“Do you remember this?” he asked, holding up the garment. “Your favorite nightgown. Wouldn’t you be comfier sleeping in this than in your travel clothes?”
“Mmm,” Elandria said, reaching out and taking the dress from his hands. She hugged it against herself happily and closed her eyes again.
He smiled and fingered some of the curls against her cheek. Her dark hair was fading into white since she had been away from sunlight for a few hours. Some of the tendrils were dark grey, while others were pale silver. “Come upstairs and get some good, quality rest,” he told her. “If anything, I should be the one sleeping on the couch.”
“No, thank you,” she murmured.
“There’s still a place for you here, Elan.”
“I know,” she said sleepily. She reached up and clasped his hand against her cheek. “You’re my place.”
These simple words made him feel a whole lot better. He carefully arranged the blanket over her, and he moved to sit on the other side of the sofa. Pulling a bit of the covers over his own legs, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Chapter 19: Round Table Talk
Dylan Rosenberg had been the first to enter the library at 6:30 AM. Seeing Trevain and Elandria asleep on the couch, he had decided to post a note on the door and move the meeting to one of the more formal boardrooms in the palace. As everyone began to trickle into the room and take their seats around the round table, conversations about the previous night began to surface.
Sionna clutched her head, groaning. “I haven’t been hung over in centuries. Please, no one mention anything I did. I know that when I’m drunk, I’m basically Visola.”
“You did ask me to pretend you were her,” Vachlan said.
“Oh, no,” Sionna muttered. “No. Let’s just get to business.”
“The first order of business should be castle security,” Naclana said. “How the hell did King Kyrosed get into the palace?”
“I went down to the prison earlier to get started on torturing Kyrosed’s man,” Visola informed them. “I noticed a guard down there, and I roughed him up a little. Turns out Trevain just stuck the poor boy in jail because he was annoyed. But anyway, Rolf gave me a list of possible castle guards who could have been in on this whole scheme with Kyrosed.”
“Did you break the servant?” Vachlan asked.
“Not yet,” Visola said, “but I will.”
“Maybe this is too much to ask,” Brynne said nervously, “but will someone please help me find my husband? I couldn’t sleep all night—King Kyrosed mentioned that Callder was captured by something called the Leviathan. There have been some problems in Atlantis. I know there are issues here at home too…”
“Yes, Brynne. I think I need to go and find my grandson,” Vachlan said.
“Me too,” Aazuria told them. “I’ve made a decision. With Elandria at home, Adlivun should be in good hands. I’m going to stay in Atlantis and sort things out there.”
“Excellent,” Vachlan said. “We’ll take a small team and go after him. We’ll find Leviathan and figure out what the hell is going on out there. Who the hell would be insane enough to revive Kyrosed? Everyone hated the man.”
“Can I come with you, Mother?” Varia asked. “Please?”
“And me too,” Glais said at once.
“I’m not sure,” Aazuria said. “We’ll have to think about it.”
“The world championships for fencing are going to be in Greece anyway,” Glais said. “I will have to travel there anyway!”
“Kid has a good point,” Vachlan said. “It could be handy to establish a second home base in case Adlivun becomes unsafe.”
“While it could be healthy to live underwater for a while, I’m not sure you should separate the family again so soon after it has barely been mended,” Dr. Rosenberg advised.
“It’s fine,” Visola said. “It will just be for a little while. I’m going to stay here with the kids, Vachlan—but you’ll have my Mediterranean armies behind you. I got armies in Atlantis, armies in Australia, armies in Japan, armies in Alaska! What, what!”
Sionna stared blankly. “Are you rapping, Visola? Please don’t do that.”
“Why? Are ya jelly? ‘Cause I got armies in Bermuda, armies in Chile, armies in Norway…”
“Please stop,” Sionna said again. “You’re melting my eardrums. I can literally feel them melting—actually, that might be my brain. And it’s not the hangover.”
“I got armies in France! Armies in Africa, armies in India…”
“Vachlan, please make her stop.”
