“Where’s the cake, Daddy?” Ivory said impatiently. “You promised cake.”
“Patience, young lady!” Elandria said as she entered the room, carrying the colossal cake, which was lit with six candles on each side, for each of the twins to blow out. She deposited it in between them, and gave them both a smile. “Make a wish,” she told them softly, “and then blow out the candles, all at once!”
“It has to be a very important wish,” Vachlan told them sternly. He glanced around the room at the gathered family members with a twinkle in his eye.
“Okay, I have my wish,” Ivory said, turning to her brother. “Ready?”
“Yup!” he said happily. “Let’s do this!”
The twins leaned forward and each took a huge breath before blowing out their candles. All the adults clapped for them.
“Do you want to know what I wished for?” Ronan asked his sister.
“No!” she snapped. “You can’t tell or it won’t come true. Don’t you know anything, dummy?”
Meanwhile, Visola was sneaking up behind the kids. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and whispered, “Boo!”
“Ahhhhhh!” Ivory screamed in excitement, jumping out of her chair. “Mommy!”
Ronan put his thumb in his mouth shyly. “Mommy?”
Visola gathered them both up in her arms, planting big, sloppy kisses on both of their cheeks. “Hey, munchkins. Didja miss me?”
“Yay!” Ivory said, jumping on Visola with ten times her usual energy. “My wish worked!” Ivory told everyone victoriously. “I’m the champion of the wishes!”
“No. No. No,” Ronan said firmly, pointing at himself with his thumb. “It was my wish. I wished for Mommy, and I brought her back. I’ve been good, so my wishes are more likely to come true than yours.”
“That’s with Santa Clause, not with birthday cakes!” Ivory told him. “I can be as bad as I want, and still get a wish on my birthday! Right, Mommy?”
Visola had tried to be cool and funny and light. She had tried to be cheerful, but she was falling apart. She wrapped her arms tightly around Ivory’s tiny body, and put her face in the child’s hair. She never wanted to let her daughter go again. “Sure, peanut butter cups,” she whispered. “You can be as naughty as you like, and still get your wishes. Just don’t be as bad as me.” Looking down at her shy son, Visola smiled sadly. Unlike his cheerful sister, Ronan seemed very overwhelmed by the situation.
The little boy was crying and sniffling. He had grabbed a portion of Visola’s skirt, and buried his face in the fabric to hide his tears.
“Oh, Ro-Ro,” Visola said, crouching to her knees and pulling him into a hug. “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I’m here, and I’m fine. I’m not going to go away again.” She pressed a kiss against his nose. “What’s wrong, little man? Why so grumpy?”
“I thought you didn’t love us anymore,” Ronan said. “I thought Auntie Elan was our new mommy forever.”
Visola looked up at Vachlan briefly. She sighed and pressed her cheek against Ronan’s. “No way am I leaving you, tadpole! I love you two so, so much. More than anything. Do you know why I came home so soon? Because I saw you in Daddy’s movie. You were such good actors!”
“I was better,” Ivory said quietly. “He kept forgetting his lines. And he only had two.”
“It was really sad,” Ronan said. “We had to pretend you came home, when you didn’t.”
Visola felt overcome by a sudden remorse and horror at the pain she had caused her children. She looked up, her face wrinkling. “Vachlan,” she said softly. “What have I done?”
He moved down to her side, and embraced her and the twins at the same time. “It’s nothing compared to what I’ve done,” he told her. “Nothing we can’t get past with time.”
She nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder for reassurance.
Elsewhere in the room, Princess Yamako was getting teary-eyed. “Has anyone seen Kaito lately?” she asked her friends.
Brynne nodded. “I was taking care of him for a little while, but then Empress Amabie requested he go to Japan to stay with her. He’s doing really well.”
“He’s a cheerful little guy,” Callder added. “He talks about spaceships nonstop.”
“Spaceships,” Princess Yamako said with a fond smile. “He always did want to be an astronaut.”
Naclana and Trevain were chatting with Dylan about Sionna’s letters.
