Page 48 of When the Wicked Sing (The Leruna Sea #1)

“If you didn’t know about me, how did you know you’d need to build a fourth room?”

Stavros gazed down at her and smiled. “I had hoped we would have a child together.”

Mariana couldn’t handle the emotion in his eyes and looked away, her throat growing tight.

He led her into each room, explaining the different colors he’d had in mind and how he would’ve liked to add a saltwater bath to each of them, then a tunnel on the first floor that would’ve led out to the ocean so they could all come and go as they pleased.

As he spoke, Mariana realized how much the king had thought about them being a family. And he was still dreaming they could be.

She blinked back tears, pushing away thoughts of what could’ve been. Then he turned to Cybele’s bedchamber and seemed to pause by the door.

“This, I admit, is the hardest room for me to enter,” he said softly, a slight blush gracing his high cheekbones.

“You see,” he started, his voice cracking slightly, “I always wished this could become a second home for all of you. A peaceful place to escape, or a path for adventure. I see now that, perhaps, it was a nonsensical dream.”

Mariana couldn’t stop herself. In a moment of weakness, she leaned her head against his shoulder, smelling the fresh scent of mint wafting off his surcoat as they stared at her mother’s door. “ I don’t think so,” she whispered, holding back the emotion brewing deep in her chest.

They stayed that way for a long moment before venturing back downstairs, neither of them strong enough to enter her mother’s room.

They sat down on two velvet armchairs in a drawing room beside the foyer, and Mariana regarded him carefully.

“Was my mother …” She paused as she struggled to find the right words. “What was she like when you knew her?” She bit the inside of her cheeks, slightly embarrassed for asking, but she wanted to know more about the siren she had been before the Banishment, before Mariana was born.

Stavros got a glimmer in his eye. “I’d say she was magical.

The moment she entered a room, she commanded it.

All eyes were on her, and she knew the power she held.

” He averted his gaze, peering down at his clasped hands.

“I fell in love before I knew what love was. My first wife died soon after Halia was born, and though she deserved to be loved, I couldn’t give it to her.

I tried … but that feeling was not even comparable to how much I love Cybele.

” Speaking her name seemed to affect him, as he grew silent and appeared contemplative.

Mariana felt the urge to speak but had no words to say. The waves of pain coming from the king were enough to make her unbearably sad.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and glanced up at her. “Although, I hear she is not the same siren I fell in love with.”

“No, she isn’t,” she muttered.

She could feel his studying eyes on her, but she refused to meet them .

He sighed. “When I discovered Astra in here, I knew she was one of Cybele’s daughters.

It was in the way she held herself, the way she demanded answers, much like you have.

” He smiled softly at the memory. “She was a force of nature. And when we talked, she told me there was an amulet that could bring back my son, and I began to hope. Something I hadn’t felt for a very long time.

And when she told me I had another daughter, I was elated.

It was then I realized I had been living in darkness for so long, I hardly recognized true light. ”

Mariana felt her lips tug upward at the thought of Astra bringing light back into someone’s life. “That sounds like Astra. She has that effect on everyone.”

“Indeed, she does.” The king smiled then, truly smiled, and Mariana swallowed down the urge to smile back. “And then she made a deal with me. One that I hope we can also make.”

Mariana instantly grew tense as she awaited his proposal despite knowing exactly what he was going to say.

“Mariana, if you can bring my son back to me, I will do everything I can to help bring prosperity to Sirenia. Please, help me make things right again.”

They stared at each other, the king expecting her to agree, while Mariana silently weighed the possibilities. In the end, she stood.

“That’s the deal you made with Astra. I trust my sister, but I’m sorry, I can’t trust you. Not yet.”

The king seemed to visibly shrink as her words sank in.

He swallowed and gave her a nod before standing.

“I understand. The only thing I ask is, please do not trust Halia. I love my daughter, but I’m afraid our goals do not align.

She fears that if her brother returns, she will not become queen.

That is why I’ve given her almost full reign over Aurelia, so she can do the good she hopes for our glorious kingdom now while she can.

She will be a fine ruler, but she was not meant to be the ruler of Aurelia. ”

Mariana considered his words. “I would never trust her. She had me abducted and has imprisoned me here, after all.”

“Yes, well …” The king glanced around the room before settling once again on her. “I can help with that, if you wish.”

Something about his offer didn’t sit well with her. She didn’t want anyone saving her, not anymore. But she couldn’t throw out the option.

“I’d appreciate that. But not yet. I haven’t finished searching, and I want to make sure there isn’t anything I’ve missed.”

“Well, I’ll check on you soon. It is best that Halia doesn’t find out I was here. I’d prefer her to think I’m oblivious to all her clandestine affairs.”

Mariana nodded and watched the king begin to walk away without making a sound. How did he do that? A trick she had to learn. He stopped near the door to the foyer and looked back at her. “Mari, I hope one day to build that trust with you, if you’d allow me the opportunity.”

Her heart skipped as she stared at the fae she could easily call her father. And yet the more she stared, the more she only saw a stranger. But if the tugging in her chest told her anything, it was that she had room in her heart to forgive him, and possibly get to know him.

“I think I’d allow that, one day,” she murmured with a small smile that he returned before continuing on his way .

When he disappeared, she released a heavy sigh and hung her head.

“Finally,” a female voice said from behind her. “I thought he’d never leave.”