Page 59 of Heir of Broken Souls

Naia sighs. “The king placed a spell over her. So that if anyone figured out her true alliance, they were silenced. I couldn’t physically say what I saw even if I wanted to.” Her voice lowers. “Dark magic is as powerful as they come.”

Another wave of guilt crashes into me. Before it swallows me whole, I force out, “Do you know why we came here?”

“Yes.”

“And have you seen the entirety of the prophecy?”

“No. Only what Elysia has seen. We, too, receive the same translated snippets. You are the only one who’s heard it all.”

“Do you know how to decipher what we have so far? Where is this saltwater heap it speaks of?”

Naia turns to her pod, silently communicating. Once they all simultaneously dip their pointed chins, she turns back to me and nods herself. “We offer our services to you, to guide and aid you in this journey, for it won’t be an easy task.”

“No, no, that can’t be right.” I shake my head. “Our battle lies here. Cardania was just overthrown. The rest of the courts could fall at any moment.”

Her eyes turn sorrowful. “If you do not leave, all of Aloriah will fall. What you seek will give you every answer you need to save our lands. Without it, we will all perish.”

“I don’t suppose you can just…tell me what’s there beneath the sea?”

She shakes her head slowly.

Can they be trusted?Knox asks suddenly.

I trust anyone who received the prophecy. Anyone outside of that…no.

“When should we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. It’s an eleven-day sail.”

Knox rubs the nape of his neck. “With the city evacuated I have plenty of boats to choose from. Any preference? Any storms you foresee, Naia?”

“Plenty of storms, yet none created by Mother Gaia,” Amelia purrs instead.

I will pluck my eyeballs out if they speak to us the entire time in riddles, I hiss.Knox’s soft chuckle drifts down the bridge.

“Care to share with the rest of us this time?” Knox drawls.

“No.”

I roll my eyes at Amelia but by the look on Naia’s face, she’s close to rolling her own.

“We’ll see you at dawn at Azalea’s shores. Bring your armor.”

And with that, Naia returns to the water, her pod gliding after her, leaving ripples in their wake.

All except for Amelia. She pins her gaze on Knox.

“Control your second, or next time it’ll be a dagger that stops him,” she snarls, then lowers into the water and disappears.

We’re silent for a moment, the weight of everything that is to come pressing upon our already tired shoulders. Until I shiver from the chill. “I didn’t think mermaids carried daggers.”

“It is an odd sight to imagine, isn’t it?”

Hefting a deep sigh, I drop my forehead to his chest. “I’m sorry about earlier. Do you hate me?” I ask, barely a whisper.

He barks out a laugh. “I could never hate you. But you owe him an apology.”

“That was so horrid and terribly selfish of me.” My eyes grow heavy. “I-I made him cry.”