Page 117 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

We were never meant for cages, we will not compromise.

The pearls that they took were the tears that we shed,

For the sisters we lost and the mothers long dead.

But the tide always turns and the sea always calls,

A star in the darkness will unite us all.

I pressed my fist to my chest and held it there, until the ache passed and the tears subsided. Calroy squeezed my hand, grounding me, then his eyes swept the crowd one final time.

“The queen took everything from us. Our wings. Our kingdoms. Our names. But she could not take what we are. And today, we take it back.”

He flapped his wings and hovered higher. “This is what she feared most.” He gestured at the crowd—winged, Seaborn, soldiers, all of them standing shoulder to shoulder. “She built her entire reign on keeping us apart. Today, that ends.”

Fists pounded the air, voices rising in one unified sound. Then, one by one, they dropped to their knees, heads lowered.

“Rise, my fellow comrades.” Calroy’s voice carried over all of them. “Take the sky and fly. And those who cannot—ride like the wind.”

One of the winged men, broad-shouldered and silver-haired, launched first, the rest following in a great rush, hundreds of them lifting at once. The sky filled with wings, sunlight catching feather after feather until it looked like the whole horizon had come alive.

The remaining soldiers swung onto their horses, the ground rising in dust with the sudden charge of hooves, the sound rolling out of the forest like thunder finding its feet.

Calroy lowered us back to the ground in front of Selene.

Minha scanned the tree line like she expected an ambush. Fraya stood with arms crossed, weight shifted onto one hip, the look of someone calculating odds. Jina pressed close to my side, her fingers finding mine.

“What do we know of the queen’s movements?” Calroy’s wings folded in.

Selene’s wings shuddered. “Our source says she’s left the castle.”

“When?”

“Two days ago. She’s moving south with her army toward the coast. She’s decided to come to you instead and choose her own ground.”

“That doesn’t sound like her.” Rowhan furrowed his brow.

Palto rubbed his jaw, considering. “I would have to agree with Rowhan. Something is amiss.”

“Perhaps her plans have changed.” Fraya hummed, unconvinced even by her own suggestion.

“Then this is the perfect time to use the secret passage,” Rowhan said. “While she’s distracted moving toward the coast, the castle will be lighter on guards.”

My chest tightened. “We move now.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

The passage in the eastern wall in Caelum’s castle smelled of cold earth and old stone. Calroy moved directly behind me, close enough that I felt the warmth of him in the dim lighting. Minha was a shadow at his back, then Fraya and Jina. Palto brought up the rear.

Rowhan trailed one hand along the wall, power humming off him in a low, steady pulse—like the ground was breathing beneath our feet.

Calroy, Minha, Jina, and I held out our pure stones. The light they cast was faint and blue-white, throwing soft shadows across the walls, making the passage feel less like a tunnel and more like the inside of something ancient.

“Two guards at the first turn,” Rowhan murmured without slowing. “Three more at the courtyard gate. They don’t know we’re here.”

That was his earth power at work, sensing what none of us could. Trusting him wasn’t a choice anymore. It was the plan. I reminded myself with every step. The passage narrowed even more, the stone scraping against our shoulders.

Then Rowhan finally stopped. “The entrance is here. There are soldiers on the other side, but I can take care of them.”