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Douglas looked like he was going to have a fit. “Get out, Ender Magma. I will bring her to you when her testing is done.”

  “No.”

  They continued to argue and I knew there was no way to get past them. At least, not across the shoreline. A shiver ran through my body as a cool breeze from deeper in the caverns blew across the water. Freezing wasn’t going to help me any. Slowly, I slid back into the hot spring, careful not to make a sound, the heat flushing my skin and body.

  My hair spun out around me, floating on the surface like golden seaweed. Using the rocky edge of the pool, I pulled myself back into the shadows of the overhanging rock. How the hell was I going to get out of this?

  “What is going on here?” My father’s voice boomed across the water to me. I spun around, the water swirling into eddies about my body.

  “Ender Magma thinks to pull Larkspur from her testing to be tried at the Pit.” Douglas’s voice held more than a hint of condescension.

  “She needs to be properly tried, Basileus. You convincing the ambassador she did nothing wrong is not enough for Queen Fiametta. She wants Larkspur properly tried, and punished. As is the queen’s right.”

  Someone, I assumed Douglas, sucked in a breath so hard I heard it all the way across the water. I knew why.

  Magma had called my father by name, and not used “your highness” or even “king.” It was a slap in the face. Below us, the earth growled, and even from where I hid, I saw the subtle glow of green on my father’s hands. The rocks under me rumbled, and the water rippled with the vibrations. Magma treaded very dangerous ground.

  I let go of the rocks so I could float free in the water.

  “Magma. You forget yourself. I will bring Larkspur to Fiametta myself.” His words were laced with granite and power. I shivered and was pleased to see that not only did Magma leave, but Douglas, too. I waited until their figures disappeared up the stairs cut into the earth before I swam across the water, keeping my movements as stealthy as possible. But he still heard me.

  “Larkspur. Get dressed.”

  “Are you going to hand me over to them?” I reached the shore and stood, the water lapping around my thighs. My feet sunk into the sand, putting me eye level with my father.

  Everything about him reminded me that he was the king. The flecks of gray through his dark brown hair were a mark of age most of our people didn’t see, the deep green of his eyes were filled with knowledge of the past, present, and future, and the power I could see dancing along his fingertips like green flames made the earth hum under my feet.

  He flicked his fingers at me, a move that would have the sand push me forward. This was a gift I had—the ability to see when another elemental would use their power. It had saved me more than once already.

  I sidestepped the push and stepped fully onto the shoreline. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  He shook his head. “Lark, I would not hand over any of my children to Fiametta. She is a friend of Cassava. They are very close, in fact.” His eyes softened and he got a faraway look that scared me more than if he’d been angry and yelling.

  I swallowed hard as I watched the emotions play across his face. “You still love her?”

  His eyes narrowed. “She is the mother of most of my children. I cannot hate her.”

  “Yet, she tried to kill you, me, and did kill a number of our family. She killed my mother and Bram. So while you might not hate her, I do.” I strode past him to where my clothes were piled. There were flecks of sand over them and I shook out the leather vest and snug fitting cotton pants quickly before putting them back on.

  “She . . . is still in my head, Lark.” He spoke softly and I spun, startled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Years, years of damage and manipulation. I cannot always tell what is a real memory and what is fabricated.” He wiped a hand over his face. “Be patient with me. I am trying to change things.” The mother goddess had said much the same. But it was hard. He was my father, the king, and I wanted him to be strong enough to just be . . . okay.

  The mother goddess’s words reverberated through me. The power of Spirit, like the ring Cassava had worn and used, destroyed not only those the power touched, but those who controlled it as well. Losing their ability to trust.

  Though I had the ability to use Spirit, the more I learned about it, the more I didn’t want anything to do with it.

  I didn’t want to become Cassava.

  “I will try to be patient, but then you have to trust me to see things you don’t,” I said.

  My father grunted. “Something in particular?”

