"I will not. I cannot. Do you not get it, Rhode? I am not strong enough!"

The feather. It seemed so obvious now that the woman in question was standing in front of her. After all, Iliana herself had feathers that graced the back of her neck.

"You--"

"The pain is too much. Dancing tomorrow, it will be impossible. Standing is impossible. How am I supposed to--I cannot save anyone like this! And I shouldn't have to."

Rhode was the feather, and therefore connected to Iliana by the strings of fate. The possibilities spun through her mind, before falling into place with a sickening weight.

"It's not fair!"

Had the gods always meant for Iliana to become a siren?

The conversation in her ears seemed to turn into a wordless buzz as Iliana's thoughts circled that single, damning question.

Ever since the gods had revealed their meddling in her life, Iliana had begun to question how much of her history was the product of true fate, and how much of it had come about by the gods' actions. The realization that she was connected to Rhode in such a way only strengthened those concerns, while stroking new flames of anger.

One did not become a siren just because they knew a siren.

Yet, whatever future Aatami had spoken of, the one in which Zuher fell, the one the gods were obviously aiming for--Iliana was a siren. They had said as much. If the gods had hoped to assure that by linking her to Rhode, as it was the only reason Iliana could think of for their connection, did that mean that no matter what choices were made when she was young, Iliana was always destined to suffer at others' hands?

Or, had they altered that too?

"--calm down, please. Your heal--"

Something unknown bubbled in her chest. It sparked like panic, but strangled like anger. It curled around her lungs, squeezing until Iliana felt like she might suffocate. Gods. Never had that curse felt so appropriate, or so damning.

Koun may have seemed to care for her, but obviously that only went so far.

Or, was the source different? Koun didn't make sirens.

A half-sob, half-scoff noise cut the air. Iliana barely realized it hadn't come from her gasped breaths.

"Calm, how can you expect--I cannot!"

The person who placed the anklet on her, the one who had damned her to this path...they had fired an arrow.

"Lady Inna--"

"Made it perfectly clear how much of a choice I have--!"

Inna. Had Inna been the one to place the anklet?

"--You cannot expect me to be calm, Asha! I cannot live this life they have chosen for me, and be forever calm. I am not that selfless of a person."

Melitta shoved Rhode away from her. The siren stepped back, nearly bumping into Iliana's non-existent body. It drew her attention from her trembling hands, forcing her to refocus on the two women. It was then Melitta's words sunk into Iliana's mind.

'Asha? She called Rhode...Asha?'

Memory of the black-haired, elegant woman from Asha's portrait in Nokos flashed through Iliana's mind. The painted figure had been older, more weathered and tired, but as Iliana stared at Rhode, she could see it. It was impossible--but it matched. How had she not recognized her back then?

"And I--I cannot understand how you are," Melitta gasped.

Without Rhode's support, Melitta had doubled over, one hand resting on the end of rich bedding. Her other hand grasped her own shoulder. Iliana stepped forward, despite knowing there was nothing she could do.

Rhode had no such hold-ups. She returned to Melitta's side, her hands hovering just above the merfolk's frame. "Melitta, please. Just--you should sit."

The words seemed to have an instantaneous effect. Melitta used her hand on the bed to shove herself up, before straightening with a defiant gaze.

"I can stand just fine."

"Even so, you shoul--"

"Do not tell me what I should, and should not do!" Melitta snapped. "You of all people are not allowed to do that. We share the fate of one path, so you cannot judge me for being unable to walk it."

Rhode flinched. This time, when she stepped back it was of her own accord. "I do not know what you mean."

"Like...like fuck you do not," Melitta said. "You've allowed her to guide your everything, ever since you awoke in the Cove. How do you know it was your choice to forget, Asha? You say you remember it, but how much of that is true memory, and how much is what Dalphie has reassured you is true?"

"I--"

"If you had known then, back when everything had first happened, would you have stayed there?" Melitta demanded. "Or would you have acted?"

Rhode's face had drained of color. The hand hovering over Melitta's shoulder fell back to her side as the siren stepped away. "I...would have stayed. There was no other choice."