He held up his hands innocently. “This has nothing to do with me. I’m not part of this.”
“There are children here,” Sionna said sadly, “impressionable young minds who will be permanently scarred by listening to her obscene lack of talent.”
“I’m not a child,” Varia said immediately, “and I think grandma’s rapping is tolerable.”
“Only tolerable?” Visola said sadly. “I thought I was good. Sometimes I really do feel like a black man on the inside.”
Vachlan coughed on his morning coffee. “You do not feel like a black man on the inside. Not that I know what a black man feels like on the inside—actually, come to think of it, it’s probably the same. Never mind. It’s too early for this.”
“Last night it was too late for us to have a conversation, and this morning it’s too early,” Trevain said as he entered the room. “We need to get it together, guys.”
“He’s right,” Naclana said. “No more goofing off—that means you, Visola. Shut your mouth and let the men talk for a few minutes. Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”
“Wow, he’s cute when he gets snappy,” Visola said approvingly.
“I’m serious. Shut up or I’ll gag you,” Naclana said harshly. “Vachlan, will you please tell us what you know?”
“Thank you, Naclana,” Vachlan said appreciatively. “But unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask her a few questions. Here is the first: For god’s sake, woman! The next time you decide to initiate covert missions without informing me, can you at least try to use a code name that isn’t tattooed on your ass?”
Visola flinched. “Damn. I knew I’d have to talk about this eventually.”
“Are you involved with Project Leviathan, Visola? Answer me now, and be honest,” Vachlan demanded. “After what happened with King Kyrosed, everyone in this room deserves to know.”
“You haven’t told him?” Sionna asked.
Visola shook her head.
“One of my own spies managed to jack a bunch of files from the CIA,” Vachlan explained. “They’re heavily encrypted, but from what we’ve been able to decipher, they’re all about you, Visola. They think you’re the Leviathan, and they’ve listed you as one of the most dangerous people in the world. They seem intent upon capturing you—and possibly assassinating you.”
Visola snorted. “Tell the CIA that they can go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut.”
“Hey, what?” said Glais, evidently hurt by this.
“Not a glazed donut, sweetie,” she corrected with a wink. “That would be bad. Just a regular donut. They can fuck it. While it’s rolling.”
“Visola, for chrissakes!” said Vachlan with a sigh. “Varia is sitting right there.”
“Eagerly committing every word my grandmother says to memory,” Varia said on cue. “I want to be just like her when I grow up.”
“Absofuckinlutely, you should be, kid!” Visola said proudly. “Wanted by the CIA! Now that’s rich—that’s something to add to my resume.”
“Visola, why have you been hiding things from me?” Vachlan demanded. “Do you know how much shit you’re in? Do you know how deep the shit is?”
“I’m guessing pretty deep,” she said with a shrug.
Vachlan slammed his palm down on the table. “Do not make fun of this situation, woman! I am talking about the kind of trouble that I can’t protect you from. The kind of trouble that you can’t
protect yourself from.”
“Isn’t that the best kind?” she asked.
“No,” Vachlan said quietly. “Maybe two, three hundred years ago, it was fun. But now, with their technology and resources… Viso, I swear! We’re lucky that we only had to deal with King Kyrosed last night.”
Everyone in the room remained quiet for a few seconds, processing this information.
Sionna finally cleared her throat, reaching for a glass of water. “Vachlan, my sister has something to tell you.”
“Do I really have to tell him anything?” Visola barked. “He’s been hiding things from me too. He didn’t mention that the CIA was looking for Leviathan! I didn’t hear that word until last night when King Kyrosed mentioned it. So how can I help him if he keeps me in the dark? What kind of a partnership is this?”
“Visola,” Vachlan said with a groan. “I’m sorry. You’re right—I should have shared my data with you, but I was scared of sending you into 100% focused war-mode. The twins need their mother. Frankly, I didn’t want to worry you until I knew for sure that war was unavoidable.”
