Chapter 87They spent the day in the market, joined by a pair of guards who shadowed them. The boys were thrilled to be at the market, and she let each of them pick a toy as a treat. They also asked to buy fruit for Dymion as a thank you. She was touched by their thoughtfulness, and agreed quickly enough. The guards carried their purchases, clearly instructed to aid them, but they did not speak. They communicated in sign, but kept their hand out of Epelda’s view whenever they did so. Nereida felt her rage on behalf of her daughter growing. She was being othered by her people.

  Epelda, for her part, did not make an issue of it, but kept her back straight and her chin high. Her frustrations seemed to melt away when Jules appeared on shore. The young man had wonder in his eyes as he took in the busy marketpce. Others gave him a wide berth, for though Sylph were merchants and not at war with Sirens, they clearly had heard just as many tales about the Siren madness. But Jules did not seem to care, his expression blissful. He approached their group, bowing awkwardly to Nereida and Ael. He opened his mouth to speak. Epelda flew at him out of nowhere, hugging him tightly. He gasped, clearly caught off guard. She pced a quick, chaste kiss on his cheek.

  “I missed you, love,” Epelda signed. Her signs were almost exaggerated and slower than they had to be, even for him. Nereida gnced at the guards, watched them stiffen. Ah. She had heard the governor.

  “I missed you too?” he replied, his voice rising a bit in confusion. She grinned at him and winked, her back to the guards. He looked at her with puppy-like adoration before he turned toward Nerieda and Ael.

  “Might I take the Countess on a stroll?” he asked, his words clearly rehearsed. Nereida nodded, keeping the grin off her face only through willpower.

  “You may,” Ael replied, her tone grumpy. “She must be back at the ship after tea, we have an appointment.” Jules bowed low, fumbling the motion and nearly losing his bance.

  “Not so low,” Alejo whispered frantically. “She’s not the Queen or King!”

  “It's fine, little one,” Nereida told him, pcing her hand on his shoulder. “He is learning like you.”

  They enjoyed their market adventures for the rest of the day, buying fresh treats for the boys, eating lunch beside the ocean on a bnket. One of the two guards disappeared during lunch, returning shortly after they were done. While he was gone, Nereida pced her head on Ael’s shoulder. She spoke in soft tones that matched the waves, knowing how to pitch her voice so it would not carry to the only guard who was back twenty paces.

  “Epelda’s got good instincts,” she said to Ael. “No official request for a betrothal will happen now.”

  “Huh?”

  “Epelda put on a show for the guards, love.”

  “That’s what that was?” Ael sounded proud, and she wove her finger through Nereida’s. “She takes after you, then.” Nereida snickered, her ughter cut short when Alejo, kicking his new ball, fell face first into the sand. Duty called.

  The meeting went with few hitches. Ael had talked trade agreements until nearly midnight, and both Epelda and Marcus had given up following along after three hours. Epelda was escorted home by the guards, and Marcus had returned to his own chambers in the house. The idea of betrothing the youths was never brought up, though the governor had a disappointed expression on his face whenever he gnced between them. Once papers were signed, they finally got to retreat to the ship. The children were fast asleep, and they had missed most of the stories, a few slower songs being all that they heard as they approached. Epelda was waiting for them. Yawning, the young woman squeezed Ael’s hand.

  “Thank you,” she signed. “Old man is a busybody. Did not want that.”

  “I know,” Ael replied with a smile. She then gave her daughter a stern, over the top frown. “That doesn’t mean you get to gavant with your boy on the ship, you hear me?” Epelda giggled, shaking her head and heading to the crew quarters.

  The week passed blindingly quickly. Nereida had purchased new boots and had repced some of her clothing that had been damaged or destroyed by various forays into the wilds of the ocean. The bakery could not keep up with the demand for fresh bread for the first day, as most of the crew indulged in a sweet treat or a loaf of bread. Nereida or Ael took the boys to shore every day, so that the children could find pymates beneath the watchful eyes of their parents. Mostly, they pyed with the granddaughters of the governor, but Nereida insisted they find children on the beach to py with as well. Basiano went ashore as well, choosing to rent an inn room for himself and a second for Kana and her husband. The sirens were taken with the market, having never seen one before. Their wide-eyed, almost childlike wonder was something to behold. Basiano, infant strapped to his chest, made sure they knew the dangers as well as the wonders.

  Epelda had spent most of her time aboard the ship, only venturing onto the shore with her family or with Jules. When asked about it, she became defensive, ciming everything was fine. No one believed she was fine, not even her younger brothers. Instead, to avoid going to shore, Epelda took to carrying the egg. Since no one wanted the egg to be seen, as it would bring about far too many questions, Nereida allowed it. She fought the urge to tell Epelda no, because of the dragon inside her mind. But it was clearly Epelda, and not the dragon, that did not wish to go ashore. So she chose to trust her daughter.

