Eli heard nothing else about the human girl for several nights after his dinner with Luc. True to form, Dad said nothing about it at their recommenced morning meals, and Eli didn’t dare to ask. He heard bits and pieces from the few nobles who would speak to him, including Ana, who, though reticent and disappointed, came to visit sometimes at training when Ron wouldn’t be able to catch her.

“The king calls her Queen Mil,” Ana had told him late one evening. “He won’t show her to us, but he keeps telling us how beautiful she is and how much we will all love her.” She’d made a face. “I can’t imagine having a red-headed queen.”

“She won’t be queen,” Eli had put in.

“The nobles don’t like it much,” Ana agreed. “Dad isn’t happy in the least. But if Dom has his way, she’ll be queen.”

*

It had been three days since then, and the lack of news disturbed him. He walked home from training early one morning, his arms aching and mind swirling with exhaustion. It wasn’t his business to worry about it. He knew that. Yet it continued to gnaw at him.

“Eli.” The voice stopped him in his tracks at the mouth of the purple tunnel. It came from the palace, and the aura that accompanied it danced with rainbow colors.

“Dom?” Eli turned.

Dom was indeed on his balcony, his tiny figure illuminated by the red and blue glowstones below.

“That’s ‘Your Majesty’ to you,’” Dom retorted.

“What do you want?”

“I’d like to consult with you about something, my friend.”

Eli frowned. ‘Friend’ was not a term Dom used to describe him. Ever.

Eli continued down the tunnel.

“Come here, Eli.” The gentle tone was gone.

Eli stopped and sighed.

“I’m tired. I’d like to go to bed.”

“This won’t take long. There’s a reward involved, you know.”

Eli raised his eyebrows. Exactly what kind of reward did Dom think was going to keep him from his bed? And why did Dom need him? Last time he’d checked, Dom didn’t even want Eli near him, much less speaking to him.

“Going once. Going twice.”

It was suspicious. But a tiny thread of hope made him hesitate.

It could be the Guardianship.

“Last chance.”

Eli whirled around. “Fine. I’m coming. But this better be good.”

Dom ushered Eli inside as soon as he reached the balcony, and his green eyes flashed with glee.

“I’m so glad you decided to come. Smart man. As you have probably heard, I’ve found myself a worthy queen. Problem is, she’s gone missing.”

Dom gestured to a stone chair.

Eli stayed where he was and crossed his arms.

Dom shrugged and went on. “Well, I may have a plan to get her back.”

Eli sighed and turned to leave.

“Wait, friend! You haven’t even heard the best part!”

“I’ve heard enough.” Eli brushed Dom’s hand off his shoulder and continued to the balcony.

“You don’t understand.” Dom said. His melodic words, shimmering with ominous green, wove around Eli’s mind with a gossamer grip.

Eli stopped at the archway to the balcony. “I’m listening.” He felt a flicker of gold in Dom’s aura.

“Very good. I think you’ll find this offer hard to refuse. Do come sit down.”

He shouldn’t. Dad would kill him for having anything to do with Dom’s schemes.

Dom’s melody tightened around his thoughts. “I insist, Eli.”

He didn’t have a choice anymore. He should have just gone to bed, but it was too late for that now.

He took a deep breath and walked to the chair, each step easing the pressure of Dom’s authority on his mind.

Dom gave him a satisfied grin.

Eli, about to sit, straightened and glowered at Dom. He’d have to work if he wanted obedience to the letter.

Dom’s eyebrow arched. His green eyes glowed, just barely, in warning.

Eli remained standing.

“Sit!”

The word plunged hot and sharp through his mind with a single, harsh note. Eli dropped into the seat.

Dom smiled, and the pain vanished.

“There. Isn’t that more comfortable?”

Eli shook off the remnants of the pain. “What do you want?”

“So happy you asked. I need your help with something.”

“If it’s got to do with your stupid Kar-Tog, I want nothing to do with it.”

