Page 11 of Waves (Tangled Crowns #6)

Avia

K remos was a spiderweb made of cobbled sea glass bridges that crisscrossed the sea, linking buildings carved into either steep mountain cliffs or floating glaciers.

Pale lights lined the floating roadways and cast a ghostly blue hue over everything as people strolled with their pet seals, hawked their catch, or ran their errands.

The entire place was touched by ice.

Unlike the other two cities we'd visited, there wasn't the sense of bustle and massive enterprise in this northern town. Perhaps it was the cold, or just their nature, but there was a slow deliberateness to everyone's movements here that I hadn't seen before.

I couldn’t imagine Keelan fitting in when he was stationed here.

He was so gregarious and constantly moving.

It also didn’t entirely make me feel relaxed.

Something about the sluggish peace I saw in the expressions of the citizens made my insides rebel, programmed as I'd been from birth to scurry from one activity to the next.

Did they not have a sense of urgency?

Or had they realized that most things didn’t require it?

It was a strange paradox that I both envied and despised them at the same moment.

Though it was utterly stunning here, I knew I'd never be able to live in a city like this. The strolling carefree mindset would never be a fit for me.

I did find it fascinating that the test of the contestant's willpower would take place here of all places.

The city was not incredibly far from Palati, but the differences between the two were incredibly stark.

In fact, I would have wagered that the land kingdoms had more in common with the capital than Kremos did.

My carriage rose up to soar over one solid ice bridge only to dip back down and duck beneath the next.

My seahorses strained and my carriage driver and Ugo both shouted at the beasts as we weaved and bobbed, navigating toward the mayor's palace through a maze of bridges that threaded through the city like solidified strings.

Stomach undulating for reasons that had nothing to do with the ride, I wondered what type of leadership we'd encounter this time around. Friend or foe?

We slid to a stop on an ice bridge just below the edge of a glacier. Ugo opened my door with a dip of his head and lent me a hand for my exit.

A frigid current immediately made my wings tuck in tight against my spine and I leaned back into the carriage to grab my cloak and toss the purple fabric over my shoulders. It did little to help me and the cold gnawed on my skin and scraped my bones.

Quickly glancing around, I realized that the rest of my retinue must have headed off to the stables or to an inn nearby because my carriage was the only one here.

It was a good thing that my maids had come and made me presentable before we’d reached the city limits, because the sight in front of me was as intimidating as a brutish bellow.

It yelled at you in a way that made you want to shout back. Look your best. Appear vicious.

At the end of the ice bridge, windows were cut into the jagged sides of a glacier.

The facade was so sharp that it looked like a dozen giant swords made of ice had been welded together.

Here and there, small arched windows had been carved into the glacier and dangling purple lanterns glowed in each like evil eyes.

That might have made the place look intimidating but welcoming.

But the tunnel to the entrance changed any other impression of the palace to ominous.

Deep and dark, the archway that gaped open at the end of the bridge resembled a black mouth waiting to swallow us whole.

No purple lights gleamed at the edge of the walkway.

No guards stood along either side ready to bow and greet us.

No.

The message was clear.

We had to walk into that darkness, vulnerable to the whim of those inside.

My heart rate rose as I clutched at the edges of my cloak.

Teeth clenched so that I didn’t give away how much this bothered me, I glanced around for Sahar.

She was nowhere to be seen. None of my staff were, save for Ugo and my carriage driver.

That man yawned and stared off into the distance, exhausted and unconcerned with the fate that might befall me.

Leaning toward Ugo, I whispered, “I thought that Kremos was a less formal town than the others.”

“It is,” he responded. “That’s why you’re meeting directly with just the mayor.”

“That tunnel doesn’t seem less formal.”

Ugo’s eyes slid over to my face, and I watched him fight a grin. “A little dark doesn’t scare you, does it, Majesty?”

“Of course not,” I huffed, utterly annoyed that he saw through me. “Sahar didn’t inform me though. I didn’t expect?—”

Sensing my prickly sensitivity, he switched gears.

“I understand your reluctance. But out here, the people respect grit. Stoicism. Facing fears. I don’t think there’s anything other than our own heads that’s going to mess with us in that tunnel.

If there is, I’m here. And I’ll slash a dozen bastards down before they can get to you. ”

My teeth dug into my lower lip as I nodded, feeling both a little bit foolish and quite grateful. “Well, then. Let’s go.”

Ugo held his spear in a ceremonial upright fashion as we made our way down the pebbled glass walkway.

As soon as we entered the tunnel, the darkness was all-consuming, our sight stolen. Some magic must have reinforced the shadows, because even when I turned my head back toward the entrance, I couldn’t make out a single ray of light.

We could be attacked from any direction.

Spears. Arrows. Swords. Any manner of weapon might strike us down.

Whoever had constructed this entrance was brilliant. Cruel but brilliant. Vulnerable little moths swarmed inside my stomach, and I couldn’t keep myself from flinching, shoulders drawing up whenever I heard an unexpected noise.

Until the fart.

Ugo let out a bugled bit of gas that seemed to echo off the walls and had several different notes, almost as if it was trying to carry a tune.

“Sorry. Thought it would be a silent one,” he muttered.

I started to laugh but quickly had to clamp my mouth shut because the wind he’d broken wasn’t just loud.

“Damn. That’s the last time I eat leftover shrimp. Sorry.”

Fear forgotten, we both scurried forward, desperate to escape his toxic haze. In less than a minute, we came to an abrupt stop when the blinding spell released its hold.