"You wouldn't have looked for your son?"

The newborn prince. Pain flooded Rhode's face as realization of what this meant sparked in Iliana's own. The stories of Asha flashed through her memory, each of them more impossible than the last.

Rhode had a son.

One whom she had killed.

That intuitive feeling that had guided Iliana so often hummed in her chest. It spoke of how wrong that thought felt, and Iliana agreed.

She knew so little of Rhode, but this much was obvious.

The woman before her never would have killed a helpless infant, let alone her own son.

"You go too far, Melitta."

The familiar voice that flooded the room in that moment sent a shiver of shock down Iliana's spine. As one second blinked into the next, Inna appeared in the room.

The goddess was just as Iliana remembered her. Her coal colored hair hung loose in tight ringlets to her shoulders, her forested eyes a close reflection of Iliana's own. It sent a shiver down her spine and fanned the sparks of anger in her chest.

How was it that every story of Inna praised her as a fair, loving goddess of women, when each pair of eyes that fell on her was filled with either anger, or something uncertain. Even Rhode appeared uncomfortable with the goddess' sudden arrival.

Melitta's gaze hardened. "I--"

"Have a right to anger," Inna interrupted. "But not this. And you--" Inna's eyes searched the room, before landing on Iliana with a knowing light. "--this is not for you to see."

And just like that, reality shifted. Iliana jolted awake in the tower window, the damning lights of Chuteros flickering beyond the glass.  

┈♔◦𓇣◦☽◦❤◦☾◦𓇣◦♔┈

Time passed oddly after Iliana's dream.

The morning came too soon, and without another ounce of sleep. Her mind buzzed through the invisible hours with a relentless pace. It turned over what she'd witnessed one way, then another, but lacked the information that could make sense of it all. She busied those moments with checking Del's wounds as he slept. But, even that couldn't calm the frustration and confusion sweeping through her. 

Melitta had appeared to be a woman without a temper. Yet, her words to Rhode had been harsh beyond reason.

Rhode was Asha.

Inna had appeared to them both. Whatever they had been discussing had been important enough to summon a god. 

Inna had probably damned Iliana to a painful childhood.

Inna probably placed her anklet.

By the time a knock echoed through the door, signaling the beginning of another day with Zuher, Iliana was exhausted, and no closer to unraveling her thoughts beyond those simple, yet damning truths. And, more importantly, Del had yet to wake. 

Had they been mistaken? Was he not okay, and healing? 

She wasn't given time to debate the matter. Aria escorted her to the the baths, and then along what was quickly becoming a familiar path. 

Thankfully, the emperor appeared too busy for games. As Iliana stepped into his office, once again outfitted like a proper noble, he waved a disinterested hand for her to sit on the pillows. He didn't speak a word for hours, instead leaving her to reluctantly admire the scene outside his office window, before attempting to decipher the titles to the Reotakian novels that lined his shelves. Anything to distract her mind. 

When midday finally crept by, Zuher stood, stretching his arms above his head. It wasn't until his hands had fallen to his sides once again that he seemed to remember Iliana's existence. His head tilted to the side, a thoughtful smile playing across his lips.

"Forgive me for forgetting you, pet. Running an empire can be distracting, you understand," he said.

Iliana held her tongue. She doubted telling Zuher that him ignoring her suited Iliana just fine would go over well.

"Dinner isn't for a few hours yet," he continued, glancing at the open window. "It would be a shame to send you away so early...hm, perhaps entertainment is in order."

Minutes ticked by, each one fraying Iliana's nerves down to a single, thin thread.

"Ah, I've got it," Zuher said. His pleased expression sent a shiver of unease down her spine. "I had a thought earlier. Before--that was entertaining, wasn't it? And the Black Tower has been full ever since your arrival. We may have cleared two rooms yesterday, but it is only a matter of time before we're full again. Why not clear it now?"

Zuher leaned against the side of his desk, one hand gripping the edge as the other reached for his collar. "We'll make a game of it. Something fun to do every few weeks. I'll even let you be the judge, and offer a prize if you do well."