“I read a few of them,” Dylan admitted. “They were carefully sealed in neatly organized scrolls. I started with the earliest letters. Her handwriting is so perfect and pretty. It was… difficult. Reading her words brought her to life almost as much as actually bringing her to life would have done. It was cathartic, but… haunting.”
The other men nodded in understanding.
Princess Yamako joined the conversation. “Excuse me, boys, but I need to steal Dr. Rosenberg.” She grabbed his arm and guided him to a corner. “So, Dylan. I heard you’ve got something pretty in your bedroom. Were you going to invite me over to see?”
“I’m so sorry, Princess,” Dylan said nervously, straightening his tie. “I never meant to keep her from you. I just couldn’t let them cremate her. Not when there’s still a chance… I know I must sound creepy, or mad—and the body is rightfully yours. You should be able to do with it as you please. I no longer need her. I have the letters. I have proof of her life, and her love. I have something real to hold onto.”
Yamako looked at Dylan curiously. “A mad scientist is only mad until he proves that his shit works. Then he’s brilliant.” She moved a bit closer to him. “You know this, Doctor.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She reached out and removed his glasses. She breathed a fog of hot vapor onto them, before using her blouse to clean the lenses. “Sionna and I worked for months, trying to find a way to raise the dead. And then she did it. I was there, and it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever helped to accomplish. It might take a few hundred years, but you and I can do great things together. When do we start?”
“Are you saying that you want to help me?” he asked. “With Sionna?”
Yamako replaced the doctor’s glasses on his face. “Where else are you going to find a bio-nanotechnology specialist who loves Sionna as much as you do? Come on. It could be fun. Everyone needs a hobby.”
“Princess Yamako,” Dylan said in surprise. “Are you… flirting with me?”
“Not at all,” she said with a frown. “I just have a hunch that we’ll work well together.”
“What makes you think that?”
Yamako gave him a mischievous smile. “Well, Sionna worked well with you. And she worked well with me. It only stands to reason that you and I should work well together.”
“Good heavens!” Dylan exclaimed. “I—I—I am not interested in that! I do not think we should talk about this anymore, Princess. It’s unseemly.”
“I wasn’t talking about sex,” she told him. “I meant actual work. Sionna fell in love with you while working as a medic over injured bodies in France. She fell in love with me while working over Aazuria’s mostly-dead body here in Adlivun. It stands to reason, that if you and I tried to work together, over her dead body—we might be successful. We already have the skills necessary, and we’ve shared a similar work environment.”
“Oh, yes. Sure, you’re right,” he said nervously. “Forgive me. I’m just… sensitive. I’m not very… comfortable in unusual social situations.” He cleared his throat, and repositioned his glasses a little higher on his nose.
Yamako gave him a lascivious smirk. “So, when are you going to invite me over to your bedroom?”
Meanwhile, in a different corner of the room, Aazuria was sitting with her sister.
“I know you’re going to miss them,” Aazuria said as she observed the reunion of the twins with Visola and Vachlan.
“She has no idea,” Elandria said softly. “I was their mother for a little while.”
Elandria shuddered. “I don’t know. I like other people’s children well enough.
“Maybe you should try,” Aazuria suggested softly.
“I’m too scared,” Elandria told her. “I don’t think I would be a good mother.”
“You’ve always been everyone’s part-time mother,” Aazuria commented. “Corallyn, Alcyone, even Varia…”
“And how many of those names you just listed are alive and with us today?” Elandria asked.
Aazuria flinched.
“Oh, no, darling,” Elandria said, reaching out to touch her sister’s arm. “I never meant to imply that Varia was…”
“I know she’s alive,” Aazuria said. “I raised her strong. I’m not worried about that. I am only concerned about her state-of-mind and general well-being. I just want to know that she’s happy.”
“She will come home,” Elandria promised her sister. The younger woman hesitated. “Do you remember Cassandra?”
“Of course,” Aazuria said softly. “She was not with us for very long before she took her own life.”
