Kingdom of Salt and Sirens

by J. A. Armitage

  I plodded slowly to the palace, past the guards on duty and to my room where I fell on my bed. There were no tears, just a heart so heavy I thought it would sink me right into the mattress itself. I probably wouldn’t have minded if it did.

  I wondered if the pain I was feeling was something to do with the bonding. Ari had told me that the further we were apart, the more painful it would feel. I wasn’t sure. I had a feeling I’d hurt like this even if we weren’t bonded in a magical way. I’d never had a broken heart before, but this sure did feel like one.

  With a sigh, I realized I’d feel this way always. The bonding had sounded so romantic when Ari told me about it, but now it was nothing more than a curse.

  I closed my eyes and willed sleep to come to let me escape the pain I was feeling. The next morning, I woke late. My mother didn’t come to wake me for my studies. Someone must have told her what happened, and she decided to let me sleep in. I dragged myself out of bed. There was no point wasting the day, no matter how awful I felt. My relationship with my mother had been mended somewhat, thanks to me bringing her father to her, but there was still a long way to go. I decided to go find her and ask her if she wanted to spend the day with me. We could sit outside in the gardens and just talk. It was way overdue.

  I found her in the grand hall ordering workers to move boxes of stones and weird decorations. She had such a smile on her face. I don’t think I’d ever seen her so happy.

  For a brief second, I wondered if she had gone loopy again and was planning another wedding, albeit one with a strange theme.

  “There you are sleepyhead,” she smiled as she turned to me. She looked radiant. “What do you think?”

  I gazed around the room at huge pieces of coral and boxes of sand that were being stacked up against the wall.

  “Nice, what is it for?”

  She came running over to me and slipped her arm in mine. In a quiet voice she spoke “My father came to visit me last night. He asked if my sisters could come visit. I’m planning a big family reunion. Half of Havfrue is coming. It’s going to be huge.”

  Just then, I heard a noise. It sounded like a truck was parking outside.

  “That will be the tank,” she said, clapping her hands together. I followed her outside to where a massive tank was being placed in the gardens. It was huge and currently empty.

  “The people from the Trifork Aquarium are setting it up. It needs pumps and filters for the fish, and it will take a week or so to fill with water, but everyone will feel at home.”

  I shook my head at the scale of what my mother could achieve when she put her mind to it. The woman never ceased to amaze me.

  I felt an elbow digging into my side.

  I looked at my mother, whose grin was now even larger if that were possible. “I think there is someone who’d like an invite. Tell him the party is on the fourteenth.”

  I looked to where my mother was pointing. Ari was sitting on the rocks, his tail dipping in the water.

  Despite everything, despite the fact it was impossible for us to be together, I still ran to him.

  “We are broken up,” I sang, a smile on my face. My heart already felt a million times lighter. Maybe this bonding thing really did work.

  “I know.”

  Without a goodbye, he dove neatly beneath the perfectly flat surface of the water, barely making a splash.

  I waited for him to resurface, but the water remained almost glasslike, barely rippling.

  My heart began to beat wildly. Was that it? He’d surely come to see me. Had he only come to say goodbye. He’d not even managed that.

  I could barely catch my breath, now that he’d gone. There was no goodbye kiss, no farewell, nothing.

  And then he breached the surface and held his hand out to me.

  “You coming?”

  I couldn’t speak with the emotions tugging at me, pulling me in all directions.

  “I can’t come with you. You know that. We have to end it.”

  “Maybe,” he said, “but not today.”

  With a grin, I pulled my dress over my head and dove into the ocean.

  THE END

  Also by J.A.Armitage

  REVERSE FAIRYTALES

  Charm

  Lucky Charm

  Charmed

  Dark Water

  Blue Water

  Breakwater

  * * *

  KINGDOM OF FAIRYTALES BOXSETS

  Kingdom of Glass and Ashes

  Kingdom of Salt and Sirens

  Kingdom of Sand and Wishes

  * * *

  GUARDIANS OF THE LIGHT

  Endless Winter

  Infinite Spring

  Eternal Summer

  Autumn Ever After

  * * *

  DRAGON SLAYER

  Slayer

  Warrior

  Protector

  Savior

  About the Author

  J.A lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she's not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She's travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.

  She spends way too much time gossiping on facebook and if you want to be part of her Reading Army, where you'll get lots of freebies, exclusive sneak peeks and super secret sales, join up here

  https://www.subscribepage.com/v7o8k4

  * * *

  Somehow she finds time to write.

  Also by J.A.Armitage

  REVERSE FAIRYTALES

  Charm

  Lucky Charm

  Charmed

  Dark Water

  Blue Water

  Breakwater

  * * *

  KINGDOM OF FAIRYTALES BOXSETS

  Kingdom of Glass and Ashes

  Kingdom of Salt and Sirens

  Kingdom of Sand and Wishes - coming soon

  * * *

  GUARDIANS OF THE LIGHT

  Endless Winter

  Infinite Spring

  Eternal Summer

  Autumn Ever After

  * * *

  DRAGON SLAYER

  Slayer

  Warrior

  Protector

  Savior

  Forget the Tides by R.Castro

  1

  Leaping off the edge of the cliff, adrenaline in full throttle, I took a single deep breath before breaking through the bubbling waves; going deeper, fully immersed with the soft velvety blue waters. My body immediately went into action; powerful kicks and strokes, synchronized to the beat of the ocean as I dove deeper, deeper, deeper, until my lungs burned, and I could no longer hold my breath.

