I bit my tongue before I could ask when that would be—then ran it over my teeth to check for bits of sea lettuce, just in case. Apparently, tardiness wasn’t as heinous a gaffe as forgetting Her Ladyship’s favorite food. Lifting the flute to my lips instead, I simply nodded. Then choked.

It was seawater.

With a forced smile, Beau patted my back as I spluttered, pressing his foot atop my own under the table. “There, there.” He handed me a folded napkin before saying to the others, “Please pardon my dear sister. She must have a sensitive gag reflex.”

I snorted again, unable to help myself, and kicked Beau’s foot from mine.

Two more liveried melusines stepped into the banquet hall then, each holding an enormous conch shell. As one, they lifted the shells to their lips and blew. The call reverberated through the chamber, rattling china and chandeliers, as the melusines around us swept to their feet.

The Oracle followed a moment later.

I could only stare at her.

Quite simply, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

Her hair rippled like water down her shoulders as she floated into the room, casting her ethereal silver gaze in our direction. When her eyes met mine, I saw not iris and sclera but tranquil moonlight on the sea, silken foam along the shore. I saw cresting waves and flashing scales—primordial creatures of teeth and shadow who awoke with the darkness. I saw tempests to tear apart kingdoms, secrets bared and secrets kept. Secrets drowned in boundless depths.

Then she smiled at me, and a shiver skittered down my spine. In that smile, I saw chaos.

Pure, unadulterated chaos.

Angelica walked behind her, head bowed and hands clasped. She caught Coco’s eye as they approached, winking covertly, before resuming her pious stance. The Oracle looked only at me. I straightened as furtively as I could, painfully aware of my damp palms, but otherwise, I didn’t cower. Claud had once described himself as the Wild, and in his true form, I’d believed it. The Oracle didn’t need to assume her true form for me to understand. From the misty, nameless color of her hair and skin to the liquid movement of her body, she was the sea. And the sea drowned those who couldn’t swim.

“Je vous voir, Louise.” To my great surprise, her voice held a calming, tranquil note, like still waters at dawn. “Bienvenue to the Crystal Palace. I have long awaited your arrival.”

I curtsied with the others. “I’m happy to be here. Thank you for interfering at the beach.”