“You should dress.” Selena pushed to her feet, making her way outside our bedroom. I glanced at the sweeping fabrics strewn across my bed. Tiny crystals were sewn throughout the skirt and bodice, as perceptible as dust falling through the air, though they caught the light at every tilt of my head, glittering softly. My mask lay beside it: long, glossy swan feathers dyed a rich dark blue, more crystals studded along each feather’s spine. It wrapped around one eye completely, leaving the other bare. The mask oozed Selena’s eye for design, and I wondered when she’d commissioned it from her tailor.
Vouri’s voice floated down the hall. I muttered an internal curse to Theia, suddenly too tired to entertain the Naiad, even if it was just a walk through the palace halls and down to the water. Selena’s words wrapped around my neck like a pair of hands.Confused and desperate.
Maybe I was.
Except I wasn’t. Not really. If it weren’t for Selena, I’d have already left for the islands. I would have abandoned my vows the day Theia told me I would, trading my blood promises for a fractured lifeline and three years of volcanic beaches, thick sunshine, and the rolling whisper of the turquoise sea outside my window.
Selena breezed through the open door, though I knew the friendliness in her eyes was the same weapon the rest of Calderian female society armed themselves with. The cool grace of a woman with no problems, no afflictions, no sense of the churning anxiety I knew lay deep under her skin. Vouri followed her in, hesitant as Selena sat at her vanity and reached for her mask.
“Everything all right?” Vouri asked. She leaned a shoulder into the doorjamb, crossing her arms, green eyes like poisoned darts.
With a blunt slap against my thighs, I stood. “Aegir’s waiting for you.”
The Naiad’s eyes widened. “Here?”
“The Juile water.”
Vouri’s gaze narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I smiled. “He’s taking you to yourcordae.”
Her mouth sprang open. She glanced at Selena for confirmation, but my sister rotated enough to view both of us. “Congratulations, Vouri. We’re overjoyed for you. Will you be returning to Calder afterward?”
“Senna.” I hissed. “It’s not necessary to discuss that tonight.”
Selena didn’t face me. “It is.”
Arms laced, Vouri’s thumb tapped the outer bend of her opposite elbow. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because the first weeks following acordaeare special,” Selena said. “And you’ll never get them back.”
“I realize that.” Vouri straightened, a small notch between her brows. “But I’ve inserted myself here with a lot of careful planning. I have access to Thaan’s correspondence, and my launderer’s key opens half the noble quarters in the palace. If I wanted, I could trade duties for keys for the other half.”
Selena nodded and said nothing.
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “That doesn’t mean you might lose progress by staying in Venusia for a few weeks.”
“Yes, it does.” Vouri’s mouth firmed. “Thaan killed my parents and my grandmother. He drove my grandfather to his death, and I have no doubts that my brother is next in line. The fact that he sent you to us only proves that Aegir is a target. But here I am, working under his nose. Yes, I intend to return. I’m sure I could convince Sindri to join the palace guard.”
I stood, fighting the desire to run my frustrated hands through my hair. It was pointless to continue to thrust Vouri into danger once I left for Leihani. “Well, take your time to decide. Talk it over with Aegir if you need to.”
“Why would she do that, Ceba?” Selena faced me through the mirror, the delicate violet string of her mask between her fingers. “I thought Vouri didn’t need to ask Aegir for permission.”
“I’m not saying she needs his permission. I’m saying she should discuss her role as a spy here with him.”
“Why?” Vouri shoved a heel against the wall, hauling herself away from it. “I’m not giving up my position here. There’s too much intelligence to gather.”
“Perfect.” Selena adjusted the mask over the bridge of her nose. Heavy in gold and violet brocade, jewel-encrusted roses and feathers streamed from one side. Her ocean-blue eyes shone through, challenging me behind a veil of lace and rubies. “Vouri, you’ll come back tomorrowcordaed. If we time it right, we can position you to enter Thaan’s office the same moment Ceba does. Thaan will make his official decision to target Aegir. We need to make sure he plans to attack near the water.”
I shook my head, unwilling to outright argue with Selena but equally uninterested in entertaining her. “It’s harder to leave this palace than it is to enter it if you can believe that,” I said to Vouri. “Thaan might not have pressured you into vowing loyalty to him yet, but by now, he probably has his eye on you. We’ll have to sneak you out.”
“All right.” Vouri glanced between us. “What’s the easiest way to do that?”
I shrugged a shoulder, eyes falling to my bedspread. My swan-feather mask lay unassuming next to my thigh, and I hooked a finger into it, lifting it for them to see.
32
Selena
