by Starla Night
Warrior Poro frowned. “But, eh, sir, if he orders us to leave him, we have no choice.”
Xarin’s jaw flexed. He regarded Harmony. “Aiycaya is a traditional city. We obey our elders and superiors.”
“Sir,” Warrior Poro snapped his acknowledgment.
So if First Lieutenant Tibe got her away from King Kayo, then no one would intervene.
It was still better. “Thank you, Second Lieutenant Xarin.”
The warrior glanced at her sharply. His aura plunged to a darker shade. He worried for her.
Well, Harmony worried for herself too. She’d have to be more careful.
“Convey Sacred Bride Harmony to the king right away.” Xarin gestured to the two warriors.
She kicked her human feet.
They began their long ascent.
Xarin joined the coral testers. Breaking through would take a long time. Long enough for Faier to heal. She hoped.
Long enough for her to break through to the king.
She must convince King Kayo that Elder Bawa and Tibe were plotting against him before they overthrew him.
“Perhaps you could let slip those fins you do not have,” Warrior Poro commented as they inched upward at her super-slow pace.
“Warrior Poro,” Warrior Luin snapped.
“Just thinking we could give the king the good news much faster.”
“We cannot. And stop speaking to Sacred Bride Harmony.”
“You are conscientious since ‘the incident,’ are you not, Warrior Luin?”
Warrior Luin dropped silent. He crossed his arms over his chest. His aura diminished.
“Incident?” Harmony repeated.
“Ever since First Lieutenant Tibe passed him over for his personal guard, he has been the worst enforcer of nitpicky—”
“Poro.”
“I am explaining why—”
“Poro!”
“You got passed over?” Harmony asked. “Promotions aren’t based on succession?”
“Only the king is chosen by succession,” Warrior Poro explained while Warrior Luin hugged his chest, finally defeated. “The other positions can groom a successor. First Lieutenant Bawa planned for Warlord Xarin to succeed him after he became the Aiycaya representative to the All-Council. But instead, King Kayo chose Tibe, a warrior barely older than he was. He said if a king can rule with youth and inexperience, then our first lieutenant can also.”
“Poro…”
“I am not speaking with anyone. Just speaking aloud, Warrior Luin.”
“You do not need to speak aloud this ancient history.”
“Hmph. Should I instead remember how you acted with honor over First Lieutenant Tibe’s orders? That is why you were punished.”
“I would like to know,” she said.
The two warriors glared at each other.
Make them listen.
She sighed. “Isn’t it ruder to ignore a sacred bride than to answer politely?”
Warrior Luin grimaced.
“He does not know,” Warrior Poro commented. “He has not seen a sacred bride since he was a young fry. Even I barely remember. That is why, when the rebel city Atlantis was founded, many of our warriors left to join. Some were dragooned into a war. Those who returned and begged for mercy were instead exiled as traitors.”
Warrior Luin’s aura darkened even further. “I knew and yet…”
“And yet, when an old friend begged for food and a trident to defend himself from the predators in the open ocean, our Warrior Luin showed him kindness.”
“You gave him charity?”
“I said I had lost my trident over a vent,” he said, clipped. “Which is true. That is where I released the trident and food.”
“For the other warrior to pick up,” Warrior Poro said.
“First Lieutenant Tibe saw the lie and turned the king against me.” Warrior Luin’s shoulders dropped with remembered defeat. “Now, I patrol the innermost circle of the Life Tree.”
She loved the beautiful glow of the Life Tree. Its dais loomed overhead, filling her with strength. She paddled toward it hard. “That should be a reward.”
“They reserve such an easy patrol for trainees and young fry.”
So it was an insult. “But you don’t have trainees or young fry, right? And it’s obviously necessary, because look at the Trench Jack that destroyed the prison.”
“That was an act of war by another exile,” Warrior Poro corrected. “While the competent warriors hunted, this traitor cut a large fish from the school and drove it to the prison.”
“Why?”
