Page 8 of Hymn of Breath and Bone

Seeing Marina sitting atthe table with my council was like watching vultures circle a dying sea dragon. All but Hesperus, who never showed any kind of emotion, looked wary, and Arctos and Eos looked ready to pick the flesh from her bones. Only the presence of Zephyr and Astraios, each flanking Marina as if ready to defend her, kept the mating bond from taking over completely and sending me into a killing frenzy.

“It will calm down after the claiming,” Zephyr told me without a hint of embarrassment when I quickly pulled her aside before the meeting. “But until you make it official, you’re likely to be a bit”—she paused and gave me a pitying frown—“volatile.”

“You weren’t like this with Ana,” I hissed, feeling like my insides were crawling out of my skin. It hadn’t been this bad on the island or in the first few days of the bond being awoken, but each day seemed to increasingly fray on my nerves and willpower, begging me to take Marina hard and fast against every surface of every room.

Granted, she’d likely welcome it. But I refused to do it until she understood, and she’d been too inebriated last night for me to trust my own judgment, let alone hers.

Zephyr laughed. “Oh I was. But we made it official quickly. And I’m a female.”

“What does that have to do with it?” I grumbled, feeling like I needed to tear something apart with my bare hands to work off the energy of the bond.

“Females are vastly more sensible than males,” she replied with a shrug, as if this were a well known fact. “We’re naturally better at everything.”

I’d been forced to do no more than roll my eyes at this as Zephyr swept back into the council chamber where Astraios was keeping Marina entertained with stories of—likely false—heroics as we waited for the council.

They appeared shortly after and took their seats without so much as a nod to Marina, although all bowed to me. Mesembria shot me a tight-lipped smile, while Eos stared me down like a vengeful goddess.

I was glad Ana wasn’t allowed in these meetings to see her mother in action. Where Ana was soft and lively, Eos was rough and serious. She hadbeen only a child when the exile occurred, but half a millennia of living displaced from her home had hardened her.

“What is the purpose of this meeting, My King?” Eos asked, her ancient voice failing to hide her irritation. “Did we not make our feelings clear at the last one?”

My hand clenched on the hilt of my sword, and Zephyr coughed pointedly as if to say, “Don’t be an idiot.”

“You did,” I replied with a nod to the Lady of the East Winds. “But today’s meeting is to discuss our strategy for ending the war.”

“I thoughtshewas your strategy?” Arctos said, gesturing to Marina with his chin. “Why is she here if not to win us the war?”

It took all of my effort not to strangle him where he sat.

“Marina,” I replied, emphasizing her name, “is part of the plan. A vital one. But I’m not foolish enough to think that our being mated will be enough to convince her father of our good intentions.”

“Thank the skies for small mercies,” Eos mumbled.

I chose to ignore her, gesturing to Zephyr to hand me the maps she had brought. I spread them out across the table between us, and Marina leaned over interestedly as I pointed to the stretch of sea between us and the selkies.

“When Marina and I go to negotiate with her father, it would be wise to pick a neutral, defensible territory,” I said, pointing to the smaller islands in the archipelago. “One of these, perhaps.”

“Too easy for him to overwhelm you,” Marina murmured, frowning at where I pointed. “He’ll bring warriors.”

“As will we,” Astraios pointed out, moving around the table to examine the map more closely. “We’d hold the high ground. Twenty sirens would be enough to keep the selkies at bay, and that’s without our song.”

“If we sing, we will lose,” I snapped, frowning at my second mate for the oversight. “We need the Selkie King to trust us. Singing him into oblivion would have the opposite effect.”

“They’re skilled archers,” Marina said, causing the table to turn to her. “My father’s warriors, I mean. Even if you held the island, they could ground you with a single well-placed arrow.”

The tiny wrinkle between her brows was adorable, and I wondered if she was recalling our time grounded on the small island in the southern portion of the archipelago.

She met my gaze, and the pink in her cheeks confirmed that she was.

“What about Nordhavn?” Zephyr suggested, raising a brow at me. “It’s neutral ground, and there are too many witnesses for any underhandedness.”

“Casualties, you mean,” Arctos spat, scowling at Zephyr. “You meet the Selkie King there, and you’re just asking for innocent deaths.”

Marina bristled, and I could feel her fury through the bond when she replied, “My father would not endanger innocents.”

I tried to hide my doubt, remembering how violent he and his guards had been with me when I was captured. If they hadn’t wanted to make a spectacle of me, they certainly would have killed me, innocent or not.

Nordhavn certainly had its advantages. Perhaps another visit to Theia was in order.