Princess Azura Stellaryn's Arc

Chapter 8 of 3

The drowned world hung before Azura's ship like a blue pearl. Its seas shimmered green and blue, with no dry land she could land on. Sambad studied the map in his head. "The stone is below the water," he said. "Deep. Your ship was built for the stars, not the sea." Azura pressed her hand to the glass. Her ship would crack and flood if she tried to dive it. She had no suit for this. The surface was all water, and she could not breathe it. She took the ship low, skimming the waves, searching for anything solid. Fish flashed below. A tail broke the surface, then vanished. Azura cut the engines and let the ship float. "We need help," she said. "Someone who knows these waters." The water churched beside the hull. A man rose from it. His chest was bare and broad, his hair long and gray. Below the waist, a dark green tail beat the sea. Gold cuffs circled both wrists. On his head sat a crown larger than her own. He set both hands on her ship's edge and climbed aboard, his tail folding into legs as he stood. "You land on my sea and cut your engines," he said. His voice was low, like water over stone. "Most who come here come to take. What do you want, land-crown?" Azura met his eyes. She would not lie to a god. "I'm Azura. I rule a frozen world. I came for a stone that lies beneath your water. One of seven. Without it my people stay in the dark." Trident Crown studied her crown. He saw the six emeralds set in gold. He saw the one empty socket. "You carry a broken thing," he said. "And you ask me to help you break mine open." The sea stilled around them. Even the waves seemed to listen. "I ask for passage down," Azura said. "Nothing more. The stone isn't yours. It fell here. I only want what belongs to my blood." He was quiet a long moment. Then he lifted one gold cuff from his wrist. "This holds the sea's breath," he said. "Wear it and the water won't drown you. The deep won't crush you." He held it out, then closed his fingers before she could take it. "But the stone lies guarded, and the god who scattered them watches this world too. You'll trade one danger for another." Azura reached and did not pull back. "Then I'll face it in the water instead of the stars." She took the cuff. It clamped cold around her wrist and warmed against her skin. Trident Crown slid back into the sea. "Follow me down, land-crown. But know the god already feels you here." He dove, and his tail cut the surface. Azura looked at Sambad, then at the water. Her ship could not go where she needed. Her body now could. She climbed the rail and dropped into the drowned world.