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ROWAN

I’d been to Thalassaria before, but never the palace. This time, when I crossed the border, immediately being stopped by the Stormcaller guards, instead of registering myself and passing through, I was forced to wait. Though I’d seen marisol before—the teal and silver shimmering fish with teeth that could be fatal to humans—it was the first time I’d witnessed one being used. Watching as the guard leaned into the canal to place a delicate, waterproof scroll in a marisol’s teeth, a bioluminescent line along its spine began to gently pulse as it swam away. The first time I’d come to Thalassari, standing along a canal with my father watching those fish messengers swim, I told him I wanted to live here. I understood, however, by the end of that mission, that a human may be welcomed to Thalassaria as a visitor, but to its fiercely independent people, I was an outsider. My place was in Estmere, in the human kingdom.

“You are welcome to pass,” the guard said, interrupting my thoughts. In a remarkably short time, the message had been sent and received by palace. Queen Lirael would see me. “You know the way?”

Mounting Ember, the warhorse that had been bred over hundreds of years from Elydor’s native horse stock, I made my way through the dense coastal fog that clung to the Thalassarian shores. The steady rhythm of Ember’s hooves was a constant companion as we navigated the rocky path that wound along the cliffs. Below, the waves crashed against jagged rocks, their spray catching the early-morning light. The air smelled of salt and seaweed, the distant call of seabirds reminding me I was a long way from Estmere.

As I arrived in Maristhera, passing through the bustling Serenium Square and heading toward the palace, I focused on my mission in favor of my surroundings. Having long ago shed my cloak, the perpetual warm climate of Elydor’s southernmost clan the reason they favored nearly sheer fabrics had me also stopping to remove the heavy tunic that I should have left in Estmere. It had been many years since I traveled this far south, and I’d not been thinking of its weather when I set off from home.

I had been thinking of my grandfather.

But now, I needed to concentrate on what I would say to the queen when granted an audience and rehearsed my speech again.

King Galfrid’s daughter has returned, though we are not certain how she slipped through the closed Aetherian Gate. With her return, the king is determined, more than ever, to reopen it. As you know, we need the Tidal Pearl in order to do s o.

She would refuse.

I was as certain of that fact as my own name. It was Thalassaria’s most precious relic. That she’d allowed King Galfrid to use it once, when he opened the Gate more than five hundred years ago, was a surprise to all who knew of that fact, of which there were precious few.

She would refuse, but it was my job to convince her that it would benefit her people to do otherwise. Queen Lirael may not despise humans, but neither would she lend the Tidal Pearl to Galfrid for their benefit. But for her own people? She would do anything.

If I wasn’t trained as a spy, I may not have noticed the Thalassarian guards hidden behind the trees. Because it was my duty to see what typically went undetected, I easily spotted the camouflaged warriors. By the time I arrived at the palace gates, I’d passed at least ten of them on both sides of me.

No other Elydorian leader was as well-protected as the Queen of Thalassaria, whose reputation for paranoia was well known.

“Hold.”

Finally, one who made himself seen. Or themselves, to be more precise. Well ahead of the gatehouse, four of the queen’s guards stepped directly into the sand and shell-ridden path on which I’d been traveling.

“Identify yourself.”

The guard knew well my name already. Tempted to tell him as much, I reminded myself that glibness was not my friend in this situation.

“Sir Rowan of Estmere,” I said.

“Your guide has not yet arrived. Dismount.”

Again, I held my tongue. Reminding the guard that a polite command was just as easily given as a rude one would serve little.

By the time my belongings and I were searched, I’d expected my guide to have arrived. Since none of the guards deemed it necessary to update me at any point, I waited without communication of any kind until a rider finally appeared in the distance.

I could see it was a woman, but little else. By the time she fully came into view, I was well and truly enamored. Wearing a teal tunic which hung off one shoulder, black, glistening, form-fitting breeches and a wide belt which appeared from her like scales of a beautiful, multi-colored fish, the woman epitomized a Thalassarian.

With one exception.

None could match her beauty. My guide’s hair, a shade between brown and blonde, was tied back loosely with strands escaping everywhere. With full lips and sun-kissed cheeks, her pale-green eyes shone with curiosity as she reached me.

If I hadn’t met the queen before, I would have assumed this woman was the queen, except for the obvious fact that the queen would not be unescorted. But otherwise… her bearing, the way she assessed me? Clearly, she was of noble birth.

Stopping first to speak with one of the guards, the woman clearly knew my identity yet seemed to lack disdain toward me. I would know for certain in a moment if that observation held true.