Dom’s eyes flashed. “I would remind you in the future not to refer to my betrothed with such degrading terminology.” He paced in front of Eli’s chair. “As I was saying, I need your help in a very important matter which has little direct involvement with my Mil. I’m going to bribe my love with an offer she can’t refuse, and I’ll need you to secure the bait.” Dom paused in his pacing to look Eli in the face.

Eli stared back. Like that was going to happen.

“I see you are still determined to lose the glorious reward I have for you.” Dom shrugged and walked away. “I can do this myself. I only thought, if you could do me one little favor to show your respect for me, to prove you want your Guardianship-”

“So that’s it. That’s what this is all about.”

“Precisely.” Dom threw himself onto his throne and lay across its arms. “But I understand. You want to go the hard way about it. You want to go on for months and years with nary a sign of forgiveness, because, let’s face it, Eli, you’ll never truly honor me-”

“You were going to keep me waiting years?”

Dom shrugged. “I could have had you killed, you know.”

Idiot. “Dom, those Tognir need me to do my job. Dad can only do it for so long, and nobody else is near ready to take my place-”

“Should have thought about that before you decided to punch me.”

Eli dug his nails into his palms and pulled a steady breath in through his nose. He had to stay calm. If he lost his cool again…

“See, this is why you’d do well to help me. Then all wrongs will be forgotten. It will be like nothing ever happened. All I have is one task. One tiny, tiny task. But you won’t even hear it.”

Eli sat still and watched Dom get up and go to the balcony. He stared at the intricate lines and swirls of the railing. He couldn’t get caught up in this. He simply couldn’t. But if he didn’t… Dom had made it clear his suspension from the Guardianship would go on indefinitely.

But if Dom could do the task himself, why didn’t he?

“Why me?”

Dom turned from the railing and smiled. “I wanted to give you the opportunity to repent of your crime,” he said.

“There’s something else.”

Dom strode to Eli’s chair and patted his head. “You are clever. Yes, Eli, there’s something else. I have an experiment I’d like to try. You see, when I captured my Mil, I didn’t have to leave the water, though I did, just to see her.” His voice took on a pining tone.

Eli cleared his throat.

“Anyway, what I’m saying is, I may have single-handedly revolutionized the way the Takers function.”

Eli rolled his eyes.

“No, no, listen. I made her come to me. I didn’t Take her, Eli. I Brought her.”

“You brought her, you Took her.” Eli moved his hands from one side to the other. “What different does it make?”

“A whole world of difference! Don’t you see?” Dom was pacing again, his arms swinging in wild gestures. “I didn’t have to leave the water! She came out of her house, willingly, and walked all the way down to the water under my influence. She came of her own volition, not stupefied, not like a useless dead body, like the way you Takers catch your victims. She wanted to come to me, Eli.”

So Dom had charmed her somehow with his music. That’s the only way it could have worked. Eli had to admit it to himself— If Dom was telling the truth, it was a startling truth, and an enlightening one. If the Takers had the power to do that…but none of them had as much raw musical power as Dom.

“I wouldn’t say that’s true, Eli.”

Eli cursed himself and threw up his mental blockades.

“That’s what I’d like to prove at the next full moon. You are the most powerful Taker among us, besides myself and Luc, by virtue of your position and training. You know how to get into the minds of humans and find out how they tick. And I’m certainly not going to ask Luc to test my hypothesis. He would never approve.”

Eli tried not to grimace.

“So the happy lot falls to you. You are to find Millie’s sister and Bring her secretly on the next full moon. I trust that with your experience as Guardian, you will be able to hide yourself and your mission from the Takers who will be out that night searching for a victim.”

“Alright.” Eli slapped his palms onto his knees. “So I Take the girl, the sister, whatever. Then I get my Guardianship-”

“No, no, Eli. Bring. You must become familiar with the new terminology.”

Eli rolled his eyes. “Bring, Take, whatever—”

“Eli.” There was a bit of music intertwined with his name.

“What, Dom?” He clenched his teeth. “Get out of my head. I’m listening.”

The pressure ceased.

