Aazuria seemed stricken by this accusation, but her face quickly became emotionless again. “Our cities may be subterranean, but I won’t let them be substandard, Visola. I’m carving a place for us in this world and elevating all of our people to a place worthy of respect; a celebrated place in the history books and an understood place in the future where we will never be afraid, never overlooked or persecuted again. Think of how far we’ve come since my father’s reign! This is a turning point in history—we’ve never been united like this. It’s no longer Adlivun versus other sea-dwelling nations. It’s all of the other nations looking up to Adlivun as a protective mother. We’re together now, and we’re safe. We’re booming and blossoming, and I’m not going to let anything stand in our way.”
“What could possibly stand in our way?” Visola asked. “There isn’t even any such thing as international waters anymore. There’s only Oceanus. We were subjugated, but we showed them what we’re made of! We’ve got aboriginal rights to inland lakes and rivers. They have their farming, but we have our fishing, and we’ll always have something of value to trade. We’re part of NAFTA. All the economic activity that happens anywhere in the water is under our jurisdiction—and the surface of the planet is 71% covered with water. We have virtually unlimited room for expansion. We haven’t even begun our heyday, so why don’t you relax a little?”
“Why don’t you relax!” Aazuria snapped. “Honestly, Visola, you kept grenades in the nursery. This vendetta of yours is getting hypocritical. I’m focused on improving our infrastructure to create something that withstands the pressures of time. I’m focused on creating a better world for our children, an invulnerable world where we’ll never have to worry about war again. But war is no big deal to you, right? You thrive on battle! And all you seem to be concerned about is the fact that I’m ignoring my husband? I don’t care about a petty thing like my love life! All I care about is that Varia is safe! All I care about is that my daughter doesn’t have to worry about seeing her mother’s dead body laid out lifelessly before her in a casket for months! Do you know how that scarred her? She isn’t the same. As if she wasn’t damaged enough from what the Clan did to us! Varia never had a childhood. I raised her like a soldier after what was done to Corallyn. I raised her in a rush. It was Zalcan’s fault that I was taken from my family, but the damage is done. I think it’s worthwhile to try my best to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. How would you feel if…” Aazuria trailed off as she gestured at Visola’s twins, who had paused in their sandcastle-building to observe the irate queen curiously.
“I know, Zuri,” Visola said softly, “and I know that back in Damahaar, that could have been me. I know why you’re doing this, but I just wish you would take it easy on yourself. Take some time to appreciate what we have now. Let’s count our blessings, while we’re blessed. One woman alone can’t prevent the inevitable changing of the tides.”
“That’s what I do. That’s what I’m good at,” Aazuria insisted. “You accept war as a fact of life and stay constantly prepared for the eventuality. I do all in my power to prevent and avoid it, and to end the situation once we have no other options or escape routes.”
“That’s why we make such a great team,” Visola said, “different priorities. But you still need to rest.”
“I’ll rest when the Oceanic Empire is secure.”
Visola scoffed at this, gesturing out at the waters before her. “The Bermuda Triangle. You know how many land-dwellers are afraid to even come here? The Clan is gone, but the superstitions they created live on. Land-dwellers are a fearful and gullible sort.”
“Our people are the same,” Aazuria said. “They thought I was some kind of supernatural being.”
“You are, darling.” Visola was interrupted by a small hand tugging on her dress. A distressed Ronan was evidently fed up with his sister’s torment. She reached up and easily scooped the boy up into her arms without missing a beat in her conversation. “All of this, it really makes one think, Zuri. Let’s ignore the history of land-empires and commonwealths and just look at the sea: Two thousand years ago, Atlantis was the center of it all. One thousand years ago, the Mami Wata were the power to contend with. Foolish wars and poor politics caused all of those great nations and empires to slowly decline.”
