Page 27 of Of Song and Scepter
I slide another fish between my lips and crunch on it. “Hardly.”
“Like you could do any better.”
I shrug.Crunch. “Probably not, but I could at least sing for myself.”
Odissa frowns, eyeing my dinner plate. “The food helps though, right? I can’t say I ever paid attention to how your magic works.”
I pause my chewing to study her. Is Odissa trying to be nice? What the fuck does she want?
“Yeah, it helps. And sleep.” The more energy I have in my body, the better control I have over my magic. However much energy it would take me to do the task without magic, that’s how much it costs to use the Voice.
“And if you run out? Of energy?”
Crunch.I chew slowly, waiting for her request to drop. “I collapse, like I did in the Drink. Rather inconvenient, really. I almost passed out right there in the dining room.”
“Well, fuck,” she whispers. “That was a close one.”
“You’re a princess, Odissa. You shouldn’t curse.” I wrinkle my nose in much the same way she did when I slurped my dinner.
She snorts. “Nobody’s listening but you.”
“What do you want, Odissa?”
“I’m just being nice. Can I not be nice to you?”
I ignore her and set the empty plate aside, my stomach uncomfortably full. I lay a lazy hand over the bulge of my belly, relishing the rare feeling of plenty. I can’t remember the last time I ate that much food—cooked or not.
A cool night breeze wafts in through the windows, brushing across my cheeks and chilling the sweat on my forehead, and I turn to face it gratefully.
The night sky reminds me of the Drink, a thick black expanse dotted with pricks of green and blue light. The stars collect and swirl in intricate patterns, in much the same way the glowmites sometimes dance. The only difference is Audrina, the moon: a large, shining orb suspended in a thick black sky as if by invisible strings. A wisp of cloud covers her face, the only disruption to an otherwise brilliant sky. Her light shimmers on the waves below, white and wild as the frothing surf.
I’ve never seen the moon before—I’ve only heard stories from travelers in the Hissing Bloodfish—and she’s more marvelous than I could have imagined. I like her much better than the sun.
“I’ve figured out my plan,” Odissa says, finally giving up on her kindness charade. “I’m going to seduce the prince tomorrow, on this tour. That’s your cue to leave.”
I glare at her, annoyed that she is making any sound at all. She stares at the ceiling, tracing the mural’s figures in the air with her outstretched finger.
“Sex is the quickest way to win a male. I’ll seduce him well enough, but he might need privacy before he’s open to it. You were right. He's soft.”
“No problem. I wouldn’t want to see that anyway.”
I shift against the wall, angling my ass to locate a more comfortable position on the sill.
“I’m serious. No meddling, no comments. Zip. Just leave,” Odissa sniffs. Her hand drops into her lap, and she rolls on the bed to stare at me.
“Goddess, Odissa. It’s like you want an audience. Just give me the signal, and I’m gone.”
“I just want us to be on the same wavelength here.”
“I’m here, Odissa. At your eternal service.” I tilt my head in a mocking bow.
Odissa rolls back to stare at the ceiling. “I’m going to make good on my word, Enna. Once this is all done, I won’t ask anything of you again. I’ll free you from your oath.”
I want to believe her. I want to trust that she’s good for her word. But I’ve killed for this mermaid 2,747 times now, and not once has she followed through—not when it means an inconvenience for her. And I’ve been nothing but convenient since we met.
I crawl my way to a makeshift bed on the floor, the cushion barely more comfortable than the marble beneath. The sheet, the same sickly pink as everything else in this room, clings as I try to settle.
“That’s it?” Odissa huffs. “You’re done with me? No ‘Good job, Odissa, on your first big day!’ or ‘Thanks for your generosity’?”
