Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)(64)

As she watched the Kobold, row after row of them, continue to march along, she saw a bright bronze tail flash by. “Coco!” she shouted. She zipped after her and grabbed her arm. “Don’t you do that again!”

“Come on, Sera! Let’s follow them!” Coco said, carried away by the excitement.

“No, stick close to me. I’m still wondering about the death riders. Where are they?”

“There! By the gates. It’s okay, Sera. See?” Coco said.

Sera looked at the gates. Coco was right. Death riders hadn’t been there before, but they were there now, and they weren’t poised to attack. They were lining both sides of the current, spears held upright before them in tribute to her uncle.

“They’ve surrendered!” she said excitedly. “Traho must know he’s outnumbered. He’s handing over the city peaceably, Coco. There won’t be any fighting.”

“I told you!” Coco said.

Joy flooded Serafina’s heart. She let go of Coco’s arm and took her hand. “Let’s go! We’ve got to get to my uncle!” she said.

The goblins’ behavior still unsettled her, and the presence of any death riders—even peaceable ones—made her uneasy, but what mattered most was that her uncle was home and that the city was his. She pushed her misgivings aside and swam ahead, eager to take part in his triumphant return. Eager to see Mahdi, too, and take her place at his side for a public betrothal. When the ceremony was over, she would ask Vallerio if he had any news of her brother. Then she’d show him Neria’s Stone and tell him what needed to be done.

She and Coco followed the other Miromarans to the Kolisseo. That was where it had all begun, and that was where it would end.

The fighting was done.

The invaders were routed.

At last, Serafina thought, it’s over.





VALLERIO’S BLACK HIPPOKAMPS drew his chariot to the center of the Kolisseo. He alighted to cheering.

With Coco right behind her, Serafina tried to make her way through the dense crowd to get to him. He needed her for the Promising.

She was rudely stopped by a Kobold with a pike. “G? tilbake!” he growled in a deep voice. Go back.

“But I have to see the high commander. He’s—”

“Tilbake!” the Kobold shouted, thrusting the weapon’s steel tip in her face.

Serafina understood him and did as she was told. She and Coco swam into the amphitheater and sat down. Abelard swam under Coco’s seat and peered out from her tail fins. Sera decided that she would wait until the crowd settled and her uncle announced the betrothal. Then she would make her presence known. All around them, people were still cheering for Vallerio, but Serafina noticed that the loudest cheers were coming from the Kobold troops and the death riders. Something had changed. The festive atmosphere of the Grande Corrente was gone. The mer of Cerulea looked wary and mistrustful. Some looked downright scared.

A few rows in front of her, a merman was cheering half-heartedly. A goblin noticed, and punched him. “Heie h?yere!” the creature shouted. Cheer louder!

Serafina looked around and saw that death riders ringed the top of the Kolisseo, in a dense, tight formation, spears in their hands.

If we wanted to leave, we couldn’t, she thought uneasily.

And then she saw something that made her fins prickle. Above the heads of the death riders, flags rippled. They were red with a black circle in their centers—the same flags she’d seen in the Lagoon.

“Something’s wrong, Coco,” she whispered. “Whatever you do, keep smiling and keep cheering.”

“Something’s way wrong,” Coco said, nodding toward the royal enclosure.

Serafina followed her gaze. In front of the enclosure, resting on a dais, was Merrow’s golden crown. Behind it were two ornate thrones. The last time Serafina had been here, they’d been occupied by her mother and Emperor Bilaal. This time, her mother’s was empty and Mahdi was sitting in the other one.

His expression was somber. His hands, resting on the arms of his chair, were clenched. He was dressed in the black uniform of the death riders, and wearing a matching sea-silk turban. In the center of it was the magnificent Bramaphur Emerald. Serafina recognized it. Bilaal had worn it. Why wasn’t Mahdi smiling? Why wasn’t he searching the crowd for her?

Sera continued to scan the royal enclosure, hoping for answers. Directly behind Mahdi sat Portia Volnero, resplendently dressed in a gown of gold sea silk. She should have been sitting with the other duchessas of the realm, but was sitting apart in a chair only slightly less ornate than the two thrones. She was smiling serenely. The other duchessas were not.

Sera’s feeling that something was wrong grew stronger.

She needed to talk to Mahdi and find out what was going on. Hoping that no goblin was watching her, and that her voice would be drowned out amidst all the cheering, she closed her eyes, bent her head, and quietly sang a convoca, calling to him. It failed. She took a deep breath and, summoning all her powers, tried again.

Mahdi…Mahdi it’s me! Please answer!

She opened her eyes and looked at him, willing him to hear her. This time, the songspell worked. Mahdi’s eyes widened. He looked around, scanning row after row of faces.

And then Serafina heard his voice. Inside her head.

Sera! Is that you?

Yes! I’m here in the Kolisseo. On your left. Midway up.