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“He should be, shouldn’t he?” Tor scratched the side of his neck, and I caught a glimpse of his dark Shíorghrá markings, like tattoos that circled his throat. “But I think our selkie is too caught up by the judgment that he looks like someone who would purchase the services of a ‘lady’ for a night.”
“Huh.” I considered his words as I cast my eyes over the bar and each of the occupied tables. “Should we sit? I would like to try the fare before we retreat to our rooms.”
Rainn winced before nodding and gesturing to a table on the other side of the room. “By all means, Princess.”
“You’re not offended by the barmaid's assessment?” Tor, unusually invested in my answer, pondered as we walked to a table.
I shrugged. “I have long since learned to let go of what fae think of me. Many believe I am as mad as my mother, though I can’t recall a single thing she ever did to earn her reputation.”
Aside from taking her own life.
Though the Selkie Queen had hinted that something deeper was afoot there, I swallowed the words.
Rainn waved at one of the servers, holding up three fingers, though I had no idea what he ordered.
“I had heard you were addled.” Rain told me, eying me curiously. “Though I have yet to see any signs of it. There used to be stories about the mad queen’s child, who was affected by the same madness that wrapped her mother tight. A child more feral than a wild fae without a human form. A child that whispered to the Hall of Silvers and listened when they spoke back.”
I rolled my eyes. “Perhaps the palace guards had loose lips because I spent an inordinate amount of time in the hall of silvers.” If only to feel like I wasn’t alone as I ate my dinner. “They whispered, but I have never had a conversation with them.”
The server returned to the table with three tankards of honey-colored liquid. I reached out, gripping the glass handle and taking a cautious sip. The liquor was sweet and fizzed on my tongue.
“You seemed at home around the silvers,” Tor noted, cupping his mead. “My father removed our only silver from the family room years before.”
“You said.” I nodded.
“I was surprised you knew which silver would take us back to the Reeds*.” Tor continued. “I forgot to ask, but I have thought about it since. My father was convinced that the undine king was spying on us through the silver, claiming it cursed.”
I winced, thinking of the dark sea glass surrounding my favorite silver. The inky black surface and the ornate black metal frame. I now knew the yellow eyes in the mirror were kelpie eyes. I had watched Tormalugh’s family for years, contributing to his father’s paranoia. “In the hall of silvers, there was a mirror that sounded like… happiness., when you got close enough to listen.” I cleared my throat. “A family that laughed and joked. They ate meals together and spent time with one another. I had never had such a thing, but in front of the mirror, I could pretend. If only for the minutes before my uncle found me and—” I interrupted the thought. Tor and Rainn already knew about my experience on the High Throne, and I had no desire to repeat myself. “I think that I was watching you, Tor. I remembered the day the mirror went silent.” Though it felt like a part of me had died that day, I did not give voice to the mourning.
Tor sensed my emotions, even if I didn’t speak them. He reached out, placing a tattooed hand over mine and rubbing his thumb against mine.
Rainn put his tankard on the table, breaking the spell between Tor and me. “What is Cruinn like?” He asked. “There were many tales of its beauty before the abyss hid the city.”
I laughed bitterly. “I’ve did not leave the castle, save for the migration.”
“Never?” Tor was stunned as if he had been struck in the head by another kelpie.
I nodded. “Not since I was a child, and even then, my mother had guards. My friend Moira would tell me stories of the Guppie Market and the group of dancers that came every solstice. They would swim in perfect synchronization like one giant fish instead of a hundred Sidhe. Of the treasures that littered the markets, dug up from forgotten places from millennia past. Of foods so strange and delicious that you’d think of them for weeks on end.” I sighed, brushing my fingers through a lock of my white hair. “On the day of the Migration, Moira had gifted me a set of beads. Many were scattered and lost on my journey from the Frosted Sands to Tarsainn. I hadn’t thought to treasure them at the time. I thought you were going to kill me at any moment. I should have saved them, if only as a token of my friendship with Moira.”
“Moira made it to the Cradle, didn’t she?” Rainn took another sip from his cup.
I nodded. “Yes. The siren prince was very taken with her. I don’t know if she plans to stay by the Dark Sea, but I am certain we will meet again.”
“Liam, the undine that Cormac captured, he was your friend also?” Tor asked, eying me carefully for my reaction.
“Yes, though he was my uncle’s loyal subject first,” I told him. “Elaine, Liam’s mother, married King Irvine when I was a child—Liam made it back to Cruinn. I am certain of it. He is the heir to the throne, regardless of who holds the heart of the lake.”
“He is named?” Rainn’s brows arched.
“Oh yes.” I sipped from my cup, feeling my blood buzz under my skin, warming my whole body. “Elaine took great pleasure in reminding me whenever the subject came up. Though Elaine was never queen of Cruinn, she was a consort. The undine court is strange. The Elders decide who is suitable, and they give the titles.”
“The same elders that told you no female would ever take the High Throne again?” Tor’s dark eyes flashed.
“The elders speak for the gods,” I told them. “They interpret the gods will.”
Rainn agreed, lifting his cup in a toast. “Imagine telling my mother that her nine hundred-year rule is over because of her gender.” He shuddered.
“Nine hundred?” I choked on my drink.