Visola stomped her foot in the sand to indicate their current location. “Only a few hundred years ago, Bimini owned the oceans. Right below where we’re standing, there was a country more beautiful than Adlivun. Vachlan helped Bimini to become what it was and conquer France, Russia, and Africa. He briefly left them for us in the nineteenth century and helped us get Australia, but then he left us for the Clan. He helped the Clan conquer pretty much everything except for us. Damahaar was the nucleus of the Zalcan Empire, and when we took them down, we inherited everything.” She smiled sadly. “So now here we are, Queen Aazuria Vellamo. We’re sitting on the top of the world for the first time, with all eyes on us. According to historical data, how long do you think this can last before Oceanus starts to crack and collapse?”
“You have no idea, Viso. Every time the tiniest thing goes wrong, I fear it’s the beginning of the end.” Aazuria sighed and lowered herself to a seated position on the beach. “When Callder told me that the Greek government was trying to prohibit the rebuilding of Atlantis and turn it into some touristy amusement park, I nearly lost it. Even though Atlantis is the least of our cities, it has historical value to our people. It belongs to us.”
“Is Greece bullying you?” Visola asked angrily. “Because I can—”
Aazuria shook her head. “No. I just talked to them and they respectfully withdrew their interest. It’s like everyone wants to test our limits to see how weak we are. They see Empress Amabie and think an innocent old Japanese woman isn’t going to have any bite left in her, but when they realize that I’m her teeth, they all back down.”
“Classic,” Visola mumbled as she carefully sat down on the beach beside her friend. Her son had fallen asleep in her arms, and she dumped him into her lap, using his small body as a table for her elbows as she studied the water. “It just baffles the mind. Nothing really lasts. Yonaguni was amazing until the 1950s. Bimini was even better. They used to be such powerful, unparalleled sea-dweller nations. Look at how far they’ve fallen.”
“All I do, every day, is work to make sure we don’t end up like them.”
“Maybe you’re going about that the wrong way.” Visola gestured behind herself. “We could take it you know.”
“What do you mean? Bimini? The Bahamas? Bermuda?”
“No, snookums. The Caribbean. All of it.”
“Why would we do that?” Aazuria asked with a frown.
“We wouldn’t. I’m just telling you that I’ve sized them up, and it would be easy. These countries are pretty poor and pathetic—even more pathetic now. They took their livelihood from the sea, and now that we own the sea, they can barely afford to pay us for food. We own them. One dispute over resources—one territorial skirmish, and we can sink them.”
Aazuria shook her head. “I really worry sometimes about what your husband considers pillow talk.”
Visola laughed. “The problem is simply this: I’m happy. I’ve never been this happy in my life. It’s terrifying, Zuri. I just know that something’s going to go wrong at any minute and rip him away from me.” Visola gestured to the toddler snoozing in her lap before indicating his sister who had built towering sandcastle easily twice her own height. “Or rip them away from me.
“I won’t allow it to happen.”
“I want to do all I can to protect us,” Visola said; “to keep things the way they are. But all I know is war.”
“Then we must both learn to live with peace.” Aazuria picked up a small pebble and lobbed it out into the water. She watched the ripples for a moment before turning to admire Ivory’s construction skills. The little girl was chewing on her lip in concentration as she used her finger to carefully carve windows into the structure. Of c
ourse, the design resembled the palace at Upper Adlivun where the twins had mostly grown up. The difference was that one stronghold was built from sand, and the other from ice. Both were fragile, fickle materials, but that did not matter. The strongest house could be torn down if the men defending it were lazy and negligent. Or careless and foolish.
Damahaar had been among the strongest of houses, and Aazuria had torn it down. She truly believed that it was in human nature to tear down the houses of others so that one’s own house might prosper. With this thought in mind, she glanced at her friend. “You know, Viso—when I was younger, I wondered about my father’s faith in Vachlan. How could one man possibly be as vital as Father believed him to be? It seemed preposterous. Even after knowing what he did for Bimini—seeing what he did for us—and then what he did for the Clan, I still wondered whether it was just some kind of crazy luck. Whether Vachlan could just predict the passage of power, and just guessed what side to leap onto. Whether he just had a knack for abandoning a sinking ship.
