“Not everyone.” As Elian moves his hand back to his waist, there’s a flash of the knife he never seems to let out of his sight. If the guards didn’t notice it before, they have now. And it’s obvious that’s exactly what Elian wants.
The scout wavers. “She could be hiding a weapon,” he argues, but there’s less conviction in his voice.
“Right.” Elian nods. “So many places she could have stashed it.” He turns to me and holds out his hand. “Give up that crossbow you’ve got under your skirt and they’ll let you off with a slap on the wrist.”
His voice is deadpan and when I only glare in response, Elian turns back to the scout and throws his arms up, like I’m being difficult.
“You’ll just have to throw her in the dungeons,” Kye says, appearing by Elian’s side. I’m not entirely sure if he’s joking. “She’s clearly part of some elite smuggling ring.”
Elian turns to him and gasps, placing a hand to his heart. “Gods,” he says, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “What if she’s a pirate?”
Kye snorts, and after a moment I realize that I’m smiling too.
I can’t remember the last time I truly laughed. I’ve been so set on pleasing my mother that finding any joy of my own seemed unreasonable. Not that it mattered; I could be the perfect monster and it wouldn’t change a thing. If I disappoint her, I’m a failure. But if I excel, I prove my worth as a ruler and that’s a far greater sin.
I think of what look she’ll have when I present the Second Eye of Keto to her and throw it down like a gauntlet.
The scouts let us pass and when they move aside, the city opens its arms. Nobody takes a second look at me. I blend into the stone, merging with every other face in the market. I’m utterly insignificant for the first time. It’s both freeing and maddening.
“Take a good look,” Elian says. “This could be your new home.”
His hat hangs at his side, hooked onto the handle of his knife. Concealing the weapon and drawing attention to it all the same. He wants to be noticed. He’s incapable of being forgettable.
I cross my arms over my chest. “You’d really just leave me here if you don’t think I’m useful enough?”
“I prefer abandon,” he says. “Desert. Dump. Push heartlessly to the wayside.” He sweeps a lock of thick black hair out of his eyes. “You have to admit that Eidyllio is better than the plank,” he says. “Or a cage.”
At this moment I think I’d prefer either of them. The feel of land under my feet is strange, and its steadiness tugs my stomach in too many directions. I long for water gushing against my fins or even the rock and sway of the Saad. Everything on land is too still. Too permanent.
“Don’t you miss it?”
I don’t know why I’m asking, as though Elian and I have anything in common. I should leave while I can. I should kill him while I can. Forget waiting until he leads me to the eye. Forget trying to overthrow my mother, and just take his heart like she demanded, securing my place as her heir again. If I come back with enough human weapons, surely I can take him on.
Instead I simply say, “The ocean,” and Elian’s eyes crinkle.
“It’s still out there,” he says.
“So far. We’ve walked for three hours.”
“It’s never too far. You’re forgetting that this whole place is a river delta.”
There are limits to my Midasan and when I stare blankly at the mention of a river delta, Kye releases a loud sigh from a nearby market stall.
“Oh, come on.” He licks chocolate from his finger. “Don’t tell me you’re not up on centuplicate geography.”
“It’s how Kardián was made,” Madrid explains. Her hair is in two high ponytails now, and when she speaks, she reaches up to tug them tighter. “A river delta formed from Eidyllio, and cousins of the royal family decided they deserved a nation of their own. So they took it and named themselves king and queen.”
“My kind of people.” Kye raises his fist in the air like a toast.
“Your kind of people aren’t anyone’s kind of people,” Madrid says. “You’re uniquely idiotic.”
“You had me at unique,” Kye says, and then turns to me. “All that separates Kardián and Eidyllio are rivers and estuaries. They’re everywhere you look in this place.”
I remember Torik’s comment on the Saad, about how Eidyllio was Elian’s favorite kingdom. At the time I couldn’t fathom why – the rogue prince enamored with a land of love seemed odd at best and ridiculous at worst – but now, understanding dawns.
“That’s why you like it here,” I say to Elian. “Because the ocean is never too far away.”
He smiles, but just as he is about to respond, Torik places a hand on his shoulder. “We got to get movin’, Captain. The Serendipity only holds our rooms for two hours after sunrise.”
“You go,” Elian tells him. “I’m right behind you.”
Torik gives a swift nod and when he turns to leave, the rest of the crew follows his lead. Except for Kye, who lingers on the edge of the crowd with an unfathomable expression. He squeezes Madrid’s hand – just once – and then watches until she disappears. When she’s no longer in sight, he turns back to Elian and me, his face adopting a sudden severity.
It seems the prince is so rarely left unguarded.
“I owe you something,” Elian says. “Or, technically, you owe me, since I saved you from drowning. But I’m not one for holding life debts.” There is a flicker of a smile on his lips as he unloops my seashell from his neck. Something like hope takes ahold of me. My fingers twitch by my side. “Here,” he says, and throws it to me.
As soon as the scarlet shell touches my hand, power floods through me. My knees almost give way as I feel an ungodly strength return. My bones harden, my skin crystallizing. For a moment my heart withers back to what it was. Then there’s a whisper that slowly turns to a hum. I can hear the call of the Diávolos Sea and the kingdom of Keto. I can hear my home.
And then it’s gone. Just like my powers.
The rush disappears as quickly as it came. My body slackens and my skin turns warm and soft. Bones so easily broken. Heart red and pounding once more.
The ocean is silent.
“Lira.”
I snap my eyes up to meet Elian’s. I still can’t get used to the sound of my name in his accent. Like one of the songs I used to sing. A melody as sweet as it is deadly.
“If you miss the ocean,” he says, “then Reoma Putoder is the closest water you’ll find. On the holy day, locals throw stones in the waterfall to wish for their lost love. Access is forbidden the rest of the week, but I don’t doubt you’ll be able to find a way around that.”
He makes to move by me and I sidestep. “Wait,” I say. “I thought you said you wanted me to prove myself worthy of going with you. I told you that I have information on the crystal you’re looking for and now suddenly you won’t even consider a deal?”