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The Elders scattered around the room covered their ears, and their faces twisted in surprised horror. Like a commander going in front of her troops, I made my way to the center of the room, shoulders back and chin lifted.
They wanted me here badly enough to make an attempt at forcing my compliance. Wish granted, μαλ?κα.
Bion must have been listening to my thoughts because he snickered, although he quickly hid it behind a cough.Did you seriously just call the Elders ‘malaka?’
He knew exactly what I had said, and I didn’t bother wasting time acknowledging his question.
Every eye in the room was pinned on me, but rather than shrinking from the weight of their judgment, I stood taller. I was born ready to fight.
Not giving the Elders a chance to speak, I spoke first.
“I am Zosime, Queen of Atlantis. I pledged my life to fight the Lure and have honored my oath even into a world vastly different from the one in which I made that promise.” Pausing, I waited to see if any of the Ancients would speak up, but they remained stone-faced and silent.
“You took Lokene from me when I needed him during the last battle at Atlantis, and now you have taken him from me again. He is not a pawn for you to use in order to control me.” My voice echoed through the room as the siren and warrior blended together, compelling everyone to listen.
“If I didn’t feel honor bound to fulfill my oath, I wouldn’t be standing before you today. I worshipped the Ancients, but you have done much to destroy my respect.” I was pleased there was not even a tremble in my voice.
I was only half Ancient, and I wondered if the Ancients would decide to silence me permanently for my open disrespect. No one moved, nor did lightning strike and turn me to ash.
Either I was too important to kill, or their oath prevented them from murdering even a half-blood, because I remained breathing.
An Ancient with a long white beard and pale gray hair that hung in a braid to his waist stood up slowly from his seat.
“Welcome to your mother’s homeland, Zosime.” A gentle smile split his face as he greeted me.
Was he serious right now? I was here for war, both against the Lure and the Ancients who’d dared to take my mate. This wasn’t a social call. Despite my irritation, my mother’s etiquette training pounded in my head, ordering me to show proper respect to the Ancients. It took everything I had to fight against those ingrained manners and remain silent.
A blonde-haired woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties spoke next. “We understand your displeasure over the inconveniences you feel we’ve caused you, but I assure you, they were necessary. You were needed here immediately, and your delays were unacceptable.”
“Then why not teleport me here? Why use my mate as bait to draw me here?” I snapped, not bothering to hide my anger.
The Ancients exchanged an odd look before coming to some type of agreement on what to tell me.
“Your Earth magik is an interference. We can claim you as ours because of your mother’s blood in your veins, but the earth has also laid claim to you. We tried to bring you here, but the earth blocked our attempts.”
I kept my face expressionless but stored that information away for later. The Earth claimed me and had thwarted the Ancients’ efforts to take me from her by force?
“We would never harm you or your mates. I hope you know that, Zosime,” the female Ancient with the glowing sky-blue eyes added as though their intentions made taking hostages ethical.
I raised a brow.
“Zosime, stop acting like a child,” the gray-haired man scolded me. “We are trying to be lenient with you, but you would do well to remember who you are standing in front of.”
My anger had reached the point of no return, and while the warrior inside of me had long revered the Ancients, the siren definitely hadn’t.
“And you would do well to remember that I’m not a human to be ordered about.” My words were calm. The kind of dangerous calm that comes right before a storm.
Lifting my hands into the air, I fought the urge to grin maniacally as the water of Iolatara obeyed my command and exploded through the floor. The force of the water shattered the beautiful hand-painted tiles on the floor and sent shards of broken pottery raining down around me.
“Enough!” one of the Ancients shouted. His hands began to move, and I braced for whatever magik he was about to throw my way.
Only it didn’t come.
“No!” Bion cried, stepping in front of me, throwing up a wall to separate the Ancients from me. He groaned against the pulse of the other Ancient’s magik and stumbled back. He cast a glance over his shoulder and my breath caught in my throat at the worry and tenderness he accidentally let slip through his carefree, flirtatious mask.
Lokene rushed in, stepping to Bion’s side. It took less than two seconds for Lokene to take in the situation, and he threw his power into strengthening Bion’s wavering barrier.
“Lokene!” His name was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Having him near, where I could see that he was safe, was an immense relief, and some of the tension drained from my body.
