“Well as it can suit one too busy to enjoy it, I suppose.” What do you want? she longed to ask.
“Ah. Yes. That is the downside to inheriting a kingdom. I don’t suppose you can spare a few moments to join your old uncle for brunch, can you? I won’t keep you long.”
“I was under the impression that you were also impossibly busy, as made apparent by Nammu when she visited us yesterday for an audience without you,” Kai said, voice sweet as honey.
Her uncle remained oblivious. “I have been, but circumstances are now greatly improved. Now. My offer? Amerin told me what you’re up to. Shall our social engagement commence, or am I to be shunned in favor of dry history?”
“Why are you suddenly a man with free time when the first moment we crossed paths all season was my wedding?”
A sulky expression crossed his usually refined features. He had the audacity to appear hurt, though he exaggerated by placing a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Kai.”
Kai’s lips quirked. “I only stated facts.”
“Twisted facts. We’ve spoken plenty.”
“It doesn’t count when it isn’t in person and it’s a phone call to to sell me something on behalf of a friend.” If Kai wanted to be extraordinarily petty, she’d bring up the fact that prior to the gift-giving ceremony, he’d spent the entirety of the gamos rubbing elbows with the elite of other kingdoms.
No, that isn’t fair. He would have visited during the epaulia.
Wouldn’t he?
Weeks ago, Kai would have been certain. Now, she wasn’t so sure, even if an intractable sense of guilt worried the edge of her suspicion.
Little by little, Aegaeon’s expression of exaggerated outrage faded until only an exhausted smile remained. “Can a mer no longer take his favorite niece out for a nice meal? I thought it a convenient time to catch up with one another while training has occupied your new husband.” His quaint disposition begged her to believe him. Her senses said he couldn’t be trusted for as long as he was obligated to defend his wife.
For a moment, Kai loathed them and the persistent sense of danger lurking in the heart of her mood each morning when she awakened.
“Hm.”
Knowing better than to trust him, she agreed anyway despite lacking the mood for coercion. She took his arm and accepted that sometimes, dealing with unreasonable relatives was merely part of the job.
“All right. Fine. It’s a date, I guess.”
As much as Kai missed riding in her uncle’s fine carriage, Heracles and the Royal Guard insisted it wasn’t a safe mode of transportation for her any longer, claiming it was improperly protected in the event of another assassination attempt. Its open rooftop left her exposed to assault and lacked desirable maneuverability. They arrived by a fancy procession in one of the palace’s easily defensible vehicles, a sleek and sexy kind of coral skipper with magically-enhanced exterior and armor plates and shark-hide seats. Kai had a love-hate relationship with the official vehicles, missing the open air of a carriage or riding with the roof down.
It turned out that Aegaeon either had immense pull or had made their reservation at the Venetian weeks prior. The possibility of the latter gave her hope that he’d been thinking of her all along and was truly a busy man hoping to resuscitate a business long neglected during his time at the kingdom’s regent.
Though it could have always been my presence that gained us instant admittance, Kai thought, hopes instantly tempered. Regardless, they followed the hostess to a private area on the upper level while her usual guard detail of six mers spread throughout. Two lingered on the lower level, two took posts at the top of the spiral staircase, and another pair stood watch over both entrance and exit to the area, beyond earshot but close enough to act in the event something happened.
It seemed absolutely unnecessary and over-the-top, but who was she to argue the obligatory conditions of a job she’d never trained to perform? The elite members of the Royal Guard spent decades learning to serve and protect all members of the monarchy during times of peace or duress. Nothing had been more eye-opening than the assassination attempt in Amphitrite’s temple. The enemy had proven no act implausible if the pursuit might end with her death.
Still, her eyes rolled when she caught the guard captain scrutinizing another pair of secluded diners so distant from her they could only endanger her if either knew how to teleport.
“Your server will be with you shortly, Your Majesty, Lord Aegaeon,” the slender merwoman assured them, offering menus prior to taking their drink orders.
