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Balor reclined on the throne, her legs hung over the armrest, her feet treading the water. She had fashioned a crown of the same silver fishing wire my uncle had favored for his weavings. I wondered how many of Irvine’s misdeeds had been at the dark god’s behest.
Elaine had always been beautiful, with arresting features straddling the line between alien and childlike. Her eyes were too wide for her face, matching the midnight blue gemstone freckles that adorned her forehead like a third eye.
If I had to guess, Balor could take many forms. It was hard to separate Elaine, the shallow undine who spoke of nothing but balls and propriety, from the God who had orchestrated my mother's death.
My mother, Belisama.
Cormac Illfinn hovered next to the throne, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression bored. He was the only one of the males near Elaine, as the others lined the wall with faces filled with thunder.
“Cormac Illfinn and I have reached an agreement.” Elaine didn’t look at me as she spoke, studying her long fingernails. “You are to marry the Mer-King to celebrate the peace between our two creeds. The Mer and the Undine.”
“You’re not Undine.” I spat. “And you can’t dictate who I marry.”
Elaine continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “You will visit Cruinn fortnightly with a Mer escort. For duties to the Esteemed Undine Court.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head, though it made me feel sick. I tried to push myself up, falling back on my haunches. “No. I won’t do it. I won’t sit on the throne for you again.” I tried to stand, but my skull throbbed, and I emptied my stomach in the water in front of my face.
No one spoke as I coughed and spluttered.
“That said…” Elaine snarled, her face darkening with emotion. “It has been brought to my attention that Cruinn owes a debt to the Siren Queen.” She chewed the words as if they tasted foul, glaring at Rainn, Tor, and Shay as she spoke.
I reached for my magic, for the twilight lake, reacting to the threat and her desire to harm my mates, but whatever Balor had done had cut me off from the lake. I was weak and helpless, and I hated it.
Elaine glanced over her shoulder at Cormac. “Tell the guards to let the Siren Queen in,” she said the title as if it was a joke.
Cormac didn’t look at me as he swam past the doors on the other side of the expansive room. His red tail swished, displaying an air of regal calm that made me want to rip his throat out.
I wanted to make him hurt.
I had seen the look between Elaine and Cormac. He had pushed for their deal. For my hand in marriage. Just as he had announced to everyone in Tarsainn that he wanted to wed me, he had forgotten a crucial detail.
I could make my own choices.
And I would never choose him.
A moment later, the doors swung open, revealing the Siren Queen. Short, though, her wings dragged across the floor like a veil. Her dark eyes, without a drop of color, took in the room, passing over me as if I wasn’t there.
Sirens didn’t live underwater, but the Siren Queen seemed to have no issues breathing under the waves. She came alone without a procession. Looking like little more than a child as she stood in the doorway to the throne room.
King Irvine had called her the Queen of Air and Darkness as a title.
Elaine kept her reclined position, portraying an air of relaxation as the Siren Queen approached, though her face tightened. Frozen in place.
“Nuada,” Elaine called out. “This is an inconvenient time, but perhaps that was the point of your visit.”
The Siren Queen cocked her head to the side. “You speak my name as if we are equals, Balor.”
Elaine snickered. “Yes, I forgot. You left your throne in the Tuatha Dé Danann for the Aos Sí like a common water Fae.”
“Your puppet made a bargain.” The Siren Queen continued. “To find my eldest. Failing that, his killer.”
“All bargains Irvine made died with him.” Elaine waved her hand dismissively.
The siren queen tilted her chin, unamused. “There is a Cruinn at my feet that begs to differ.”
Elaine scoffed, swinging her legs to the front and easing herself to the edge of her seat. “Irvine was no Cruinn.”
“He traded on his family name.” The siren queen stepped forward. The temperature of the water dropped, and my teeth began to clatter.