  The sixth morning of their shore-leave dawned grey. Nereida felt the change in the air, the gentle wind that promised more. She felt worry bubbling in her heart. It was only solidified when Epelda approached her. Her steps were slow and graceful, a strange sauntering to her gait that she did not usually dispy.

  “Great One,” Nereida greeted softly. The Dragon that resided inside her daughter smiled. It was a predator’s smile, all teeth and no warmth, nothing like Epelda’s smiles.

  “Tonight it will come,” she said. “And your daughter will be free. But such an event will not be without danger to the ship, if she is on it. It would be safer for all if I went to the hill.”

  “The governor might not like you being on his nd,” Nereida warned. “Not without a proper chaperone.”

  “That is true. The other option is you move all non-essential crew to the mainnd and take the ship into deeper waters, where I can be reborn without so many witnesses.”

  “Might we have permission to tell the skeleton crew what is happening?” She bowed her head slightly. “It would shatter their trust in us, to keep such a thing from them. The crew deserves the truth. They can be trusted.”

  “Would you trust them, Little Ocean?”

  “I have. They have seen my egg, known my story. I let down my guard aboard this ship.”

  “Even though there is a Shadow-born on your ship?” She grinned again and Nereida felt a shiver of worry tear through her.

  “They’ve had plenty of time to cause us grief,” Nereida replied softly.

  “Would you have me reveal them?” the Dragon stepped toward her. Epelda’s soft eyes were almost cat-like now, full of curiosity. Nereida felt as if she were being tested.

  “No,” she said at st. “I chose to trust that they mean us no harm.”

  “Very well, Moon’s child, but do not rail at me when tragedy strikes.” She patted Nereida on the head as if she were a dog.

  Nereida found her wife, expined their options. Ael agreed that she would rather it happen aboard the ship. She put together a roster with Evander’s help, and Nereida packed the children up. She pced all the children’s clothing and her egg inside a chest, and had Dymion help her take it to her brother in his inn room. He promised to watch the young ones, his face full of worry.

  “I don’t like how enmeshed you are in all this,” he whispered to her as the boys began unpacking a game to py.

  “I chose my path when I chose her,” Nereida replied softly. “But… I also know the next step, and think, perhaps, that we will avoid that one for now.”

  “Will they let you?” He touched her face gently, the way he had when she was small and frightened of her own shadow.

  “I don’t know,” she replied honestly. “We will be back early tomorrow morning, so long as the storm breaks. Take care of my children.”

  “I will.” He smiled sadly and kissed her head. “Eggy’s safe too,” he added with a smile. She grimaced.

  “That’s going to stick, isn’t it?” He just ughed, a gentle, familiar, hearty sound. For a moment, she was home. But the moment broke, and she had to return to the world of storms and gods.

  By the time she returned to the ship, the water had become choppy. She hurried up the gangpnk, the st one to board. They pulled up the pnk, and she took her pce beside Epelda. She ran messages between the smaller skeleton crews, moving quickly despite the rain. The rain began gently, but by the time they had moved away from the dock, carried by Epelda’s song, into the open ocean, the rain was pouring down so hard that Nereida could not see twenty paces in front of her. Thunder roared overhead, loud and angry. The wind was brutal, whipping the rain sideways. The air was colder now, the rain no longer refreshing but instead almost biting.

  And above the din of rain, the roar of thunder, the crashing of the waves and the howl of the wind came a song. Epelda’s voice, but not. She was singing words, ancient and unintelligible, but words none the less. Someone cried out in fear as the wind suddenly went dead. It was as if someone had sucked all the sound from around them, and the sudden silence was deafening. All Nereida could hear was the pounding of her own heart. A fsh of lightning lit the deck, not close enough to be a danger, but terrible and beautiful all the same. Epelda was standing atop the mast, bancing precariously, her arms outstretched. The lightning fshed again, and the storm quieted to a heavy rain. Rising from Epelda’s body was a rge serpent with rainbow scales and gossamer wings. Epelda’s small form went limp, but the dragon caught her in her beautiful cws, flying her to the safety of the deck before the dragon roared.

  The Dragon of Wind lifted herself into the air, her movements like a dance through the rain. The storm had petered out to just a steady rain. Nereida rushed toward Epelda, but Jules was the one who got to her first. She was awake when Nereida crested the stairs, Ael at her heels. Nereida screeched to a halt, staring at her daughter in shock. A pair of dragon-fly-like wings jutted out of Epelda’s back. Epelda looked to be crying, clinging to Jules.

