by Starla Night
“Conveniently, two Life Tree blossoms have just bloomed, so you can both drink the nectar at your wedding ceremonies.”
“Only two?” Bella questioned. “On the whole tree?”
The groups separated, and Queen Lucy waved goodbye. Lotar, Diran, and the surface warriors ascended the cable with the escort of Octopus Kong. Queen Lucy led Balim, Pelan, her warriors, and Pelan’s bride to Atlantis.
“Yes. The Life Tree grows a blossom when there is a need.”
Bella fixed him with worried eyes. “You had one in New York.”
“It should have gone to Faier’s bride. Living in a tank is unusual.”
“Aya kept alive the little blossom that Elyssa gave her,” Queen Lucy chimed in.
“Because she already possessed the force of a powerful queen. Another future queen staffs MerMatch. My belief is Hazel and Faier’s guess was Dannika. One kept the blossom alive by her presence.”
“Neither wants to become a mermaid.”
“Oh, I felt the same way, once.” Queen Lucy made the light crackle from her fingertips. “If my old self could see me now.”
Bella bit her lip.
“Perhaps another will grow,” Balim vibrated quietly. “The Life Tree senses the need. Blossoms grow when brides are located.”
“How do you feel about becoming a doctor’s wife?” Queen Lucy asked Bella conversationally as they descended along the cable.
“About the same as he feels becoming a marketing executive’s husband,” Bella replied deftly.
“Oh, you used to do marketing?”
“I’ve completed a marketing campaign for the mer and am waiting for the ideal timing to release it.”
Queen Lucy laughed. “Right. I don’t mean to be dense. It’s difficult to maintain a life on the surface and also raise a family, rule a city, and change the world beneath the sea.”
“Yes, and so I’m continuing your work. You did a wonderful job of introducing the modern world to the mer with your Facebook videos, but new voices have arisen, and you’re not there to control the record.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “My friend Mel is still replying.”
“Yes, but the world has changed. The narrative is being taken over by other voices who claim to have more authority—and you won’t like the direction they’re taking it.”
Queen Lucy darkened. “The Sons of Hercules.”
“The person who controls the narrative controls reality. So that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m taking your narrative back.”
“But instead, here you are.”
“Here we are,” Bella agreed, grim once more. She swallowed convulsively.
He held her closer. Feel my strength filling you with the power of the Life Tree…
She stiffened.
Once she saw the city and the majestic Life Tree, she would relax. Its presence would reactivate the elixir in her veins.
He hoped.
She swallowed again hard.
Just a little farther…
The wreck of the ancient city grew across the ocean floor.
Finally.
It differed from the last time Balim had seen it.
Cables were embedded in the wreckage. Human lanterns were stuck into bits of the floor and flattened the view throughout the territory.
It gave their enemies more places to hide.
King Kadir had a great interest in the past. His warriors sifted through the ruins for information about the Great Catastrophe. They’d searched for frescoes and found ancient drinking vessels and ornamental boats. Each discovery only inspired more questions and answered nothing.
Now the descending group unsnapped their harnesses, leaving them at the base of the city. A team of warriors lifted to greet them with waves, hailing the new future queens with honor.
“There’s Octopus Kong’s home.” Queen Lucy pointed to the giant cave at the foot of the extended coils. “You can come with us when we go over later and leave his favorite fish.”
“Did King Kadir authorize that?” Balim asked.
Queen Lucy smiled. “Since Octopus Kong is the official savior and guardian of Atlantis, he can’t say no. Anyway, we don’t bother him on his bad days.”
They flew on to Atlantis, the reborn city.
The Life Tree twinkled like a sun in a galaxy of stars. The great castles glowed green. Beneath the floating castles, the massive ribs of a felled megalodon glimmered white and fed nutrients to the vibrant sea floor.
His throat tightened.
It had never been his wish to leave Undine, even after the horrible events that had claimed his father and his prince. He’d always felt a grateful tightening when he’d returned home. Atlantis was now his home, and he had the same reaction.