Warrior Poro shrugged. “He wanted to sabotage Aiycaya before the All-Council. Kill the prisoner before the judgment.”
That didn’t fit with her theory that Tibe and Elder Bawa arranged the whole attack. “How did the exile know you had a prisoner? You guys aren’t supposed to talk, right?”
The warriors both looked at each other.
“Perhaps he watched?” Warrior Luin suggested. “During the wedding ceremony, they reduced the patrols…”
The confusion made an itch in her brain. “But no one knew Faier was a rebel until after the wedding ceremony. So nobody knew the All-Council would be called to judge him until after. And how would an exile have found out without talking to an Aiycaya warrior?”
“The exile might have overheard Elder Bawa’s message at the Echo Point,” Warrior Poro mused.
“And then waited until you went out on a hunt and drove a fish into the prison?”
“It is a little strange,” Warrior Luin admitted. “The giant fish should have been stopped well outside the city. First Lieutenant Tibe will discipline any warriors who abandoned their patrols.”
“Unless he was the one who ordered them to abandon their patrols.”
Both warriors shook their heads firmly.
“First Lieutenant Tibe is loyal to the king,” Warrior Luin told her. “The king approves everything he does. He knows the king’s heart even better than the king himself does.”
“First Lieutenant Tibe’s coldness frightened you after the accident,” Warrior Poro agreed. “He is a serious warrior, and perhaps he is not ready to soothe his own sacred bride, but harsher warriors have softened after entangling their souls. You will see.”
She was afraid she wouldn’t.
And their insistence, like Xarin’s, frightened her much more than Tibe’s coldness. If she didn’t wake King Kayo up to the danger, Tibe would bend him around until he was as cruel and unstable as Lifet.
And all the warriors of the city would enter the darkness with him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Harmony, flanked by Warriors Luin and Poro, reached the lip of the gleaming Life Tree dais. The Life Tree rose magnificently over the city. Beneath its boughs floated a group of warriors, including King Kayo and Tibe, hovering over…something. She paddled forever to cross the ledge, and then she could see.
King Kayo floated over a blood-saturated corpse. His aura exuded darkness. Sadness fought with bitter anger.
This was a dangerous time for him.
Tibe argued confidently. “Do not linger on this exile. You waste precious time honoring him.”
One of the waiting warriors, Warlord Sao, eyed her. He was still icy blue, including his eyes.
She shivered and continued paddling, approaching the cluster of warriors with determination.
“I only showed you the body to prove it was Mawa,” Tibe argued. “Now, the warriors will destroy it.”
King Kayo pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes were red and his aura dim with tragedy.
Tibe waved at Warlord Sao to remove the body.
“Wait.” King Kayo lowered his hand. “Wait, Tibe. I must…confirm.”
“Confirm what? His identity is obvious. His scarring is not as disfiguring as the rebel’s. And—”
“A moment, Tibe.”
“This display is not proper, my king. Mawa turned his back on the city. He betrayed us.”
&n
bsp; King Kayo said nothing. His gaze fixed bleakly on the lifeless body.
“Elder Bawa awaits your aid. He prepares for the All-Council.”
Silence.
“My king, I assure you—”
“You assure me you will wait,” the king snapped, pulling away from the mango warrior. “I am king. You are first lieutenant. Be silent.”
Tibe frowned harshly. “My king, I dislike this attitude.”
King Kayo groaned. “Can you not be silent for a single moment?”
“You never disagreed with me before the rebel. He has poisoned your brain. And your sacred bride interferes. You must put her in your castle where she belongs.”
She flushed.
The Life Tree tinkled as its resin gems clinked.
She was a queen. Be strong. Confident.
Harmony dropped so her toes bounced on the giant white pearls. “Uh. Hey. You, uh, just can’t obey the king’s orders, can you?”
Both the king and Tibe looked up.
The king warmed, his aura glowing. “Harmony. You are free.”
Tibe cooled. “Where is the rebel?”
Behind her, Warrior Luin answered. “The coral still traps him.”