As all humans in Elydor, I possessed some measure of intuitive abilities which, in me, manifested as an ability to sense emotion. Unlike Mev, however, I could not determine intention or use my ability unless the person was close to me.

“Sir Rowan?” she asked, dismounting.

As the guards watched, she approached. With every step, any doubt I had about her capabilities were eradicated. Though she’d said only two words to me, those were enough. It was not the first time I’d been in the presence of royalty, or of those close to it in some way, to know she fit that particular mold. Yet hers was not of the haughty or entitled variety, but one of quiet confidence.

“Aye,” I said, bowing to her. It was the Thalassari greeting appropriate for her station. If we were familiar, I would have embraced her. If she were a human, I’d have shaken her hand.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said.

“And I yours.”

She took that final step toward me that I needed to read her. Whether I willed it or not, a certainty filled every pore of my body. As it had been since I’d learned to control it, the sense of calm was accompanied by another feeling, this one as unpredictable as the person standing before me.

Sincerity.

If we were not being watched so closely by the guards—both those who had made themselves known, and those behind us who had not—I might have been able to sense secondary emotions as well. But when my attention was divided, as it was now, I could sense just one emotion at a time.

Shockingly, she was being sincere. A Thalassari genuinely pleased to meet me. A human.

Interesting.

“My name is Nerys,” she said, her voice lilting and melodic. If sirens like the ones in my human tales existed, she would be one of them. Not because she wished to do me ill, but because I’d just lost all sense of my training, of the detachment necessary to make good judgments. I stared at her the same way I had the day my father had said, “Sit down, son. You have come of age, and we must discuss our family origins.”

Nerys.

Her name suited her. Her clothing suited her. Her voice and assurance all suited her.

“Have you been to the palace before?”

“I have not,” I said. “Though I’m aware of its procedures.”

Most would not have noticed the slight widening of her eyes or twitch of her mouth that accompanied it, giving away her surprise. I not only noticed but felt the shift that confirmed my suspicions. It was a mistake my grandfather would have chastised me for. One the Keepers did not make.

If you speak a word, consider carefully whether or not it might reveal more than you intended. We’ve not kept a centuries-old secret by being careless.

It was the reason Keepers befriended few, married other humans and kept to themselves. At least, most operated in such a way. My desire for connections outside of other Keepers was a weakness, no doubt.

“So you are aware,” she continued, thankfully not commenting on my retort, “that you will be provided an escort from this moment until the one you leave palace grounds?”

“I am.”

“And that once inside, you will remain by my side, or within your chambers, at all times?”

I could not resist a smile. “You are my escort, then?”

Nerys’s lack of reaction made me wonder at her own training. One did not become a Thalassarian guard without a great measure of skill.

What was this woman’s story?

“I am,” she said. “As such, I am required to ask of your purpose here before we continue.”

That was not information I could divulge. “To speak with the queen.”

“Unfortunately, I require more information than that.”

Unfortunately, I am unable to give it to you.

I didn’t say as much, however. “I’ve been sent to speak to your queen on behalf of King Galfrid concerning the return of his daughter.”

It was information she would have already. By now, word of the return of the lost princess had spread throughout Elydor.

“Would King Galfrid not send an Aetherian for such a purpose?”

“He would,” I offered diplomatically. “Normally.”

She waited.

I had nothing more to offer beyond what I’d told her.

“I am afraid?—”

“Princess Mevlida is a friend,” I said, my words the only truth I could give her. “I have a unique perspective on her return, one your queen will wish to learn of, especially as it may impact all Elydor.”

That got her attention.

“We were told the princess was taken by Kael of Gyoria and returned to her father.”

“She was,” I confirmed. “I will be glad to share more of that tale with you, but I’ve been traveling for many days, with some urgency, at the behest of the Aetherian king. If we might make our way to the palace…”

I stopped at that, my implication clear. If Nerys wished to know more about a topic every person in Elydor was curious about—why and how Mev came through the Gate—she would take me to the palace.

“Very well,” she said finally. “You will be reunited with your belongings once inside, with the exception of your weapons. Those will be returned to you when you are no longer on palace grounds.”

As expected.

I smiled, hoping to put her at ease since Nerys, though undoubtedly powerful, could not read my own sincerity and had little cause to trust me.

Thankfully, she turned away just as the emotion she was now feeling settled into my consciousness. It was not mistrust, as I’d expected on meeting her. Or wariness, given how little I was able to share about my intentions in meeting the queen.

It was the one thing I couldn’t guard against.

Desire.