I scoffed, remembering how the Naiads of Juile couldn't touch him in the water. "It's not that arbitrary."
Soft footsteps came from behind his shoulder, Selena leaning across Pheolix to knead his arm affectionately with her fingertips. “You’ll be alright here?”
Pheolix pushed off the desk, rising to his feet. He caught Selena’s hand before it dropped, rubbing the back of it firmly. “I think I’ll lay back down for a while.” He walked ahead, a hand guiding him along the wall, his steps slow and unsure until he split from us to enter Selena’s bedroom. I caught the view of her bed, as rumpled and messy as the one I’d left not too long before.
We walked down to the water slowly, taking our time over the sky bridge and down the stairs as I leaned on her for support, the steep rockface obstructing our passage any further. The JuileSea beat against the cliffs below. One way down. Selena dropped to an un-Selena-like squat, loosening the binds on my splint. “Want me to come or stay?”
I watched her fingers work, answering without hesitation. “Come.” Nori probably wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t care. If I were to be queen, I’d need them united, no matter what they thought of each other.
But moon and sun and stars, I knew it wouldn’t be pretty.
71
Maren
“Pull him from the warfront.”
I shook my head. “I can’t, Nori.”
“Incantthe human king. The generals. The advisors.”
Frigid water lapped over my shoulders as I leaned into Selena’s arms, bracing myself to allow my tail to float along the surface where Aitne and Aoede each held the base just above my flukes. Both healers pretended not to listen to the ongoing argument between Nori and myself, their eyes focused on their work. But I wondered what thoughts roamed inside their heads.
“You know that won’t work, Nori.”
“Why not?” She raked impatient fingers through her wine-red hair. “It worked for Thaan when he wanted the human to marry you.”
“That took weeks of planning on Thaan’s part. He had toincantKye several times. For different audiences.”
“It should be enough that he is royalty,” Nori grumbled. “Why do humans send their ownPrizivac Vodeinto peril?” I openedmy mouth to answer, and Nori waved a hand, excusing the matter. “And willhebe there in battle as well? Thaan?”
My mouth closed, impatience building. I used to suffer through the Naiad’s interruptions without complaint, but something in my blood stirred at the way Nori spoke over me now. Still, I found myself seeking Selena over my shoulder for the answer.
She chewed on the thought for a moment. “He might be. It’s impossible to know.”
“Might be, might be,” Nori chanted to herself. “Might be a flower, might be a flame. Might borrow my skin, my face, my name.”
“Are you finished?” Selena asked, unamused.
“Might be the sunshine, might be the dark. Might walk on my feet, might stop my heart.”
“Nori,” I all but snapped.
“Thaan was the monster in the nursery rhymes I was told as a young Naiad,” Nori ground out. “You saymight beas though all you need is to keep your wits. But he could be anywhere or anything, in any time or any place, and you would never know.”
“So, we’ll pretend that he could be anyone. We'll come up with codes in case we grow suspicious he's invaded our midst. But he can only take your body if you give him your blood,” I growled. “Do you plan to give him your blood, Nori?”
She reeled back, mouth curled in disgust.
“I didn’t think so.” I became aware of the waves snapping and popping against my hands, and Nori subdued herself as she watched the icy winter sea fizzle under my touch. “I can’t do anything about Thaan. I can’t do anything about Kye being called to Winterlight, either.”
“Does Thaan know you retrieved the stone?” Olinne asked. I paused. My hand curled around it, hanging from the delicate chain around my neck. The answer must have read plain onmy face. Nori’s rigid shoulders drooped slightly. Olinne nodded. “What’s done is done.”
Nori’s lips thinned. “You are new. You are untrained. Your body is still absorbing Queen Sidra’s power, and you have not practiced with it. You can’t control it. You are not ready for this fight, My Queen. But you plan to accompany yourcordaeto the North.” It wasn’t a question, but she fixed me with bright copper eyes and waited for my answer.
I ran a hand under my hair, withholding the urge to scratch an itch along my neck. “I haven’t decided.”
“Yes, you have,” Olinne said softly. Nori shot her a look.
