“Because you stare at him too long,” I said in the same moment.
Vouri’s thumb padded against the edge of her plate. “Well. If you two know, I suppose the entire moon-damnedDomusdoes as well.”
Selena smiled. “They do.”
Vouri sighed. “What did Aegir say?”
“His opinion of your manipulation tactics stooped fairly low.” I used my sleeve to wipe my mouth. Selena made atchsound and tossed her cloth napkin at me. “But he agreed he’s a boorish pig for withholding you fromcordaeingwho you want.”
“He didn’t quite go that far,” Selena muttered. “And a boor is an old reference to a wild pig, so that sentence is redundant.”
“No, aboarrefers to a wild pig,” I snapped back.
“A boor is named for a boar. A rude, ill-mannered brute.”
“It is not.”
I scoffed. “Go look it up.” Selena straightened out of her seat, stalking to the heavy tomes lined along the shelves of our wall. I glanced back at Vouri. “Why do you even need his permission? Justcordaethe Naiad.”
Vouri’s jaw slowed. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” I huffed. “You didn’t sign a contract saying Aegir gets to choose. You’re a sea-born Naiad. Do the other members of your colony have to ask first?”
“Ceba.” From the opposite side of the room, Selena snapped a book shut, her voice low with warning. “Don’t interfere.”
“What’s Aegir going to do? Ban you from the colony?”
Vouri stared at me as though she’d never considered the thought.
“Ceba.” Selena’s low voice cut through the room. “I don’t think—” Her eyes widened, hand suddenly flat over her stomach. “Excuse me,” she said.
Then rushed from the room.
Vouri’s eyes met mine, bright with surprise. The door to our bedroom slammed, followed by a belch that vibrated through the walls and a hushed “Oh, no.”
“What in Theia’s name?” Vouri asked, then stole a sharp gasp of air. “What fish was that?”
I dug under the stacked ceramics, silver utensils, and piled napkins on the tray, pulling out the kitchen’s meal card. Gritting my teeth, I threw Vouri an apologetic glance.
“Eel?” she asked. But she already knew.
We both knew.
I forced a smile. “It’s the best way to cleanse a colon.”
21
Selena
“What happened to you two?”
Pheolix regarded Cebrinne and me with a raised brow, hood thrown back over his shoulders, too much humor in his eyes. My skin hadn’t returned to its normal color, still pale and clammy from the evening before, and the center of my forehead felt as though I’d spent the night pounding it against the dancing crane statue outside our rooms.
“Did you forget what happened the last time you annoyed me?” I asked, shucking my stockings off and rolling them into a neat ball. The sun drizzled across the surface of the water, sparkling madly. On such a rare day, I was loath to dive in and swim to cloudy, moody Paria.
“That’s what you do when you’re annoyed?” He pulled off his cloak, hair flying as it whipped over his head. He smiled at me through the strands. “I’d love to see you furious.”
“She’s a kitten when she’s furious,” Cebrinne supplied. Eyelids heavy, shoulders slack, she looked as though she was powering through the midst of the world’s worst hangover.
