Page 125 of Between Fear and Favor

“So you only act if it affects you,” I spat. “And even then, you would force your people to live a half-life, bound to you and the sea? To protect your power?”

Her grip on me tightened painfully, but her face remained eerily still. “If I could permanently bind them to their seaborn forms, I would. To protect them.”

“It is not protection!” I shouted, knowing that the words I spoke might be my last. To defy the gods was suicide, and yet I could not stop the words pouring out of me. “The sea might be endless, but it is a prison of your making if you force them to stay. You say you do not wish to be a tyrant, but you are worse.”

“That is quite enough,” Estri said, her voice changing as her face appeared to shift. The angles of her cheekbones grew sharper, her chin leaner, and I couldn’t move as the black scales of her tail creeped up her torso. She spun me in her arms, holding a strong arm around my waist, while the sharp-tipped claws of her other hand traced the line she’d torn in my throat. Dipping her mouth close to my ear, she whispered, “You intrigue me, treasure. You are this indignant over people you do not know. I don’t understand it, and yet I covet your passion.”

“I respect that you want to protect them,” I bit out through gritted teeth. “But if they hate it, I don’t think it’s fair to keep them here.” I could feel her scales against my back, and I was afraid of what she was turning into. I’d already seen one of her monstrous forms the day she plucked Hyše out of the sky. It would not be a shock if she turned into a vast sea serpent and swallowed me whole.

“They will stay either way, but I’ve begun to see the benefits of having their cooperation. My people have taken a liking to you.”

“I don’t know how. You’ve kept me locked away from them.”

“I admit it isn’t a vast number, but the impact you’ve made has been on those of influence. Smokkar, Mairin, Foxglove? Even Old Telemern risked his life for you.” There was something unsettling about her tone. Though she clearly held my life in her hands, and she was not pleased with me, Estri seemed to view me as a curiosity. I intrigued her, and that was why I was still alive. I had to use that to my advantage.

“And you want to use that favor, don’t you?” I asked. Her fingertip idly played with the broken skin on my neck, and I tried to steady my frantic breathing.

“I do not enjoy punishing them,” she said, and I swallowed the sound which bubbled up my throat. How could she say that after what she’d done to Foxglove? To her daughters? “And you’ve made them curious about the land. That must stop, and you’re going to help.”

I didn’t bother asking why I should. The answer was obvious. If I wished to live, I would do as she said. But at what cost?

“How?” I questioned.

“You’ll demonstrate your preference for the sea. Forme.”

I took a steadying breath, all too aware of how strange this all was. The fact I could breathe underwater, speak underwater, was not even the strangest or most distressing aspect of my life at the moment. “Do you think your people are so impressionable that what I say will be enough?”

“If you are convincing, yes.”

“I don’t know if I can?—”

“You can.”

At this, she waved her hand, spinning me toward the vast expanse of open ocean. Hundreds of fish in a stunning array of colors appeared—almost out of nowhere. Multiple schools merged and twined and created a stunning scene. Almost like a painting, but so realistic that only a goddess could have made it, the fish formed a horrifying image.

Mairin, with her plump stomach and fiery hair, laid bound on the ground. I couldn’t tell where they were, but her curls floated above her. The tiny body of a seahorse laid beside her. Where the fish adjusted faintly to account for Mairin’s breathing, I could not tell if Foxglove was alive.

Estri’s message was clear. If I didn’t convince the seaborn and turn their attention away from the land, she would kill the merrow and the shifter.

With a sudden and damning certainty, I knew what I needed to do. My lips parted, and hope fluttered in my chest. I did my best to tamp it down.

“Turn me then. Use the abilities you attempted to hide from me all along.”

The Sea Queen spun me to face her, and for the first time, I saw emotion flicker across her features instead of amused detachment. Pleasant surprise turned her fearsome features into something of horrifying beauty.

“Make me one of your seaborn,” I said, and dread made a permanent home in my abdomen.

Chapter 54

RAINIER

There wasnothing admirable about starting a distraction for the Supreme’s forces. It required me to do things I detested, but I had to bring as many people away from the Seat as possible in order to make sure Em could do as she planned. All she had to do was get the Supreme to the font where her divinity was accessible—and kill him.

I’d seen what she was capable of in the Wend, but I was still nervous as hell. Not that long ago, I would have refused to allow this. Putting her in danger was the last thing I wanted to do, but with her abilities, she didn’t need me. I would have only added suspicion. Despite how much I hated it, how every instinct within me told me to protect her and keep her out of harm’s way, I didn’t listen. Each time I’d listened in the past, we’d only suffered for it. So I silenced my fears and helped her in the only way I could. I needed to draw the Supreme’s guard far away.

The only threat which could truly harm Lamera was fire. With rowhouses galore and narrow streets, a single fire could be devastating for the entire city. Despite the sour taste in my mouth, I had to use that to my advantage.

I hated to do it; these homes likely belonged to innocent people, but my options were limited. The moment Em and I parted ways, I started scouting locations. The first set of houses I walked by were clearly occupied, and I didn’t know how to handle rifting the people out for safety without getting caught. So I continued. The shadows merged into the dark of night as I walked down pristine alleyways, surprised to find not even a single rat in sight—let alone people milling about or living on the street. As densely populated as the Wend, I wondered how Lamera was kept so clean and tidy.

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