Even though treason clinked in his bag.
When the city had first been planted, only King Kadir’s and First Lieutenant Soren’s lonely castles had arisen from the sea floor, but now a hundred castles bobbed around the Life Tree in concentric circles. So many for such a young city. They crossed the bare rock toward the increasingly lush floor where the Life Tree and castles anchored.
Bella’s chest lit along with her eyes gleaming with wonder. “It’s like a fairy ring.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Queen Lucy twirled as she kicked her fins. “I think they look like bull kelp and Elyssa thinks little planet balloons. Balim, you’ll be excited to know yours grew in your absence.”
His chest twinged. Imagining Bella choosing him wholeheartedly felt wrong. Shameful. He didn’t deserve it, and yet he couldn’t stop wanting it. “Thrilled.”
Queen Lucy laughed again as though he were being modest. To Bella, she explained, “You’ll get an octopus and grow your own garden, and it will be your sanctuary. You’ll love it.”
Bella returned her smile, closed-lipped.
“But first, the Life Tree.” She aimed for the brilliant light in the center of the ringed castles.
The warriors shouted greetings, swirling around them. Strong hands took Pelan so that their group could move faster.
Attacks had damaged the Life Tree’s protective petals, leaving it cracked open and dangerously exposed.
Queen Lucy descended through one of the large cracks in the protective petals.
Inside, calming radiance soothed his heart. Bella held him closer, and her thighs brushed him as did her forehead. She breathed. “It’s not beautiful…but it is.”
He knew what she meant.
Balim landed at the foot of the barren tree.
Like an oak bereft of leaves, the Life Tree’s bare branches stretched toward the surface. Tiny pebbles of Sea Opal resin beaded up on its small clefts and tinkled to the dais. Two small flowers bloomed at the upper branches of the tree.
It, like its crumbled dome shelter, had been battered to its roots. A silvery trunk was embedded into the dais, and the pastel pink of rebirth tinted the upper portions. The two colors intertwined.
“The roots are the original tree planted from King Kadir’s seed,” Balim told her. “Queen Elyssa grew the trunk when she brought King Kadir back to life after the first betrayal.”
Bella clutched a hand to her throat. Guilt and hope crossed her expression and echoed in her soul light. “Would she visit Jonah?”
“Her powers work only on her mer.”
Warriors rested Pelan against the Life Tree. Now, they waited.
Queen Elyssa and King Kadir entered the sanctuary. Queen Elyssa glowed with warm welcome, her human eyes twinkling at Balim.
King Kadir lifted his silver-streaked arms, daggers bristling from regal sheaths. “Welcome, future queens of Atlantis, to the—”
“Gaaah!” Young Prince Kael wiggled out of another warrior’s arms and grabbed on to his father’s hair, yanking King Kadir’s head. A huge smile filled his happy baby face. “Gooo!”
King Kadir winced at the tugs and tried to unwind his young fry’s strong grip. “And my son welcomes you also.”
“Come here, you little Sea-Monkey.”
Queen Elyssa tickled her young fry. The baby prince squealed and yanked his father’s hair harder. “Oops! Wait, wait, don’t hurt your dada…”
The two parents soon were surrounded by a cluster of warriors with advice on how to get Prince Kael to release his father’s hair.
Zoan, the warrior who took care of the Life Tree and was close friends with Pelan, jangled a Life Tree citizenship seed. “Look what I have for you, Prince Kael. Much more valuable than hair.”
The prince agreed because he let go with both hands and wiggled up to Zoan, his little baby feet kicking and kicking and kicking, until he captured the rattle. Zoan arched his brows at the other warriors, who had gentle envy for his superior child-rearing skills.
Beside Balim, Bella touched her hand to her throat. Was she choking? No, this emotion was different. Her chin wrinkled hard, and her soul light fluctuated.
He pulled her back against his chest, and she melted there. Her soul light steadied. She took comfort from him.