Aegaeon sighed. “Excessive, isn’t it?” he whispered once they were alone, nodding to the men by the nearest entrance. Stern faces stared toward every entrance, vigilant gazes leaving no corner of the lower level or upper floor unobserved. If an assassin wanted her, their skills would be nothing short of divine.
“A little.”
He looked tired, the vibrance she’d come to expect from him faded. “I would agree, if not for the servant girl who thought to cut your throat in your sleep.”
“Do they truly think someone will try to murder me now, with an audience?”
“Never underestimate the tenacity of martyrs, love. They will surprise you every time. Speaking of surprises, Nammu mentioned to me that she visited for an audience.”
Cue internal groan. Somehow, her eyes didn’t roll out of her skull, and she didn’t cut him off before he could begin.
The server appeared next, bringing Kai’s wine and the abomination of saltwater ouzo Aegaeon preferred.
“She did,” Kai answered once they were alone.
The unfortunate meeting had been followed by Thalia like a one-two punch Kai couldn’t dodge. At least the latter had simpler desires and had not broached the subject of compulsory service again. Instead, she’d asked permission to fund an archaeological excavation in the Erebothian Trench. No one went there. Metals deep below ground scrambled magical scanners and technology, making navigational equipment useless. “Why?”
“Is it impossible to get along with your aunt?”
“We’ve had this discussion before. You told me once that there were mers with the power to financially shape Atlantis’s future, but you neglected to tell me there were millions of drachma piled in the royal coffers. Untouched money. For what reason do we need deals with business tycoons when we’re sitting on a neglected fortune?”
No matter her great love for her uncle, boundaries were needed if she was to salvage their relationship and guarantee it didn’t fester and decay over the course of her rule.
“That money—”
“Does no one any good if it’s locked away until an already wealthy merman comes for handouts. I know that you don’t approve of my projects, but I refuse to give a penny to rich mers with no need for it. I want to help the small businesses. I want to see everyone flourish.”
Aegaeon absently swished his glass of fancy alcohol, the smell of salt and anise wafting to her. To his credit, he didn’t interrupt aside from a heavy sigh that seemed to imply all the world’s burdens were on his shoulders. “This is what you want?”
“Yes. Can’t you please just support me instead of coming to coerce me to listen to Nammu? I can’t take anymore of her underhanded belittling. Why can’t you take my side?”
Breaking eye contact, he set his drink aside and feigned interest in studying the flatbread. “It isn’t about sides, Kai.”
“Then if it’s about the improvement of Atlantis, let me learn to improve it. I’ll take your advice, but what you’re doing now…” Set boundaries, Kai. “What you’re doing now is pushy and egotistical. And it hurts me that you lured me here under the pretense of spending time with me just to have a go for your wife who despises me.”
The mer jolted in his seat, staring at her. “Lured you here?” Four attentive guards snapped their gazes toward their spat, and occupants of two distant tables stared until Aegaeon lowered his voice. “Kai. I reserved this table weeks ago. My invitation has nothing to do with
yesterday. I merely thought to bring it up…” His heavy brows slid together and consternation lined his face with deep creases, accompanied by slumped shoulders and an unspoken apology shimmering in his eyes. “I truly have been busy. I would never use my—my privilege as your uncle to my benefit in such a matter, even to assist Nammu.”
“They didn’t clear the floor because you demanded an impromptu, unscheduled brunch?”
“Gods, no. Of course not. I’m not that selfish. I procured this reservation long ago to guarantee that wouldn’t be necessary.”
“Still, our meal certainly can’t adequately compensate them for the loss of profits incurred by leaving half a floor empty. Any other time we’ve visited the Venetian, the floor is packed.”
“This is true. Some calls were made, of course, and I reimbursed the Venetian from my own accounts for the business lost due to our presence. Your safety was paramount, Kai.”
“Oh.”