“War is unavoidable?” she asked softly, partly with worry and partly with excitement.
“Yes,” he responded, “and that’s what this meeting is about. We’re going to war, and I need to contain it so it doesn’t come to Adlivun. It seems like most of the trouble is centered around other areas of Oceanus—Atlantis, mainly, and somewhat in Bimini. So can you come clean with us, Visola? Can you tell us what you know about Leviathan?”
She nodded slowly reaching a hand up to scratch her head. She frowned when she felt her short, stylish straight hair instead of her signature disheveled afro. If she was going to war, she should stop cultivating her hair and allow it to grow back to its feral length. Visola cleared her throat as she began to nervously tap her feet under the table. “Vachlan, I’m really flattered that you and the CIA think I’m responsible for whatever crap is going down all across the world—but for once, I’m not. I’ve actually been trying to stop the crap.”
“I don’t appreciate being lied to, Visola. I found reliable data linking you to the Leviathan—in addition to the obvious data being your tattoo. But I never thought you would be so careless as to use a word that was…”
“Hush, Vachlan. I’ll explain everything.” She looked to Sionna and Aazuria helplessly before turning to her husband. “You see, darling, this is the situation.” Visola sighed, pushing her chair back and folding her legs beneath her to indicate the beginning of story-time.
“Long ago, before I met and married The Destroyer of Kingdoms, I dated and dumped The Leviathan.”
Chapter 20: Enter the Leviathan
“And you had his name tattooed on your ass?!”
“Please, lower your voice,” Elandria said as she entered the room. “There are children sleeping elsewhere in the palace, and they’ve had enough excitement for one night.”
“See, Varia?” Visola was saying as she winked at the young girl. “This is how it’s done. Learn from grandma: If you want to be naughty, you could tattoo ‘I heart Glais’ across your boob or something. You know, something you’d really regret in five minutes.”
“Why would she regret that?” Glais asked innocently.
“Doing it later,” Varia said with a completely serious expression.
Aazuria cleared her throat. “Maybe Varia and Glais should exit the room, at least until Viso finishes telling us about the Leviathan. I know this story, and it’s not for the ears of children. Actually, it’s not for the ears of anyone under two hundred years old, so Trevain should probably leave the room. Brynne too.”
“Really?” Brynne said in surprise. “How bad can this fella be?”
“He was my sister’s boyfriend,” Sionna repeated dryly. “Doesn’t that answer your question? The minimum requirement for that title is that you must be capable of annihilating all of mankind.”
“You seemed to think that my capabilities were enchanting last night, Sionna,” Vachlan reminded her gently.
“I was completely blitzed on hallucinogens, antidepressants, and psychostimulants.”
“Opium and ecstasy?” Dr. Rosenberg asked.
“Worse,” Sionna said with a groan, pressing on her temples. “My original point was that Leviathan is a bad guy. A really bad guy.”
“In league with my father,” Aazuria said quietly. “Maybe more dangerous than my father. I still demand that Varia and Trevain leave the room before Visola recounts this man’s biography.”
“Nah, Zures. I’m not going to tell a story about my ex-boyfriend right now,” Visola said firmly. “Sionna already did that with Dylan, and I’m not going to steal her thunder like I always do. I’ll do it another time when you all aren’t so stressed out and can pay attention to what I’m saying. I like an engrossed audience.”
“What she means to say,” Sionna explained, “is that she’s insecure about her storytelling skills and that I’m going to be a tough act to follow.”
“I just don’t understand,” Vachlan said in frustration. “Why don’t I know this? This was imperative, need-to-know data! I have our airspace being closely monitored, and submarines waiting down below with torpedoes at the ready. I didn’t anticipate one old lunatic walking in with a hostage, but everything else, I’m completely prepared for. Visola, why didn’t you tell me about Leviathan? I thought the CIA was after you!”
“Jesus, Vachlan!” Visola said with a sigh. “Let’s be reasonable here. I couldn’t tell you I had my ex-boyfriend’s name tattooed on my ass.”