“I wondered the same,” Visola admitted.
“But after Damahaar, there’s no question in my mind. Falling for him was the best strategic military move you ever made.”
“Sadly, it was the only move in my life that I couldn’t seem to not make,” Visola said with a sheepish shrug. “I have never seen a weapon of such epic proportions packaged into such a compact shell. So do you think it was worth waiting two hundred years for him?”
“It would be worth waiting an entire lifetime for a man like that,” Aazuria said softly. Her face fell, and she lowered it until there were shadows across her eyes. “I wish I was worth the wait.”
Visola reached out to hit her friend in the shoulder. “Don’t say that, Zuri! Trevain and Elandria had a thing, so what? He basically sold her to a witch-woman for the chance to revive you with black magic. You should have seen how hard that boy tried—he just wouldn’t let you go! He refused to give up on you.”
“Maybe he should have,” Aazuria said, drawing circles in the sand.
“Are you kidding me? I would have lost my mind without you and eaten my children or something. I bet this one is tasty,” Visola said gesturing to the boy in her lap.
Aazuria threw her head back and released a loud peal of laughter. “Viso! You say the most ridiculous things.”
Visola poked her son’s chubby, folded arms as if considering what type of wing-sauce to use on the delicacy. “And if you had died, you wouldn’t be around to appreciate my humor,” she said with a pouty grin. “Now listen up, girlfriend, I have a serious question for you. Why haven’t you been sleeping with my grandson?”
“Viso!” Aazuria hissed, looking back to Ivory who was not very far away. The little girl was wholly engrossed in her labor and not paying any attention to her mother. “How can you know that?”
“The whole palace knows, darling. Please! When a king and queen aren’t sleeping in the same room, the servants and guards will gossip about it. How else do you think we lesser folk can find amusement and try to convince ourselves that we are better than you?”
“That’s disturbing,” Aazuria said angrily. Then her anger faded into acceptance. “I don’t know why. I’m just scared, Viso. If he’s standing in the same room with me for a minute too long, I find a reason to run an errand elsewhere.”
“Glitter-bug, you’ve been dodging the entire hemisphere. You won’t stay within a thousand-mile radius of the poor boy for more than a day. What’s eating you?”
Aazuria shrugged. “We talked about it on the phone. Trevain thinks that I should see a psychiatrist. Something about going through trauma and having issues with trust and intimacy and yadda-yadda.”
“Wow, so he thinks you need a shrink? Professional help?” Visola shook her head in disappointment. “What is wrong with my male descendants? Just be a man and get the girl drunk, seduce her and bang her until she’s all better. I’ll talk to him about doing that.”
“No!” Aazuria gasped, reaching out to grab her friend’s arm. “Please don’t!”
“Chill out! We’re talking about your husband. Not some random stranger on the street.”
“I know. Sometimes I think I would prefer a random stranger on the street.”
“What?”
Aazuria hesitated. “He is nice to me, Viso. He is affectionate and kind. But I know he misses Elandria—he writes her letters every day, even though she never responds. I don’t want to get too close to him and ruin their relationship. She’s had more time with him. She knows him far better than I do, and I think they’re a good match.”
“And what does Varia think?” Visola demanded.
“She is the sweetest child. She doesn’t force me to fix things, and she doesn’t force me to break things. She said that she would go to family counseling with us.” Aazuria took a deep breath as she poked holes into the sand with her fingers. “I think it’s a good idea. Maybe I could learn something.”
“What do you want, habibi?”
“I don’t know. Whatever Varia wants is fine.”
Visola grinned. “Being a mom really changes you, doesn’t it? Changes the way you look at the world. Changes the lengths you will go to. Your self-discipline. Your language.”
“I’m sure that once these two are old enough to prove that they have manners, you’ll return to not having any.”