“My behavior has not shown that, however, and for that, you have my apologies. I’m sorry. I will not bring Nammu up again.” Across the way, the waitress shot them a discreet glance as she set fresh glasses on another tabletop. “Are we good now?”
Kai smiled. “Yeah. We’re good.”
“I suppose we had better let that poor woman come and do her job.” He grinned again. “Order whatever you desire and know that our brunch menu times eighteen will be prepared and shipped to the palace staff.”
A rapid count of the tables noticed nine were empty. Hope dared to flourish that he could change.
“Then it’s time for me to eat like a queen. I know exactly what I want, and your accounts will be hurting when I finish.”
9
A Worthy Challenge
The warm water of the palace coral garden swirled around the two mers seated on its thriving kelp-lined bottom. Training to form a mental connection with underwater life gave Manu a profound new respect for Kai, who had returned to Atlantis and overcome two decades of neglecting her abilities to become a magical juggernaut. Every time they pushed her, she excelled. Each time they encouraged her, she improved by leaps and bounds within the span of a few months. Her powers had been present but atrophied, and perhaps it was for that reason and her amnesia that Manu thought she’d had the more grueling ordeal.
His powers were fresh. Infantile, perhaps, but fresh clay to mold with dedicated practice. Attempting to harness his new gifts also introduced him to a simple fact—past-him had been an asshole of the highest caliber. It was those memories of making endless demands of Kai as well as his own tenacious nature that pushed him beyond the point when even Elpis encouraged him to quit for the day.
Because Kai believed in him—because the god of the sea himself had found Manu a creditable successor—he couldn’t simply meet his wife’s effort. He had to surpass it if he was to be worthy of ruling beside her as king.
Morning after morning, Manu and Elpis gathered for practice sessions that sometimes extended long into the afternoon if the former wasn’t obligated to meet some other responsibility. It seemed poetic justice that the man who never took a break finally wanted one and free time existed.
If only they had introduced him to magical skill development earlier. Initially, El had suggested meditation to clear his mind of troubles, doubts, and worries before attempting to perform a new skill that would require all of his concentration.
Despite two hours at the bottom of the palace gardens, Manu believed with absolute certainty his friend’s advice was bullshit, and no amount of positivity would provide the mental connection his high mer acquaintances enjoyed with sea life.
“This isn’t working.” Manu opened his eyes to stare at his immediate surroundings. Fish grazed on the colorful seaweed on the garden floor, a riot of pastel hues in sunset orange and pink. Their bodies sometimes shimmered gold when the lights above the garden caught them on the right angle. When he searched for signs of anything responding to his silent pleas to be noticed, a disinterested rocktail crab scuttled by, illustrating that he hadn’t so much as made a blip on their radar. “It’s useless,” he growled.
“Funny. Kai said that she saw you make minimal progress while aboard the Black Anemone.”
“Barely.”
Elpis responded with a bored eye roll. “You summoned a school of silver-fins and a wild shark to your side, mate. That’s something. They may not have stuck around, but the point is that they heard you. They answered your call.”
“Blasted woman tells you everything, doesn’t she? Is nothing sacred?”
His longtime friend chuckled, the sound low and comforting. “We’re friends. Why wouldn’t she? Besides, she asked my advice and what she can do to support you. If that isn’t a sign of a good woman, you don’t deserve her. Now try again. I swear I felt something that time.”
Manu had doubts, but began the exercise anew with Elpis seated beside him. In lieu of the usual retinue of Royal Guards, only Heracles had joined them as a friend, opting to wait outside of the pool by standing above them on the wooden bridge. Except when receiving visitors, the palace and its expansive grounds were the one place where neither Kai nor Manu required their dedicated protective detail.
Breathe.
Instead of focusing on El’s cues, Manu followed the current flowing over a nearby anemone bed inhabited by dark-scaled clownfish darting through a hundred stinging tendrils of pale green and pink.