“You just can’t quiet down and give him a minute’s peace,” she continued. “And these warriors assured me you always do what the king wants. But, uh, I don’t see it.”
“You accuse me of ignoring tradition?” His teeth gleamed white in a facsimile of a smile. “That is a strange insult coming from a mainland-dwelling, modern bride.”
The ocean shimmered with danger.
King Kayo had told Tibe her secret.
He had told Tibe.
All the warriors looked at Harmony with new eyes.
She wasn’t a traditional sacred bride. That meant she was dangerous to them. They had to get rid of her. The All-Council would be angry.
Harmony heard those thoughts cross their minds with no one speaking.
Her hands opened and closed. Just as when Warlord Sao had cornered her with a harness, a crowd surrounded her and she couldn’t see any allies. Not even the one male she had trusted.
King Kayo avoided her gaze. His aura darkened while his cheeks heated. “I asked you not to speak of this, Tibe.”
“And I warned you of the dangers in allowing a bride, any bride, to roam beyond your castle.” The sharp mango warrior tilted his chin at King Kayo, superior. “This mainland female’s roaming endangers Aiycaya.”
“She must be happy.” King Kayo fixed Tibe with hard, bitter anger. “Her young fry is our only hope.”
“Her visible presence hurts Elder Bawa’s petition.”
“He petitions for us to claim our sacred brides from her tribe. She would be the very next female we—”
“A mainland female would not have been the next sacred bride. You control her. Or I will.”
Tibe turned toward Harmony with a dark, satisfied smile.
She braced, her feet half-flexed. Whatever he planned, she would not go quietly.
The king flew in front of him. A growl thrummed in his chest, and his protective aura glowed brighter than even the Life Tree. “She is mine.”
Tibe stopped smiling.
“You will not threaten her.”
Tibe floated back, confused and surprised. “My king. What are you saying?”
“Touch her, and I will end you, Tibe.” His vibration echoed like that of a true king. The Life Tree made a bright tinkling noise.
Protectiveness flowed in the water and wrapped Harmony up safely.
Tibe looked stunned. “But I…I do not understand. You have never doubted me before.”
“You did not threaten my bride before.”
“She is just a female, my king.” Dark lines creased Tibe’s brow as he realized King Kayo would defend her before he would allow Tibe his way. “I have always been faithful. Always. I championed you. I defended you. And now you revile me?”
King Kayo’s protective stance wilted. “You have always championed me. That is why you are my first lieutenant. I do trust and respect you.”
“And this is how you show it? By throwing my loyalty away?”
King Kayo didn’t answer. Shame shackled him.
A sneer returned to Tibe’s face. He looked satisfied that he still had ultimate control over the king. “I took your side, my king. Do not forget. Elder Bawa would send her to the surface without me to support you.”
Harmony’s heart beat loud and hot.
“Yes,” King Kayo said, but it was weaker. “I understand. Leave us, Tibe.”
“Remember who is your most loyal commander.” Tibe squared his shoulders and waved forward his warriors. “Remove that corpse. Leave the king to his reflections. He will soon shut away his bride where she belongs.”
King Kayo’s shoulders slumped. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Warlord Sao and another warrior she didn’t know approached the body.
Her blood pumped louder and hotter. The words popped out of her chest fast and angry. “You just don’t listen to the king, do you?”
Tibe’s warriors hefted the dead body. Old blood clouded the water.
“Oh, sure,” she said. “You wanted to talk. Now, when I’m speaking the truth, you ignore me.”
His glare stabbed like daggers. “Do not speak, Sacred Bride. You only irritate me.”
“Because the king told you to be silent. And you weren’t. Not for a single moment. And he told you to leave the body. But you’re picking it up again. Can you follow any direction?”
“Harmony…” King Kayo sounded small and defeated. Like an ordinary, law-abiding citizen being mugged by a Haitian gangster.
Harmony could never stand up to the gangsters. But now she was the only person who could stand up to Tibe.
So she did.
