“I seek entrance to the sacred temple of Tahninym.”
Despite his polite head dip, he had given the wrong answer.
As he looked up from the ground, the arrows and spears already resumed their place at his throat. The mermaid frowned deeply, her lips pursed.
A new voice rose above the crowd. This one was masculine, but just as smooth and strange to my ears.
“Even the children of Tahniym have been forbidden to enter such a place, dragon-kin.”
There was much shuffling of feet as nearly all the merpeople fell to their knees. Only the mermaid who clutched Rio’s hand and the warriors who had Levent retrained stayed standing.
Another beautiful creature stepped through the crowd, flanked by mer in decorated armor. His silvery hair was entangled in a tall crown made of shells. Imbedded within it were the same blue, glowing crystals that made their lamps.
The dark-haired mermaid turned to the newcomer with a mixture of delight and reverence. She murmured something in mermish before stepping backward, pulling Rio aside with a small bow.
This man had to be royalty. I had never seen a king outside of illustrations, but this man definitely had all of the signs of being one.
“We cannot bid you entrance to such a sacred place. None may enter, save one. This is what the goddess Readimina herself decreed.”
My body went cold, my ears falling back. I was not aware that the merpeople followed Readimina in the slightest. What was the goddess’s influence doing here?
I glanced at Rio. When we spoke of Levent’s goals, did he know this?
“With such intentions, we cannot bid you entrance to our city. Nor may you leave.” The king’s eyes darkened. “You will die here, son of Ishralik.”
The kin did not move as the king raised his hand and the arrows were pulled back and ready to fly. My stomach lurched.
“Wait.” I stepped forward with my hands up in surrender, moving between the king and Levent.
In one swift movement, the guard to the king’s right had his spear against my throat. It took me a few seconds to get my voice to work after that.
“E-excuse me, great king,” I said.