“Yes,” Elandria said. “My mother and sister took their own lives. I was too afraid to speak for hundreds of years. If I were to have a child, what if he or she was weak, like the women in my family? What if she was mentally ill and frail? What if she just died, like everyone else I have loved?”
“Elandria,” Aazuria said with a smile. “You just melted an entire army with a lethal lullaby. You aren’t weak. Any child you have, would have several crucial advantages. She would not have to ever encounter our father, and she would have Trevain. Those are two advantages that even Varia didn’t have.”
“Tell me honestly, sister,” Elandria said in a hushed voice. “Would it bother you if I had a child with Trevain?”
Aazuria turned to look at the man in question. She felt her stomach roil a little. She looked down. “I must admit, the thought is slightly upsetting. I’m not sure why. I only want the best for you, and I value your happiness above all else. Maybe because it’s something special I shared with Trevain, and if you also shared that—I would have absolutely nothing left with him. It’s quite foolish of me to imagine that there is anything left, anyway. Maybe it’s because I worry he would care less for Varia. Either way, I would get used to the idea and I would love your child as my own—as you have done for me.”
“I need to think about it more,” Elandria said. “The idea is too terrifying.”
Aazuria smiled. “Elan—you be honest with me now. Do you want me to divorce him?”
“No,” Elandria said immediately. She turned to Aazuria with a devious smile. “I am worried that if he was not married to someone else, he might lose some of that sinful, forbidden charm. Knowing that he belongs to you makes him much more attractive to me.”
Aazuria threw her head back and laughed, attracting the attention of several people in the room. “You’re hilarious,” she said.
“I’m being serious,” Elandria said. “If you divorce him, I might have to do the same, on the grounds of ‘boredom.’ That’s a thing, right?”
“I could make it a thing,” Aazuria said lightly. “Someday—let’s have a real conversation about my divorce. I would be willing to hand him over to you completely.”
“You do not mean that, Zuri. Now, you’re lying to yourself.”
“I do mean it.” Aazuria said with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, haven’t you heard? I’m dating someone.”
Elandria snorted. “The Prince of Atlantis! Right. Because a man you spent centuries hating has suddenly reformed into a saint.”
“Hardly a saint; but he is a solution.” Aazuria grew meditative. “Being with him would resolve the whole issue with us both being married to Trevain. I could get a divorce. I could marry Taranis. It would be simple. You two would no longer feel guilty about me being alone. But more importantly, Taranis saved my country. My people need that kind of power and protection.”
Elandria seemed suddenly tense. “Zuri,” she said quietly. “Do you even like this man?”
“I don’t know,” Aazuria responded truthfully, “but I do like how much he bothers Trevain.”
The women laughed together.
Chapter 19: Puddle of Prevention
Varia tugged at the shackles which held her wrists and ankles. She had been held prisoner before, but it had never felt like this. Her body floated in the undersea dungeon, and her stomach growled for a substantial meal. However, none of this bothered her very much. What was most upsetting was that she had been separated from Glais. She had not seen him in weeks. She did not even know if he was alive.
Seeing a swirl of green fabric before her, Varia grimaced. Mother Melusina came to visit her once a day, to ask her for the same favor. Over and over again, she asked. Over and over again, Varia refused. She would do anything the woman asked of her in order to save Glais, but she could not agree to this demand.
The blindfolded priestess appeared before her, hovering in the water just past the prison bars. “Have you decided to help me yet?”
“Have you healed Glais yet?” Varia demanded, using sign language with her shackled wrists.
“I will not perform a miracle for you without my payment,” Mother Melusina responded. “Women in your family have a tendency to try to swindle me for my services.”
“I highly doubt that is the case,” Varia said defensively. “My Aunt Elandria was faithful to you for years…”
“For years! I brought your mother’s soul back from the grave. The arrangement was that the silent one would be mine forever. A life for a life. A sister for a sister. A beloved wife for a beloved wife. The bargain was broken!”
“And you brought my grandfather back to life,” Varia accused. “What bargain was that?”
