Page 91 of Of Songs and Silence

Itake one step forward, then another.

The room is silent, as silent as I have been for every day of my life on land. Each set of eyes are locked onto me as I push forward. The man who led me here, Remy, hisses out a breath as he takes in the sight of Aika cowering in a pool of blood. I can’t tell yet if any of it belongs to her.

Panic pulses through me on a never-ending loop as I look from her to the rest of the carnage in the room before honing in on the death-grip Mother has around Zaina’s wrists.

For a change, my mother’s gaze is singularly fixed on me.

She stares, her violet eyes widening. An array of emotions flits through her features—a kaleidoscope of relief, anger, fear, and something else. Something like recognition.

Can she sense the bond that I’ve sealed. Does she know that I stand before her as a queen? A Hara?

Water drips from my gown, mingling with the blood on the floor. There is a trail leading from Damian’s body in the corner all the way over to Mother. Her fingers are covered in it.

Another line of blood leads from behind her to the Jokithan King. His life is pooling out from beneath his leather armor, dripping down onto Zaina’s beautiful bedroom floor.

So much death. So much bloodshed, like I have left one arena for another.

I reach out toward her with the tendrils of my thoughts, but they have nowhere to land. Is it because we are out of the water, or is it that whatever she did to make herself human cut off this side of her?

Shaking my head, I reach up and tug at the shell necklace that I have worn every single day since she first gave it to me. Mother’s expression flickers, but she doesn’t loosen her grasp.

He wouldn’t have wanted this for you,I think at her, willing her to understand my intent.

Another step forward, and finally, I’m standing right in front of her. I glance pointedly from her face down to the necklace, thinking about the memory that Danica shared with me. Can she remember the part of her who loved and hoped and danced long enough to let my sister go? To stop from destroying the lives of the children she claimed for herself?

You know what they are to each other.This time I look from Zaina to her dying husband.And you know what this will do to her if he dies.

My mother may not be able to hear my thoughts, but comprehension flickers over her features. She stretches out the hand not restraining my sister, moving it almost subconsciously toward the conch shell. Unexpected tears fill her eyes as I place the necklace in her trembling, blood-stained fingers.

For all of the destruction and death she has wrought, this is something she has that her father didn’t. A heart—small and broken, covered in decay and filled with ruination, but it beats for the people she loves.

Even if that love is as twisted as she is.

Movement catches my eye as I watch my mother’s elegant fingers trace the shell, following the grooves in a familiar rhythm.

I know what comes next.

And even though it breaks something inside of me, even though I know I’m losing something I will never get back, I also know that I can’t stop it. I won’t.

Isn’t that why I came?

CHAPTERSIXTY

AIKA

Every stilted heartbeat reverberates through me, echoing in my mind. They thrum through my veins, drumming a slow and steady beat as I stand.

Melodi holds Madame’s gaze, but I know she sees me, that she knows what I’m about to do. Grief flits through her eyes for a fraction of a moment, but acceptance is on its heels.

That feels worse, somehow, tugging at the strings of the guilt that already threatens to tear me apart.

But even if this wasn’t what we came here to do, I’ve made my choice. My sister’s sobs still permeate every inch of this space, sounds I have never heard her make before. It’s just a small piece of the suffering Madame inflicts everywhere she goes.

So I creep closer.

Zaina turns, my movements tearing her attention away from Einar. Her expression is horrified until she realizes what’s in my hands. Her fingers graze the pocket of her gown, searching for the makeshift blade that isn’t there.

Pumpkin wraps his body around my ankle, clinging to me for dear life. He’s been hiding there since I urged him to fetch me the tooth.

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