“There she was before me, the oracle. What happened then, I will not say.” He holds the Staff of Eternity in a powerful fist. The symbols etched all along the shaft are the same ones along the hilt of my scepter. “This is what matters now.”
“And now you’re here.”
“I know it’s too soon for celebrations,” Adaro says. “The trident head is—”
“Adaro!” Sarabell yells between gritted teeth.
He holds his hand up to her and she’s instantly quiet. “If I am to be on Tristan’s land—”
“Technically,” Layla says, “some of it belongs to the State of New York.”
Adaro offers her a tray of pink wiggly stuff. “I like you. I wish the rest of court were as funny as you!”
She reaches for the cube of jellyfish brain and knocks over a drink onto one of the princesses beside her. I pick up the glass and use my own T-shirt to dab at the princess’s dress by way of apology. Besides, it’s too hot to wear a T-shirt. The makeshift court shoots Layla dirty looks, like if I weren’t here, they’d drag her into the surf and drown her. I sit up a little straighter, wrapping my arm around over her shoulder, because no one looks at Layla like that.
Then Adaro gets stone faced, eyes shifting from side to side. I see a spark of fear, and I know his journey has been just as rocky as mine.
“Come,” I say, taking him by the arm, away from Sarabell’s prying eyes.
“Cousin,” she says, reaching out for his hand, and he pulls out, but Gwen makes her sit back down.
“Oh, leave them to their champion talk,” Gwen says. “Tell me, has anyone heard of the others?”
Note: Thank Gwen later.
Adaro and I walk down to the shoreline. This late in June, the water is still cold. It wraps around our ankles in frothy white bubbles, washing away the smallest trace of scales on our ankles.
“Is it true?” He squints and blocks the sun from his eyes. I’m trying to picture him as the sort of guy who’d set fire to Greg’s home, but I just can’t.
“You have to be a tiny bit more specific.”
“There have been whispers that the silver witch has escaped her prison.” He leans in closer, voice hushed. “That she’s alive?”
I bend down to scoop up some water and splash it on my face. The mention of Nieve makes my entire body hot. “Yes, Nieve is out there.”
It’s a physical reaction for him too. He’s shaking out his legs like he’s cramping up. “My father always said King Karanos should’ve killed her when he had the chance. Sarabell says this shore was attacked by full-grown merrows. That’s partly why I came.”
“What’s the other part?”
He looks back to the laughing girls. Gwen is telling some story and they’re all enraptured by her—the way her face shifts from emotions, the fluid movements of her delicate hands. Even Layla joins in. There’s something twitchy and nervous about Adaro. It’s not the booze and it’s not his fear of Nieve and merrows. He twirls the staff with expert fingers.
“I think we’re better in numbers,” he says. “We’re competitors, you and I, not enemies. Elias hasn’t surfaced since you two—and Dylan is way up north.”
“Brendan is south. Our ships passed each other, but he’s safe.”
“Good, good. My men are on my ship, ready if another such attack happens.”
“Adaro,” I say slowly, testing the waters of our camaraderie. “Have you been attacked by those creatures?”
He bites his lip. Then, as if his body is a balloon losing air, he holds on to my shoulder and presses his fist to his mouth. Really, I can’t stand someone else puking on me.
“I’m okay,” he says. “But I lost over a dozen of my guard. They were great mermen, all of them.”
Despite the strength of his body, when his amber eyes look at me, I find the fear, the helplessness. And I know, even though we’re fighting for the same throne, right now we need each other. I have to make him see that he needs me too.
“I think I can help,” I say. “Is there somewhere more private we can talk?”
Adaro’s ship is so elaborate that it makes Arion’s look like a cardboard box with sheets attached.
A giant eel, similar to the makara but with the head of an ancient lion, is etched into the mast. It has red jewels the size of my head for eyes, and the body is washed in gold, just like the mast. A red