Page 96 of The Song of the Void

“I am not blind to what you truly are, Reiven Miyasagi. But for now, I will choose to believe you are as committed to Ashkade’s vision of peace as you claim.” She turned on her heel, but I cried out to stop her, no matter how bewildered I was at their exchange.

“Wait, Calinia. We wanted you to have…this.” I grabbed Ash's crutch from where it had been leaning against the throne and handed it over to her.

Shortly after we had returned from Hell, Reiven had Ash's body cremated, a Mourner ritual that I cried all the way through. His crutch was all we had left of him now. Calinia held it, staring wide-eyed at the simple designs she had carved into it long ago, as if she had never seen it before.

Calinia's eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she tightened her grip on the wood. That crutch probably held painful memories, but also sunny ones of nursing Ash back to health. He always said that the Druinn who saved him treated him like family.

“Thank you for everything,” I said.

We embraced, and she hurried from the room, quiet, shuddering gasps of sobs following her out.

Reiven heaved another sigh and set his crown on the arm of his throne. There were too many things to say, so I settled for resting my hand on his shoulder.

“I'm not meant for this,” he grumbled, motioning at himself on the throne.

“You're doing fine.”

Jin smirked. “Yeah, don't be a baby. Technically, ‘this’ is what you were born for.”

“You're taking over for me as soon as possible,” Rei said, “but there's a lot of work to be done towards peace first.”

His younger brother rolled his eyes and gave Reiven a mocking bow. “Trying to push all the responsibility onto me, Your Majesty? Typical.” He fished around in his pocket and produced a plain envelope sealed with melted gold wax, handing it over to me with a grin. “Told you we make sure the last messages tied to the maples get to the people they're intended for. This is for you two.”

My heart ached as I stared down at the envelope. “Thank you.”

“I'm going to leave before you get too sentimental. But I want you to know that I'm glad you made it back, and that you're so determined to continue the Human's goal for harmony. And I'll follow you both until the end.”

With another masterful bow, Jin left Reiven and I alone in the throne room, his footsteps echoing across the stone walls.

Reiven held his arms out, and I gladly let him pull me into his lap. He played with my hair and nuzzled my cheek, but both of us stared blankly at the envelope in my hand. “Zephra…we have to start with our own people. If we can learn to get along, surely other Mourners and Sirens can work towards that too.”

“I know you're right, but…Reiven, I⁠—”

“You don't want to stay here. I know that, and I won't ask you to.”

I blinked at him in surprise.

Rei just grinned. “I do hope that one day you'll consider staying with me, whether that's here, an island we can call our own, or anywhere else in the world. But for now, you need to go back home to the Abyssal Deep. If you can convince them to reforge a peace treaty with us, and if Shaddan and Akina do the same with the Druinns…well, then there will only be one country left to bring to the table.” He kissed my cheek and held me tighter, enough that I could feel his body quake against mine. “Just thinking about you leaving is tearing me apart, but I know it's for the best, and you've been away from your home for too long. So, before you take my heart with you under the sea…I wanted to ask.” He stared at me so seriously, my heart began to pound. “Zephra Yukaris of the Abyssal Deep. Would you do me the honor of becoming an emissary of peace between Mourners and Sirens?”

It took a moment for his words to sink in. He wanted me to carry the message that Mourners desired peace to my people in the Abyssal Deep. My heart tore in two as I kissed him, struggling to hold back all the emotions threatening to spill over. The only thing I wanted for six years was to return home to the Deep.

But now, as much as my heart ached for home, it hurt even more because I would have to leave him. The smile I gave him felt too weak. “I…Of course. I’ll do anything for you, Your Majesty.”

He cringed at my use of his title, but it actually made me giggle.

I ran my fingers through his hair to fluff it a bit from where the crown had been weighing on him. “I’ll need to report back to you as often as possible.”

“As often as possible.”

“But while we’re apart,” I said, retrieving from my pocket the Sirensteel necklace he had bought in Porscana. It was feather-light in my trembling grip as I gently pulled the chain over his head to rest against his chest. “I want you to have something from the Siren whose heart you have. So you’ll remember that I’ll always…always come back to you.”

There was something reverent about the way he brushed his fingers against the necklace. A small smile almost brightened his face. “Thank you, Blue.”

Bittersweet silence fell over us. I leaned against him, and he drew an intimate, lazy circle on my knee with his finger. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, instead focusing on the pattern he drew up my thigh. He was always so warm. I almost felt silly for not realizing that he was a Mourner.

Reiven worked his hand gently up my leg until it rested on the envelope Jin had given us. “We should read his letter.”

“You're right.” Neither of us moved to open it. The room felt altogether too large, yet crushingly small at the same time. The throne we shared was a sanctuary where we had each other, surrounded by the hollow space of what we lost. Ash should have been there, planning for a peaceful future alongside us. My chest caved until I felt like I was deflating.