“Maybe not, this time,” Visola said quietly. “I want to change. I want to be a better woman—a kinder, more compassionate woman. I want to be someone people respect because they want to, not because they have to. Not because I’ll dislocate everything they would prefer to have properly located, but because it simply doesn’t make sense not to respect me. Like you.”
“I think it’s a bit too late to remake your image, Viso. You’ve got several centuries of terror under your belt along with some nifty firearms—being married to Vachlan only amplifies your fearsome reputation.”
“But what concerns me,” Visola said in a hush, “is that his past atrocities might make us a target. I can’t have Ivory and Ronan living in the crosshairs. Look at the little pipsqueaks. They couldn’t even fight off a shark attack. The whole undersea world is becoming more and more accessible. We’ve got submarines and airports everywhere. I don’t care if we’re the conquering heroes; Vachlan still has enemies. Torturing Marshal Landou has made me realize how many people hate my husband. On land and sea!”
“We do have another option. Have you considered having us join NATO?” Aazuria asked.
“Ugh. Didn’t we try that whole ‘American protection’ thing once before? No, we did better on our own. We’re independent and perfectly fine. Just because we’re located directly beside America doesn’t mean we have to be their little bitch—like Canada.”
Aazuria smiled. “Well, if you’re really concerned about your kids…”
“I am concerned. That’s why I’m talking about conquering the Caribbean and stuff like that. Instead of getting comfortable with Oceanus and trying to defend it, maybe we should keep pushing outward.”
“If we overreach we could lose all that we have gained. We shouldn’t make any drastic movements unless we have to,” Aazuria cautioned. A yawn escaped her throat. “I had better rest before we discuss this further.”
“Sure thing, muffin.”
“Oh, and Viso?”
“Yep?”
Aazuria gazed down at the sand thoughtfully. “I’m not here for Trevain. I didn’t come back from Antarctica for him, and I didn’t defeat the Clan of Zalcan for him. I did it for Varia, because she deserves the best I can manage to give her. She deserves the best world I can make. So, I understand how you feel. She’s my whole reason for existence.”
“You mean the reason you came back from the dead?”
“Exactly.”
Chapter 3: On Thin Ice
As soon as Aazuria stepped off the plane at Diomede City Airport, she was swamped by the press. Even in these modern times, it seemed that the activities of a queen and her fami
ly were of great interest to the public eye. She smiled for the cameras but continued through the crowd to where her husband and daughter waited. She pulled Varia into a quick hug.
“Have you been well?” she asked the tall teenager.
“Very well,” Varia answered instantly. “I’m glad you’re home.”
Aazuria was surprised when Trevain extended a bouquet of colorful flowers toward her.
“I’m sorry they’ve gotten a little brown around the edges,” he told her. “I expected you to return sooner. These are anemones.”
“Like the sea creature?” she asked as she lifted the flowers to inhale their scent.
“The animal was named after the flower,” he explained.
She smiled in appreciation of his usual botanical insight. “What do they signify?”
“Fading hope,” he answered softly.
She seemed stricken by this answer, but before she could respond, her arm was seized by her cousin. Naclana began pulling her toward the waiting town car as he used his other hand to show her the screen of a tablet.
“You’ll be in meetings at the palace all day,” he told her. “The empress will be flying in from Japan…”
“Sedna, is something wrong?” Aazuria asked, grabbing the tablet from his hands and shoving the flowers into his arms. “Do we need Visola? She could probably get here in time for…”
“Relax!” Naclana said. “Please, Aazuria, just relax!”
“Why do people keep saying that to me?” she moaned in frustration.
“Empress Amabie is just coming to update you on the progress at Shiretoko and Yonaguni.”
“Why does she need to be here in person to do that? I know the cities are doing well; I was there less than a month ago. Something must have gone wrong. We need Visola—and Vachlan.”
Tides of Tranquility Page 3
