Page 47 of A Sea of Fate and Starfire

“Something to do with their history.” The realization sank to the bottom of my belly. I’d have to ask Selena if I wanted to understand. I could hardly speak to her, let alone ask her to recount her political history. I folded faintly over myself, a hand braced under my core.

As though he felt our gaze, Aegir turned his head, green eyes finding me across the trail. Kye and I watched as he broke off from Cebrinne and Selena, slowing his mare’s tread to land astride Kolibri. Unwittingly, I stole a glance at Kye.

I’m not going anywhere, he said softly.

Aegir gazed ahead as he asked without preamble, “Who taught you coruscation?” I suppose pride obstructed me from answering rather than clarifying what he meant. The Videre must have known, however, because he cleared his throat. “Star-wielding. Was it Sidra?”

“I taught myself,” I answered.

Aegir snorted softly. “That explains it.” I flashed a rigid glimpse at Kye, who in turn watched Aegir with tight composure, a placid veil masking his thoughts. Aegir stretched his arms enough to roll his silver byssus silk sleeves away from his wrists, the smoky hue of his skin at odds with the bright luster of the snow that draped around us.

“Your control is lacking. Electricity is not like water. It’s not like calling to the moisture in the atmosphere and letting it gather together. It’s finding the static that’s already there and connecting the dots.”

White marbled the skin across my knuckles. “And I suppose I should ask you to help me strengthen my skill?”

Aegir cocked his head slowly, studying the harsh line of my neck and shoulders. Somewhere behind us, Aren swore and Leal laughed. A muffled crunch as Kazimir lost his footing and staggered to regain balance, a soft growl rumbling through the air.

“I’ve offended you,” Aegir said softly.

“What leads you to believe that?” I asked through fixed teeth. “Was it arriving to our rescue to throw silver shackles over my wrists? Insinuating we are allies simply because you are Venusian and I’m Juilean? Couldn’t possibly be the criticism of my abilities.”

Over the last few hours, I’d hardened into a ball of granite under Selena’s silent stares and Cebrinne’s obvious determination to look at anything but me. But the words left my mouth juicy and sweet, a soothing poultice for my own wounds. I’d always loved the taste of poison.

Aegir’s mouth hovered open. He glanced at Kye, who gave the world’s most subtle head shake and aimed his head skyward to scrutinize the shape of the clouds, though the singular white tuft in the vast canopy overhead offered little to aid the imagination.

I waited for the Venusian to scoff in offense. Maybe, if I were lucky, he’d call Sindri to him and leave. Warmth flared under my skin with the hope that he would, tension releasing from my shoulders. It doubled as he ran a hand through his ropy hair with a breathless chuckle as he muttered a soft wow.

He slowly rocked his head to the side, amusement stretching his mouth wide. “You’re like your mother.”

My thoughts vanished in a whirl of white wind and tight breath. Every retort I might have invented blew out. I’m not sure he meant it as the low blow that it was, though his smile only grew at my vacant expression before it quickly faded.

“Maren,” Aegir tried again, but I clicked my tongue and squeezed my thighs, pushing Kolibri ahead. The mountainside glittered where snow bathed under the sun. Damp rock poked through, mist curling softly as it rose and vanished. The slopes beyond us dipped and spread and shone with blinding intensity, the sky a reverent blue against all the illuminated white. It did nothing to pacify the incendiary glow in my chest, a box of tinder searching for a flame.

I’d thought Kye might ride ahead with me until I remembered he still dragged Kazimir behind him. My fingers curled tight against Kolibri’s reins. Even imprisoned, the Rivean managed to separate me from Kye.

I warned him not to, Kye suddenly murmured into my mind, but he’s catching up to you.

“Queen Maren,” Aegir called from just over my shoulder. I threw the Naiad a threatening glare. He drove his horse shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Kolibri, then leaned heavily to grasp my reins.

The short hiss of a blade escaping its sheath twenty feet behind us slithered through my ears.

“Let go,” I aimed at Aegir through my teeth.

“I’m not your enemy,” he said calmly, the way a parent might force patience into their voice after repeating a command to their child.

“And I am not your ally,” I shot back. His shoulders fell by a fraction. I ripped my reins from his hand.

Hoofbeats and a short scream splitting the air—Kazimir yanked off his feet. He shouted a chain of curses as Kye pushed into Aegir’s opposite side. “Move along.”

Aegir ignored him. “Venusia and Juile have always been allies,” he argued. “Sidra told me about you when you came to Calder. Asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“Sidra didn’t know where I was when I left Leihani.”

Aegir sighed. “Not at first, no. But after I met you, I mentioned it to her. We always met when we knew Thaan was making a move. I told her Thaan was using Selena to train some young Prizivac Vode with dark hair and island eyes. She immediately knew from where you’d come. From whom you’d come.”

Selena and Cebrinne faltered ahead, slowing their pace as they turned in their saddles at the sound of our voices. Kye’s horse swerved before Aegir’s mare, forcing him to stop. In a flash, Sindri was at Aegir’s side, throwing knives poised at Kye, but Aren and Dimas were close enough to draw their swords, aiming for Sindri’s neck.

“Who is this fucking guy?” Leal asked in a way that made me wonder if he’d been bursting with the question for hours. Everyone else froze, the mountainside suddenly a caged breath of furious tension.