POV: Sera
Sera's legs felt like water as she followed the Captain of the Guard away from the throne room. Her heart was still pounding from the run, the shouting, the impossible decision she'd just made. She could still feel the cold metal of the throne beneath her, the stiff fabric of the King's royal coat under her hands.
She had done it. She had actually done it.
Sanctuary.
For thirty days, she was safe. Garrett couldn't touch her. The mate bond was suspended. The King himself had said it.
So why did she feel like she was going to throw up?
Maybe because of the way Garrett had looked at her just now. That cold, smiling promise. The finger across his throat. He wasn't giving up. He was just changing his plan.
The Captain Theron, she heard another guard call him led her through a maze of hallways. The palace was huge, all red stone and high ceilings. They passed tapestries showing wolves under the moon, statues of old kings, windows that looked out over the dark, churning ocean.
Sera kept her head down, her arms wrapped around herself. She could feel the eyes of servants and guards on her. Whispering. Pointing. That's the one. The one who sat on the King's lap. The Tidecaller.
She wanted to disappear.
Finally, Theron stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. He pushed it open and gestured for her to go inside.
"This is your room," he said, his voice gruff. He didn't sound happy about it. "You'll stay here until the King says otherwise. Guards will be outside the door at all times. For your protection." He said the last word like it tasted bad.
Sera stepped inside. The room was beautiful too beautiful. A big bed with a blue blanket, a fireplace with a low fire already burning, a window that looked out over the moonlit sea. There was even a small bathroom with a copper tub.
It was a prison, but it was a pretty one.
"Someone will bring you food and clothes," Theron said from the doorway. "Don't try to leave. Don't cause trouble. The King may have granted you sanctuary, but I don't trust you. And I'll be watching."
He shut the door before she could reply. A second later, she heard the heavy click of a lock turning.
Alone.
Sera sank down onto the edge of the bed, her whole body shaking. Now that she was safe, now that the running was over, everything she'd been holding back came crashing down on her.
Lila.
Her twin sister, her other half, was gone. Murdered. And Sera had seen it in Garrett's green eyes tonight. He'd admitted it. She was in the way.
Tears spilled down her cheeks, hot and fast. She cried for Lila, for the silly laugh she'd never hear again, for the future they'd planned that would never happen. She cried for herself, for the year of lies and fear, for the mate bond that felt like a chain around her heart.
She didn't know how long she cried. Long enough for the fire to burn lower. Long enough for the moon to move across the sky outside her window.
A soft knock at the door made her jump.
"Come in," she said, her voice scratchy.
The door opened, and a woman in silver robes stepped inside. It was the High Priestess from the ceremony Maris. She had kind eyes and a gentle smile. She carried a tray with a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and a cup of steaming tea.
"I thought you might be hungry," Maris said, setting the tray on a small table by the fire. "And maybe a little lonely."
Sera wiped her face quickly. "Thank you."
Maris sat in the chair across from her. "You've had a very brave night, Sera Blackwater. And a very terrible one."
Sera looked down at her hands. "I didn't feel brave. I felt desperate."
"Sometimes," Maris said softly, "bravery is desperation. When you have nothing left to lose, you find out what you're really made of."
They sat in silence for a minute. The only sound was the crackle of the fire and the distant crash of waves against the cliffs below.
"What happens now?" Sera asked finally. "The King said there would be an investigation. But how? There's no proof. Garrett was too careful."
"The King's investigators are very thorough," Maris said. "And they have thirty days. A lot can be discovered in thirty days." She leaned forward a little. "But you must be careful, Sera. You've made a powerful enemy tonight. And you've placed yourself in the middle of a very dangerous game."
"What game?" Sera asked, a cold feeling settling in her stomach.
Maris looked toward the window, at the dark ocean. "The Deep is stirring. Has been for a long time. What happened tonight that wave it wasn't natural. And your mate's eyes… green is not a wolf's color."
Sera's breath caught. "You saw it too?"
"I see many things," Maris said. "And I have known King Kadrin a very long time. Longer than anyone else in this palace. I was here before the curse."
"The curse?" Sera had heard the stories, of course. The king who couldn't feel. But she'd always thought they were just stories.
"It's real," Maris said, her voice sad. "Three hundred years ago, he was betrayed by someone he loved. Someone from the Deep. Her father cursed him to live forever, but to feel nothing. No joy, no sorrow, no love. He's been empty ever since."
Sera remembered the King's eyes stormy and hollow. The complete lack of fear when the wave was coming. The way he'd looked at her like she was a puzzle to solve, not a person in pain.
"That's horrible," she whispered.
"It is," Maris agreed. "But tonight, when you sat on his throne… I saw something. A flicker. Just for a second." She looked at Sera, her gaze intense. "You sparked something in him, child. After three hundred years of nothing, he felt something. And that makes you very important. And very vulnerable."
Before Sera could ask what she meant, another knock came at the door.
Maris stood up. "Rest now. Eat. You'll need your strength." She walked to the door and opened it.
Captain Theron stood there, his face grim. "The King wants to see her. Now."
Maris looked back at Sera, worry in her eyes. "So soon?"
"Now," Theron repeated.
Sera's stomach twisted. She wasn't ready. She was tired and scared and her eyes were still swollen from crying. But she didn't have a choice.
She stood up, smoothing her torn dress, and followed Theron out the door.
