“Promise?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she responded, with a gracious smile.
Naclana nodded. He knew that if Aazuria said yes, that she meant yes. She was a woman of her word, and there was no need to question her, prod her, or request confirmation. Hitting the buttons on the airlock, he stared into her blue eyes as the giant metal doors closed between them. “I never liked that man,” he told her as the doors locked shut. He saw her lower her eyelashes in sadness at the last moment. Frowning, Naclana turned around, waiting for the doors to open to allow him to swim out into the water. His foot tapped nervously on the metal floor. When the water hit him, he felt like he had been injected with steroids. He was no longer concerned about the thousands of men wearing yellow and black. He swam forward, a safe distance from the submarine, and hovered in the water with his hands in the air, the universal gesture of peace.
He waited for several minutes for someone to finally come forward and meet with him. As he was always waiting on kings, queens, and powerful leaders, patience was a great asset to his profession. He was sure that he could best Vachlan when it came to his ability to wait. Turning back to the submarine, he saw Aazuria waiting in the window. Her white hair and expressionless face gave her an image of untouched innocence. She did look unreal; almost angelic. Naclana swallowed a lump of pride in his throat, for the honor of being able to call her family.
Turning back to the soldiers, he swam forward with a renewed conviction. He needed to do this for Aazuria. After crossing a certain threshold, he found that certain groups of the armored men began pointing their rifles at him. He swallowed, stopped, and held his hands up. He waited for several more minutes, until a blonde woman began to swim forward. She wore a deep mustard colored gown that swirled around her body beautifully as she swam. She stopped a few dozen feet away from him, and curtsied in greeting. There were several gold barrettes in her hair, pinning her sandy blonde curls. From her movements, he could tell that she had been raised as royalty. Naclana bowed deeply.
“Welcome to Fort Triton,” the woman said in sign language. “Please state your name and purpose in coming here.”
“I am Naclana Nodens of Adlivun, and I am here to announce the visit of my cousin, Queen Aazuria Vellamo of Adlivun.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she displayed recognition. “When you say ‘Vellamo’ do you refer to the royal families of the Nordic seas? Old Valhalla?”
“Yes,” Naclana responded respectfully. “I believe our families met, long ago. We have come to seek an audience with Prince Taranis Evenor of Atlantis. We believe he might have knowledge of the location of the queen’s brother-in-law, Callder Murphy. He went missing a few weeks ago, and his last known location was in these parts.”
“I see,” the woman responded, with a warm smile. “You want to meet the Leviathan. I am Marina Evenor, sister to Taranis. If you and your cousin just wait here, I will inform my brother of your arrival, and he will come out and receive you when he gets a chance.”
“Thank you, Princess Marina,” Naclana said, with another deep bow. “Do you have any idea how long it will be until we can meet with him?”
She hesitated, glancing back to the fortress with a gentle shrug. “Unfortunately, my brother is one of those new-age, free-spirited types. You might say that he marches to the beat of his own drummer. It would be impossible for me to tell you when he will be free.”
“I see,” Naclana responded. “Well, it is very important that Queen Aazuria speaks with him as soon as possible. Please place some gentle pressure on him to meet with us at his earliest convenience.”
“I will,” said Marina, with a polite nod. “Unfortunately, I cannot invite you inside the fort to wait, and you will have to stay out here. Forgive my poor hospitality, but we must be cautious. I hope you are comfortable in your vehicle.”
“We are,” Naclana responded. “Thank you for your concern. I will inform my cousin of the situation. We look forward to touching base with Prince Taranis.”
“I am sure he is looking forward to meeting with your queen,” Marina said. With a sly smile, she turned and swam away.
Naclana stared after her billowing citrine gown as she retreated. The color piqued his memory, and brought a deep inner sadness to the surface of his skin. Shaking his head to clear away the cobwebs that were clouding his mind, he turned and began making powerful strokes in the water to carry his body back to the submarine to tell his cousin the news.
