Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 24

"The sea," I breathed.

I felt Caspian's perplexed gaze peering over my shoulder, before his deep voice enquired"What about the sea?"

Turning to him, I responded, "I have to go talk to Soren. I'll come find you and explain later."

He threw his arms up, shaking his head as the corners of his mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly. "You know where to find me."

"Thanks, Caspian," I told him quickly, beginning to take off in the direction of the palace, before turning back to him, and saying, "Really. Thank you."

All he did was nod, before I took off sprinting, the tiny yellow flower getting smushed in my clenched fist.

~

The doors to Soren's study were locked, but with the adrenaline pumping through my body, I had no problem prying them open and stalking into the room. It turned out he was all alone—thank the Gods and Goddesses.

He looked surprised when he saw me, but luckily not upset.

"Ailith," he breathed, muttering under his breath, "thrice in one day."

I glared. "That's right. You actually have to talk to me."

"What a lucky man I am," he responded, a faint grin flickering on his face, letting me know he meant it. "What is it?"

"I know the meaning of the yellow flowers," I planted, bending over and clasping my hands to my knees, trying to catch my breath.

"Ailith, where were you?" his silky voice purred, helping me up by my arms, his grey gaze boring into mine.

"I was outside with Caspian"—

"Caspian?"

I nodded. "Yes. Anyway, he and I were sitting near the seaside, and I noticed all these wildflowers growing near the shore, and then spotted these yellow ones. Don't you recognize this?" I gasped, unclenching my fist and showing him the crumpled flower.

His face seemed to scrunch up, mimicking the flower's current state. "The ones from your sister's room," he whispered.

I nodded. "And I realized that these wildflowers only grow beside the sea," I explained. "And I know that getting into the palace was supposedly a message from Hades, but I think that everything he did was a message; to both frighten and inform us of what's to come. In his own wicked, strange way. And these flowers definitely mean something."

"What are you thinking?" Soren asked.

I took a deep breath. "Because they only grow by the sea, I think this is Hades's way of telling us that he and Lord Goridian are working together. Merging their armies to fight us. This is an act of intimidation."

Soren's eyes widened as he considered my hypothesis, taking a few steps towards me and pushing the flower into the right pocket of his pants.

"Why would Hades have offered you allegiance before, if he was already working with Goridian?" he murmured.

"Why would Hades have tried to claim me a few weeks after that? Who knows," I responded. "As you said, he enjoys making trouble."

"I cannot argue with that," he admitted, "but Hades hates Goridian. He considers him a traitor, not an ally."

"Or he wants us to think that," I said.

Soren seemed to consider my point, nodding his head slightly.