The words hung between them like a blade.
"I know," Thalassaria had said, as casually as if he had confessed the color of the sea.
Caedrion's breath caught. "You… knew?"
The Queen of the Deep smiled, her fangs glinting faintly in the teal glow of her leylines.
Her coils tightened just enough to remind him that escape was a fantasy. She leaned close, voice soft, almost tender, yet heavy with venomous possessiveness.
"Of course I knew. Do you think I would not? I see everything that touches my waters. I hear whispers from ships that never return. You think a little girl playing wife in your stone city could hide from me?"
He stiffened. Aelindria's face flashed in his mind, her hands on his cheek, the bond they shared burning faintly even here in the depths. "She is not…"
"She is not worthy." Thalassaria's voice cut through him, sudden steel beneath silk. "She may cling to your hand and call herself your bride, but only I… only I can truly claim you."