Manu followed the micro-currents created by those tendrils, each one as fine as a butterfly’s wing strokes and affecting all other creatures within the sunken garden. The anemone was only one piece of a puzzle, one creature among many inhabiting the artful sculpture of reef, a living masterpiece sculpted and maintained by Amerin’s years of loyalty.
Breathe.
Elsewhere, in a cranny beyond his vision on the opposite side of the miniature reef, tiny pieces of rock crumbled beneath the hammering of a mantis shrimp digging out its burrow. Each tap of its claw against stone sent near-imperceptible ripples through the water.
Breathe.
Eventually, El and Heracles faded from his vision and left his awareness.
In this strange state, he waited without rushing the moment. He let it carry him away despite initial feelings of panic clawing out from his chest, urging him to snap awake and back to their present.
Was he even sleeping?
Instead of alarm, tranquility fell over him with the comforting weight of a warm blanket in darkest, coldest winter. Gentle currents carried Manu’s hair around relaxing shoulders. A tendril of seaweed ghosted against his wrist as his senses became aware of a thousand little creatures thriving in their portions of the palace’s private reef. Hermit crabs skittered over rock covered in green ribbon weed, and colorful fish darted in and out of gaps between the narrow crevices.
Even after he closed his eyes, he remained aware of each living creature and the distinct rhythm of El’s heartbeat joining them. Peace fell over him, accompanied by the unusual impression of floating though his knees remained on the sand floor. A vibrance seemed to shimmer in the water, visible through his closed eyes like the underwater realm had become illuminated by its own solar body. Above the surface, the sensation would have been comparable to the air becoming charged with electrical energy, the current zipping and dancing over his bare skin.
Underwater, pinpricks snapped across his skin from head to toe.
El became incredibly still, her pulse drowned out by the water’s unique music and the thousands of tiny voices whispering from dark corners. Some hissed words too quiet for him to perceive and others spoke in a tone that reverberated inside his skull.
Manu had never spoken with the ocean’s wildlife before, whether it was Hau, his beloved racing shark, or Launa, the giant blue-ringed octopus gifted to him by his mother from one of her journeys to Pacifica. Instead, he felt the sincerity of their fathomless affection for him and trusted they felt the same love in return.
Earnest inquiries joined the chorus of whispers, then
the soft mouth of a fish touched his fingers. He didn’t dare to move, even when an eel snaked beneath his arm and spiraled around him.
What is he?
What is he?
What’s happening?
The voices merged and became one, a symphony spoken in the song of their realm. Distant and near, whispers and shouts all rolling together in symphony.
What is he? What is he? What is he?
Manu’s breath caught in his throat.
The moment his eyes opened, he found Elpis staring at him attentively, her keen eyes startlingly bright and glowing with unreleased magic. The power ebbed and flowed around her, a held charge on the tip of the fingers. “Perhaps we’ve demanded too much of you too soon, my friend.”
“You’ve demanded nothing.”
“Haven’t we? You had the weight of the kingdom on your shoulders, and then we’re expecting you to swim before you can paddle. Let’s…” There was something about the unreadable expression on the other mer’s face that drove Manu wild with fury.
Pity.
He didn’t want his friend’s pity. He didn’t want sympathy.
He needed to prove Pontus had not wasted his gift in bestowing it upon him.
“Let us end the lesson for today and retire for a drink. Tomorrow is a new day and another chance to—”
“No,” Manu snarled. “I almost had it. I could…I felt it this time. I need to try again.”
El cocked one ginger dark brow, then a big grin spread across her face. “You so sure about that, old man? You’re looking a little—”
“Bring me something different. Something worthy of…”
Worthy of a king.
Jelly-pink lips pursed thoughtfully. “I have something in mind. Amerin won’t like this, but…”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
Leaving the sand bed, El kicked to the surface and broke water to make eye contact with Heracles. The image of him leaning against the bridge railing shimmered through the water. “You hear that?”
Goddess of Sea and War: a Fantasy Romance (Kingdom in the Sea Book 3) Page 7