His thumb tapped his neck, and Iliana's stomach rebelled. Zuher seemed not to notice, or not care if he did. Instead, he pushed away from his desk and started for the door, obviously expecting her to follow.

"Aria! Fetch the..."

┈♔◦𓇣◦☽◦❤◦☾◦𓇣◦♔┈

"There is one last stop before we return to the tower."

Aria's voice startled Iliana's attention from the blood-flecked skirt of her dress. How long had she been staring at the frills, attempting to forget the faces of the countless men Zuher's guards had thrown in front of her? Like Lykos and Del, they had been forced to duel relentlessly.

Unlike Lykos and Del, there'd been an end to each fight.

When the initial two men reached first blood for the third time, Zuher had looked to Iliana.

'Did he do well?' Zuher asked, gesturing at the repeated winner.

Not wanting to see the result if she said no, Iliana nodded.

'I agree!' Zuher waved his hand.

A guard stepped forward. Their sword flashed through the air, followed by a heavy thud. A scream caught in her throat as the loser's head rolled across the courtyard.

'Bring the next one!'

Refusing to judge had brought two heads to her feet and a refusal of a prize. Which was fine. 

She didn't want one. 

Her eyes fell on the empty, bloodstained courtyard and suddenly Iliana was out of her chair, emptying her hollow stomach on the wet stone. Aria said nothing as Iliana heaved. When she was finally finished, Iliana rested her back against the legs of her seat, stomach continuing to twist in painful knots.

"There was no right answer."

Iliana let Aria's words hang in the air, unanswered. No, no doubt there had been no right answer. The truth of the rumors she'd always heard about Zuher was beginning to become unbearingly clear.

Zuher was mad. 

No sane man could enjoy such pointless violence. And yet, when he'd bid her farewell, saying he'd decided to finish more paperwork in leu of dinner, Zuher had been smiling. 

'Until tomorrow, Pet.' 

And, worse, he wasn't the only one to have enjoyed the massacre. His court had gathered as the afternoon played on. More than a handful of them had taken bets, before cheering and booing as each man was cleared, or damned.

"Come along. We can't stay here. You need to clean up, and then you have one last task tonight. Only after can you return to the tower. You can't fall apart until then," Aria stated.

She couldn't bring herself to follow the order. Voices overlapped themselves in her mind, echoed by pained grunts and flashes of crimson. And, above it all, Aria's swinging blade. How many men had her guard beheaded? 

"Don't give anyone a reason to mock you, Milady." 

Iliana glared, but the expression lacked anything real. Whatever Iliana's feelings on the event, Aria was right. Falling apart where anyone could see her would do her no favors. So, she dragged herself to her feet, shoved her hair back, and gestured for Aria to lead the way.

After being subjected to another bath and outfit change, Iliana was ushered to what appeared to be an empty fitting room. There, she was pricked and prodded for what must have been over an hour, with layers of fabric draped over one arm, then the other, before being removed. With each piece, the tailor would tut and click their tongue, mark something on a paper, then move on. By the time they had finished, Iliana was drained beyond belief, and numb.

"You won't be called upon until tomorrow evening," Aria said when they finally reached the tower. "I...cannot explain, but it would be best if you rested well."

And, with that, the door was locked behind her.

Iliana's back hit the wood, and she sunk to the floor before even a second had passed. Numbness mixed with disbelief as bodiless heads rolled around her mind. It wasn't until a forehead pressed to her own, and a soft voice began humming a quiet tune under his breath that Iliana remembered she wasn't alone.

"It's okay. Shhh. It's okay..."

No, nothing was okay. 

A/N: So much happened this chapter, and yet, it was one of the shortest ones I wrote recently. Still, given how much occurred, it felt wrong to leap into yet another event. 

Hope you enjoyed. 

What did you think of Iliana's realizations? Is she right? Or overreacting?
What of Rhode and Melitta's conversation? Inna's interference? 

See you next week. Or tomorrow. Depends on if I get anything written between now and then.