  “You know Cassava won’t stop until she has your throne and those who stand in her way are dead. You said she is friendly with Fiametta. How do you know this isn’t Cassava pushing her friend to call me in to trial only to kill me?”

  “Fiametta wants your head, regardless. You broke into her home, Lark. You showed up all her Enders, and stole away using one of their Traveling armbands. You made her look like a fool and the other leaders know it.”

  With my fingers on the buckles of my vest, I tightened each one slowly. “So she wants to make herself look better?”

  He nodded. “In essence, yes.”

  “And Cassava? You do remember she tried to kill you, only a few weeks ago.” I wasn’t sure I could handle the thought of him not remembering. My whole life had been a mishmash of broken and stolen memories. I didn’t want that for my father, and now that Cassava was gone, he could maybe finally have his mind back.

  At the sound of footsteps, I knew our conversation would shift. Around others, my father treated me like the bastard child I was; like I was less than everyone else. Alone together, as rare as it was, was the only time I saw the father I remembered from my childhood. The one who loved me despite my bastard status.

  He arched an eyebrow and stood a little straighter. “You make it sound like you are important enough to be bothered with. You forget that while you may have saved our family from the old queen, that was a fluke. Don’t ever forget your place, Larkspur. You are an Ender now. You are replaceable.” He turned and strode up the shoreline, a flick of his hand indicating that I should follow him.

  Replaceable.

  The funny thing was I wasn’t more than a few steps up from useless. A smile flickered over my lips until I saw who was waiting for father at the far side of the hot springs. Long dark brown hair so like her mother’s cascaded over her shoulders all the way to the backs of her knees. Her gray eyes glanced over at me and she arched an eyebrow. No words were needed. We didn’t like each other. She was too much like her mother.

  And I was too much like mine.

  She slipped her hand into Father’s and he gave her a gentle smile. The oldest of my siblings was also the best at making it look like she was an obedient child despite the truth of her wild ways.

  I whispered her name as if in doing so I could make her disappear.

  “Belladonna.”

  CHAPTER 2

  managed to get to the kitchens in the Spiral without being seen. I don’t know how long I’d been in the mother goddess’s embrace, but I’d been without food and water and my reserves were stretched thin enough that I didn’t think I’d make it to the Enders barracks to eat. I must have been gone at least a day by the way my stomach growled at me to hurry up.

  Platters of leftovers from the king’s table the night before were stacked up. I grabbed a plate and shoveled food onto it in large quantities. Potatoes, leeks, radishes, trout, and a fresh green salad with dandelions were the first helping. I sat in a corner, eating quickly, barely tasting the food; just filling my stomach as fast as I could.

  “A drink to go with it, perhaps?” A goblet was thrust under my nose, the heady scent of honey mead making my mouth water.

  I took the goblet, and lifted my eyes to see a familiar face. “Niah, what are you doing here?” The storyteller hadn’t made an appearance since she’d stirred things up months ago. Things that had ultimately sent me to the Ender’s barracks. Looking back, I realized she’d done what she’d done on purpose. Like a lot of storytellers, she was part seer as well. Or at least, she claimed to be.

  “I like food. Most storytellers do, you know. They eat, and as they eat, they think up new ways to spin their words.” She plucked a bunch of grapes off a plate and popped one into her mouth. She poured a second cup of the honey mead for herself and took a sip. I licked my lips, the sweet flavor lingering nicely. The mead tasted thick and lovely on my tongue.

  “So what tale have you got for me this time? Last time you nearly had me with my head on the chopping platter.”

  She smiled and the hint of violet in her eyes glimmered, the mark of a shape shifter. Not a common ability amongst our family. “Oh, nothing much. Rumors abound you know.”

  That stopped me in mid-shovel. “What kind of rumors?”

  “Oh, that Cassava is working through the other families, trying to make trouble.”

  I stuffed my fork into my mouth and talked around the food. “Nothing new there.”

  “No?” Niah tipped her head back and gulped the mead as if it were water. “I wouldn’t be so sure. May I make a suggestion?”

