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“Called you back home with him. Not the usual way of things, but strange seas toss us now. Don’t let them see.”
“Don’t let them see, or they’ll take you from him. Might even take your eel like they took two little eels, but what could I do? Had to do it, little fox.”
“Like a fox among tides.” “Are you saying I’ve broken the way things are because of this mark?”
“Reasons we can’t know, but be at ease, the heart of the young is not the same as the sire.”
“Marks of eels—” Sewell patted my arm. “Heal it all.”
“She called you back.”
“Who, Sewell? Tell me who?” “The Ever.”
“Bring it back, little fox.” Sewell blinked and a tear dripped over his lashes. “Don’t let them take it away.”
“Songbird.” “Serpent.”
“Bloodsinger.” “Love?”
“That mark is from the House of Kings. I’m sure it unsettled Sewell because the mark has never been on a woman.”
“The rune is a symbol of the royal line of the Ever. What we call the mark of the king. It is the mark on the mantle you showed to me that night.”
“The only possibility I’ve considered for it to be on your skin is that you touched
“The mantle is why I came to you,” he told me. “I have need of it, and perhaps, when it is mine again, we might put all this . . . tension between our worlds behind us at last.”
“There are five noble houses of the Ever. Each controls a province and a gift of the sea. They all have strengths and talents that are utilized for the benefit of the kingdom. When sea fae develop a song, they are classed amongst the houses.”
“Our magic doesn’t force us to live within the origin house. Celine serves the House of Kings, though her ability to speak through the sea would be a voice from the House of Tides. The houses are kinship, as much as they are power. Taxes and offerings are paid to the house of your voice. Folk without a power of the sea, pay and honor the House of Kings.”
“The royal blood is the one that is branded; a mark of a king. As I said, to see it on a woman who is not born of the sea is bewildering.”
“I’m convinced you live to antagonize me.”
“Do not sell yourself short and think you are not the most formidable of foes. I’ve no doubt you have the power to destroy me.” “I suppose time will tell.”
Yes, he’d taken me, but there was almost something desperate when he looked at me, like he didn’t truly want to bring me harm, but had schemes turning in his head and I was the key to them all.
“All you want is that damn gold disk of yours. Who cares who dies, right? Who cares if it begins a war?” I shook my head. “And me, I’m a fool for all the moments I’ve wondered about you, about this world. I even felt sympathy for the barriers of the Chasm being placed against you. Now, I realize, I’m nothing but a gods-damned fool.”
“The mantle does hold the power of the Ever. If it is won by another, a king cannot challenge the victor for ten turns. It’s true, your father is the one I must challenge. Before I saw it on you, I was the only one with the mark of the House of Kings.”
“Would you let the man who killed your father go unchallenged?’ My stomach cinched. “I suppose if you ever succeed in your plan, then you will find out.”
Lucien
Baby Lucien what are you doing hereee???
She looked . . . like she belonged here, beside me, an open sea before us.
The black satin petals were rife in pain relieving properties, often used during childbirth.
She didn’t duck away. Didn’t shriek. For a wretched moment, I was lost in my songbird. The harder the rain fell, the more she tilted her face, reaching for the storm. My world intrigued her more than it brought disgust. The more she was near, the less of her presence I ignored.
“I do enjoy my name said with such passion from your tongue,” I said. “But afraid it won’t be enough for this.”
“Risked her skinny neck for Sewell. I’m not letting anything happen to her after that, Erik. You know I won’t.” Celine shook her head, grinning in a bit of disbelief. “Didn’t even know him. She’s either got no brains, or bigger balls than you.”
She’d dressed in a pair of Celine’s trousers and, again, wore one of my damn shirts.
That skin, her scent, was pressed against my clothing. I was a fool. A simple thought of naked flesh had me reeling like a feckless boy who discovered his cock for the first time.
Hate me, curse me, I cared little, so long as I was the first
“Behave today, love,” I whispered. “This is no place for a sudden burst of bravery.”
I couldn’t help the grin that followed her beautifully violent speech. Innocent and gentle, yet when prodded enough, out came the vicious beauty within. And she was mine. In what capacity, I hadn’t decided. To ruin, to manipulate, to claim.
“I do love when you try to seduce me.”
Gods, I despised them all.
He truly hates his people but loves them as well
“How is this possible?” My head throbbed; I rubbed it away. “I feel her.”
“I love how you say my name.”
“Sea singers have a lure to their voice. You’ve heard lore of a siren song—male sea singers use their pipes and lyres the way a siren uses her voice. For earth fae, it draws out lust, and you can’t resist the song. I should’ve thought to look for one, but—”
“Not afraid of my blood in your mouth, but a tonic is where you draw your line?” He stroked my lips, easing them apart, and forced a few swallows onto my tongue.
“About had to give him some serenleaf of his own to get the man to stop asking if you was breathing right.”
“You’ll learn to call the royal city home soon enough.”
“So, I will claim you.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t be the first.”
TAKE IT BACK LIVIAAA YOU HURT MY BABEEE
“Livia Ferus, blood of warriors, temptation of the Ever King, you have nothing to fear from me in here. I am the one who fears this place.”
“You feel a draw to the Ever.” His voice was soft, almost broken. “I’ve seen it in your eyes.”
I couldn’t rid my thoughts of her. To her, I might be hideous, but in spineless moments, I thought I might be content to kneel at her feet for the rest of my damn days if she healed the Ever.
“Secrets are heard by the trees, the flowers, the earth. Blood and bone from death, be it battle or murder or the aged, it doesn’t matter, the earth knows.”
We shared blood through my mother, but that was the only similarity other than our proclivity to be vicious.
“You beautify the land, a lovely gift. Worthless during battle and survival, but how gentle, how sweet and precious you must be to your people.”
