Page 7 of Beneath the Haunting Sea
“As long as—as long as I draw breath,” she finished, still looking at the fallen lily.
There was no applause, no toasting—the courtiers were confused by her speech. The bells rang on and on, until Talia thought the world might be swallowed up in their noise.
And then, as suddenly as they’d begun, they stopped.
The ballroom doors burst open, andthe Emperor’s personal guard marched in: twelve helmed soldiers with blue sashes slung across their bare chests. Half carried sabers, blades naked and ready in their hands, the other half spears. Talia gaped, not understanding.
Until she saw, striding behind them with a tiger-sharp smile, Eda Mairin-Draive.
Chapter Three
SILENCE ECHOED ASEDA STOOD THERE, SMILING,her glance sweeping over the glittering courtiers. She was dressed in a simple, old-fashioned gown the color of pomegranates, with gold clasps at both shoulders and an embroidered, blue belt. Lilies crafted in delicate gold leaf crowned her head and oils gleamed on her skin. Talia recognized both dress and crown as exact replicas of thoseworn by the goddess Raiva in a mural in the old palace temple. Talia wondered faintly if equating oneself with a goddess was profoundly arrogant or just blasphemous.
Eda spoke, her voice echoing sharply through the deathly quiet hall: “His Imperial Majesty Scain Dahned-Aer, Emperor of Enduena, Lord of Ryn, and Ruler of Od, is dead, claimed this hour by his long illness.”
The crowd gasped, andTalia stared numbly at Eda. Her heart beat too fast, too hard.
Eda’s smile sharpened. “I am His Imperial Majesty’s heir. For proof, I present to you these documents”—she snapped her fingers and a pair of attendants stepped forward, unfolding cream-colored pages affixed with the Emperor’s seal—”and His Imperial Majesty’s ring, which he bequeathed to me before he died.” She lifted her left handhigh for all to see: a heavy gold ring in the shape of a tiger chasing its tail, with rubies for eyes.
And then Eda’s own eyes found Talia’s. “This girl is an imposter, and a traitor to Enduena.”
Talia stepped down from the dais almost without realizing it. “No.”
“Evidence has been found detailing her long correspondence with Denlahn, and her plot to seize the throne.”
“No!”Talia stood frozenon the dance floor, staring into the sea of courtiers who just moments before had meant to toast her health. They glared at her now, murmuring angrily. Some of them cursed and a few spat at her. She found Ayah in the crowd, her friend’s face wracked with confusion and betrayal.
“Seize the traitor!” Eda commanded.
Two guards came forward and clapped their hands on Talia’s shoulders, their fingersbiting like stones into her skin.
“No!” she cried. “I haven’t done anything, there’s been amistake—”
But they were already dragging her away, across the dance floor and past Eda, who didn’t even look at her as she went by.
“Arrest her mother, too,” said Eda calmly.
“No!” Talia screamed, writhing in the guards’ grasp. “Eda, youcan’t!”
Eda glanced back at her, one eyebrow arched upward. “That’swhat you’ve never understood, my poor,dearTalia.” She smiled. “I can do anything I want.”
Talia woke to the noise of bells and the choking scent of moldering stone pressed up against her cheek. She jerked upright, heart stuttering.
Images of her own beheading had haunted her through the night.
She was shocked she’d slept at all.
Where was her mother? What was Eda planning to do to her? Toboth of them?
And she couldn’t stop thinking about the look of betrayal on Ayah’s face. Did her friend really believe her capable of treason?
She hugged her knees tight to her chin.
The hours spooled slowly away, one thread at a time. Talia got up and paced the confines of the tiny cell: five steps from one wall to the other, just three between the hardwood door and the bare stone sleepingledge.
After a long while she heard bells again, distant cheering, the brash ringing of trumpets.
She sat back down on the stone ledge, folded her hands in her skirt. Waited.