“I didn’t want to do that to you, but I must make you understand what I want from you. I need you to Bring this young woman, not by confusing her, not by manipulating her consciousness so that she cannot think for herself, but in the same way that I brought Amelia— by making her come to you, willingly, knowing what she is doing.”

“And how do you propose I do that? I’m not like you. I don’t find the Kar-Togs attractive.”

“You must find something in her brain that compels her to come to you, whether it be by charm, by antagonizing her (which you do rather well, by the way), or by any other means you see fit.” Dom shrugged. “I know nothing about her except her name, which you will need, of course.” He became serious and put both hands on Eli’s shoulders. “Remember this name, Eli. Nella. Nella.”

“Nella.” Eli repeated the name a few times in his own mind until he was sure he could remember.

“Remember, Eli. She is the key to your honor.” Dom strode away and lifted a bit of fabric from his throne— it caught the light and glinted blue-green.

Eli gulped. His blues.

Dom waved his hand in dismissal. “The next full moon, upon the completion of your task, they will be yours, and all wrongs will be righted.”

“That’s all I have to do. Take—Bring— her and hide her until you get what you want.”

“Yes, Eli.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else. I give my word.”

Eli stood and crossed to the balcony, his stomach churning with mingled guilt and euphoria. He couldn’t believe he was considering it. But Dom had said it would take years. He didn’t have years.

“Dad won’t know?”

Dom drew his pinched fingers across his lips. “Mum’s the word.”

Eli sighed, then nodded. It was the only way.

“Eli?” There was the music again, this time demanding something different.

Eli sighed. “Goodnight, Your Majesty.” He turned, gave the shortest bow he could, and swam away.

*

Eli continued his training over the nights following Dom’s unusual request. He tried not to think about it too much, especially when Dad was around. He was afraid his mental barrier might slip and reveal the treachery he was planning.

Each time he thought of his blues, of the girls’ name, Nella, his heart gave a little flip. His Guardianship was on the line. His honor. But Dad’s beaming face as he patted Eli on the back made Eli forget, at least for that moment, all his joy, and replaced it with a dull qualm that refused to be vanquished.

Still, he was resolved. The night before the full moon he traveled up to the surface, using the dying light of the sun to investigate the river. Most of the Takers would come up on the land. They wouldn’t be back in the river until they’d caught someone. He’d have to go up to the surface before they got to the Threshold cavern and take her— Bring her— before they set out. There were plenty of hiding places, most notably in the Claw. If he timed it right, this would be a piece of cake.

He made to return to the Threshold but movement on the surface caught his eye as he turned to swim down. Ripples spread out from a point near the bank, then another point near the middle, before finally disappearing.

A stone fell through the clear water. It was a Kar-Tog, skipping rocks.

He would never understand why that fascinated them.

He pushed out with his mind to sense its presence. He found two there, one lambent but soft like the moon’s glow, the other warm and bright and fluctuating. The latter presence seemed to be quite agitated, while the other was smug and knowing.

Eli pushed towards the agitated presence.

I’ll get you, Nellie.

The name arrested his attention— though it wasn’t the name he’d been repeating in his head for days, it was strikingly close. Perhaps a nickname?

A theory seized his will. He kicked up to the surface, angling towards the Claw. Once he was safely in its shadows, he lifted his head out of the water.

The women stood very close to the edge of the water where the river had narrowed out after the rain. Both were of the same build, but one stood just a bit taller than the other. The shorter one with her flame-red hair confirmed Eli’s suspicions.

It was Mil. And he’d bet anything the other girl was Nella.

He examined the taller woman. Even from his moderate distance, he could see the dark freckles spotting her face, the flash of green eyes, and the fall of dark, dark hair over her shoulders.

His stomach twisted. She looked like— He shook Mom’s image away. She looked like Mil, only darker.

Mil tossed her stone, which sunk straight down into the water without as much as a hop.

Nella laughed in triumph and skipped a stone almost to the middle of the river.

Mil huffed. “You always get it out further.”

