Selena arched her back, lithe and flexible as a young feline, then lowered herself into the pebbles beside me. “After a week, Androma stumbled on Xeno, disguised as a seashell. Caught, he shifted to his true form. She took his hand, leading him back to a bed of moss and petals.” Selena paused to wriggle her eyebrows at me. “They fell in love. But Xeno was troubled; he could offer Androma no money, no house, no future. Though it broke both their hearts, he told Androma to find another. In time, she married and had children. Xeno checked on her often, though she never knew.
“He was the rosebuds in spring, the patter of rain, the song of a lark in the meadow. He watched her sleep and laugh, and though he couldn't call her his own wife, his heart was happy.
“The brothers continued to defend Theia’s oceans, though a new threat grew. A monster of the sea, aKethos. Half-fish, half-serpent, twice the size of a whale, his mouth a gaping hole with rows of teeth like needles. Corvus and Xeno fought the beast every day, driving it back to its lair. But they began to age; began to slow. Theia became worried, so she came down from her throne in the sky to speak with them.I will make you young again,she promised.I will grant you life eternal. But you must slay the Kethos.
“We will not succeed,the brothers told Theia, for they had fought the monster every day for years and had not yet killed it.Surely, we will die before we win.
“Theia considered this.I will offer you a choice,she said.Bring that which you love more than any other and sacrifice it to the beast. Their life will give you strength, and if you die, I will bring you back.
“The brothers looked at one another. Corvus knew what his brother loved. Androma. But Xeno refused to surrender her life. They abandoned Theia’s offer. Years passed, and they became old men. After a grueling day of fightingKethos, Corvus was tired enough to lie down and die.
“Knowing he wouldn’t last through another battle, he waited until Xeno was asleep, then left to search for Androma. She’d become an old woman as well. Widowed, her children grown and gone, she still foraged for flowers along the coast with gnarled hands and a bent back—and had never stopped loving Xeno.
“When Corvus found her, she listened to his story and came with him under the waves. Corvus took Androma to the monster’s lair and left her floating just outside. Before he made it back to Xeno, he felt the strength in his body return. His muscles firmed; his skin tightened. He was young once more—and knew Androma was dead.”
Ignoring the cool waves curling into my side, I rested my head in my palm and sighed. Selena paused, her eyes drifting out over the sky, her hands joining tentatively over her waist. She cleared her throat and continued softly, “He shook Xeno awake. Xeno stood, staring at his own hands, devoid of age and wrinkles, and knew what had happened. Betrayed, he made to attack his brother, and Corvus stopped him.Strike me if you must,Corvus told him.She died for you. It was her choice. Will you let her sacrifice be in vain?
“Though his heart was shattered, he went with Corvus to theKethos’slair. But at the sight of Androma’s body, he went mad with fury. He fought as he never had before—stronger, faster, blind with anger. He left his brother unguarded, and Corvus fell prey to the sea monster.”
Selena blinked against the wind. She opened her mouth, licked her lips, and her voice dropped to barely more than a murmur. “Distracted by his kill, theKethosfell victim to Xeno. He drove his sword into the beast’s back, and the mightyKethosdied.
“Xeno sank to the ocean floor to wait for his brother to return from Perpetuum, the world beyond. He gathered Androma’s body in his arms and wept. For three days he lingered, until his heart could simply wait no more. He forced his own sword into his belly, dying in slow agony at the bottom of the sea.
“He awoke among the stars, and beside him were Androma and Corvus, both young and healthy. Theia gave each a kiss for reparation, a kiss of life, and offered each a boon. Back to this world they went with youth in their veins, their lives as warriors fulfilled. Xeno and Androma married, and the three became the Stewards—Xeno and Corvus of the water, Androma of the land.”
Selena smiled. “They became the three pillars of life, the laws of which govern us all. The lover, willing to die. The brother, slain in battle. The fighter, who ended his own life only whenall he loved had perished. They represent the bonds of honor, family, and love.”
“The Triad,” I said softly. I’d thought Nori and Olinne had made it up, like everything else they’d ever told me.
Selena lifted her shoulder, her throat working gently. “So, the story goes. There is much in nature that aligns to the Triad. Have you never wondered why the full moon lasts three days?”
I opened my mouth and closed it. I hadn’t.
“The winter solstice—the longest darkness of the year, when the world sleeps for three nights. Or the summer solstice, where the sun lingers for three days in the sky.” Selena dipped her head into her chest, rattling off more, as if a list had been etched into her bones. “The mother, the father, the child. The past, the present, the future. The land, the sea, the sky. Birth, death, renewal. Creation, preservation, destruction. Beginning, middle, end. Mind, body, soul. Three braided strands in a rope. The tree of life: the root, the trunk, the branch.
“If you pay attention, if you look for it,threewill always find you. It will stand out in the smallest details. Subtle words, secret thoughts. Everything of meaning happens inthrees.”
45
After Selena’s story of the Triad, I looked for things in threes. But nothing seemed to manifest itself in any sort of trio.
Sitting at my table alone, I stiffened at a knock on my door. Kye hadn’t spoken to me for two days, and Selena usually waited for me to come to her apartments. My ears adjusted, searching for familiarity in the sound of the heartbeat just outside. Strong and light, not one I immediately recognized.
Leaving my book open, I shuffled to the door, surprised to find Lady Diara on the other side.
“Hello,” she said brightly, holding up a canvas garment. “Just delivering your clean dress.”
My backless midnight blue gown. Grass stains painted the back of it where Kye had held me down, and I’d forgotten Selena had sent it to be cleaned.
I opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
Diara’s brows lifted, and I wondered if palace residents didn’t normally invite others into their apartments. If the invitation was odd, Diara didn’t say so. She floated into the room, her eyestaking in our surroundings with curiosity. “I’ve never been in this tower before.”
“It’s a package deal. Just have to get shackled to the lout next door.” Some wiser voice in my head cautioned against openly mocking a member of the crown, but I didn’t really care. In any case, I had a feeling Diara wouldn’t hesitate to join in.
She smirked, laying my dress over the back of a chair. “Bit of light reading?”
I glanced at the tome on my table with a sigh. It was a register of the estates of Calder. Dry reading. Selena had raised a brow when I’d asked for it, amused and perhaps impressed, returning with it the following day. What I was looking for, I didn’t really know. Knowledge of trades, growing familiarity with Calder geography. Nothing seemed of substantial use. Ascento made wine, Willowood grew timber, Ochire forged steel.