  By the time I climbed back up the bluff, Lilly was waiting, towel in hand, “one of these days you truly are going to give me a heart attack. I don’t know how you do it, but you do and as impressive as it is, it scares me to no end,” she said holding up a beach bag with my belongings.

  “Thank you, Lilly!” I said grabbing my bag from her, and blowing her a kiss in the air, while scrambling to pull my shorts over my bathing suit, “what time is it?” I asked slipping on my flip-flops, dreading the fact that we were enjoying the last weekend of summer break.

  “Oh snap! We better hurry. Your dad is going to ground you,” she said shoving the cell phone screen in my face.

  Crap! I thought to myself. There was no way we’d make it to the aquatic center in time. Late, yet again. Surely, I would never hear the end of it.

  We rushed to Lilly’s old pickup. I never complained; heck, at least she had a car. I was the youngest of seven children. The chances of me getting my own car was next to impossible.

  “He’s going to be livid, isn’t he?”

  I looked out the wind
ow, wishing I didn’t have to head to the pool. Don’t get me wrong, I loved swimming, I just preferred doing it solo, in the ocean, not in a chlorinated pool among countless others.

  “Probably. And you know what, I’ll make it up to him. I’ll remind him why I can be a few minutes late, when he sees the times I put out,” I said with a smirk on my face. It was a fact. I was the best swimmer he had in the entire club. And while I liked the recognition of my hard work, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. Personally, I would’ve wanted to participate in other sports, or none at all. The ocean was enough for me. However, my father was a former Olympic swimmer. He medaled bronze in the back stroke, and silver in the relay. He always told my sisters and I how next to marrying our mom and having us, those were his proudest moments; representing our country and standing on the podium.

  Naturally, we all swam. It was hard not to. He invested heavily in a partnership to build the aquatic center and the swim club we competed in. His main source of income came from inheriting his family’s business, a fish processing company, which I secretly loathed.

  My sisters were all good swimmers, yet not one was a standout, something I believed secretly bothered him until I came along. And there I was, a natural, except I was so burned out. Coach Triston aka my father, was living vicariously through me. And he made no apologies in doing so.

  When we finally pulled into the parking lot, Lilly gave me an empathetic look before I exited her truck. “It’ll be fine,” I said waving back to her, rushing into the locker rooms. The muggy air hit me like a ton of bricks, reminding me how much I dreaded going to that place.

  I quickly doused myself in the shower, ensuring to rinse any signs of the ocean away. I grabbed my goggles and pulled my hair back in a bun, it was too wet to try and mess with at cap at that point.

  “Arya!” a voice bellowed from across the pool.

  Drina who was eighteen and Rista who was nineteen, were both at the edge of the pool, waiting for a heat. I couldn’t see their eyes through the goggles, but I knew they were scowling at me.

  “Where on earth have you been? Practice started half hour ago,” he spat in my face.

  “At the beach with Lilly. Sorry. I lost track of time. But I’m here now,” I said walking back toward the edge to join my sisters and the rest of the girls, knowing very well he wouldn’t make a further scene. The fact that I wasn’t going to warm up was very telling, and I knew this wasn’t the end of the conversation.

  When I reached the starting block, Rista looked over, all smiles, “did you go cliff diving again?” I nodded.

  “Nice,” she said.

  Drina laughed, “I just turned in a crappy breast stroke, and dads not even going to care. Thanks Arya,” she said giving me a high five.

  “Ladies,” a toneless voice said from behind. There was only one person who it could belong to, and that was Coach Una. I couldn’t stand her. She was a nasty witch, constantly putting my sisters and me down. Not one of us liked her, but there was something especially disconcerting about her that I couldn’t pin. Her fervent confidence, and flamboyant theatrics made me want to ram her into the pool whenever she spoke. Dad kept her around for PR. She too, was a former Olympiad, and with titles like that, starry-eyed parents flocked to our club.

  “100m breaststroke?” I whispered to my sisters. They both nodded.

  “Mark…”

  As soon as the buzzer went off, I leaped so far, I was sure it was the longest leap I’d made to date. The breaststroke wasn’t my best, but I would fight for it, staying under water as long as I could. That was my advantage, being able to hold my breath and my speed under the water. Kicking and pushing up, I kept at it, taking a breath whenever it seemed necessary. When I made the turn, I kicked hard off the wall to give me even a better advantage, not once looking to where anyone else was. I just kept going until my hand touched the wall again.

  “One minute eight seconds. Great time, Arya. Probably your best,” Coach Triston said with a smile beaming across his face, as the other swimmers reached the wall, he turned his attention back to coaching.