“And you don’t get it anywhere at all,” Nella retorted, her voice a bit deeper.

An older sister, probably. Eli frowned. Was Dom really going to get anything from taking her? Mil wasn’t all that mature. Nella seemed… Eli fought through a web of thoughts and emotions, somewhere between deja vu and dread. She seemed motherly.

He pushed out to find Nella’s presence, the moon-like one.

Mil bent, her face almost touching the river’s surface.

“Let me try this one-”

“Millie, no.” The presence in his mind flashed as Nella dove to grab Mil around the waist. “You’ll fall in.”

“I’m not gonna fall.” Mil struggled to right herself. Her foot slid into the water, and she grabbed at Nella’s hands.

Eli used Nella’s name like a passcode, and her thoughts began to trickle into his mind.

I told you. You never listen to me.

“Are you alright?” Nella said.

Mil scoffed.

“I’m fine. I think I’m done skipping rocks, though.”

I’ll bet you are, Nella thought.

Mil’s presence pulsated with paranoia. The Tognir, she thought. The river. I can’t be near here.

“Alright,” said Nella. “You can go home. I’m going to stay for a minute and make sure this mollusk you stepped on is alive.”

“Whatever.”

Just be safe. Nella turned to watch her sister go, and stood watching for a few moments until she was satisfied with her sister’s safety. Then she bent to the water, stepping in up to her ankles on the shallow ridge, and picked up a mollusk.

Eli thought about going back then, but something stayed him. He might as well figure out what he could use against her the next night. He took a deep breath and guarded his mind, then brushed against Nella’s presence.

She looked up and cast a glance to both sides, but then went back to her task. It’s getting late, she thought. I need to get back myself.

He delved fully into her mind, weaving the Taker’s melody around her thoughts, rendering her into a trance.

She dropped the mollusk back into the water and tried to shake herself. When that didn’t work, she sat heavily on the bank and stared unseeing at the water. The walls she’d thrown up on instinct came down against her will.

Now he could see thoughts, images, memories, ideas, as they flitted through her mind. There was Nella, speeding home from college to console her mother, finding Mil’s body on the very bank where Nella sat, and listening to her delusions about the river monsters she called “Tognir,” delusions Nella clearly put no faith in. She was convinced Mil had been drugged. Their mother was heartbroken, relieved, but could do little to keep the girls away from the river they loved so much.

Eli sifted through these with some interest, but she was beginning to fight back.

I’m just a little dizzy, she thought. I just need to take some deep breaths, maybe lie down for a minute. Then I’ll get up and go home. No need to call Millie back, no. I’ll be fine.

There was something steely about her, despite her warmth towards Mil. It was a strong sense of pride, of independence, but not simply in a self-sustaining way. She was independent from all creeds, all relationships, all circumstances, which she did not make herself. Her faith was in what could be proven to her, nothing more, and nothing less.

Hmm. Eli sung, pressing a bit further towards a box of memories which refused to be opened and sorted through.

Everything in her mind, every failsafe she’d built over the time she’d kept the box closed, screamed at him to keep out and interrupted his melody.

He gritted his teeth and pushed back.

“No,” she said aloud. That word alone was a force which matched his strength and held firm. He had used every song, every melody, he knew. There was no getting at the box.

He dropped the song and retreated to the safety of his own mind. He shook himself, shook her thoughts from him, and now watched her rise from the bank and glance around.

“Just calm down, Nella,” she told herself. “You’re over-reacting. You just got dizzy from bending so far over the water. Maybe you should take your own advice next time.” She brushed the dirt from her clothes.

Eli reached out to touch her thoughts one more time, this time inserting words of his own.

“You’re next.”

Nella stiffened. Her eyes shifted, widened. Her breaths came quicker.

It’s the dizzy spell, she thought. You’ve been thinking too much about Millie’s silly stories.

With that, she turned and darted away from the river, casting several glances behind her as she went.

Eli returned to the Threshold, giddy with pride.

He knew exactly how to make her come to him.