Page 86 of Golden Queen (Idrigard #1)

I moved my wrist, feeling the blade's perfect weight in my hand. Mine, my blood whispered back to her. You are mine.

Power thrummed up my arm, through my chest. I knew instinctively what I could do with such a weapon.

I looked up at Io. He was studying me as though he saw a little of what I felt through the blade, and he liked it. He stared from beneath his lowered brow, dark eyes flashing.

He turned away from the pool, and I realized he was slightly aroused. He raised a brow and grinned at me sheepishly as he stepped away to go and find his clothes.

I loved having a sword in my hand, and the fact that he reacted that way to seeing me with one, gave me an unexpected thrill.

The sword felt right—no, it felt perfect. The one Io bought for me in Cosdam was a fine blade, but this one sang to me of honor and of conquest and of glory.

I turned back to the sirens. "Tell your king I will strive to be worthy of such a fine gift."

I should have begged them to take it back.

I should have claimed, as I had to Adrio when he brought me the elderwood seed that still lay between my breasts on its silver chain, that I was unworthy of it.

But my blood hummed in my body as I held Sangui in my hand.

Some great power connected me to her as though lightning had come from the sky to meld my hand to the sword, making her an extension of my own body.

Holding Sangui made me feel worthy of such a gift. It made me feel like I could be the protector of eleven realms, whatever that meant.

The sirens were either unwilling or unable to answer the questions I directed at them about why their king would forge such a sword for me.

The Thyella sea surrounding Windemere was technically my sovereign territory, but I did not harbor any illusions that Vulcan was one of my subjects. It begged the question why he would grant me such a gift.

"We are messengers only, Your Majesty," Fellyanorsa said. "We are not known of the mind of the High King of the seas." She struggled with the Alterran, so it was easy to tell which words she had been directed to relay to me, and which were her own, spoken in an unfamiliar language.

The rest of my questions were met with similar answers, so I gave up and focused on being friendly.

When the Sirens began to slide away into the water after wishing us a fond farewell, Tekta and one of the males, the one I presumed to be her mate, held back.

Io, now clothed, stood at my side, holding my own shirt and pants. I had still given no thought to my nakedness.

The blue siren studied me hesitantly, her lips slightly parted as though she was about to speak.

The male stepped over to her, putting a hand on her back as though to guide her away. He leaned down and whispered into her ear.

His words were a song, faint and alluring. It made my heart ache just to hear such a lovely, musical sound.

My pulse began to throb in my head, and I became aware of Io at my side, steadying me with a hand on my elbow.

The words ended, my head cleared, and Tekta looked up at him and nodded. She placed one hand on her stomach as though to guard the child inside and turned to me.

She spoke in perfect Alterran, her accent very slight.

"This message is not from the king, but from the people—and from Boshin and me.

" She indicated the male at her side. "We would have Aelia of Windemere know that Atlantas will always stand on the side of the light.

If you have need of us—have need of the armies of the sea, you may summon us from any shore. "

I was dumbfounded, struck speechless. Would they really fight for us? For Windemere?

Boshin interjected, his only slightly deeper voice resonating through the chamber.

"But you should know that we would be going against the will of our king to do so.

I would ask that you not summon us unless the need is great, Guardian.

For we would be punished greatly just for the words we are speaking now.

" He laid a protective and demonstrative hand over Tekta's belly.

"The king would punish you for offering me aid?" I asked, my voice stony.

Tekta's eyes widened. She shook her head and added. "Please do not mistake my Boshin's words. The High King is a just and fair ruler, but he is above all, protective of the sirens and the seas. He would let the world above go to ruin before he would involve his people in another war."

Boshin smiled, but sadness clouded his features. "The king has lived through many thousands of years. He knows the cost of war better than many. But..."

"But we had family who died in Caraduin," Tekta interjected, sorrowfully. "They did not simply die, though. The Black Fleet's shadow walkers took my family from the sea and turned them upon the people of Caraduin."

I put my hands to my mouth in horror as Tekta's voice broke. "When the shadow walkers were finished using my sisters and brothers, and even their children, to tear apart the Caraduin farmers, they fired flaming arrows into the fields and let them all burn."

