Most of the time Lucia believed that Mahdi did love her, but sometimes she would catch him staring off into the distance, unaware that she was watching him, with an expression of such deep longing on his face that it made her catch her breath.
She had to know if he still cared for Serafina, and there was only one way to find out. Being careful not to wake him, she lifted Mahdi’s head off her lap and slid to the edge of the banquette. He stirred and rolled onto his back but didn’t wake. She rose and was about to swim to the door to lock it, when it opened.
“Hey, Luce, you coming out to dance?” Bianca asked loudly, swimming inside in a swirl of orange sea silk. She spotted Mahdi asleep on the banquette. “Oops! Sorry!” she whispered. “Wow, how can he be asleep? It’s sooo noisy in here. Being emperor must be really tiring!”
“Don’t be stupid,” Lucia said. “No one could fall asleep in here. I drugged him. I poured a somna potion into his drink.”
Bianca’s eyes widened. “Where did you get it?”
Lucia smiled.
“Her?” Bianca said, shocked. She lowered her voice. “Luce, you said you were done with her. It’s canta malus. If anyone finds out you’re using darksong—”
“No one will. Unless you tell them.”
Bianca was quick to reassure her. “I won’t. Of course I won’t. But why do you want Mahdi to be asleep? Aren’t we heading back to the palace soon?”
“Lock the door,” Lucia ordered.
Bianca did as she was told. Lucia swam over to the banquette and sat down next to Mahdi. Bianca cast a regretful glance at the door, as if wishing she was still on the other side. Then she joined her friend. As she did, Lucia began to songcast.
“A stealing songspell?” Bianca asked, with a nervous giggle. “What are you going to do? Boost Mahdi’s wallet?”
Klepo, thief god, hear my plea,
A robber’s skills I ask of thee.
Grant me cover, grant me stealth,
Not for gain, or goods, or wealth,
But for secrets the heart does keep,
Buried in bloodsong, dark and deep.
Love, false or true, I must reveal,
It’s the truth I wish to steal.
Bianca’s silly chatter stopped abruptly as she saw Lucia press her hand to Mahdi’s chest, then violently yank it back. Skeins of blood were entwined in her fingers. He groaned in pain. His eyes fluttered open.
Lucia panicked. If he wakes up…she thought. If he realizes what I’m doing…But he didn’t. His eyes closed again. Relief washed over her. The somna potion was strong.
“Oh, my gods, Lucia…don’t!” Bianca said, horrified. “That’s against the law! It’s worse than canta malus—it’s canta sangua—blood magic!”
Lucia ignored her. She knew that pulling someone else’s bloodsongs was wrong, that it was a heinous violation of both body and soul, but she didn’t care.
She swirled her hand through the blood now, avidly watching the images coalesce. She saw Mahdi riding his hippokamp. Talking with Traho. Commanding death riders. None of those memories was what she wanted. Impatiently, she waved the blood away and pulled more.
“Lucia, be careful,” Bianca warned. “You’ll hurt him.”
Lucia paid her no heed. She pulled another skein of blood, and then another. Mahdi’s face turned a pale, sickly shade, but she kept on drawing out his memories until finally she saw what she was after.
She watched Mahdi kiss Sera in a safe house.
She watched him take Sera’s hand in a room in a farmhouse.
She watched him Promise himself to Sera in an official ceremony in the farmhouse’s garden.
And then she could watch no more.
She rose, her hands clenched, her eyes dark with malice. Jealousy shriveled her heart. Rage turned it black. Mahdi was a traitor. He had betrayed Miromara and Matali. Worse, he had betrayed her.
She picked up an empty glass and hurled it against a wall, shattering it. She toppled a table. And then another. Then she remembered the dagger hidden in a pocket of her dress. She pulled it out, trembling with fury, and advanced on the defenseless Mahdi.
Bianca, wide-eyed, swam in front of her. “Lucia, no! Wait!” she frantically pleaded.
Lucia glared at her. “For what?” she asked venomously.
“What if this is all a mistake? What if this isn’t Mahdi? The real Mahdi, I mean.
Lucia’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Sera must’ve enchanted him somehow. So she could use him to advance the Black Fins’ cause.”
Lucia thought about this, then slowly nodded. “You’re right. That’s exactly what happened. That explains everything. Mahdi would never prefer Sera to me.”
“Of course he wouldn’t. How could he?” Bianca said soothingly.
“She used darksong on him to make him believe that he loves her. To make him spy for her. She’ll stop at nothing to take my throne,” Lucia said.
Bianca glanced nervously at the blade Lucia was still clutching. “Put that away,” she said. “You don’t want to cut yourself.”