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King Bakari addressed Raeshelle. For all he cared, Kianga was nonexistent. Seaveillers floated on either side of the harnessed, muzzled shrarks. I could feel my blood boiling. What in the rot was happening here?
King Bakari looked at Raeshelle with a coldness I had never seen in King Izakaya's eyes when he looked at me.
"Your mamè, Queen Audriana, was a pawn for me. And you, her spawn, are the same. I will admit, you surprised me. After all, you held more of the power from the Atlanthyst Stone in your body than she ever could. Ultimately, she could have lived. But Audriana was too weak to handle the power."
Raeshelle and Kianga gasped at the confession. I flinched.
Was King Bakari saying the queen didn't die from being given to the Mistwind Seas, but because he put too much of the stone's power in her body?
I felt myself shaking with anger.
"No matter how much I siphoned from the stone and fused into your body, you kept soaking it in. Truth be told, you could release the power from your body into the Atlanthyst Trench and survive it. But I won't be having it. You will release the power from your body, and then I will have your spirit drained."
A dark chuckle filled the hangar as I blinked back my shock. He was going to kill her. And for no good reason than his own greed. To keep up pretenses. She didn't have to die. He just wanted to put on a good show.
King Bakari smiled, cruel and vile. I ground my teeth, fisting my hands.
"Like your mamè, you will be given to the sea. I will retain my hold on the stone. Time will pass, your sacrifice will wane, I will bond again, sire seed, and they, too, will do the same. The kingdom will grow, my reign will not end, and the stone will forever be mine."
Like rot it would be. I would tear this entire rotting palace apart before I left here without that stone and Raeshelle.
"Raeshelle Corellis Au'Pearl," the king said with finality. "I know it will be your honor to serve your king, and your kingdom, by giving your life to the Mistwind Seas."
Then he turned to the Seaveillers.
"I must be on my way. The Aziziens and Avariens have begun making their way to the Trench. As must I. Make sure she arrives after everyone. I want a grand entrance." His eyes flickered to Kianga. "Dispose of this one. I don't care what is around to lick up her bones after you dump her."
The king flew forward, mounted a seastallion that rivaled the shrarks in size, and galloped out of the hangar.
Raeshelle's body quivered. She cried helplessly. I could feel all six of my hearts breaking at once. I had a gut feeling King Bakari left without taking the stone. Which meant I could turn around right now and go find it. But then I'd be leaving Raeshelle behind and she would be killed.
I thought about the pride I would see on King Izakaya's face for the first time if I returned with the stone. The joy I would experience, finally feeling like his soè, not his bastard. I craved it so badly it made me ill.
But.
Raeshelle Corellis Au'Pearl.
The Pearl of the Sea.
Between Ashbone Island and now, she'd ensnared my hearts. I wanted to be nowhere, in no moment of time, without her. If I left her to be taken like slaughter, I'd never experience a dusk of peace again.
Pressing my lips together, I pushed my bodily pain to the recesses of my mind and tumbled into my wells of ethèr. I needed help of the supernatural sort. I swam in that well and watched the silhouette of my fôrs appear, the blazing light blinding.
"I need to save the Pearl of the Sea, but I can't alone. I need the strength of the Alpha to accomplish this."
The ethereal body of my fôrs floated in the light, shimmering in and out of sight. Unseeing eyes of light blinked once, twice, then the head nodded, agreeing. My fôrs spread out its arms and legs, then light exploded everywhere.
Chapter 26
Saving the Pearl of the Sea
YAKOBBA
The world was a brilliant, majestic landscape of ivory, lavender, and gold. The shards of effervescent light radiated everywhere I looked. I felt like I was floating through clouds. Everything felt unreal. Ethereal.
Endless explosions of power swelled through me, then out of me, without control. None of it was my doing. It wasn't my ability. I was just a vessel while my wells of ethèr burst violently, unmitigated power sloshing around liked an angry river, forcefully pouring out until, without warning, it all abruptly died down.
I blinked, slowly prying my eyes open, and found Raeshelle blinking down at me. My head was in her lap, while a wide-eyed, and to my amusement, very concerned Kianga, perched behind her. Their chains were gone, but I could see the marks the chains had left. I lifted a hand to Raeshelle's cheek, wincing at the pain. She nuzzled into my palm, brushing her fingers through my hair.