“It’s like, why are you even his first lieutenant? Since you can’t do anything he tells you. I’d do a better job than you.”
Tibe rounded on her. His vibrations dropped a register to shock. “Do you…? Do you dare insult me? Aiycaya’s first lieutenant?”
“Tibe.” King Kayo swam between them. “She does not know—”
“If me pointing out you do the opposite of whatever the king tells you is an insult, then I guess I do.”
Tibe’s nostrils flared. “You do not know who you insult.”
“Harmony, do not…”
“But I call it ‘stating the obvious.’ Your behavior is what’s insulting.”
Tibe sneered. “You will regret the day you tricked King Kayo into bringing you here. A lying mainland female would be better off—”
“Um, am I the only one who remembers you convinced him to kidnap me?”
Tibe broke off. “What?”
“I was swimming on the surface, minding my own business, and the next thing I know, you’re swimming around me with tridents, screaming at—and stabbing—Faier.”
He frowned. “He was an exile who kidnapped you.”
“First of all, he’s a rebel.”
“That is—”
“And second of all, he was saving me.”
“But you—”
“And third of all, I had no desire to go with you. You forced me. Pretty brutally, threatening my savior.”
“Because—”
“Pardoning Faier for saving my life and the king’s is the least King Kayo can do,” she said blithely.
King Kayo glanced at her sharply.
That was a fight she had yet to win.
She refocused on Tibe. “And now you say I will regret the day I had no control over myself. Am I the only one who remembers you having this warrior code that says, ‘No warrior will ever hurt a female’ and now you’re threatening to hurt me?”
His frown deepened. “Hurt…a female…?”
“And there are six ‘honorable’ warriors around, but nobody except the king is doing anything to protect me?”
The warriors floated in total confusion.
“Tibe w
ill not hurt you, Harmony,” King Kayo ground out, speaking awkwardly for his frozen warriors.
She choked. “So Tibe issues empty threats? I should just ignore it? When he says, ‘You will regret the day…’ he’s being friendly?”
“Tibe…” King Kayo opened and closed his fists. “He will not hurt you.”
“He’s just yelling to scare me. So, scaring sacred brides is okay? Now I see why you never have to touch them. Verbal abuse is fine.”
“Abuse!”
“How about mental and emotional abuse? You can’t see those scars.”
“He does not intend to injure,” King Kayo repeated doggedly.
“Oh. So, ‘you will regret the day you tricked King Kayo’ shouldn’t strike fear into my heart. This is another ‘misunderstanding.’ Thanks for explaining.”
She put her hands on her hips and glared at a confused, worked-up Tibe.
“King Kayo says I don’t have to be afraid of you because you won’t hurt me. So I can say you’re the most disrespectful warrior I’ve ever seen. You’re a jerk, entitled, cruel, and way overstepping.”
Tibe’s nostrils flared again, and his lips pulled back from his teeth. “Do not insult Aiycaya’s first lieutenant!”
“Or what?” She tilted her head. “Are you going to stab me in the abdomen or unleash a giant fish on me when I fall asleep?”
His hands clenched on his trident. “I will—”
“Tibe?”
King Kayo’s chest vibrated in warning. The other warriors stared.
Tibe unclenched his fingers and snapped at King Kayo, “Control your female.”
She scoffed. “Or else what?”
“Or…else…”
“Tibe.” King Kayo jerked his chin. “Leave.”
“Discipline her.”
“Tibe.”
His gaze lingered on her in dark promise. He finally turned away and gestured at his warriors. They lifted the corpse.
King Kayo’s jaw flexed.
“Hey. King Kayo. Tibe’s stealing the body again.”
The king closed his eyes, braced himself for a fight, and opened them again. “Unhand Mawa.”
Tibe ignored him. “Dump it in the vent.”
Warlord Sao’s icy-blue eyes flicked to King Kayo…and then to her.
Okay. Fine.
She elbowed King Kayo. “Does the word ‘loyal’ have a different meaning under the water? Because on the surface, it means you actually do what your leader tells you.”