Panting, gulping in the fresh current, I found myself in front of a set of icy steps leading toward a green glass double door large enough to admit a whale.

The doors parted, a crack of warm light streaming out from between them, and I watched as the gleam spilled down the steps and soaked into the tips of my shoes.

It might have been my imagination, but I felt as if wherever the light touched me was just a tiny bit warmer than its surroundings.

That thought brought a soft smile to my face, an expression that only grew brighter when a tall woman with pale pink octopus tentacles for legs emerged from the doors.

White hair swept up around her head into fins that resembled the wings of a swan, she had twin dimples, a tiny line of a mouth, dark skin, and wore an infinitely welcoming smile—a smile and nothing else.

"Your Majesty." All of her tentacles moved and folded almost like the folds of a skirt as she curtseyed.

"Mayor Didero," I replied, having been briefed by Sahar about her shortly before my arrival. "I hope we aren't putting you out?—"

She cut off my apology for being early with a single wave of her hand as she rose.

"One of your men came ahead and gave us warning.

I hope you won't mind if we keep the feast on schedule for tomorrow, otherwise my cook might just sauté a few of my legs.

" Her exaggerated fearful expression was comic gold.

"I suppose I'll let you off the hook this once," I responded with a grin.

"Ever so gracious of you."

"Indeed." I liked her sarcasm already. She didn't have the puff or pretense, and didn't seem to have the scheming backstabbing nature of Gorgono.

"Come in, please. This is the mayor's house, so while I call it home now, I'll probably only be here for a few more years until I retire," she stated as she put a hand on my shoulders and escorted me in. "My own house is a bit humbler. And quite a bit less drafty."

We entered a room that was shaped like an egg, a grand foyer.

"This useless place is what I like to call the yolk." With a lazy swing of her hand to encompass all the portraits on the walls, she added, "All former mayors are showcased here. All painted by our town's sole artisan, who's also the cheesemaker."

That made me do a double take. "Cheese?"

"You're a fan?"

"More than that. I'd say a devotee."

Her expression brightened as she led me through a corridor and into a much more normally arranged sitting room. A few couches, shelves full of knickknacks, grand draperies, purple fire in the hearth—if the walls hadn’t been made of ice instead of glass, the room could have been inside my palace.

Didero gestured for me to take one of the chaise lounges set in front of the fireplace. Waiting until I was seated before she sat in the seat opposite mine, she said, "Excellent. I'll have Dryer bring over some of his finer samples."

"Excuse my ignorance, but what kind of milk do you?—"

"Whale milk," was her quick reply.

"Hmm. I’ll definitely want to send one of my competitors over to see him since we just had a discussion about butter," I added before moving on to practicalities. "Are there enough rooms for us even though we're early?"

Didero gave an emphatic nod as her hands came down on her thighs. "Yes, yes, we've spread out accommodations around town. Both in an attempt to allow the folk to get to know your contestants, their future consorts, and to prevent any more issues."

Issues. What a euphemism that was.

"Can I get you a coffee?" she asked just as a mermaid in servant garb floated into the room.

With eyes as wide as a newborn calf, I turned to her. "You have coffee?" I wasn't expecting the first trade shipment to arrive for several more weeks.

"Ship went down recently," she explained. "We had a good harvest from it."

That made my stomach churn a little, but one couldn't control the weather.

And certainly, sailing this far north was a fool's errand with all the icebergs.

Besides, queens had to become used to gruesome realities.

Gela always said that unlike noblewomen, a queen had to have not only the stomach for blood but the taste for it.

I was closer to that reality than I cared to admit. "I'd love coffee, thank you."

The merwoman fluttered off as Didero gave me a brief history lesson on the town and we drank the most delicious hot coffee I'd ever had.

Though others in Okeanos would have found the lessons quaint, I was fascinated, particularly when I learned the people of Kremos didn't bury their dead. Instead, they swam to the surface and laid the body out on the glacier, letting the snow bury it and allowing the deceased to become part of the ice. Part of the town’s future and not just its past.

"Fascinating."

The mayor set her coffee cup on a small side table and then she stood, stretching her long tentacles before allowing them to propel her across the floor in an undulating motion.

"You might think so. Until you go to build a house, and this happens." She pulled aside a blue and gold embroidered curtain to reveal a ghastly sight. There, in the very wall, were three blackened mer husks. Three husks of bodies, skin frozen to their bones, were stacked with only a few inches of ice between them. One’s head was turned toward us, one eyeball gone and a divot in his skull that indicated his death hadn’t been peaceful.

Shock and a tiny rivulet of revulsion flowed through my stomach before I was able to find the sort of sarcastic nonchalance the situation seemed to warrant. "Well. Bodies in the walls. That's definitely a decorating choice. I think my castle mage might approve."

"Oh, yes, I've heard about this undead mage. They say she works wonders..." Didero dropped the curtain and covered up the horrifying sight.

Didero ambled back to her seat and daintily took her coffee back into her hand, gruesome reality and pleasant chitchat filling the room simultaneously.

That was my life now. Pretty words and laughter surrounded by cold death.

At first, the thought made me stiffen in my seat, clutch my cup a bit tighter.

It made my thoughts a bit morose. Until I realized, perhaps death lingered on the edges of every life.

Perhaps the rebellion just made me a bit more aware of it than most. Made me more appreciative of each little moment. Each delicate breath.

Perhaps I needed to compose a thank you letter to them.

Or maybe, once I found them, I’d stack their bodies on top of this glacier.

Both possibilities brought a secret smile to my lips as I finished off the last, deliciously warm sip of my coffee.