Page 54 of Between Fear and Favor

“Smokkar, leave her alone!” I shouted, hoping to protect the tiny creature who had been kind to me.

I attempted to blow all the air out of my lungs, forcing me to sink to the bottom of the spire we’d come in through, all the while searching for the glowing squid and the tiny pink seahorse. But with the slash across my throat, my lungs worked of their own accord. What I sought to do was impossible, so I did my best, pulling my arms through the water as I made my way down. I could have sworn I saw Smokkar, lengthy tentacles trailing behind him, disappearing through a window. Light from the moonpearls drifted in, illuminating a space littered with what appeared to be items from a shipwreck. Broken crates and furniture covered the ground, and algae crusted over the top of the pile.

“Foxglove?” I called, hoping she was perhaps hiding in the debris.

The sea went still and silent the moment I spoke, and my stomach tightened. I was alone, unable to defend myself. Of all the sharp-toothed creatures in the depths, I wasn’t sure how many were seaborn or how many could be reasoned with. Did the Sea Queen control the entirety of the vast ocean? Or was it only the seaborn in her thrall? Looking down at my hip, I saw the cut on my skin through the tear in my dress. The trickle of blood was slow, but I wasn’t sure how much was necessary to draw the attention of any number of predators. I placed my hand on the wound, probably doing little to stem the flow.

A huge shadow crossed over the window, blocking out the limited glow from the moonpearls.

I froze. The weight of the dress pulled me into a slow descent, but I maintained my stillness. I couldn’t draw attention to myself, not with some massive beast just outside the spire. I couldn’t know how large it was, or how easily it might slip in through the window, so I relaxed, doing my best to make my heartbeat calm as I sank.

Only when I heard a scuffing noise did I allow my eyes to focus. When a tentacle as thick as I was slid in through the window, I wasn’t sure yet if I should have been relieved. Perhaps it wasn’t Estri and was instead another monster coming to claim me as prey. Or perhaps itwasEstri, intending to kill me for the knowledge Smokkar had just given me. Enormous, her body only seemed to grow as she crawled across the ground. When she moved over the shipwreck detritus, I became certain it was the Seaborn Queen.

It was as if she perused each item; a curious tentacle moved things around, holding a shattered mirror up to her giant eye before dropping it to curl around an algae-covered vase. As I sank to the ground, I remained motionless, uncertain of what she’d do. That enormous eye swiveled toward me, unblinking, and I didn’t have time to shriek as she lunged.

The harsh lines of her face came into dizzying focus as she brought herself close to me—shifting that massive body and wrapping her strong tentacles around my middle.

“What are you doing here, sweet Lavenia?”

Remembering what she had said of the ocean singing to her, I thought it best to avoid lying. Though, I dreaded having to tell her the truth. “Smokkar brought me here.”

“And what did he tell you?”

“I think you probably already know that.” I looked away, but her fingers gripped my chin, turning my face toward hers. Her eyes were all widened innocence, especially unsettling as they darted to my mouth.

“No. He took you to the one place where I do not hear the whispers. What did he tell you?”

“Why don’t you hear the whispers there?”

“The coral’s life force cannot withstand the magick which reinforces my prison. It pains me to sacrifice their lives. But it must be done.” Her gaze didn’t leave my mouth as she answered. I ignored it as I thought of the white corals—bleached, I realized. As if all life had left them. Perhaps she was speaking truthfully.

“Tell me about Rhia’s mortal form, and I will tell you what Smokkar said,” I replied, surprised by my boldness. To barter with the ruler of the seas—who could end me with a single thought—I must have truly gone mad. But ever since she’d mentioned I looked like Rhia, I’d been intrigued. The information felt important. “You said she shared a body?”

“Thisis what you want to know? It is quite dull,” she said. Estri lifted her hand, twirling a long, pale finger into my curls. “Bringing an immortal body to the mortal plane has its disadvantages—or so she thought,” she murmured, with no small amount of irritation in her voice. “She shared the body of a woman in Olistos, using her form to visit me.”

“Why? Why would anyone agree to that?” I asked, though I wondered if I’d dare say no to a goddess wanting to share my body.

“Why wouldn’t she? It is a great honor, is it not?”

“I suppose, but how long did Rhia use this woman’s body? Didn’t she have a family? Didn’t they miss her?”

“Time does not matter to a god,” she snapped. “But do not fret. Rhia also had a tender heart. The mortal woman had fallen off a creature perhaps, hit her head maybe? I cannot remember, nor do I care. But she was bedridden. She allowed Rhia to use her body, and Rhia allowed her to feel while she borrowed it.”

“So she was there, just...stuck in her mind while Rhia...”

“While Rhia visited a kingdom the mortal never could have imagined? While Rhia feasted and indulged? Do you think it was a torment to feel everything as Rhia sucked and fucked away her time in my domain?”

My chest went tight, and my cheeks heated. Though Estri held me close, I did everything I could not to look at her. “Above, the Myriad portrays Rhia as—I didn’t know she?—”

“You think I don’t know how they portray her? The gods? You think I don’t know what they haveerased?” she hissed. “I did not provide my seaborn armies out of the kindness of my heart. My hatred for the Myriad is fathomless, my jewel. Folly, to think any of the gods care for more than pleasure and penance.” She brushed a rough thumb over my chin, and I finally met her gaze. Her pupils were wide, and those eerie pale eyes had a faint glow as she stared at me. The slant of her mouth curled up at the edges. “Now, tell me. What did he say to you?”

“Did Rhia heal the woman after? When she was...finished?”

Estri’s eyes narrowed when I ignored her question, but she tilted her head to the side. Long, dark red strands of hair fell over my arm, feeling almost slimy as they dragged over my skin.

“I think she might have,” she admitted, crimson brows lifting. “If my other form hadn’t eaten her first.”

I could only stare. Slowly, one of the Sea Queen’s tentacles moved, wrapping around my leg from thigh to ankle.

---