“Itook someone fromyou?!”I bellowed, my voice echoing through the marsh. “You held our men beneath the surface, ready to feast on them! I simply rescued them from the fate you nearly gave them, you wicked monsters!”
“You took our sister’s conch!” she barked at me, showing her sharpened teeth, and I flashed my canines right back. “She will cease to exist without it, a husk for eternity that you watched her fade into when you carved it from her scales!”
“Why would I care that a heartless, murderous creature turns into a husk?!” I snapped at her. “You harmed mymate.” My gaze whipped back to where Jace, Gage, and Zaela observed us, and then returned to them. I gripped the hilt of my dagger. “You should both receive the same punishment.”
“And who are you to deem what a punishable offense is,fae bitch?” one taunted.
My back straightened as my stare remained on them. “I am Elianna Valderre, Heir of the Realm.” I leaned down closer to them as their brows furrowed with doubt. “And once I take my place upon my throne, I will remember every creature who showed me loyalty, or otherwise.”
They eyed each other warily and then met my stare once more. “What do you want from us?”
A thought crossed my mind then. In order to win this war and defeat the false queen, we needed as many allies as possible, no matter how unlikely they seemed.
“What is it thatyouseek?” I turned their question back on them.
“Lia?” Zaela questioned, but I held up a finger behind me to halt her. Concern radiated from Jace, but I worked to block it out.
The twin creatures looked at each other again. “We want our sister’s conch returned to us so we may restore her.”
“And what do I get in return for resurrecting a murderer?” I shot back, tone steady.
A hiss left the one who barely spoke.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the shell, rotating it between my fingers leisurely as their eyes steadily followed its movements.
“What are you asking of us?” they asked in unison.
“Your allegiance.”
“We do not pledge to, nor concern ourselves, with land walkers.”
My lips parted as my eyes darted back and forth between the two sirens before me. A menacing smile formed.
I halted my taunting twirling of the shell and held it between my forefinger and thumb, giving it a small squeeze—a tiny crack splintered through the conch.
“Stop!” one shouted as her webbed fingers reached out toward me. “You claim to be heir to the realm, yet you would doom one of its habitants?”
I flashed her my canines. “I will doom anyone that refuses to take a knee to my claim when offered mercy. If you are not with me, then you are against me.”
Pride erupted down the bond.
“Mercy,” she mocked.
I pocketed the shell once more. “You attacked our men unprovoked, with no other intention aside from feasting on their flesh and bones. Legends state you are beasts that swam up from the depths of hell. Your reputation precedes you just from this brief encounter. I see no reason to allow any of you to live unless you choose to fight for me in the war that rages on Velyra’s soil.”
“May be a bit difficult…lackinglegs and all.” She snickered.
“Not all battles are raged on the land. If we call for you, you will fight. And when the time comes, I will return the conch to you. It is a fair barter.”
“A bloody battle in exchange for our sister’s life?” the other asked.
“Indeed.”
“And what of the fallen?”
I huffed out a breath through my nostrils. “If they are not my men, then you may do with them as you please.”
They exchanged feral looks.
