These Gilded Seas

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Not-Calm Before the Storm

Of course I didn't miss them! I try to tell them that, but the words are lodged in my throat, right beside a nugget of fear.

I glance up at the sky and then at the water in the distance. Without a body of water nearby, my magic feels distant and cold. She's there but far off on the horizon, untouchable. I call forward what I can reach, darkening the sky over us. One of the men looks up and laughs.

"A sprinkle? That all you got?"

I glare up at him, not willing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that this is the best I can do. There's nothing nearby to throw at him, either. No water to launch. No pressure to drive.

A few lone raindrops begin to fall, turning the stones under our feet dark gray. If I gather enough moisture, maybe I can use it.

"What are you doing here?" I hiss, holding the dagger up between us.

"Zula sent us—"

"—Said he was tired of waiting on you."

I tense. "According to the contract, I still have a week."

The twin closest to me shrugs. "According to the master, you spoiled the secret. Contract's void."

"Did you not get his message?" his brother sneers.

I glare at the both of them in equal turns. "What message?"

The shorter of the two steps closer to me and lashes his hand out to snatch the pendant hanging from my neck. Finn flops around uselessly, his water nearly gone.

"I think we both know what message."

I yank the vial away from him. "Don't touch that! I still have time."

He laughs, but it sounds like the hull of a ship being scraped across rocks. When he straightens back up, his eyes glint. "Come on, princess. The master just wants to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" I choke out.

Are they taking me back to the ocean? I might stand a chance there! My heart swells excitedly for a second as Zula's henchman nods.

"So put that child's toy away and come willingly. We don't want to drag you, but we will."

Knowing he'll do exactly as he says, I lower the dagger. In an arms race, I don't stand a chance.

Or do I? My training with Eero has been going more smoothly with every passing day. I'm not an expert by any means, but I've nearly mastered staying on my feet. Maybe—just maybe—I can handle the two of them.

The nagging voice in my head warns me not to be stupid, but something much stronger and warmer refuses to let me be dragged away without something of a fight.

What was it Amaia told me?

You can't win every fight, but you can teach them not to come back for seconds.

"Where are we meeting?" I ask as I straighten up, weighing the decision at hand.

"At the palace, of course," the second twin says. "Have you seen their garden? Almost tranquil. It's so big you'd never know what was hiding deep in there."

I blink at the two of them in confusion. Zula's at the palace? How? When? Did he get past the guards somehow? Is he human like I am? I mean, he has to be, but... Why?

At least in the garden there's a small stream, a touch of ammunition

"Okay," I say, nodding through the confusion. "I'll go with you."

"Smart girl," the first says.

"Quite like her mother, eh?" his brother chimes.

I shudder. "Don't talk about my mother."