"I'm deeply sorry," I heard Io say from my side. His voice was hoarse. He was just as horrified as I was. "Even for Penjan, that is unimaginable brutality."

"My sisters and I share a bond of the mind that spans across great distances," Tekta added.

"I felt the pain they felt, the terror of them watching from within their own minds as they killed and killed, and then died.

My sisters from across the sea felt their deaths.

That is why Atlantas will stand when war comes. "

"Do you have sisters in Windemere?" I asked, desperate for news of my people.

"My sisters in Windemere are well. The king's kraken delayed the Black Fleet in the northern seas for a time, and the death in Windemere has been less than in other places.

" Boshin interjected, "I believe the king of Penjan has plans to stay in your kingdom, at least for a time, and so he has not sacked the city as severely as he might have done. "

The king would be severely lacking in people to serve him in Windemere, and for the trade and commerce necessary for comfortable noble living since I had already emptied most of the city. That might be enough to spare many of the people who remained after the evacuation.

I couldn't help the relief that washed through me to learn, at least for the time being, Windemere was not suffering.

“How many shadow walkers did they bring the Caraduin?” Io asked.

“We do not know,” Boshin admitted. “There was much chaos and confusion.”

"The Black Fleet always travels with at least one shadow mage on each ship," Io said. "I have never heard of them bringing so many that they could control hundreds of people at a time."

“There were many hundreds who were being controlled,” Tekta said, wincing. “Perhaps as many as a thousand. We do not yet know how many were lost.”

"Do you have access to idylstone?" Io asked abruptly.

Tekta and Boshin both narrowed their eyes at him, so he lifted the end of his sword to show them the large bright blue stone set into the end of his pommel.

"A single stone carried on your person will repel the shadow of all but the most powerful mage.

The larger the stone, the better. Several smaller stones will achieve the same result.

It does nothing against other forms of shadow magic, though. "

"We will pass this on to the king. We will get this stone for our people," Boshin said, nodding his head.

Tekta smiled as though the information gave her some hope.

I wondered if Arkadian knew the effects of idylstone when he gifted me the Obeskan blade that someone had stolen from my chambers in the castle.

Idylstone was a traditional decoration for swords all throughout Alterra, but I had never heard of any use for it aside from decorative.

Perhaps that was just another thing everyone else knew that I did not.

"Are your people in need of food, weapons, anything?" Io asked, surprising me again. He had shifted into his role as lord, looking out for the needs of the Atlantans.

"We want for nothing, Lord, thank you," Tekta replied.

"And our weapons are not the kind that can be forged," Boshin added. He meant their language, I realized. That explained the strange feeling in my head when Boshin had only whispered to Tekta in their tongue. The siren's song could be disorienting at the least, and deadly at the worst.

After mutual farewells had been passed between us, the sirens bowed low, their strange transparent fins jutting up from their backs, and then they slid away into the water.

When they were gone, Io knelt beside the box as I shrugged into my shirt. "I thought that box was a bit heavy just to have a sword inside," he said.

I finished buttoning my shirt and went to look. I had placed Sangui gently on the moss where we made our bed, and as I walked away, I noted the way my hand itched to reach back and grip the hilt again.

Io had the white cloth pulled aside, and all I saw in the box was a sea of glittering gold.

A suit of shimmering gold, silver, and white enamel armor, finely worked chain mail, scaled pauldrons, gauntlets, and grieves, all with delicate scrollwork and textured relief, was nestled in a sea of gold coins.

The coins were all stamped with the profile of a man with long, wavy hair, a blade sharp nose, and strong jawline.

A crown of what looked like seashells sat upon his head.

“Is that Vulcan?” I asked, picking up one of the coins.

I had not even known the sirens had a king, imagining them as more animal than people.

“Of course,” he replied, not seeming the least surprised by the existence of High King Vulcan. I tried not to let that bother me, but in the end, it only did what it always did. It made me angry that my uncle and the eldermen had kept me so very ignorant of the world around me.