  “My cabin,” Ael signed to them. Jules nodded, and scooped Epelda up in his arms.

  Ael peeped the whistle before they headed into the retively dry cabin.

  “I’ve sent them below deck,” she said. “We dropped anchor, and the ocean’s calming.” She wrung her cloak out at the doorway, before dropping it over a chair. It made a heavy squelching sound. Jules had set Epelda down on Alejo’s bed, and was fussing over her as she tried to wave him off.

  “She gave me the choice,” Epelda signed, before they could ask. She smiled sadly. “My tongue, my hand, or my wings.”

  “You had wings?” Jules asked. “Before?” She nodded. The boy’s eyes filled with anger and grief, but he did not sh out. Nereida was impressed. She desperately wanted to find, reanimate and then kill again the demons who had hurt Epelda. “They are beautiful,” Jules said after a moment.

  “A terrible choice to make,” Ael muttered. “It would have been nice to get all three.”

  “I’m not greedy,” Epelda signed. “And… the boys mostly healed my tongue already. I can make some sounds. I just… it hurts. So this is better.” She smiled sadly. “But I got to say words without pain, the most important ones.”

  Ael headed over to Epelda, and kissed her forehead.

  “I’m gd you are safe, daughter, and free.”

  “It is empty inside now. Quiet. But nice.” She smiled. “I will go with Jules below. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

  “Are you sure?” Ael said, worry creasing her face.

  “Yes.” She stood and hugged Ael. “Love you, Mom.”

  The young adults headed out, leaving Nereida and Ael alone.

  “We could take advantage of some alone time,” Ael suggested with a teasing smile. But Nereida shook her head.

  “The next dragon is freed by love consummated in the rain. I don’t… I can’t do another one. Not so close to Epelda.” Nereida sat in the chair with the wet cloak on it. Her body felt heavy. “They can’t expect us to just… keep going, right? Don’t we deserve to breathe, to rex, just for a little while? The egg will hatch soon, another month, and then we will have a baby, or a baby dragon, to care for.”

  Ael came to her side, kicking her wet boots off as she walked. They cttered against the desk.

  “Then come to bed, love, and we will hold each other until we finally find rest. Epelda’s safe, we are safe, the children are back on nd, safe with your brother. Let yourself rest.” Sleep sounded glorious, and so together the wives got dried and ready for bed. They fell asleep to the sounds of gentle rain pouring outside.

  But ter, deep in the night, Nereida woke with a start when she heard Ael’s voice.

  “Love will wake the third Sleeper, consummated in rain.”

  Nereida shook her wife awake, but when Ael opened her eyes, they were silvery instead of sandy gold. Lovely. At least, with a god present, she might get answers.

  “Please, Lady Moon, what happened?” Nereida asked softly. “Who woke the sleeper?”

  “It only needs to be a Scion, child.” Her tone was soft, almost airy, a strange way to hear Ael’s voice. “You show hubris thinking it need always be you.”

  “I…” she faltered and dropped her gaze to the pillow so she did not have to see Ael’s face not be her own. “Are you both still in us?”

  “Yes, child. Until your task is complete.” Nereida blinked fiercely. She would not cry before the gods. “We mean you no harm, Ocean’s Daughter. You will learn their fate come morning, but you will see nothing new tonight.”

  “Will you release my wife?”

  “Of course, child.” The Moon Dragon smiled serenely. “But the sky is free of Clouds… would you like to fly?”

  “Fly?”

  “You let us have a night, child, in your bodies. Would you like a night in ours? To fly free with your beloved, remembering this time, how it feels when you touch scale and not flesh?” Nereida shivered. “Remember what it is to mate as dragons, not fragile mortals, the true togetherness.”

  “That sounds… I… I would like it, but not tonight. Not… not without talking to Ael first. Her feelings matter too.”

  “Of course.”

  “May I ask something?” Nereida dared to look up at the dragon in her wife’s body. There was a curt nod, and so Nereida continued on. “I bit my wife, poisoned her… but… I have bitten others, in self defence and… not.” She flushed. “I didn’t… I didn’t poison anyone then.”

  “You were not a Scion then, just another water-child, a Dolphin with average magic and no toxin. But now, now you are more. Just as my daughter is more. One day, she will accept that, and then, only then, can she and I speak.”

  “Why won’t Ocean speak to me then?” Nereida did not mean to sound like a petunt child before the Dragon of the Moon, but the words escaped her before she could rein them in.

  “Oh child, what makes you think she doesn’t? Perhaps your wife isn’t the only one who does not wish to listen.”