That could have gone worse, he thought to himself as he moved through the water, staring at Aazuria’s silhouette. I could have been stung by a thousand bullets from those scary armored bumblebees.
6 hours later…
Aazuria tried to suppress a huge yawn.
Naclana noticed his cousin’s state; her eyes were closing for several seconds at a time and her chin was falling periodically. He knew that she had not slept since getting off the plane from Adlivun. He glanced to the driver of the submarine, and saw that the man had dozed off while reading a magazine. Similarly, other crew members were sprawled out about the vehicle, in various states of napping. Naclana frowned. He crossed his arms angrily and looked out of the submarine’s window. “This is ridiculous!” he exclaimed.
Blinking rapidly and forcing her eyes fully open, Aazuria looked to her cousin with a frown. “Has he come out yet?”
“No. This is intentional. He’s doing this on purpose. He’s making us wait here for some diabolical reason.” Naclana scowled. “Maybe he’s trying to exhaust us, and then he’ll send the wasps to attack once we’re sluggish and off our guard.”
“Maybe he’s just trying to insult me,” Aazuria said softly. “We do have a history, you know.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the whole story,” Naclana said. “Maybe you should tell it—we seem to have endless amounts of time.”
“I don’t know if I feel like rehashing the past at the moment,” Aazuria answered, putting a hand in her hair and rubbing her scalp. “Sedna, he better come out soon. I’m really not in the mood for this.”
“Did you ever make him wait? Is this revenge for a past situation?” Naclana asked.
“My father might have.” Aazuria looked thoughtful for a moment. “It is possible that he is still bitter about something that happened over five hundred years ago. Prince Taranis did something awful to my friend, and in return, I humiliated him.”
“Zuri! Don’t you think this was important for me to know?” Naclana exhaled loudly. “You humiliated him? How?!”
Aazuria closed her eyes and gently pressed her fingertips against her burning eyelids. “It was so long ago, Naclana. It was before our people even migrated to Adlivun. I could not think that he would still hold a grudge against me for such a petty affront.”
“What could you have done?” Naclana asked, frowning. “I know you, cousin. I know that you would not have done something hurtful unless it was fair. He must have deserved it.”
“Oh, he did. He deserved far worse than what I did. And besides that, he already took revenge on me and my people.” Aazuria allowed her hands to fall into her lap, and she looked up at her cousin with eyes that were red and bloodshot, and more importantly, deeply unhappy. “We were betrothed,” she told Naclana softly.
“Betrothed?” Naclana exclaimed loudly. “Betrothed?!”
“Yes,” she responded, gazing out the window with a forlorn look. “Not that it matters now. I can’t imagine that Prince Taranis Evenor, the ‘Leviathan,’ would even remember that I turned down his marriage proposal in a ballroom before both of our families and several hundred guests.”
Naclana’s eyes widened. “You did… what? Where was I? Why haven’t I heard this story?”
“Oh, I was very young,” Aazuria explained. “It was before you came to stay with us to take care of my mother.”
In that moment, at the mention of Aazuria’s mother, Naclana saw the resemblance between the two women. Having served the old queen for years, he remembered how her heal
th had failed due to the pressures of leadership. And due to the abuse of King Kyrosed. He immediately moved to Aazuria’s side, and put his fingers in her hair, helping to massage the tension out of her scalp. He could see that she was both stressed and miserable.
“Thank you,” she told him, closing her eyes at this nurturing touch. “My makeup is starting to feel disgusting. I hope we don’t have to wait much longer.”
“You should remove it, and reapply it once we get our meeting,” Naclana said. He drew his lips together in a grim line as he stared out the window of the submarine. “I thought you all said that the Leviathan was Visola’s ex-boyfriend?” he said in confusion.