“You are getting that tattoo removed, Visola! If you ever want me to look at your ass or touch it again.”
“Yeah, right. Just try to go a day without touching this, sugarplum.”
“So this is why they exclude us from their mature conversations,” Glais commented, turning to Varia with a smirk. “I think we’ve been missing out on the best stuff.”
“Viso,” Sionna said in amusement. “What did you tell him it meant?”
The general grumbled. “I told him it was the name of a band I was in when I was younger.”
Sionna lifted her eyebrows. “But honey, you can’t play any instruments or sing…”
“I can rap,” Visola said defensively.
There were disappointed sighs from all around the table.
“No, seriously,” Visola said. “I can rap!”
“I think I’m a bit too befuddled and irritated to think,” Vachlan admitted. “Trevain, son—you take over this conversation.”
“Okay,” Trevain said warily. He strummed his fingers on the table. “So where is this man? This Leviathan? We need to kill him, right? Obviously. Where was he from?”
Sionna chewed on her lip as she glanced at her sister.
Aazuria was the first one to speak. “He should be in the Mediterranean. He was the original Prince of Atlantis.”
A silence descended on the room. A few people exchanged looks with each other.
“Well, then,” Vachlan said, standing up abruptly. “It’s settled. Pack your bags, Aazuria.” He turned and marched out of the room crossly, slamming the door behind him.
“To Atlantis we go,” Visola said happily.
Vachlan reentered the room and pointed harshly at his wife. “Not you, Visola. You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying here and taking care of our children, like a good mother.” With that, he exited the room again, slamming the door even louder than before.
“Like he can take on Leviathan without me,” Visola said grumpily.
He almost instantly reentered the room. “And get that fucking tattoo removed from your body immediately! Today!”
“It will probably take a few treatments,” Sionna began to explain.
“I don’t care!” Vachlan shouted. “Just get it off! And put my name there instead! V-A-C-H-L-A-N!”
“That would look nice,” Visola said, rubbing her rump. “I guess the last two letters will stay the same…”
Vachlan sent her a v
icious glare before slamming the door for a third time.
When Dylan and Sionna entered Princess Yamako’s hospital room, Empress Amabie rose to her feet and bowed deeply.
“Thank you both for preserving her life,” the woman said softly. “My daughter is worth more than all the riches of the empire. She means the world to me.”
Sionna moved forward to hug the empress. “To me as well,” she told the woman earnestly. “Has she woken up yet?”
“She fades in and out of awareness,” Empress Amabie said. “I haven’t slept all night—I suppose I should rest and let you take over this vigil for a while.”
“Yes, you should,” Sionna told the woman, clasping her hand gently. “Get some sleep. I’ll take care of Yama.”
“I know you will, dear.”
When Empress Amabie exited the room, Sionna moved to Yamako’s bedside. Her fingers went to the woman’s wrist to feel for her pulse. She sighed and lowered her chin. Dylan came up behind her, squeezing her shoulders in a reassuring way.
“She’s going to be just fine, Sio. But why am I saying that? You can judge for yourself, far better than I can.”
“I still needed to hear it,” Sionna admitted. She sighed. “I’m so glad you’re here, Dylan.”
“Not as glad as I am to be here.”
Yamako chose that moment to utter a soft groan. “Dr. Rosenberg,” she said in a raspy voice.
“Don’t speak,” Sionna said, grasping Yamako’s arm. She leaned down to press a kiss on the woman’s cheek. “Just rest, sweetheart.”
“No,” Yamako said. Feeling pain in her throat, she struggled to sit up in bed so she could use sign language. “I need to tell you two things. Really important.”
“We’re listening,” Dylan responded.
“Number one,” she signed hesitantly. She closed her eyes as if the information was difficult to deliver. “The reason I’m tracking Callder’s location is because there’s a slim possibility that he’s Kaito’s father.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sionna gasped. “You had an affair with Callder?”
Tides of Tranquility Page 27
