Page 50 of A Sea So Cruel
Maybe it was her imagination showing her such things, but Asta took in the sight and let it fill her with warmth and assurance that she was making the right choice.
Asta nodded to Gyrial and placed her hand over her own heart to return his gesture. After sucking in a deep breath, she stared into the deep turquoise eyes of the female before her.
“The bite will be agonizing, and then the searing venom will scorch its way into your heart. But everyone’s reaction is different after that, so this is the only warning I can give you, Princess Asta.”
Queen Arielle’s hand reached out, beckoning Asta to hold out her arm.
The siren queen’s grip was firm but not unfriendly, her fingers cold to the touch, which caused the skin on Asta’s arm to pebble.
The empress opened her mouth and revealed her sharp fangs, two mini daggers that could end a life as fast as a full-sized weapon. Asta made the wrong choice of observing the fangs too closely and saw the silver venom start to drip from the points. The sight made her stomach churn, wanting to step back in retreat, but it was too late.
The fangs plunged into Asta’s wrist before she could object. At first, she only felt the pain from the bite itself. She jostled against the discomfort, but the empress grabbed her shoulder and held Asta still.
When the pain of the bite subsided, the venom began its slow ascent to her heart. The siren queen had certainly down-played the sensation by saying it was a sting.
A fierce burn swept over Asta’s body like someone had set it ablaze from within, and the wildfire would burn until she was nothing. There was a loud ringing in her ears, but through it she could hear two male voices shouting. But her vision turned white, the otherworldly flame within blinding her.
Asta couldn’t see or hear properly. It felt like she had been turning for days, maybe even years. The pain was so agonizing that she couldn’t feel her own body anymore. She could only focus on the obscured voices, so faint that they seemed to be in another dimension.
Until the world went quiet and the white in her vision turned to black.
Chapter 26
Asta’s head was pounding like someone had slammed a stone into it, but she managed to open her eyes. Her vision adjusted to the dimly-lit room as she took in the bright orange walls surrounding her. Her head was resting on a spongy pillow and her hair kept floating up into her line of vision.
Floating?
Asta sat up quickly in a plush bed filled with sponge pillows, topped with a very heavy red comforter. Her movements were easy and sharp, but she concluded she must be underwater by the movement of her hair and the fabrics of the bed.
Go to the surface. Everyone will love your song. Sing to them.
Her head was squeezed in an invisible grip so tightly she felt like it would pop, but Asta pulled back the blankets to emerge from the bed and look around the room.
Call them to you, call them home to the siren kingdom.
The beastly thoughts were flooding Asta’s mind as she continued taking in her surroundings. There was a tight ball in her chest, but it was much different from the one she had become accustomed to with her rituals.
Show them the beauty of the depths. Allow them the honor of seeing what humans cannot.
A flash of purple caught Asta’s attention and she dragged her gaze to her fin—not her legs—her large, deep purple fin. She couldn’t help but smile as it moved where she willed it to.
They want to play. Let them join your games. Everything you want is at the surface, in their veins.
Well, that was enough for Asta to feel a chill skitter down her spine.
As Asta reached up to steady herself on the headboard, she noticed the scabbed over bite mark from where Queen Arielle had turned her. She ran a thumb over the mark, surprised that it was almost completely healed. Now that she thought about it, her entire arm was healed of the injuries she’d had from her previous fight with Maren and Svanhild. Had she been sleeping for that long?
As the princess was about to try her first swim again, Queen Arielle entered the room. Her royal blue and gold fin moved gently as she made her way to the edge of the bed and sat.
“How are you feeling?” the empress signed.
A spotted seal came floating in through the doorway and laid on the bed next to Queen Arielle.
Asta rubbed her head then answered, “My head aches, but it is bearable. How long have I been sleeping?”
“Just a day,” the siren queen signed, then rested a hand on the seal in front of her.
Asta looked down at her scabbed bite wound again, her brows furrowing and a corner of her mouth turning up. “How am I nearly healed?”
