Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
While Iris had been pink from head to toe, Elowen shimmered a vibrant red. Pearl strands wove through her cascading scarlet tresses. Ruby eyes somehow as familiar as they were deep reflected an ocean I couldn’t see. She wore a blood-red gown with silver embroidery and a hem that billowed like mist. More scars than I could count crisscrossed her coral skin. A jagged line even bisected her face, running from brow to jawline.
A crown of sea glass and shells perched upon her head. Bands stacked one upon the other around her wrists and ankles. The faint scent of sea foam and blooming lilies wafted from her, intensifying the sense of connection.
“Hello again—for the first time.” Her voice. A whisper of mysteries, remembrances, and secrets knitted with the unmistakable authority of a woman who fully comprehended her power. “I am Her Serene Majesty Elowen, Queen of Water Maidens, Supreme Oracle of the Great Unknowns, Lady of the Deepest Depths, Keeper of the Silver Tides, High Enchantress of the Azure Realms, and Empress of the Moonlit Seas. At your service…Moriah Shaker.” She stepped from the water, completely dry.
Her very presence embodied each title. “You know Sandrine is my mother.”
“Yes.”
Well, no one else did, which meant she could have told them but had chosen not to. “Please, call me Rye. Though I feel as if I know you, we’ve never met.” Honestly, how confusing was my life right now?
“You should go by your title, the Oracle Great and Terrible. It fits you best.” Elegant but creepy, she canted her head at me. “You have seen the future, yes?”
Not the way she meant. “According to my… to Queen Sandrine, only water maidens are oracles, and I’m no water maiden. No matter what I claimed in your past.”
Elowen smiled, ruby eyes sparkling. “Are you sure you’re not an oracle?”
“Quite sure.” But I recognized her tactic. Allude to a mystery, prompting me to lower my guard before she went in for the kill. Moving on. “I’ll be blunt. I have questions for you, but I don’t trust you. My dealings with water maidens have been…not good.” Every other description in my head would insult her to those deepest depths she’d mentioned.
“Ah yes.” She glided farther from the water, her bare feet leaving no prints across the wooden floor. “You dealt with my daughter, Iris. Or you will when she’s older. My sweet darling is only nine now.”
My eyes bugged out. You’ve got to be kidding me. Not only was the Iris I’d known currently a child, but I now had to deal with her mother.
“Did you start this time loop?” I asked flatly. Might as well dive in.
“I can do many things. I’m an oracle like you. But I cannot do that. I started none of them. Perhaps the storms carried you to where you needed to be.”
Uh. “How many are there?”
“Depends on who you ask,” she said, making no sense. Then she paused to contemplate me more intensely than I was comfortable with. “What is it you want from me, Oracle Rye?”
“I told you. I’m not an oracle. And you’re not a very good one.” I’d learned my lesson with Iris. To negotiate a discount, you must showcase a water maiden’s weaknesses. “Someone as powerful as you should know what I am, and what I’m not.”
“I assure you, I’m not wrong about your origins.” She heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m never wrong. You will come to learn this. I just hope you do so faster this go-round.”
I, too, heaved a sigh. Forget my supposed title. Wasn’t like I could prove I wasn’t what she thought. Forget the time loops, too. The past, the future. “Let’s focus on the present and get down to business.”
“Silly girl, we are in the middle of our negotiations.” She stalked a circle around Jasher. “You should restrain the monstra.” A pair of ancient handcuffs appeared draped over her palm. In one fluid motion, she tossed the cuffs near my feet. “If you do not, Daniel Shaker and Queen Sandrine will be harmed. You will, too.” Menace iced her tone. “I don’t want anyone harmed.”
I reared back a step, disturbed on multiple levels. Shackle Jasher? No. Never. But let my parents get hurt? No again. “First, I’m unwilling to pay for the cuffs.” In fact, I left them on the ground. “Second, I need passage for two to Hakeldama with a side of time-travel.” She couldn’t start loops. Fine. Maybe she could bend a few months. “I also require information about restoring my mother’s memory loss and finding the Ember of Everlight. Let’s talk payment.”
“Those I love, and those who aid me, I protect for free. The shackles will aid you, which will save Sandrine and Daniel. Therefore, no charge.” Elowen faced me and canted her head in challenge.
I still didn’t touch the cuffs. Free gifts from water maidens weren’t gifts but hooks. Plus, the shackles would damage Jasher’s trust in me. And perhaps that was her game. Ruin my relationship with the executioner so I’d have only one source of aid: the water maiden herself.