I gripped the edge of the door. “And the Undines?”

“Puffer fish.”

Hands on my hips, I knew our options were not good. As much as we were a long-lived people and could handle a lot of injuries, and even go a for a good length of time without food, we couldn’t go forever without eating and drinking. “I’m going to go see what I can find. You get a fire going so we can cook if I manage to find a fish or two.” I pointed at the blackened and cracked fireplace that probably hadn’t seen a flame in years. She nodded, not arguing.

“Bella . . .”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” she whispered. “No one calls me that anymore.”

I shrugged. “Because right now, you are the sister I remember. Not the one Cassava created, and I am hoping you see that. Lock the door behind me.” Backing up, I waited until she shut the door in my face and I heard the lock slide into place. I put a hand on the door, wondering just how changed my sister was. Or was it all a ruse to suck me under the belief I could trust her?

I dropped my hand and backed away. Only time would tell.

Not something either of us had.

CHAPTER 8

Passing Undines here and there, I kept my pace brisk. As if I knew where I was going and was allowed to do whatever I was doing. No one stopped me; they hardly even looked up as I walked through the palace.

There were more important things than food. Like answers to my questions, and there was only one place I could think to start.

I found the healers’ room with relative ease and let myself in. “I’ll be with you in a moment,” a voice called out.

I didn’t answer, just wandered deeper into the room. Looking at the things laid out. Tools of the trade. Scalpels, pincers, vials, and potions, a mortar and pestle with something shiny and red half ground in it. The shiny red bits moved, and I jumped back, bumping into one of the tables.

“Ender, I’m surprised to see you here.” Ayu spoke softly to my left. I put a hand on the table, the material under my fingers soft and warm.

As if a body had only recently lain on it.

I snatched my hand up. “I want to speak with Finley. I want to see if there is something we can do to support her.”

She let out a tired sigh and shook her head. “No one has seen the princess in months. She is locked up in her rooms with only guards to keep her company.”

“And if she’s not dead before the crowning ceremony?”

Her eyes met mine, the sorrow in them deep. “I don’t believe that is even an option for Requiem. You can do nothing to help her, Ender. Though, I see it in you. You have a healer’s heart and you want to help. It is admirable, but a deadly desire in the Deep.”

She may have been right, but I had to see for myself. “Would she make a better ruler?”

“Anyone would make a better ruler. Even Blue, Requiem’s bitch of a wife, would make a better ruler, for she does not have her husband’s cruelty or intelligence. If she were not missing, perhaps she could help temper Requiem. But she was ‘misplaced’ soon after the king died.” Ayu shook her head, braids dancing. “No, there is nothing to be done for it. Requiem has a stranglehold on our people, one we cannot break free of.”

I snorted. “You all have given up so easily. I thought the Undines were some legendary family with strength to the core of them.”

Expecting her to be angry, and lash out me, I was shocked when she didn’t. “Not when it has been beaten out of them, Ender.”

I backed slowly out of the room. “Then perhaps you deserve Requiem as a leader, since you are not willing to stand up to him.” Her eyes followed me and when I turned at the door I heard her whisper.

“Perhaps this is our punishment for our pride, Ender. Remember that. There is always a downfall when pride lifts you too high.”

Shutting the door behind me, I leaned against it, thinking. So the people here were downtrodden, and though I felt bad for them, I also didn’t want to get pulled into their struggles.

Who was I kidding? We were yanked, kicking and screaming, into this. Now it was a question of who would survive this growing storm as it gathered on the horizon.

The Undines, or me and Bella.

An older Undine, his hair white and hanging in long curls to his waist, approached from the far end of the hallway. He leaned on a cane, limping as he walked, and his ears stuck out from the sides of his head like handles on a jug. But his eyes were kind, and they didn’t shy from me as he drew close. “Terraling, you look lost. Can I help you?”

Terraling. That was what my family—the earth elementals—was known as outside the Rim, and for a moment the name caught me off guard it had been so long since I’d heard it.

Putting my right hand over my heart I gave him a bow from the waist. “Thank you. Can you direct me to the kitchens?”

“I’m going that way myself, perhaps you will escort me?” He raised his brows, the thick bushy things touching his hairline.

I bowed again and allowed him to lead, a half step ahead of me.

“How do you like the Deep so far, Ender?”

Struggling to find the right words, I cleared my throat before answering. “It is not what I expected.”

“Ah, things outside our own families rarely are.”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.” Perhaps he was someone important. Or worse, sided with Requiem.

“I didn’t give it. Around here, it is best no one knows when help is given. That is a sure way to spend the remainder of your life stuffed into the cells.”