Page 81 of A Forgery of Fate

“W-why do you lurk in the dark?” I said, hating how my voice quavered. “Are you afraid to show yourself?”

The words had an echo of what I’d once asked Elang. Except his grandfather chuckled, the same deep and cryptic laugh he had made when we’d first met.

“Such disrespect,” he murmured. “Careful now, Thadu was punished for a lesser offense. He used to be quite handsome, if you can believe it.”

“Are you going to punish me too?”

“Not yet.”

That was when he burst out of the fog, shooting over me in a ghostly arc. I dropped the umbrella and fell flat, choking on sand.

To my disappointment, Nazayun was as I’d foreseen, a watery projection piercing out of the mountain walls. His head hung forth like a hulking lantern, while the rest of his body looped behind him, thick as a whale’s.

The Dragon King peered down at me. “What odd and fragile creatures you humans are. Everything shows on your flesh. Your anger, your fear, your cold. What would Elangui say, I wonder, if his new bride froze to death under my watch?”

I didn’t get up. I lay in the icy sand, pretending to be gripped by fear when, in fact, I was memorizing every detail of his face I could. His whiskers curled up, not down; there were three pinpricks of light in his left pupil, two in his right. His lower jaw had four incisors, all hooked like the ends of an anchor.

But then I got to the finer work. I counted his scales, I looked out for cracks in his nails, I studied the pebbly texture of his throat, and most of all, I studied the structure of his tail. It undulated behind him, long and serpentine, just like Shani had shown me.

I pulled myself to my knees, my teeth chattering.

“I’ve seen what I need to see,” said Nazayun. “You are interesting, little bride, but you are not impressive. Still, if Elangui claims to love you, then so begins your trial.”

If I hadn’t been freezing, I would have put my hands onmy hips. I’d already married Elang—what was I supposed to do to save him? Kiss him? Fall in love with him?

My imagination had drifted to such possibilities several times, but none of them felt right. Nazayun wouldn’t have made it so easy. So obvious.

Besides, Elang acted as though I repulsed him. He didn’t even want his pearl back.

I know precisely where it is,he’d said.

That was when it struck me. “Youhave his pearl.”

A laugh scraped out of Nazayun. “I took it, yes, but that was a long time ago.” He tilted his massive head. “He hasn’t told you much, has he, little bride? You have quite the task, then, before you break his curse.”

I gritted my teeth. “Why are you doing this? He’s your grandson, your blood.”

“Elangui is a monster,” Nazayun said sharply. “No different from the Thadu you just gored and killed.”

“Except you can’t seem to get him to die,” I shot back. “Could it be, the God of the Four Supreme Seas is afraid?”

I was lifted up, as if an invisible hook were under my chin, bringing me eye to eye with the Dragon King.

“Who are you to speak of fear?” he growled. “I have ruled since before the sun and moon were born, long before your kind befouled the earth. This realm ismycreation, my domain. Every being here is born with my permission, and allowed to live through my grace.”

“Except Elang.”

Steam puffed out from Nazayun’s mouth; it took me a while to realize he was chuckling. “Strange as it may be, your husband and I have something in common. We put the futureof Ai’long first, above all. Unfortunately, we have come to perceive each other as dangers to the realm, and therein lies the root of our discord.”

“You’re the one sending storms to Yonsar. You don’t think you’re a danger to this realm?” I retorted.

“You, like your husband, fail to understand that IamAi’long. I know what is best for these seas, just as I know he would bring their destruction. I will not let that happen.”

His conviction was impressive. I wondered if all gods had such a gift for self-delusion. “Why not make it easy for yourself, then, and crush Elang’s pearl between your claws?”

“A dragon’s pearl cannot be destroyed,” Nazayun replied, “even when it belongs to an abomination like your husband. I didn’t think he’d meet his match, but now that you’re here, I am quite curious to see how this will all end.”

I tensed. I didn’t like the direction this was taking.

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