But that is for another life.
The princess whispers something in Suyai’s ear, and I don’t miss the way we all tense when she gets close to Suyai. Princess Yanami looks like a statue. She’s the true prodigy of her mother, not like the Inka’s other children who lost control.
I shouldn’t be surprised. She faced her mother her whole life and managed to stay whole.
“Tell me what exactly you need me to do, and I’ll tell you how the stone works,” she says.
Qajay explains it best, so we all stay quiet. The attack on our home territory. The new weapons. Cashan using Ave mimicry to manipulate the entire sky into a shelter for us.
He should have died. He was willing to, for us. But we weren’t willing to let him.
The princess takes in the story, narrowing her eyes at the end, not in suspicion but in deep thought. Then she bites her raw bottom lip again. She walks to the edge of the dais, and we let her, all still reeling from the memories.
She stands at the edge for a while, looking at the crowds of people contained by the guards under our control. We’re on the highest platform in all of Lima, originally chosen to be accessible to the Hero as soon as she arrived. All the people below us look like nothing but tiny insects.
When Princess Yanami walks back to us, she’s holding back tears. Her voice is wet, not raw like Suyai’s, but heavy with the weight of the ocean.
She tells us how the stone works, and I realize why.
The sun is high in the sky as we order the soldiers to get people in line to come up to the dais. All of them below us keep praying to their gods, but don’t they know? The greatest power here is a princess’s stone heart. By tomorrow, many of these people will be dead.
How many? As many as it takes.
Chapter 30
Ienter Lake Titicaca. I grab the siren’s soft hands hard enough to break bones. I’m surrounded by them, beautiful women with tails that glisten in the morning light. They sing to me. They play in the sun. They swim circles around my still body, waiting.
I take one step. The siren pulls me deeper and deeper until I'm floating, no more land beneath my feet. I hold tight to her hand as she slices through the water like a knife. It hurts. The speed at which she goes hurts. Her tail against my legs hurts. Everything, from my heart to my head to my clenched teeth,hurts.
But the siren sings to me of a life without pain. She sings of forgiveness and warmth, and, for a second, she sings in Yanami’s voice. My shoulder pulls at the joint, but the siren sings of life anew, a body recovered, and my life ahead. The siren sings of days laid out in the sun, no more training, no more fighting. She sings of friendship, soul mates, and lovers.
I see Isla del Sol in the distance. We’re right there, so close I could almost reach out and touch its sandy shores.
But the siren sings of forgiveness. I don’t want to see Isla del Sol. I don’t want to go deeper into the lake. I close my eyes, andI see Suyai, Mare, and Yanami. I see them get closer and closer, and I know if I can just keep my eyes shut, they’ll reach me.
And just like that, my wish comes true. Yanami is holding my hand. Yanami is with me again, and she’s not angry. She’s not betrayed. She’s tender and vulnerable and so in love as she looks at me. Yanami opens her mouth and sings, and I pull her closer to me, lost in her raspy voice.
We’re underwater, but I’m at peace.
The last bit of sunlight penetrates the surface and lights up Yanami’s face. Her brown skin shines like molten gold. I try to open my mouth to beg, beg for her to kiss me, or beg her for forgiveness, but water floods my mouth and goes down my throat.
I can’t breathe, but I’m at peace.
Yanami holds my face, a phantom touch just like our first kiss. The sunlight slowly fades to darkness, the last of the light rebounding off Yanami’s gold necklace.
The gold necklace Yanami gave away yesterday.
Underwater, I realize my body is thrashing. Underwater, I realize I’m choking. We’re underwater, and the siren isn’t singing anymore. The siren’s grip is a vice, and as I twist and turn, the vice tightens. As I fight for my life, claws dig into my skin.
We’re underwater, and I can’t breathe, and I’m going to die. But at least I can make sure this damned creature dies with me. As my vision blacks out, I reach for the siren’s neck and rip the necklace off.
She shrieks.
I’m too far down to see death on her face. It’s too dark. Yet, I feel her go limp around my wrist. Her soul jewel, the necklace in disguise, disintegrates in my hand. Immense power poisons the water. Sirens wear their souls on their chests, and their visions can only disguise it, not hide it.
Her soul jewel promises me safe passage, but I don’t believe it as I choke and choke and choke. When my arms are too tired to keep swimming, when my brain has no more oxygen left, I slam onto the shore of Isla del Sol.
I don’t want to believe in the power of the soul jewel, but something in me knows I will not face this problem again.
