Chapter 2

Katrina POV:

I dragged my heavy feet all the way back from the plaza to the Outer Shoals and pushed open the wooden door of my cramped apartment. We couldn't even afford a cheap glow-pearl here; only the dim blue light of moon-jellyfish filters from the street lit the bare stone walls.

Before I could sit down, the Spirit Nautilus on my desk flashed angry red and vibrated with a sharp ultrasonic hum. It was an emergency summons from the acting head of the Antai Merchant Guild.

I bit my dry lip and tapped the shell. A projection of my adoptive father, Harrell Anderson, sprang into the air, his face twisted with rage.

Harrell's gray-streaked hair was messy as he slammed his palm onto his coral desk and pointed right at my nose.

"Katrina! Have you lost your mind? Sending the Perimeter Vanguard to arrest Edmund and your own sister?"

"Do you know the Mccall House buys most of our Mana-Crystals—the mined energy stones that power this whole empire? Your petty jealousy almost ruined our clan's profits! Know your place—you're just a Spirit-less piece of trash!"

I stared at his hypocritical face, balling my hands into fists behind my back. My voice came out flat.

"Father, they broke the law in a restricted trench. I only reported the facts."

"Facts? You ungrateful girl! You should know that your engagement to Edmund only happened because Genevra hadn't been brought back to the family yet. "

"But now that Genevra has returned, why should you continue holding on to what rightfully belongs to her? She's Edmund's true savior, and you're nothing but an obstacle standing between them!"

Harrell barked, cutting me off.

My stomach twisted at the lie. Three years ago in that collapsed mine, it was me who sliced my wrist, enduring the agonizing burn of Cold Iron and the suffocating shock of Freshwater—the two things fatal to our race—to drag an unconscious Edmund out. Genevra had simply stolen my bloodstained cloak while I lay in a fever.

Before I could answer, the projection shifted. My adoptive mother, Eleanor Anderson, appeared, dabbing her eyes with a silk handkerchief before glaring at me.

"Katrina, how can you be so cruel? Genevra suffered so much out in the border mines. What does it matter if you give Edmund back to her?"

Watching them back each other up, a bone-deep exhaustion washed over me. Three years of weaving top-grade sea-silk until my fingers bled meant nothing compared to two drops of Genevra's fake tears.

"So you called me just to force me to swallow this filth and hand my fiancé to a thief?" I asked, curling my lip.

Harrell's face darkened.

"It's not handing him over, it's returning what's hers! The High Council—the ruling lords at the Great Table—already stamped the betrothal transfer papers I drafted. Get back to the main estate within three days and sign them!"

"And if I don't?" I touched my ash-gray Brow Scale, my jaw set.

Harrell sneered.

"If you don't, I'll shut down your sea-silk workshop tomorrow and cut off your monthly Mana-Crystal quota! Without the clan's protection, let's see how long an outcast like you survives in the Outer Shoals!"

The red light snapped off, plunging the room back into gloom. I sagged against the cold stone wall, my chest aching as if a heavy fist were squeezing my heart.

In the corner sat stacks of ruined blueprints I had drawn to improve the guild's looms. Antai Guild had been built by my late father, yet my adoptive father, Harrell, had seized control as regent and now wanted to kick me into the gutter.

I walked to the window and pushed open the wooden shutter. Down on the street, poor workers hurried past for a few green crystal shards. I refused to be crushed like them.

Stepping back to my desk, I lit a small glow-stone lamp and pulled a worn peerage directory from a hidden slot. I flipped to the page for House Mccall. At the very top sat one name: Augustus Mccall, the High Lord of Tides.

In the plaza today, even the proudest nobles had bowed their heads before him. He was Edmund's uncle and the commander of the entire empire's forces. Rumor said his Sovereign Tide-Spirit suffered from violent battle backlash, making him despise women's touch, while the High Council pressured him daily to take a wife.

I pulled out a sheet of parchment and began writing down the Antai Guild's secret financial holes and my workshop's real output numbers.

A sharp knock rattled the door. I shoved the parchment under the desk mat and stood up.

"Katrina! Open up, it's me!" came the urgent voice of my best friend, Harper Sullivan.

I slid the bolt back. Harper rushed in, her bright red hair tangled around her face.

"I heard you turned that bastard Edmund over to the vanguard at the plaza! Brilliant!"

Seeing her grin loosened the tight knot in my chest. I pulled out a chair for her.

"That's not all. My adoptive father, Harrell, just called. He gave me three days to go back and sign over the engagement."

Harper slapped the table.

"Do they have any shame? You saved Edmund's life, why should that fake Genevra get everything?"

"Because I'm Spirit-less and useless to their climb," I said quietly, pulling the parchment back out from under the mat. "So I'm going to marry a man who can make the entire Anderson family bow their heads."

Harper looked down at the name under my finger and sucked in a sharp breath.

"Are you crazy? That's Augustus Mccall! People say he kills without blinking and can't even touch a woman!"

I met her wide eyes, a sharp smile touching my lips.

"Even better. All I want is the title of High Lady and a two-year contract where we stay out of each other's way."