“Yes. He was,” Aazuria responded gently. “He was her first lover—her first serious relationship. She was crazy about him. That’s the primary reason I turned down his proposal. He was an excellent political match, from a noble family, with some good values and vast intelligence—and of course, he was strong and healthy and would have made a great husband. But I simply could not do that to her. I barely knew Visola at the time—actually, at first, we did not get along in the least—but she was so torn up about it, that I decided to stand by her instead of him.”
“Oh, I see,” Naclana said with growing anger. He continued to massage Aazuria’s neck and shoulders. “So he’s a two-timing sonuvabitch.”
“That’s right,” Aazuria said.
“Like Trevain.”
Aazuria flinched and looked up at Naclana in surprise. “Trevain is not…”
“Yes, he is.”
“No,” Aazuria said, brushing away her cousin’s hands and rising to her feet. “He never meant to…”
“Well, then why is he continuing to see both of you?” Naclana asked. “Why isn’t he making a choice and being a man about the situation?”
Aazuria stared at her cousin for several seconds, with a stricken look on her face. She resembled a deer caught in the headlights. Finally, she bit her lip. “He did choose,” she said in a small voice. “He gave me divorce papers two days ago. I haven’t signed them yet.” She glanced over at the other end of the submarine. “The papers are in my briefcase. I have not decided what I’m going to do.”
Naclana felt horrible. He suddenly understood why Aazuria had been acting strange. He did not know what to do, but he knew he needed to help. Following her gaze, he saw the briefcase. “Do you want me to look over the papers to make sure that everything’s in order?” he asked her.
“No!” Aazuria said, looking like she might be close to tears. “I don’t need my lawyer right now, Naclana! I need my family. I need a friend.” She began to pace back and forth, across the length of the submarine. “Varia’s gone. I can’t even speak to my daughter about this. How can I divorce her father without consulting her? She’s too important to me, to take action and move forward—to completely exclude her from this situation as though she does not exist.” Aazuria took a deep breath. “Elandria would be too concerned about hurting me to tell me how she really feels. She is so kind, and so selfless. She has nothing in this world, other than Trevain. He has been so good to her—so healthy for her. He’s her foundation. How could I ever presume to take that away from her? How could I take even 5% of that away from her?” She stopped pacing and rested a hand on the interior wall of the submarine. “Because I could. I could accost my sister and declare, ‘He was mine first. I call dibs, so back off.’ Poor Elandria would not go near him, ever again. I could march up to Trevain tomorrow, and threw myself at him, and said, ‘You’re mine, and only mine. I want you to be my husband again.’ The poor man would be overjoyed. He’s been trying so hard—and I recognize that. Before he chose her, he did choose me. But I put up all these walls—I didn’t make it easy for him. I shut him out, Naclana. This is my fault. I asked for this…”
Naclana moved over to his cousin and grasped her shoulders. “Hey. Look at me. You were abducted. You were held in captivity for almost ten years. That’s something that none of us can understand—and most of us would not have survived. You’re not responsible for what happened to you, Zuri. And of course it’s made you distant. Of course it’s made it difficult for you to connect with people. That’s why Sionna called in Dr. Rosenberg to try to help you. If Trevain can’t be patient or understanding about your issues, then screw him! You deserve better. I’ve always said that you deserve better.”
“He has been patient and understanding,” Aazuria said. She was screwing up her face and trying very hard not to cry. Turning to look out of the submarine window, she frowned. “Naclana, will you please go and speak to the Atlanteans, and see how much longer it will be until Prince Taranis is free? I cannot stand this infernal waiting any longer. I never wait—I never stop moving around and doing things, and keeping busy. If I have too much time to wait and think, I’m afraid I’ll fall apart. I need action. I need danger. I need challenges. I simply cannot be made to wait right now.”
Understanding how serious her plea was, Naclana nodded and struck his fist to his chest in the Adluvian salute. “I will go at once, Queen Aazuria.”
“Thank you, cousin.”
