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She scoffs, "Does it matter? If you must know, it took my people two days to remove him from the rocks that killed him and bring him to me. I came here straight away."
"You came here to accuse me of killing my closest confidante? What makes you think I won't do the same to you?" Ice floods my veins at the thought of having to witness Kairon killing the Syren Queen.
Silence.
The king taps his foot, confusion, rage, and even a pained, guilt-ridden grief, unlike anything I've felt before, fueling his need for vengeance. But in the end, this is an ally we currently cannot continue without, and even Kairon knows that. "I did not do this," he plainly admits. "I have someone that looks and acts just like him downstairs, now dead."
"What?" Valta squeaks out. "Then how—"
The king sighs dramatically, acting as if he's completely put out by offering her this forgiveness. "I am willing to overlook your lack of judgment when it comes to attacking Elva. You were frantic and out of your mind, missing your child."
Suspicion becomes evident in the queen's voice. "Yes?" She waits for the king to continue.
"And to prove that our alliance is still as strong as ever, I will offer you a way to possibly find the answers you seek. There are two Syrens in a cell below us; one is very much alive." Silently, I note that he doesn't mention the third one he killed during the attack.
"And the other?"
"Dead, by the aforementioned Syren's hand."
An audible gasp escapes her, followed by a sniffle as she attempts to hold back tears. The king continues, "I would be willing to allow you to take her, with no more harm done by me, under the condition that no one finds out about Shan's double. And if you ever dare to harm a single hair on Elva's head, I will filet you where you stand, followed by sending every corpse lost to the ocean to kill your entire species. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." She sniffles again. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The king dismisses her coldly, "Get out. Your subject will be on the shore waiting for you by the time you arrive there."
Without another word, her sloshing steps begin, getting quieter the further she flees from the king's presence.
"You can come out now." Kairon sighs, moving from the chair and helping me up from my hiding spot.
I clamber out, looking around until I spot the unrecognizable lump of discolored, bloodless flesh.
"Is that..." I can't finish asking the question.
"That is Shan," he answers. "I could feel him the second they entered the castle."
"If that's Shan, then who did we..." The unasked question lingers in the air.
"I don't know," the king answers.
"And what happened to him?"
He sighs, my exhaustion mirrored in him. "Don't know that, either. And, unfortunately for you, there's only one way to find out."
The corpse before us slowly starts to move, just a few broken fingers at a time, then his arms, both bent at wrong angles and full of holes from the rocks. It clambers upright until the decrepit corpse is sitting, one eye and one empty socket staring up at us.
The world around me starts spinning, the vision in front of me too horrid, too vile, with his water-logged intestines spilling out onto the floor. My stomach churns, my eyes water, and I blink repeatedly to remain focused.
"My king," Shan greets Kairon before looking at me. "Elva. What's wrong?"
Before Kairon can answer, the last thing I see is the ceiling as a woosh of air comes up to greet me, and my world goes dark.
