Page 94 of The Song of the Void

When we pulled away to let each other have space to breathe, the Water Spirit was nowhere in sight, but the wall beyond the pool of water split open with a booming crack of sound. The fresh crevice let sunlight flood into the dim chamber, scattering sparkles across the pool.

After my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I focused on the black stones that formed the castle in the distance, the gray smear of the wall against the dark blue ocean. Heat from the surface-dweller sun beat down onto me, and for once, I found the warmth wonderful.

When I first met him, I would have never thought of Reiven as regal or imperious. Spoiled and cocky, certainly.

But seeing him sit upon the throne in the castle, with an Obsidian crown resting atop his head, fingers drumming impatiently against the armrests as he regarded his aunt…I would have bent the knee to him without hesitation if he asked. He hadn’t bothered to ask Tamayo to do so and instead had the guards shove her to her knees before him on the velvet carpeting. Her neat bun had come loose due to the rough treatment.

I stood to his right like a fish out of water, a Siren looking down on a Mourner noble in their own country. Akina and Jin wore glares from their places on Reiven’s left, but at least they looked natural there.

“You,” Rei said, eyes flashing red-hot like burning rubies. “You fucking lied to me about Jin. Convinced my own father to let you curse and banish me. Tried to manipulate Akina so that you could rule over our people from your pathetic shadows. You get one chance to convince me to not do far worse to you, and my patience is thinner than paper, so talk fast.”

Tamayo blinked rapidly. “I-I did what I had to do to protect the Miyasagi name and our people! Your power was too immense for you to handle when you were young. You were dangerous. But look at you. You turned out far better than you would have if we just let you continue down that path, so I did you a favor!”

Rei’s grip on the arms of the throne tightened, and a reddish glow seeped into the metal.

Tamayo went a shade paler, lips quivering as she stammered. Maybe it was because she had already seen what Reiven was capable of when he had all his power, and now that she faced both it and the consequences of her treachery, she realized there would be no escaping his wrath.

“Rei…w-we’re family,” she offered weakly.

“You tried to kill Zephra.” He stood, towering over all of us, but especially Tamayo, who cringed on the floor as he strode down the stairs towards her. Flames encased his hands. The room shuddered, but I was the only one who seemed surprised—according to Rei, earthquakes were common on Ghrysim Isle. Somehow, it felt like he was the cause behind that one. “Attempting to murder the woman I love was your biggest mistake.”

A flush crept across my face and neck. Was he actually going to kill her, naming her attempt on my life the primary reason?

Just as I opened my mouth to intervene, Reiven spoke again. “There is no salvation for you, dear aunt. Your curses and manipulations are over.” His angry flames completely disappeared, but I could somehow sense that this would end worse for Tamayo than if he incinerated her on the spot.

Her face twisted into rage and disgust as she glared at him, shooting me the same look. Tamayo raised her chin and spat, “You are no Mourner king, Reiven Miyasagi. There isn’t a Mourner on this island aside from you that would entertain having a Siren in his bed, seated beside him, calling him her lover. Our people will revolt when they hear.”

He leaned down close to her. “And that kind of pointless hatred is the first thing I plan to change for our people.” Reiven straightened as his aunt screamed at him, struggling against the guards that restrained her.

“You don’t deserve to rule! You’re unworthy! You’re a reckless, destructive, Siren-loving monster who should have never come back here!”

“And you’re a hateful, deceitful old witch who doesn’t deserve a place on this island.”

Jin stepped forward. “Plus, she’s completely wrong about our people.” He glanced between me, Reiven, Tamayo, even the guards, as if he was surprised we hadn’t noticed. “Akina and I have been holding secret meetings with the people now and then. While it’s true there’s a great deal of fear and distrust when it comes to things outside the walls…Mourners are curious. They’re sick of being stuck on the island, ostracized from the rest of the world, especially the younger ones. I think with time and encouragement, they’d probably be excited to welcome outsiders to the island, and they might like to explore the world themselves.”

It was wonderful to hear that there were already curious Mourner murmurs about the rest of the world. Jin and Akina were not as easily manipulated as Tamayo had thought.

Reiven grinned like a cat. “Hear that, Tamayo? Not everyone wants to stay in isolation, no matter what vitriol people like you have steeped us in for years…Maybe one day, Mourners will even swear fealty to a Siren queen.”

I held back a gasp, but Reiven just grinned and winked at me.

Shadows writhed around Tamayo, extensions of her barely contained fury. Dark tendrils lashed out at Reiven, while others shot towards me. With a snap of his fingers, pillars of flames burst through the shadows, sundering them with light and heat. Somehow, I managed not to flinch.

“Enough of this. You think attacking her is going to make me want to show you mercy?” Something almost cruel peeked through Reiven's decorum as he pushed his palm towards Tamayo.

A dark, cold wind swept through the throne room, chilling every layer of my skin until I had to wrap my arms around myself. Every flame around us dimmed.

Tamayo’s eyes went wide as sludgy tears of darkness trickled down her face. A strangled gasp. Color and life drained from her body in threads of red light that pulled towards Rei’s hand. Her body deteriorated from healthy to gaunt right before us, her eyes sinking back into her skull. Shiny hair matted together and fell in clumps off her head. The stench of decay filled the room.

My stomach churned.

This…isn’t natural Mourner magic, is it?

“This is the real reason you wanted me gone, isn't it?” Rei hissed. “You were afraid of this.”

“Rei, stop!” I cried. Sure, he had plenty of reasons to want to kill Tamayo, but what he was doing was just sadistic.

He laughed softly and lowered his hand, while a gasping Tamayo clawed at her chest and face like she might rip her own skin off. Black ooze covered her newly bony fingers. “You're lucky my Siren lover is here to keep me in check,” Reiven said. “I left you sixty days of life. Sixty days for you to rot in a cell, imagining our people bowing to a king with a Siren at his side, as we move together towards peace rather than unfounded hatred.”