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I’d never thought of the selkies as warriors—Rainn was the only selkie I knew, and he was a lover, not a fighter—but as I saw more and more selkie with their chained skins and alert stances, I realized that every selkie in the castle would sooner die before they would serve an undine. Even if the war ended, they would never bow to Cruinn again.
Finally, we came to a doorway so large that the Kraken could pull itself through and still have room left over.
Two monstrous doors made from dark wood, more ornate than anything I’d ever seen. Carvings jumped from the wood's surface as if alive—selkies in seal form, Mer, Nymphs, Kelpie, and Undine, with jewels in place of eyes and scales.
River rushed forward, opening the door. He ushered us through, leaving the selkie guards behind.
I blinked, covering my eyes, blinded by unexpected sunlight.
The castle was set into the side of the cliff, and I hadn’t expected the garden and the endless blue sky that extended as far as the eye could see.
I looked down, my eyes burning. The Twilight Lake sat in the Night Court, and I’d never seen true sunlight, only the thin orange line when the Day Court’s sunshine broke through the borders.
“It’s an illusion.” Rainn put his hand on my shoulder. “Give your eyes a moment to adjust.”
My eyes watered, and finally, my vision cleared, revealing rose bushes with fat red blooms lining the entrance to the garden. A woman sat at a table and turned to the garden below the railing, deep in thought. Her tarnished gray hair, the same color as Rainn’s and River’s, was so long that it covered the back of her chair and brushed the floor.
Rainn cleared his throat and stepped forward, and the woman turned. She had the same sky-blue eyes as Rainn, no doubt a mother or sister.
When she stood, her dress shimmered like a seal’s coat, revealing the curve of a pregnant belly. She held out her arms, and Rainn raced forward, pressing his cheek to hers.
“My boy.” She whispered. “You’ve come home.”
Rainn’s mother.
River marched forward as the woman patted every inch of Rainn’s face, searching for something amiss. “I found him in the forest.”
“You didn’t come through the Isles?” The selkie queen cocked her head to the side.
Rainn looked sheepish. “I wanted to surprise you.”
His mother made a noise between a scoff and a grunt before she cast her eyes away from her son and realized they weren’t alone.
The Selkie queen was taller than I had expected, drawing level with Rainn but not as tall as River. Once standing, her hair came to her calves, shimmering in the sunlight. She drifted forward as gracefully as if she were underwater. “If my eyes don’t deceive me, that is Tormalugh Shadowhock. I haven’t seen you since you were a youngling.”
Tor tilted his head to the side. “Your home is beautiful.” He said simply.
The Selkie Queen's lips ticked with amusement. “If memory serves, you now preside over the Reeds. I heard of your parents and their passing.”
Tor’s nostrils flared, but he said nothing.
The Selkie queen turned to me, and I felt the weight of her magic with her gaze. The sound of sea birds and the crash of the waves. “You look just like your mother.” She told me. “Maeve Aurora Cruinn.”
I glanced at Rainn and back again. “Have we met?”
The selkie queen smiled indulgently. “I was at your uncle's coronation.”
I nodded, though I barely remembered that day. There had been lots of screaming, though I was too short, as a child, to see through the crowd. All I knew was that the Mer-King, Cormac’s father, had lost his head that evening.
The selkie queen clapped her hands together, sweeping past us as she hurried to the doors. “We must inform your siblings of your return.” She declared, grinning at Rainn. “And I’ll inform the kitchens to prepare for the celebration. All of your favorite foods! And music. We must have music!” She kept talking as she strode through the doors back to the castle, away from the sunlit gardens. River hurried after her, shooting us an annoyed look before he went.
Rainn rolled his eyes. “I told you she’d want to throw a party.”
Chapter Two
Growing up in Cruinn, the Undine held balls for every occasion. Almost every night was filled with overflowing banquet tables, glittering dresses, and pompous courtiers.
My uncle couldn’t simply host dinner in the great hall as my mother had done, sitting down amongst the courtiers of the Esteemed Undine Court. No, King Irvine had to preside over the Undine. Sitting on a fake version of the High Throne, as he showed his court, the lack of food affecting other parts of the lake had not touched Cruinn. That he could protect them from the war past the abyss.
