“This,” he said, handing it to me.
“A worthless piece of jewelry,” Levent growled disdainfully.
I turned the object over in my hands. Now that I had the chance to look at it closely, it was more complicated than the simple bangle I assumed it was. There were intricate patterns on its inner side, so small and detailed that they were hard to follow. Then I remembered what Bolivar had said.
I looked Rio in both of his bright blue eyes for the first time and asked, “What is it for?”
The half-blood seemed unprepared for this question, no doubt suspecting that I would have seen it as just a useless treasure like the dragon-kin had. I found my hand resting where the pendant lay hidden underneath my shirt. This was not the first object to be swiftly written off by the kin.
“It’s for nothing,” Rio declared.
“It’s a key,” Bolivar corrected, appearing behind the half-blood.
Rio turned and looked at him indignantly. The redhead was his elder, but the human did not seem phased.
“Yes. Fine. It’s a key,” Rio admitted after a moment.
“A key to what?” I prompted.
Rio kept his same unenthused tone when he said, “To nothing you would be interested in.” He was about to elaborate his claims when Levent interrupted unexpectedly.
“It’s a key to Eigiollys,” the dragon-kin said.
I turned to look at him, an eyebrow quirked skeptically. I had no idea how he had gotten to that conclusion, but his previously livid face was now relaxed. A smirk threatened to break across his stoic features.
Eigiollys was what humans had named the hidden merfolk city. The merpeople had fled to this mythical place when sailors took the seas from them. Whether it actually existed or not was up to dispute.
Rio grumbled something before he went back to glaring at Bolivar.
“Happy now?”
“Eigiollys,” I murmured quietly. “You can’t be serious.”
“You’re trying to get to the Hidden City, aren’t you?” Levent pestered.
“That’s really none of your concern, is it?” the redhead sneered.