“That was for a greater purpose,” Mother Melusina said. “That was to teach the silent one to be strong; she needed to learn to roar, in order to save Adlivun like she has recently done.”
“What did she do?” Varia asked.
“She has slain an entire army of men in a single breath,” said the priestess proudly.
“No,” Varia said. “My aunt would never hurt anyone. Please stop messing with my head. I just want Glais to be safe.”
“He will be, when you agree to help me.”
“He’s your nephew! I know you care about him. Why am I the only one who needs to suffer for his recovery?”
“You don’t need to suffer, child. Just agree to do what I ask.”
“I’m not going to betray my mother for you,” Varia told the woman.
The priestess swam closer to the bars of the prison. “I am not asking you to betray her. Your mother is about to make some very poor decisions. Decisions that will doom us all. What I require from you is that you either prevent her mistakes—or eventually resolve them. Unfortunately, making up for your mother’s mistakes won’t be easy. It will take an entire lifetime to erase the effects of a misjudgment that it could take only a few weeks to prevent. We sea-dwellers have a saying: A puddle of prevention is worth an ocean of cure.”
“My mother does not make mistakes,” Varia said stubbornly.
“Oh, my dear. You are so young. Did you not warn Queen Aazuria of Sionna’s impending death? Did you not give her a chance to stop that event?”
Varia could not respond. She turned her head to the side. “Please. Just let me see Glais.”
“I need you to influence your mother down the correct path,” the priestess said. “When you agree, I will help the boy.” The woman began swimming away.
“Wait! Don’t leave me here. Let me see him! Let me see Glais!” Varia was left all alone in the prison. She yanked angrily at her chains. “Let me see him!” she screamed into the water. She closed her eyes in defeat. She missed home dearly and severely regretted leaving the protection of her family. She felt responsible for Glais’ mysterious illness, and she knew that she needed to help him. H
e was the most important person to her, and she could not lose him. However, betraying her mother was not an option. “I will not break,” she told herself. But she knew that she would.
“Empress Amabie!” Visola exclaimed, moving forward to hug her elderly friend. “You’re a sight for sore eyes!”
“My dear, dear Visola,” said the empress, gathering the younger woman up in her arms. “You did so well. So very well! I don’t think I’ve witnessed a more successful campaign in my thousand years of existence.”
“Shucks,” Visola said with a blush. “I couldn’t have done it without your support and backup. To be honest, it was more of a crusade than a campaign. I wasn’t thinking too clearly at first—I wasn’t all there. If not for Princess Yamako and her newfangled gadgets, I wouldn’t have completed my mission as quickly as I did.”
“Thank you for keeping my daughter alive,” the empress said.
“She kept me alive, too,” Visola admitted. “Hey, look! It’s Sultan Olokun and that bitch Namaka!” Visola moved across the room to greet the couple, who were there to represent the Mami Wata from Africa.
It was the first meeting of the Oceanic War Council. They had all gathered in Diomede City to decide how they would handle the rising threat from the Anti-Sea Alliance. The general consensus was that most of the leaders of sea-dwelling nations wanted to go to war on the countries involved, but the decision needed to be discussed more thoroughly and decided upon more officially.
Visola moved around the room, greeting everyone cheerfully, while Aazuria remained seated at the giant round table, looking over her paperwork with consternation. Trevain and Elandria stood in one corner of the room, chatting with the politicians who approached them. Elandria did not always participate in war-council meetings, but having recently engaged in a rather aggressive and lethal act of critical warfare, it seemed silly for her to stay with the children and not acknowledge that she was a major participant in this situation. Visola noticed that Princess Yamako and Dylan Rosenberg were sitting off to one side and chatting privately. She smiled to herself; it did seem that those two were spending an unusual amount of time together recently. Dylan’s spirits had lifted considerably since receiving Sionna’s letters, and Princess Yamako seemed to be very pushy about being granted access to Dylan’s bedroom for “scientific research.” Visola found this highly amusing; the Japanese princess definitely had her share of quirky fetishes.
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