Prologue
There were many ways for an Undine to recognize a pregnancy, just as there were ways to spot a bond between two Shíorghrá.
Elaine returned to Cruinn after Calder had died on the Frosted Sands—though no one seemed to remember his death, save for her.
No one questioned the Mad Queen when she appointed a Troid Sídhe barely out of majority to be her captain of the guard. Soon, Calder Drip became a permanent feature at the Queen’s side. Silent, but ever present.
Only Elaine knew the truth.
Whatever being that wore Calder’s body was no longer the boy she loved. The one she had shared sweet cakes with on her birthday, and snatched glances at during their classes.
Calder Drip was dead.
And Elaine was pregnant.
It seemed like a rather horrid joke for the gods to command such a thing.
But the Gods always required payment.
Elaine Abyssal had left the Frosted Sands a powerful weaver, but her Shíorghrá was dead.
Her belly grew round, though not enough to be suspicious under the folds of her court dresses. She told herself she shouldhave been happy with the last remaining fragment of Calder Drip, all the while staring at the creature wearing his skin from across the throne room.
She wondered if the Queen knew. If the Undine ruler cared, that she had stolen something from Elaine.
Their smug faces.
Those shared looks.
She wanted to rip their adornments from their skin, pull those love-sick eyes from their sockets.
Elaine couldn’t eat, for food tasted like rage and metal.
She couldn’t sleep, as the youngling’s foot was wedged in her ribs.
The thought came about. A drip, drip, drip, like a stalactite formed ever so slowly, without a thought for the youngling in her belly.
I will go to the End of Sorrow. The caves between Cruinn and Tarsainn.She decided.There, I will end my life.
Chapter One
Maeve Cruinn
The crystal-clear water lapped my feet, encroaching on my path through the white, fluffy sand.
I wasn’t sure how long I had been walking; the beach had no beginning or end. The sharp sun hit my eyes, and I lifted a hand to shield my face.
I’d never encountered a beach like it. The sun beat down, warming the sand, allowing my feet to sink into the grains. The beaches of the Night Court were frozen, the sand a hard, icy sludge.
I couldn’t remember how I got there. To the unfamiliar beach. Much less what I had been doing before I’d started running.
No matter how far I raced, the beach never ended. I never reached the edge of the lagoon. The land cupped the shallow water, with a small break on the other side of the expanse, showing an endless sea that I couldn’t quite reach.
The water had been calm for as long as I could remember.
Until it wasn’t.
It started as a ripple. A stone dropped in still water, disturbing the surface. A splash. A hand breaking the surface.