  I waved a hand at her, but kept eating with the other. “Be my guest.”

  “Your stepmother is a tricky devil. I believe she will go to ground for some time to let the ‘heat’ as the humans say, die. That doesn’t mean her tools won’t be used, though, and her plans abandoned.”

  While the advice was good, it wasn’t something I hadn’t already considered. “How about an actual story, Niah. Something I can think about while I’m on trial at the Pit.”

  Her eyes widened. “Your father surely won’t let you be taken.”

  I shrugged then leaned back in my chair. “Don’t be so sure he has a choice. What would he do if the other leaders spoke against him? They could cite the rules. We all know what I did as an Ender . . . never mind. A story. Please?”

  Niah tapped her fingers against her lips. “For you child, a story of the Deep and the ocean the Undines rule.”

  I hadn’t heard an Undine story since I truly was a child. “Of the Kraken that protects them?”

  She laughed. “Are you telling this story or am I?”

  I waved her to go ahead while I dished up another plate of food.

  Niah’s voice lowered until she was barely whispering, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to darken with it. “The Undines have a legend that the child of the Kraken will one day rule, and under his guidance they will see their family raised above all others.”

  I smiled; every family had a story about a chosen one. Even ours. My smile faltered as the mother goddess’s words bounced around in my head. “You are my chosen one.”

  My food suddenly didn’t seem so palatable, and I pushed my plate away.

  Niah didn’t seem to notice.

  “The Kraken will rise in the face of great evil, and help its child rule. But not before so much blood spills that the waters of the Deep darken, and the fish disappear, and the air stills. These are all signs that the Kraken’s child is upon them. Each of the Undine’s three bloodlines believe they will produce the Kraken’s child. But I will tell you now, it is not the warriors with their green-tinged hair, nor the shape shifters with their violet eyes, nor even the healers. No, it will be a true child of the water, a child born of all three lines. Blue hair and pale skin, with eyes of the clearest ocean waves; that is the child you must seek if you want to meet the Kraken’s chosen heir. And so the legend is told.”

  “And what happens when this child is never born?” I couldn’t help poking at her, just a little.

  She gave a snort and waved her hand, the mood dispelled. “Don’t be foolish. The child of the Kraken will come. Though hopefully not in my lifetime.”

  “Why not?”

  “Change is not easy for those of us who have lived this long. You, you will have no problem with change.” Again, she waved at me. “Now, a token to go along with your story.”

  She wiggled her fingers at me and something shiny and hooked flew over them, dancing back and forth several times before it came to rest in the palm of her hand. “Here.” Niah held it out to me. “I think you will need this very soon.”

  I peered into her hand and gingerly held up a fishing hook, barbed on one end, and a tiny blue diamond sitting at the top where the line would be set. “What will I need this for?”

  She smiled, took the hook and lifted it to my ear. “Hold still.” I flinched as she jammed it through the cartilage. “There, very pretty.”

  Gingerly, I ran a finger over the new earring I sported. “Thank you?”

  Niah popped another grape in her mouth and sauntered away. “Just you wait and see, Ender, you will thank me. Just you wait and see.”

  After finishing my meal, I went straight to my father’s private rooms. The moss thick under my feet, cushioning my steps as I moved in farther—albeit a bit reluctantly.

  “Lark, there is only one way to keep you safe. You may not like it, but you will do as I say in this.” His green eyes flicked to mine as if to judge my reaction. I nodded, though my mind raced with possibilities.

  “Of course.”

  He waited as if I were going to retract my words. “Good. You will be going into the Deep with your sister. I believe a civil war is brewing, and my contacts have disappeared. You will do two things while you are there. The first, find our ambassador. Dead or alive, Barkley has information I need. Do you understand?”

  I nodded, a steady thrum of excitement and nerves building in my gut. My first assignment . . . even if the reason for it was because I was in over my head in worm guts, it didn’t really matter. This was to be my life, as an Ender, helping the king and making sure his ambassadors were safe.