  “So much for me being out of the hot seat,” Drina said trying to catch her breath.

  “Oh, come on. You think I’m off the hook that easily? Warm-ups?” I reminded.

  The rest of practice was uneventful. A meet was up and coming. A lot of yada yada yada, I didn’t care, as my mind escaped back to the warm salty, turquoise waters. The cliffs weren’t cutting it for me anymore. I felt a yearning, a calling. I wanted more. The open ocean. Yes. I thought. A new goal, to swim out in the open.

  “Arya?” the cold slithery voice said, grabbing my attention. I looked over to Coach Una, “did you hear a word we said?”

  She scowled, sending a chill down my spine. I didn’t answer. Honestly, I didn’t care. A sudden defiance came over me.

  “Very well,” she continued, “I was saying, you’ll be competing in the 200m breaststroke and 200m backstroke.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I protested, “those are my worst swims. Jen is our best backstroke swimmer,” I said looking at Jen who welcomed the comment as a compliment with a smile.

  “Yes, but you’ve been putting out very good times as of late,” she challenged.

  “As of late? Not consistently. You are putting the fate of our team on my last couple of swims? When these girls have consistently put out better times than me? Jen in backstroke and Minerva in breaststroke? Granted, I had a heckuv a time today on breaststroke, but that’s not very telling,” I pressed.

  I wasn’t going to back down, I knew exactly what she was doing, trying to create tension between my teammates and me. She did this often, yet my father didn’t see it. No matter how I tried to explain it, he didn’t see it. I often wondered what dirt that woman had on him? Because there was no way he was that dense.

  Coach Una’s chest was swelling, her brow furrowing, it was coming, the lashing, the unleashing of the kraken, and I was ready. With any luck, they’d suspend me, “Arya,” she said with a silvery voice. Good. I’d gotten to her, “we believe you are our best woman for the job. We have blind faith in you. Therefore, the coaching staff and I decided you made sense for these swims.”

  I smiled, just as insidious as she, “thank you for that vote of confidence which I’ve neither earned nor deserve. Your faith in my abilities is ill-placed. Those girls over there have worked their hearts out all year to earn their spots as the tops swimmers in those disciplines. If those swims don’t go to them, I’m afraid I’m out of the competition completely. Because I won’t unfairly take another person’s spot. That’s not how I work,” I said, as I watched my father come unhinged. I didn’t care. He could fight me on it later.

  2

  The ride home was a scenic one, as the SUV hugged the rounded road of the Pacific Coast Highway, the bluff off to the side, and the ocean below, beckoning me. Later, I told it, drowning out my dad’s non-stop shouting. Rista and Drina barely looked up for fear of getting caught up in the crossfire, I didn’t blame them. He was angry at me and as the parent, should’ve known better to save his scolding until we were in private. Of course, my dad ruled his household by means of intimidation. He wasn’t always horrible, but he wasn’t always pleasant. He didn’t hurt us physically, however, most of my sisters did tiptoe around him. Which was probably why I was more defiant? I refused to live in fear.

  Daylight had set, but the moon was shining bright and I could hear the waves crashing below against the bluff. The foam flowed back and forth, with a solo driftwood, dancing in its hold, along with my attention.

  “Damn it, Arya! You really don’t care, do you?” He said, snapping me back to the moment.

  I sighed, I supposed it was time to finally engage. We were about ten minutes from our house, and I didn’t want this to spill over onto my other sisters.

  “I care, more than you or Una probably understand. It's just not the way you two care. You care only about winning, whereas I care about each member of our team becomin
g their best, getting the encouragement they need, being pushed to reach that level of greatness that you two so covet, and to have their coaches believe in them. You know that saying that you’re only as strong as your weakest link? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket dad because you might end up with rotten eggs.”

  He didn’t immediately reply and when he did, he was calmer, “Arya, you have it in you to make it to the podium. We all see it. But what you did today? That won’t help you get there, baby girl.”

  Coach Triston aka my dad, yep, he’s dense. Again, living vicariously through me, the waves crashed loudly below, lulling me to them. Not today, I whispered.

  “I don’t want that for me. I know it’s what you want. But it’s not what I want. I love swimming, dad. But I hate the pool. I love the adrenaline of the ocean, the heat of the sun, the salt drying on my skin, the sand squeezing through my toes. That I can do.

  “You had your dream, so please, let me live mine.”

  The gated community we lived in came into view as the guard opened the gate, “good evening, Sir. Girls,” the guard tilted his head. We all responded with a polite smile.

  Dad drove quietly toward our two-story Spanish inspired home. The garage opened, and we pulled in, one by one exiting the vehicle, not a peep to one another. I stayed behind, wandering out the side door toward the backyard. The landscapers did an amazing job keeping up with our grounds. One of our beautiful ponds was temperature controlled and housed fish. It’s where I spent most of my time. I felt like the fish understood me when no one else did. I sat on the surrounding rockery, pulling my knees up to chin, “I’ve made a mess of things yet again. I told dad I don’t have the dreams he has for me. I really let him down.”