King Kadir smoothed his flowing hair. “Now then, again. Welcome to Atlantis. Let us begin the wedding ceremonies.”
Bella stiffened. The hand at her throat turned to a clutching motion as if someone was choking her and she needed to pull their grip off.
But before she could speak, Pelan’s bride reared her head. “Wedding? No.”
The Life Tree sanctuary grew deathly still. Even Prince Kael quieted.
Queen Elyssa spoke first. “Didn’t Dannika explain what happens at MerMatch?”
“She did, but come on. I can’t marry a man in a coma.”
“Your marriage will bring Pelan back to life.” King Kadir turned to Balim for medical approval.
Balim did not know how to respond.
Pelan’s bride looked between the warriors. “You can’t be serious.”
“The Life Tree responds to important life events,” Queen Elyssa offered, “like birth, marriage, that kind of thing. Kadir’s not wrong.”
“Okay, but marriage is out of the question.”
The warriors rumbled. How could she heal Pelan if she wouldn’t marry him?
“You drank the elixir and kissed,” King Kadir vibrated, giving voice to his warriors’ disgruntlement. “You had the coffee date.”
“Right, exactly.” She rubbed her shadowed eyes. “The instant we met, he said I was his soul mate. We kissed. I saw stars, and I felt like a contestant on The Bachelor.”
“Like a movie star,” Queen Elyssa vibrated, nodding earnestly. “That’s normal. That’s how you know you’ve met your soul mate.”
“But it wasn’t fun. It was all paparazzi. And as we were leaving the coffee shop…” She shuddered and brushed her chest. “Then…”
The rulers stared at her with confusion stamped on their faces.
Then King Kadir turned to Balim. “You have observed her and Warrior Pelan. Are they not destined?”
He didn’t know what to say. “You have remained by Warrior Pelan for so long.”
“But we’ve barely had one coffee. You want me to marry him? I don’t know if he’s even a Knicks fan.” She gripped her short, dark hair. Rebelliousness welled in her expression. Although she no longer wore the dramatic purple lip coloring, black eye outlines, or scuffed jeans she’d preferred on the surface, her fierceness made her soul glow.
Queen Elyssa tilted her head. “Are sports important to you?”
“I don’t know.” Her soul extinguished, and she scrubbed her cheeks. “I’m so tired. I’ve been tired for weeks. I just don’t know.”
“Give her something so she can rest,” King Kadir ordered Balim.
“She has been resting for human weeks. With Warrior Pelan.”
“It wasn’t that restful,” she replied, and the dark rings still under her eyes showed that she spoke the truth. “I lost my job. I had to give up the lease on my apartment. My friends packed my stuff into storage, and I’m pretty sure my ex-roommates helped themselves to my knife set even after I told them not to. And I had to manage it all on ten-minute breaks because otherwise, you freaked out at me for ‘abandoning Pelan in his moment of need.’ I’ve spent the last ‘human weeks’ wondering what the heck’s happened in my life and if I would ever catch up.”
“So you did not focus on Warrior Pelan’s recovery.”
She glared. “For the love of Pete, here I am, aren’t I? I care very much about his recovery.”
“Do not give your love to Pete,” Second Lieutenant Ciran interrupted from the back. “You must love Pelan.”
She raised one brow at Bella. “Am I the crazy one?”
Queen Elyssa lifted quelling hands. “I’ll explain her expression later, but don’t worry, humans can love many people and still know their soul mates.”
Bella looked away.
Her rejection of Queen Elyssa’s statement struck Balim hard, like a trident to the chest.
He did not wish for her to love him more than her Jonah. But would she never love him a little bit?
A healer who had committed murder should not ask such a question.
The warriors grumbled, dissatisfied.
“Humans do not always know their desires,” King Kadir vibrated gruffly. “She cannot see her soul light. Warrior Pelan’s must brighten in her presence.”
But it didn’t.
Warrior Pelan leaned with his back against the silvery base. His soul flickered weakly. He gathered strength from its nearness. But not as much as he should. He was weakening. Getting sicker. Even though he should have resonated with the healing wood.
