Page 40 of Of Songs and Silence

His Adam’s apple dips and his taut jaw twitches. “You had your walls up.”

“Per your instructions,” I remind him. It wasn’t really an experience I felt like sharing. Particularly not with him.

He glares to show me what he thinks of me being cheeky about it.

“Did he hurt you?” Ari growls out each word, and I shake my head.

“No,” I assure him. “He was very clinical.”

Ari nods, a sharp jerk of his chin. “If he had—”

“I know,” I tell him.

And I do.

If the healer had hurt me, he would not survive this day, whatever the consequences of that were. Perhaps I should be bothered by that, but Ari’s protection feels wholly different from Mother’s and Damian’s. More like that of my sisters.

Deadly, yes, but not needlessly cruel.

A rush of water and shadow swims between us and Napo appears in front of Ari, his expression incredulous. Two tentacles rest against his body as if he’s a human with his hands on his hips. It’s enough of a distraction, one I am wildly grateful for, that I can’t help but laugh.

“You were still sleeping,” Ari says in answer to whatever unspoken question the octopus posed.

Napo only narrows his eyes further, swimming ahead of us with irritation rolling off of him in waves. We catch up with him just outside of the dining hall.

The octopus swims over the heads of the warriors guarding the door. They barely acknowledge him, their attention fixed on their commander instead. But they don’t stop him either. They raise a fist in a familiar gesture before allowing us to pass.

“Granddaughter,” the king’s voice booms, silencing the clinking of cutlery. “Join me.”

It isn’t a request.

All eyes are fixed on us as we pass table after table of nobles and servants rushing between them. The room is uncomfortably silent. Not a single stray thought escapes even the youngest Mayima, making me even more aware of my inadequacies with my mental shields.

Ari leads me to the head table, pulling out the empty chair next to Cepheus for me to sit in. As soon as I take it, he pushes it back toward the table before taking his place as sentry on the wall behind me.

“I trust you slept well,” the king says, his eyes barely leaving the plate in front of him.

He spears a bite of thinly sliced raw fish, scooping a mound of shredded green seaweed onto his fork before returning it to his mouth.

“The room was lovely, Grandfather,” I say politely, and he grins.

I wonder at the king’s good mood. And the fact that the guests are well into their meals by the time I arrived. Did he want me to be late? To parade me in front of them? Is this something he will punish me for? Or worse, Ari…

I don’t follow the thought any further and instead clear my mind of anything relevant as a plate is set before me. I’m barely into my third bite of the surprisingly delicious seaweed salad when commotion pulls our attention to the main door.

The woman from the cage is escorted through by Kane and another Mayiman warrior. Her eyes are hollow as she meets the king’s gaze, but her expression is hardened. Unafraid.

My stomach drops as they drag her to our table.

“Ah, Natia,” the king says, casually sitting back in his chair. “So glad you could find the time to join us.”

His lips twitch with amusement, and the rest of the room laughs uncomfortably. The girl only stares mutely ahead.

“It would appear that you told the truth about my daughter.” Something flashes in her eyes, something defiant, but not a single thought escapes her mind as he continues. “Because of this, I have decided to set you free, despite your daring to interfere on behalf of one of thehumans.” He spits the word like a curse, erasing any doubt as to how he feels about my people.

The people that used to be mine.

All this because she helped a human? Is getting a message to them considered the same as helping? Surely not, when there are Mayiman traders. Then again, the king is hardly reasonable.

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