A Siren's Crown (Book Two in the APK Trilogy)

(1) A Longer Stay

(Circe's P.O.V)

I stood on the edge of the balcony and breathed in the cool night air. The sky was a deep blue, illuminated by the thousands of stars that seemed close enough to touch from this high and far below, the diamond incrusted city reflected the light straight back up, twinkling as brightly as the stars above.

It had been four nights now and yet I still wasn't accustomed to such a breathtaking sight. I imagined that I could become very old and still stare at this view with as much wonder as I did now. It was unbelievable to think that this world had always been here, right above my head and I never noticed. Never suspected a thing. 

I wondered though, if perhaps I had sometimes looked up at the sky and seen a few extra stars that weren't really stars at all, but reflections from the diamond palace. From where I was standing now it seemed very likely. 

I sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slowly, trying to calm my thoughts as I had been trying to do in vain for the past four nights. My mind was still buzzing with all of the information I had received and I had a feeling that it would be a while before I managed to fully wrap my head around everything. 

Nathaniel was my brother, or my half brother at least. This was the part that was the most clear to me, the most certain. It made sense, the way I had always felt about him, the way he had always looked at me with nothing more than a sisterly affection, yet he was always so protective of me. It felt right, that he and I should be related so closely. In a way I felt as though I had always known it, I had just needed someone to confirm it. 

I knew I was not human at all now. Again this made sense in a strange way and although I was still slightly upset, and a little jealous, that Nathaniel was more related than I was to the man that I had always called Father, I knew that with time, I would get over it and move on. After all I had an Air Queen for an Aunt now. I smiled wryly at the thought. It sounded so strange. 

What was a little harder to comprehend was how old I was. Although my new Aunt, she had asked me to call her Airocei, explained that I really was only seventeen years of age, I couldn't quite get over the fact that I had spent one hundred and ten years inside my Mothers womb. 

I shook my head a little, as though the movement would clear my thoughts. I had been right in thinking that age would be the most difficult to understand in this strange new world. When I had asked why my Mother had lived longer that a Sirens excepted one hundred and fifty to two hundred years, it was explained that because she was half Water Sprite, her life expectancy was alot longer. Also factoring into her incredible age was the fact that she was Royalty and Royalty lived longer than most due to the vast amount of magicks that they controlled.

"Cissy?"

I started and turned quickly. Nathaniel stood in the doorway, his blue eyes clouded with sleep, his blonde hair tousled. He had been sleeping with me for the past few nights, at my insistence. This new protectiveness I felt for him had refused to let him out of my sight, especially now that I knew how magical folk felt about human half breeds. I had lost him once, it would not happen again. 

"What are you doing?" He padded silently over to me, his striped blue and white pajama pants hanging low around his hips. Inclosing me in his arms as I turned, he pulled my back into his chest and kissed the top of my head.

"You look troubled." He said it without question, as though stating a fact and unconsciously I reached up to touch my forehead, feeling for the small crease between my brows that I knew would be there.