The Life Tree could not cure Blue Ring…
Balim shuddered.
Bella rested a hand on his arm, a question in her eyes as she glanced back at him. He shook his head to imply it was nothing.
The other warriors muttered amongst themselves. King Kadir had pointed out an unfortunate fact. They had brought Pelan’s bride to Atlantis, and her supposed future husband did not resonate for her.
He had once. Enough to declare them soul mates. His bride had drunk the elixir and transformed.
King Kadir looked to Balim, worry and confusion stamped on his features. “What is the medical explanation?”
“He is ill.”
King Kadir’s gaze darted over the mass of warriors behind them full of hope to claim their brides.
When warriors could only select brides from sacred islands, mismatches caused chaos. But that should not happen now. Atlantis selected brides from modern females on land—so many millions in New York alone—so how could a warrior mistake another for his bride? Balim knew that Bella was his. Pelan must have known when he met his bride, even though he could not explain himself now.
Pelan’s bride rubbed her eyes.
King Kadir focused on her as if he could talk her into sensing resonance. “You must feel in your heart he is your one true warrior.”
She held her forehead in her hands. “To be honest, I’m exhausted. I don’t know what I want.”
“But you must marry.”
She glared.
Balim intervened to stop a riot. “She has healed Pelan all this time. His tenacious illness would dim any soul. Perhaps after she rests, she will know her heart.”
King Kadir glanced back at his disturbed warriors. Although the decision would be unpopular, he nodded. “Very well. We will postpone their wedding until the bride has rested.”
“And Pelan’s conscious,” she insisted.
“As you wish.” King Kadir turned to them instead. “Balim and Bella. Step forward and share your vows.”
Bella’s soul light burned ,and she turned in Balim’s arms. Certainty firmed her expression. “I can’t drink the nectar.”
But she would share vows. She would marry him. He was her chosen husband. Her soul mate. Hers.
His chest squeezed as if a fist had clenched it.
She was more than he deserved.
He laced their fingers, sealing her promise. “I understand.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Consuming the nectar is not essential to the marriage ceremony.”
The warriors rumbled uncomfortably.
King Kadir vibrated about the strangeness of their conversation. “The Life Tree has gifted you with a blossom to make Queen Bella’s transformation permanent. You reject its offering?”
Bella’s mouth opened and closed while she tried to vibrate a thoughtful, smooth way of explaining herself.
But Balim spoke the simple truth. “She reserves the healing power for her ill son. Bella’s vow is the only promise I need.”
Her mouth closed. She swallowed, and her eyes rimmed with red as her soul flared to the warmth of a beautiful sun. “Balim…”
His chest warmed to match, and even without speaking the vows aloud, he knew she was his bride wholeheartedly. Their souls entwined. The ceremony was only a ceremony. She was already his.
As though realizing it herself, a strange black poison emanated from her chest. It extinguished her soul light and strangled her lungs. Her eyes widened, and the green color dulled.
She clawed at her face and choked. “Blub!”
“Bella!” He tugged her into his arms as she writhed.
The gills in her lower back had sealed to form smooth human skin.
The elixir had stopped working. On the bottom of the sea far from any replacement source.
She was a human.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The world crushed Bella in a terrifying shaker of force and darkness.
Like the one time she’d gone white-water rafting as a team-building exercise with the office before anyone knew she was dating Chaz. On the first rapid, he’d thought it would be hilarious to push her in. She’d gone from breathless excitement to terror as the dark rapid had closed over her head, tumbled her over and over, scraped her across the riverbed, and made her thrash for the brighter surface. Their guide had scooped her back into the boat, and she’d gagged up half the river while Chaz had laughed.
Red flags. So many red flags. Had she only been with Chaz because it was easy not to trust him? She’d known before he’d abandoned her, pregnant, that he’d do it someday. Balim never would, and sometimes, knowing that terrified her.
