyes lifting to mine expectantly, I don’t bother trying to delay the inevitable.

Legs and feet replace my tail fin, and my scales retract until there is only a shimmer of their pattern on my skin. Lying back, my gaze stays unfocused on the pearlescent ceiling above me. The first lick of her tongue flat against me sends a shiver through my legs.

“So responsive,” she hums, her grip on my inner thighs bruising.

My heart rattles in my chest, forced desire and lingering fear warring with each other between my ribs. I wonder if it is normal to always feel a coating of dread during moments of supposed intimacy.

Lore was my first female sexual experience, and the only one since. She knew my body—my likes and dislikes—better than even myself. Our early encounters were passionate and heated, with Lore exploring every part of me in exquisite detail, and I had liked it then, those first few times. I had thrived under the attention she gave me and the way her eyes lingered on parts of me that left my cheeks flushed. She treated me like something precious—a treasure found amongst sand.

Then my choice had been taken from me in front of an audience—one which Lore was a part of. Though I knew she couldn’t have said anything, there was a part of me that hoped, when my panicked eyes found hers, that she would. That she would find me worthy of speaking up for. It seemed like I was always waiting for someone to find me worthy of something . So far, no one truly had. Not in any way that mattered. Not when the cost was their flesh versus my own.

But was I any better?

She continues her movements, my hips rocking of their own accord, and though pleasure curls and spikes within me, I feel nothing else. This moment is just a blanket over the memories of what came before. It doesn’t make the fear and pain and guilt go away; it simply covers them for a time, hides them from view. I force my eyes shut and ride the wave of her ministrations until I am languid but not relaxed. I’m never truly at ease.

When it’s over, Lore’s need satiated, I curl on my side and wait for the quietness of sleep.

The light of dawn crests over the water, the sky painted a soft lavender and blue. I had expected to see Lyre before I had to leave, but Allegra was at my door as the first peek of the sun rose over the horizon, and Lyre had not come outside the palace to say goodbye. Mashaka swims circles around us slowly, his beady black eyes catching my gaze every time he moves in front of me.

“If you have not returned within ten weeks’ time with the rings in hand, you know whose lives you will be condemning.” My mother’s grip on her trident is light, her body at ease as she elegantly undulates her tail in the water. There is a tightness to her mouth, a quiet zeal churning in her dark eyes. She doesn’t just want these spelled rings; she needs them. And I can’t even begin to imagine why.

Turning towards the east, my fingers grip lightly around my eelgrass woven satchel.

“Do not fail me, Aria.” With those parting words, the queen turns and swims back in the direction of the palace.

Allegra looks down her nose at me, her lips lifting into a sneer. “Mashaka will not protect your life over his. So don’t do anything that will give him the choice because you will lose, every time.” She glances towards her delphinidae, narrowing her eyes until he barely treads the water. A muscle trembles in his side, his own eyes wide and focused. When Allegra finally decides to leave, Mashaka relaxes a fraction.

“Okay then, let’s go.”

Somehow understanding me, he darts off into the water, his sleek form gliding easily against the current. I trail behind him, my gaze lingering on Lumen beneath us until it fades away.

Hours pass while the sun moves higher in the sky. I keep to my quickened pace, following behind Mashaka as he continues to guide the way. Calcified rock juts out from the sand while bright yellow and orange anemones flow gently in the ocean’s current. Coral in varying shades of pink and blue and green grows in the crevices of the rock, their spindly hardened veins reaching up towards the surface. It’s in one of those coral that a glint of silver catches my attention.

My swimming slows as I cast a glance towards Mashaka, but the delphinidae is yards ahead of me. I only linger on the decision for a moment before my curiosity wins out, and I dive down to the coral. My claws gently work to free the shining object, sending tiny blue crabs scattering over the rock. When I lift it up, I see that it’s a small dagger, the hilt cool and heavy in my hand. There is no embellishment or adornment on it except for the initials L.V. in pretty script carved onto the side. Inspecting it closer, I notice that the hilt is marbled with a faint color of brown, reminding me of decaying bone. It’s a fine- looking weapon, only partially rusted from its time in the water. Carefully laying it in my bag, I look up to find Mashaka nowhere to be seen. I dart higher into the water, quickly swimming in the direction I last saw him.