  “If Barkley is dead, then find his room and search it. Just be wary, his lover is an Undine. Do you understand?”

  I hate to admit my jaw dropped. “His lover is an Undine? And you knew?” Half-breeds like me were not common, and the higher up your station, the more likely you were to be forced to marry as you were told. Which, of course, was why it was all that much worse that my father broke his own rules by bedding my mother who was anything but an earth elemental.

  My father frowned at me. “I approved, yes. You’ll understand when you meet them.”

  I nodded again, though I wasn’t sure how I could understand him approving a relationship that would produce a half-breed. I wouldn’t wish that life on any child. “And the other thing?”

  “You will protect the ambassador I’m sending with you at all costs. I have not decided who is to be my heir to the throne, but she is in the running. As are all of my children.”

  The door slammed open and Belladonna strode in. “Surely you don’t mean all your children, do you, Father? No one would stand behind a bastard on the throne.”

  Belladonna’s voice might have been smooth as silk worms spinning their threads, but it grated over my ears. I straightened, my vertebrae cracking and popping. Not that I’d been slouching, but I refused to look like I was taking any crap from her.

  And then her words and my father’s hit me. If Belladonna was here, she was the one Father was talking about. For a stupid moment, I’d believed I was taking Briar with me. Why couldn’t it have been sweet, kind Briar?

  “Belladonna,” Father said her name softly, “try to be kind. She is still your sister.”

  Belladonna sniffed the air as if something stunk, her gray eyes narrowing. “I am always kind. Ask your people, Father, they’ll tell you I am nothing but sweetness and light.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “More like you terrorize the children when you think no one is looking. Giving them nightmares with stories of lung burrowers coming to eat their hearts if they don’t bow to you when you go by.”

  She stomped her foot, fists clenched at her side, her demeanor slipping. “You sneaky ugly weevil! What are you doing, following me around? I will take you outside and beat you as you should have been beaten years ago!”

  I stepped toward her, using my height to an advantage, looking down at her. “Belladonna, say the word. Say it.”

  Father cleared his throat and put his hands between us, gently shoving us apart.

  “Girls, whether you like it or not—and I see by your faces you do not—you are going to work together.” We stood across from him but as far apart from each other as possible. Belladonna was as opposite to me in looks as she was in personality. She was petite and curvy and had long dark brown hair and light gray eyes. The top of her head barely came to my chin, but her looks weren’t really what concerned me.

  No, she was her mother’s daughter, through and through. I knew she was lying when she said Cassava had tricked her too. But our father wouldn’t hear me say a word against her, or any of my siblings, for that matter.

  Belladonna smiled sweetly. “But Larkspur is so new to being an Ender. Wouldn’t it be better if someone more experienced came with me? Someone . . . like Ash?”

  My whole body stiffened. I’d seen his memories of her and if I was anything of a friend to him, I couldn’t let him get sucked into this. “Ash can’t go. He’s running things here for Father.” My voice was sharp and I struggled not to yell at her. I had seen too clearly how she had treated Ash in the past.

  As if saying his name had called him, my senior Ender and mentor stepped into the room. Dressed in the dark brown leather vest and lighter brown cotton pants of our order, he cut quite the figure. Even I could admit that about him. Dark blond hair and honey-colored eyes gave Ash an exotic look in a family of elementals where dark hair and eyes were prevalent. He gave my father a quick nod. “Your Majesty, the ambassador and her Ender from the Pit are waiting for you in the throne room.” He didn’t look at me, or Belladonna, but stared straight ahead.

  My father let out a sigh. “Daughters. You will do as I ask. Belladonna, you are the acting ambassador. I want to know all you can decipher about the two who are battling for the Deep’s throne. From what I understand, they are both children of King Marianas, do your homework on them before you go. You will promise them nothing, understand?” His eyes flicked to mine. “And you will protect your sister.”