Page 7 of When the Wicked Sing (The Leruna Sea #1)
Mariana struggled to steady her breathing as she followed her mother deeper into the palace’s underbelly. The winding path ahead was so dark that Mariana could barely make out the queen’s silhouette, even with her vision attuned to the blackest depths of the sea.
They were heading toward the Athenaeum—the forbidden archives where scholars safeguarded history by infusing glass orbs with magic from their voices.
Mariana had never been allowed inside before.
Astra, who’d been a scholar her whole life, used to bring up orbs to teach her siren and fae history.
Prior to the Siren Witch falling into the Scourge’s clutches, she had been a scholar and the only cursed siren allowed inside.
A pale glow seeped into the tunnel’s end, and the queen’s crown glinted with the approaching light. Mariana’s chest tightened as the cavern opened before her, and her mouth fell open.
Rows upon rows of glowing orbs stretched along stone shelves as far as she could see. A millennium of knowledge was preserved here, seen by no more than ten sirens in all of history. Now, Mariana understood why her mother had always forbidden anyone outside the appointed scholars from entering.
Cybele’s serious gaze caught the dim light, casting harsh shadows over her regal features. The sight sent a wave of unease curling through Mariana’s stomach.
Clearing her throat, Mariana looked away and followed her mother through the maze of shelves.
“Astra was determined to find something that would give us the upper hand in restoring Sirenia,” Cybele said over her shoulder, stopping at a row of orbs that gave no hint of their contents.
“What she found made me realize that if we ever want to escape this shadowed existence, we must accept the consequences of what comes next.”
“What do you mean?” Mariana asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Cybele handed her an orb with a slight crack on its surface. It fit snugly in Mariana’s palm, heavy with the knowledge sealed inside.
Mariana met her mother’s somber expression, sensing the weight of the secret her mother felt compelled to keep. Her eyes drifted back to the orb’s faint glow. Was she ready to uncover its truth? Would the orb even work, damaged as it was?
Gathering her courage, she lifted the orb to her face and whispered, “ Revelare.”
To her surprise, words spilled forth.
It was the origin of sirens.
Seraphina descended on wings of feathered stars from the celestial city in the sky, escaping her malicious betrothed.
Whilst wandering the fae realm, she became enamored with a fae male named Erasmus.
He was mesmerized by her ethereal singing voice, enchanted by her beauty, and fell in love with her kindness.
When Seraphina conceived a youngling, Erasmus bestowed upon her an amulet of pure golden light.
Upon discovering their surreptitious affair, her betrothed bound Erasmus to an anchor and sank him into the sea’s abyss.
Fearless, Seraphina dived after him, forfeiting her glorious wings in exchange for a strong swimming tail in place of her legs.
Pulling her beloved from the dark depths, she enchanted the gifted amulet with the power to recall his soul from the shadowed Veil.
Death released its grip upon Erasmus at the cost of binding Seraphina and her unborn to the sea.
Enraged, her betrothed cursed Seraphina and the fruit of her womb to be scorched by the sun should they ever attempt to seek solace on land and forewarned of an ominous descent into darkness should she dare defy mortality alongside Erasmus.
In her final act of maternal grace, Seraphina birthed a daughter of unparalleled beauty and granted her the power of the sea for protection and the gift to transform her tail into limbs so that she might forge a lineage of her own, saving her from eternal isolation.
Seraphina’s remaining days were spent serenading Erasmus from beneath the moon’s silent watch, her melodies a bittersweet lament of love everlasting.
“Seraphina,” Mariana whispered, her throat tight as she tried to swallow.
It was the amulet—the one capable of bringing back the dead.
Mariana’s breath caught as her mind began to race .
Astra planned to tell King Stavros she could bring his son back to life.
“No … this …” Mariana quickly set the orb back down on its small pedestal as though it was scorching hot. “This is madness. Astra would never allow this to happen.”
Cybele’s lips pressed into a thin line. “She brought the orb to me.”
“Why? Why would she do that? She knows if Prince Helios were ever revived, he’d seek his revenge on us!”
“Lower your voice, now.” The queen’s tone silenced Mariana, though her mind continued shouting. “We can’t be certain he would want revenge or that the amulet would even work. Besides, no one knows where the amulet is. It’s been missing since before my own mother was queen.”
Mariana ran her fingers through her hair, shaking her head. “Then why would Astra suggest telling the king about it?”
“She believed the knowledge of the amulet would be enough. I suspect it wasn’t.”
Mariana clenched her jaw, her hands dropping to her sides as she fixed her mother with a glare. “Why did you keep this from me?”
“It wasn’t your concern.”
“You thought I couldn’t handle it.”
Cybele’s gaze hardened. “I knew you wouldn’t accept it.”
“That’s not fair. You should have given me the chance to—”
“To what? Try to stop Astra? Convince me it was a terrible plan?” The queen’s eyes blazed. “I know you, Mariana. Nothing you could’ve said back then would’ve changed a thing.”
Because she was the queen, not Mariana .
Swallowing her pride, Mariana clasped her hands together. “Please, let me rescue Astra. She needs our help, and if something terrible happened, we all deserve to know—especially Luna.”
The cold finality in Cybele’s eyes gave Mariana the answer she’d dreaded.
“Mother, please!” she pleaded, her voice breaking under the weight of grief at the thought of never seeing her sister again.
“I’m going to say this one last time. No. And don’t ask me again.”
With that, the queen turned and swam into the darkness, leaving Mariana with a heart that felt as though it had been torn apart.