Prince Leander's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Prince Leander knelt beside the Siren he was supposed to hate. His hands were full of bloody cloth. Nerissa, Crowned Princess of the sea, bled silver siren blood on his family's healing cot. His parents, the Fates, ruled the war that put her there. He had vowed to keep her alive anyway. Her wound ran deep along her ribs, near the small gill slits. He pressed clean linen to it. She hissed and caught his wrist. Her grip was strong even now. "Let’s build a sandcastle…" she whispered in her delirium. Then her eyes closed again as she slipped further into unconsciousness. "You're not dying," Leander said tenderly. "Not today." The healer worked beside him, wings folding soft against her back. She crushed lavender blooms between her fingers and laid them over the wound. The scent filled the room. The pixie glanced at Leander, then at the door, and said nothing. She knew his parents were coming. Nerissa's breathing eased, but only slightly. Leander touched his collarbone where three silver lines glowed through his shirt. The marks had changed since she arrived. They pulsed now, like a heartbeat not his own. He had felt it happen and told no one. The door opened. King Valerian entered, the Crown of Hours bright on his dark hair. Faint rings turned around his amber eyes. He looked at the Siren princess the way a man looks at a stain. "The war council wants her questioned," the king said. "Then returned to the sea in pieces." "Why save her from the side of the road, Father?" Leander said, "Why heal her if all you are going to do afterwards is execute her?” "She is their heir, Leander. Her throne wants ours drowned." Leander stood. He put himself between his father and the cot. "And you’ve spent eight years hacking down her people! Something has to give! Killing her only starts a worse war. Her grandfather will answer with every tide." He drew a breath. "But that is not why I'm asking." Valerian's eyes narrowed. The clockwork rings slowed. "My threadmark changed when they carried her in," Leander said. "You taught me the threads do not lie. Look." He pulled his collar aside. The three silver lines burned bright, reaching toward Nerissa like iron to a lodestone. The king went still. He crossed the room and studied the glow. He had spent his life reading destiny. He could not pretend this away. "The threads bound you to her," Valerian said at last. His voice was low. "Before the war. Before her blood touched this floor." "Yes," Leander said. "So she lives." The king stared a long moment. Then he turned toward the door. "She lives," he said. "Under guard. Until I understand what the threads intend." He paused at the threshold. "I knew it was a terrible idea to bring her here. Your mother’s empathy knows no limits, and you are too much like her! The council will call your bond to her treason, Leander." The door shut. Nerissa moaned in pain. Leander picked up the cloth again. "Let the Council call it what they want. I know that the land herbs don’t help you heal as fast as the underwater ones do, but I will do the best I can to keep you with me!"