He waited, though I had no idea what for. I tried pulling gently away from his grasp, but his fingers clamped down on the sides of my jaw.
“You’ve been invited to join the royal family at Cynthus Castle,” he said. “Two weeks from now. You, and one friend. A lady in waiting. You will take Selena.”
I bared my teeth at him, though when I spoke, my words came out smooth as velvet. “I’ve done some reading. Did you realize that even with your lordship, as a princess, I outrank you?”
Thaan didn’t move.
I stretched onto my toes, my words dripping with anger. “I’ll take who I please.”
His fingers bit into my skin, holding me in place. “Before you leave for Cynthus, I must be sure you understand the risks. Do you know what happens to Naiads who abandon their blood vows?”
Red veins lined his irises like gossamer webbing, translucent and deep, slowly carving out the icy blue surrounding his pupil, leaving only white chambers behind.
“Naiadsdodesert their masters, little creature. I need not lie. If such a venture interests you, you may try it for yourself. You may forsake your own blood to escape your debts. But…” Heleaned closer, and I couldn’t help but stare into his eyes, his pupils like deep and endless tunnels collapsing into themselves.
Whatever it was that stared back was inhuman. It didn't feelalive. His eyes were twin crypts, dark and wasted. Cold tremors surged down my neck, spilling into my blood, congealing and hardening. I tried to pull away, but my arms wouldn’t respond. I was frozen, eyes wide as his gaze bore into mine.
“When I am near, near enough to rouse your spiculae, I need only call to your blood. The blood you have pledged to me, which runs hot in your veins. I’ll call to you, and you will come, on feet that won’t still until you stand before me, for weeks or months or years, however long I choose. I need only say the words, and you will be rendered incapable of anything other than obedience. I can delve into your mind. I can overtake your senses. Your eyes will be my eyes, your ears will be my ears. Your body will be mine to control. Perhaps Selena has not reached that part in your training? Such a Naiad would be called anOculos. A spy for aVidere.”
The scent of him filled me, constricting my throat. I held my breath.
Rotting trees.That'sthe smell I recognized.
Decaying wood. A natural scent in the palm jungles. Comforting to find in the wild, proof that everything living eventually returns to the soil, giving birth to the next generation.
His odor held none of the promises of connection to the world. It was only the decadent scent of decomposition, putrid and spoiled. An old log left to molder and shrivel, infested by rot, crumbling from the outside in.
“And know this. When I am far, and out of sight, Istillown your blood. It belongs to me, as does the rest of you. It will turn on you, should you try to escape me. It will betray you if you betray your own vows. Blood will be all you see. It will boil in your veins, burning into your organs, melting you alive. Yourskin will slough and separate, your hair will detach from your scalp. Your ears and eyes will fall away. Muscles and tendons liquify. The oceans, the trees, the sky will turn red, and your last breath will choke on your own traitorous blood.
“You will be nothing more than the foam the ocean leaves in its wake, sinking into sand and shell. You will not die, you willcease, and the pain will not leave you even as you walk the land of Perpetuum.”
My hands curled, nails piercing my palms. Thaan released me with a shove and turned to go—but I struck, grasping his arm and whirling him around. Surprise fractured his icy gaze as he took me in.
Teeth clenched, shoulders back, I glared up at him through my lashes. “When I become queen,” I said, peeling my lips back in a feral sneer, “You will be the first person I order to die.”
His eyes crinkled, crow’s feet suddenly deep as his face curved into his smile, though he’d never looked at me more coldly.
“We’ll see.”
57
The door to Kye’s rooms swung open, and I stepped into the dark.
No one had entered since the day he’d left. But it still smelled like him. Mint leaves and garden rain. I took in the walls and floors with more interest than I had before, though the curiosity was numbed by a feeling I couldn’t explain. My feet wandered down the hall, where the petals had been cleared, and I stopped in the doorway of his bedroom.
The chair. The rope. The fireplace. The bed.
It all looked exactly as it had. But it was cold now. The fireplace unlit, shadows stretching from the window as the sun rose.
I crept to his bed, pulling back his blanket as I climbed in.
My eyes became hot. A lump hardened in my throat. I curled into his pillow, breathing him in as I waited for sleep to find me.
The leaves turned red and gold. Cool winds followed the sea from the north, autumn on their heels. Diara and I would leave for Cynthus Castle tomorrow, and I still had no idea if Kye was alive.
I’d tried to find out. Had wandered back to the training yard, watching Sir Aren lead the guard outside for their morning routine, waiting for them to finish. He’d seemed surprised to see me when I pulled him aside.
He hadn’t heard about the attack.