As Naclana moved toward the airlock, he frowned. He mulled over this new information, trying to think of how to advise Aazuria in her complicated love life. Having never had much success in his own, he did not feel he was qualified enough to help her. As he swam out into the water, toward Fort Triton, he stared angrily at the thousands of men in wasp-like armor. How dare they make Aazuria wait for so long? Do they not know who she is? He drew in deep breaths of water as he swam toward the castle. I have tried to be diplomatic and respectful. Maybe it’s high time for some good, old-fashioned intimidation.
Once more, he waited for the woman in yellow to swim out of the fortress and greet him. After several minutes, she finally came. Naclana stared at her, burning holes into her skull with the ferocity of his glare.
“Hello again, Naclana,” Marina said politely. “I hope that you are still comfortable…”
“We have been waiting for over six hours,” Naclana said briskly in sign language. “Do you expect me to believe that Prince Taranis has not gotten a chance to come out and speak with us in all this time?”
“As I told you, he’s a free-spirit. Unfortunately, you were not an expected visitor and did not have an appointment.”
“I would think that the prince would show more respect to the Queen of Adlivun,” Naclana responded. “This is not a social call. We are here to attend to grave matters.”
“I am sure that you are. However, my brother is an unusual sort of man. I do not think he owns a watch. In fact, he might not even understand the concept of time.” Marina inclined her head apologetically. “You are welcome to leave and return again, another day.”
“If I might ask, what task has your brother so occupied?” Naclana demanded.
Marina smiled sweetly. “I believe he is playing a particularly engaging game of poker at the moment.”
“Poker!” Naclana said out loud in disbelief. He could see that Marina had read his lips, and was smiling even larger at his incredulous reaction. He composed himself, and returned to sign language. “I understand that he is busy. That is fine. However, I do fear that if Queen Aazuria is made to wait any longer, she might feel it necessary to take drastic action to secure your brother’s attention.”
“I see. You are threatening us,” Marina responded. She glanced over her shoulder at the thousands of armored men who had not moved in six hours. “I do not think we are too worried. Besiege us if you must. Attack us if you must. Perhaps you will gain our attention.”
“You seem like a reasonable young woman,” Naclana told her. “I would prefer that it not come to that. We will wait a little bit longer. If you grant us an audience with your brother within a reasonable timeframe, you can expect no hostility from us. But Queen Aazuria has been to war several times in the past few years, with very successful results. If you leave her no choice but to do battle with your people in order to rescue her brother-in
-law, Callder Murphy, I believe that is exactly what she will decide to do.”
“How delightful,” Marina responded. “My own brother, Prince Taranis Evenor, has an insatiable zest for warfare. He will be overjoyed to learn of your brave queen and her entitled impatience.”
Naclana raised his eyebrows. “If you mean to imply that she feels entitled to know of the wellbeing and safety of our missing family member, then yes. Yes, she is entitled to that. Yes, Callder’s wife, Brynne, is entitled to know the whereabouts of her husband. Yes, Callder’s daughter, Kolora, is entitled to having a father.”
“You are very righteous, Naclana,” Marina responded. “I hope that serves you well in battle. You have two options now—be patient and politely wait for my brother. Or, attack us, and draw us into combat. I have heard that those submarines are powerful machines, but we have great technology and immense manpower, too. Best of luck to you.”
When she turned and swam away, Naclana gnashed his teeth together furiously. This has been a really bad day, he thought to himself as he headed back to Aazuria. I only pray to Sedna that it does not get any worse.
12 hours later…
Aazuria could not seem to stop pacing back and forth across the submarine floor.
“Calm down,” Naclana told her, trying to suppress his own rage. “I’m sure he will be out to meet you anytime now…”
“This is the most insulted I’ve ever been,” Aazuria said. She turned to the crew of the submarine. “Call in… a hundred war submarines from Atlantis and Helike. How fast can they be here? I’m laying siege to Leviathan’s fortress. Let’s starve him out with our torpedoes.”
“Whoa!” Naclana shouted, throwing his arms out to either side. “Hold up! Zuri, what’s gotten into you?”
“I’m running out of patience,” she responded.
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