In my urgency to catch up, I don’t take in my surroundings fully. I don’t notice how the coral is fading away or how the sand is darkening in color. It isn’t until I feel the unmistakable drop in temperature that I realize where I am.

The Tula Ledge.

The sandy ocean bottom eventually ends, nothing but a pit of black in its place. A chill skitters over me as I look down into it. My mother has utilized these depths and its monsters as a way to dispose of the bodies of sirens who have met her wrath. I’ve only ever visited the ledge once before, fear and trepidation enough to send me traversing the other way. Now, as I float above it—far closer than I should be—my skin crawls with the feeling of being watched.

Mashaka comes back into view farther ahead, and I hasten my pace over the ledge’s menacing opening. My hands grip onto the strap of my bag while I bounce my eyes from beneath me to up ahead where even the vicious delphinidae waits, not willing to cross so low to the opening of the ledge.

On my next glance beneath me, something moves. It’s wrapped in shadows and extremely quick, but I think I see the glint of a claw or tooth. My hips roll faster as my tail whips up and down in frenzied movements. Mashaka freezes in the water, his beady eyes focused in my direction but not on me .

A scream rips from my throat as an oily black creature darts from the darkness of Tula’s pit and right towards me.

“Help me!” I yell to Mashaka, my heart thrashing against my ribcage.

He doesn’t move beyond his eyes shifting from the monster to me. The grotesque creature’s mouth unhinges, opening widely enough to bite me in half. Rows of razor-sharp teeth make my blood run cold as I change direction and dash towards the surface. Perhaps if the sunlight hits this beast from the deepest pit of the ocean, it will be enough to stop its pursuit of me. I swim faster than I ever have before, my heart beating so soundly that I feel it rattle my skull. I can faintly hear the squeaks of Mashaka, but I’m too afraid to look behind me.

The creature slashes the tip of my tail fin, just enough to sting as I hiss through my teeth. The sun is shining brightly, and still, the creature persists. I glance back quickly and immediately regret doing so. Bony arms that end with long, skinny claws reach towards me, its black skin shiny and covered with patches of silver scales.

I stretch my hands out in front of me and, with a powerful whip of my tail, launch myself into the layer of the Spell before breaking through the water’s surface. I hear the monster behind me follow, its screech ringing out over the open air. The hair on the back of my neck rises as I arc above the water, my body tilting until I’m in a dive. The moment my face is back underwater, I don’t look behind me. Instead, I shoot towards Mashaka where he swims back and forth at the other side of the ledge.

“Go!” I shout as I close the distance between us.

He waits until I’m only a few yards away and then turns and scurries off. I push hard, ignoring the way my heart pumps much too quickly and the muscles in my tail ache. A cramp forms in my side, and still, I continue to swim. I’m far past Tula’s Ledge when I finally stop feeling the presence of something behind me. It isn’t until the sun is setting, vibrant orange and pink tainting the sky above, that I allow myself to slow down. The adrenaline fueling my pace begins to fade away, replaced instead by bone-weary fatigue. I haven’t eaten at all today, and I’m too exhausted to go hunt for anything now.

“Mashaka, wait,” I groan out, searching for somewhere safe for us to rest for the evening.

I find an outcropping of calcified rock just taller than me with an indent at its base big enough for Mashaka and I to hide together in. My movements are lethargic while I sink down onto the seafloor and push myself into the small carved out portion of the rock. I examine my fin, happy to see that there isn’t much more than a small scrape against it. Curling in on myself, my eyes are nearly shut when the soft whirring of the current is interrupted by a high-pitched squeak.

A silver and white striped fish dangles lifelessly from his jaws as Mashaka all but plops down next to me, the weight of his body shifting the sediment around us until I have to blink away the sand from my eyes.

“I suppose you aren’t going to share that, are you?”

He whips his head towards me, and though he can’t say the word “no,” I hear it all the same. My stomach rumbles in response, and Mashaka squeaks again before giving me his back. I sigh, returning my head to my folded arms as I allow my eyes to close to the sound of Mashaka enjoying his meal.

Day one down, and I only almost got eaten by a sea monster.