He led her back through the palace, not to the throne room this time, but to a smaller room with a heavy wooden desk and walls lined with books. A study.
King Kadrin stood by the window, his back to her, looking out at the night. He had changed out of his formal robes into simpler black clothes. Without the crown and the fancy coat, he looked less like a king and more like a soldier. A very tired, very old soldier.
"Leave us," he said without turning around.
Theron hesitated. "Your Majesty, are you sure"
"Leave us," Kadrin said again, his voice quiet but final.
Theron bowed and left, shutting the door behind him.
Sera stood in the middle of the room, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She didn't know what to do. Bow? Curtsy? She'd already sat on his lap what was the protocol after that?
The King turned around. His silver eyes found hers. They were still hollow, still empty. But there was a new intensity in them now. A focus.
"Sit," he said, gesturing to a chair in front of the desk.
Sera sat. The chair was hard.
Kadrin sat across from her, steepling his fingers. He studied her for a long moment, not like a person, but like a scientist studying a strange new bug.
"You claim your mate killed your sister," he said finally.
"Yes," Sera said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Why?"
The question surprised her. "Because… because she was going to expose him. She found something. Something bad about his work."
"What did she find?"
"I don't know exactly. She just said it was 'deeply wrong.' She was going to tell me the night she died."
Kadrin's expression didn't change. "And you have no proof."
"No."
"Yet you came to my throne. You broke every protocol. You risked execution." He leaned forward slightly. "Why?"
Sera took a shaky breath. "Because I have nothing else. The moon didn't answer my prayers. The pack elders didn't believe me. Garrett has everyone fooled. You were my last chance." She met his eyes, forcing herself not to look away. "And because Lila taught me about sanctuary. She said it was a law older than the mate bond. A law even a king couldn't break."
For a second, just a second, something flickered in Kadrin's eyes again. That same spark. Then it was gone.
"Your sister knew the old laws," he said.
"She loved them. She loved history, stories, magic. All of it."
"And you?"
Sera looked down. "I'm a scientist. I study the ocean. I believe in what I can see, what I can test. Magic… it's never been that reliable for me."
"And yet you used it tonight. To reach my throne."
"I was desperate," she said again.
"Desperation is a powerful motivator," Kadrin said. He stood up and walked back to the window. "The wave tonight was not a natural occurrence. It was an attack. A probe. Someone is testing our defenses."
Sera's blood ran cold. "Garrett?"
"He is involved. But he is not the mastermind. He is a tool." Kadrin turned to face her. "The Deep Sovereign has wanted revenge against this kingdom for three hundred years. Since the day I was cursed. He has been patient. He has been planning. And now, he is making his move."
Sera's mind raced, putting pieces together. Garrett's green eyes. The unnatural wave. The Deep Sovereign. Lila's murder.
"They killed Lila because she found out," she said, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. "She found out about their plan. And I… I'm a Tidecaller. They need Tidecaller magic for something, don't they?"
Kadrin's gaze sharpened. "You are intelligent. Yes. Tidecallers have power over both surface and deep waters. Power that could be used to break the magical barriers keeping the Deep Sovereign's armies contained. Your sister was a threat because she could have strengthened those barriers. And you… you are a threat because you still can."
Sera felt the room spin. This was so much bigger than she'd thought. This wasn't just about her and Garrett and Lila. This was about a war. An ancient war.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.
"Because you are now a piece on the board," Kadrin said, his voice cold and logical. "Whether you want to be or not. You have sanctuary, which means you are under my protection. But it also means you are a target. The Deep Sovereign will want you eliminated or turned to his side. Garrett will try to get to you. And I need to know whose side you are on."
Sera stood up, her hands clenched at her sides. "My side is Lila's side. The side that doesn't let killers get away with it. The side that doesn't let innocent people drown. I don't care about your war or your politics. I just want justice for my sister."
Kadrin looked at her for a long time. His face was still empty, but his eyes… his eyes were different. They were calculating, weighing, measuring.
"Justice," he said finally. "A simple goal. And a dangerous one." He walked back to his desk and picked up a small, silver bell. He rang it once.
The door opened, and Theron stepped in.
"Take her back to her room," Kadrin said. "Double the guards. No one enters or leaves without my direct order."
Theron nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."
As Sera turned to go, Kadrin spoke again.
"Sera."
She looked back.
"Thirty days is not a long time," he said. "For an investigation. Or for a war to begin. Use them wisely."
He turned back to the window, dismissing her.
Sera followed Theron out of the study, her mind whirling. Justice. A war. A curse. A king who felt nothing.
And her, stuck in the middle of it all.
As they walked down the hallway, she heard a sound a faint, echoing whisper that seemed to come from the stones themselves. It was a voice she knew, a voice she'd thought she'd never hear again.
Sera…
She froze, her blood turning to ice.
It was Lila's voice.
Sera spun around, searching the dark, empty hallway. "Lila?" she whispered. But there was no one there. Only shadows and stone. Theron looked back at her, frowning. "Keep moving," he said. Sera's heart hammered against her ribs. She'd heard it. She knew she had. Was she going crazy? Or was her sister's ghost trying to reach her from beyond the grave? As she forced her feet to move again, the whisper came once more, faint and desperate, drifting up from the cold palace floor beneath her feet: "The answers are below… in the deep places…"