Ice Kingdom

by Tiana Warner

  We joined a growing crowd at the mouth of the canyon. The mood was light, cheerful, a pleasant tingling across my skin that dulled the itch of iron. Conversation and bursts of laughter rose over the chatter of fish and shrimp in the reef, and the colourful tails added a glow to the otherwise brown, red, and grey landscape.

  Several minutes passed before the approaching group came into view.

  As we waited, an odd feeling overcame me, one I couldn’t identify, that brought to mind the distant past. I turned to Lysi, intending to ask her if she felt anything strange, and saw her staring open-mouthed at a mermaid floating a few lengths away.

  “Lysi?”

  Then someone behind us called out a greeting—I thought it sounded like Coho—and Lysi startled as though someone had slapped her. She shot in front of me and put both hands on my shoulders. All colour drained from her face.

  “Mee, remember I started to tell you something before? The merman—the former human who was part of the assassination attempt?”

  “Sure. Yeah.”

  Her eyes flitted away from mine for a moment. “He was from Eriana Kwai.”

  If Lysi hadn’t been holding onto me, I would have sank.

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. There’s been too much going on.”

  My mind jumped to a million possibilities. Was he a former warrior? A kid who’d wandered too close to the water? Did he get lured?

  She kept looking over to that mermaid floating a few lengths away. Why? I followed her gaze. The mermaid was curvy, with long black hair and caramel skin. Her attention was on the returning group. They’d arrived at the canyon and were being swarmed with questions.

  I shook my head. My lips felt numb. “Lysi, who is he?”

  Lysi seemed to choke on her words. It was a moment before she got them out.

  “It’s Nilus, Mee.”

  A fog engulfed my brain, disconnecting me from everything. The gurgling of the reef and the laughter and conversation died.

  Could he have been lured but not killed? Was that possible?

  My eyes burned. I blinked, angry with myself for grasping at such a dead hope—and at Lysi for leading me to disappointment. My brother was dead. He had been gone for over a decade. Wouldn’t I know if he was still alive? Wouldn’t I have felt it deep inside me?

  “It can’t be.”

  Lysi was mistaken. It was a desperate, impossible wish to think anything otherwise.

  But as the returning mermen and mermaids came closer, that long-forgotten presence grew stronger. A distant emotion washed over me like a waterfall.

  “He’s here?” I said, the words numb on my lips.

  Lysi nodded once. Her eyebrows pulled down. Pain exploded in my chest.

  Every emotion rushed through me. Sadness, joy, fear—a surge of anger. Lysi knew Nilus was alive and hadn’t told me? I thought back to the last few days, all that time we’d spent in silence. I thought back to when she’d met my parents on Eriana Kwai.

  “Lysi, why didn’t—?”

  “Meela?” said a deep voice beside us.

  A small cry escaped me. I didn’t look. I closed my eyes for a moment, steeling myself, and then turned to face him.

  Him. My big brother.

  By sight, I would not have recognised him. His features had changed from human to merman—reptilian skin and face shape, overlarge red eyes, bulbous ears, and webbed fingers. Like all mermen, he was an exemplified sea demon and never reverted to a human-like state. He was worn and tired, hair long and ungroomed, stone crossbow over his back. But somewhere beneath this exterior was Nilus. I felt it in his aura. Everything about it was familiar, taking me back to my life before he left on the Massacre and everything changed.

  I lunged for him and wrapped my arms around him, shouting something incoherent that sounded like, “Nil—how—ohmyg—aliv—!”

  He made a faint noise, like a note of surprised laughter.

  Underwater, my tears manifested as strange half-sobs and puffy eyes that were probably leaking, but I couldn’t tell.

  “You’re a mermaid,” he said in a strangled voice. “My god, how—? Lysi?”

  Lysi spoke, but I couldn’t hear the words through the fog in my brain. I closed my eyes, feeling Nilus’ presence with every part of me. All the love I’d felt as a child, the affection that had been laid to rest alongside Nilus’ memory, came flooding out.

  It felt as though my heart had been transported back in time—and at once, I wished I could do just that—travel back ten years, five years, even to yesterday, to tell myself that everything would be all right, that Nilus was not dead, and I would hug him again one day.

  When we pulled apart, Nilus gawked at me as if he was the one seeing a ghost.

  A mermaid lingered beside us—the one Lysi had been staring at.

  “Oh,” said Nilus, blinking. “Meela, this is Ephyra, my wife.”

  “Wife?!”

  Ephyra smiled, her teeth a perfect row of pearls. I managed to keep my jaw from falling open. She was curvy in all the right places, her skin smooth and tan, shiny black hair waving behind her like silk. Her heavy-lidded eyes and full lips glimmered with iridescent makeup.

  That solves that mystery, I thought, deciding Nilus had definitely been lured.

  Lysi cleared her throat. “When did you get here?”

  “Two days ago,” said Nilus, peeling his wide eyes away from me. “We went home to get the kids, and—oh, Meela, you have to meet them!”

  “Kids? I’m an auntie?” I said shrilly.

  I whirled as Nilus shouted for them to come over. Five miniature mermaids came zipping through the crowd, all girls, all with long black hair.

  “Papa!” they all shouted, swarming him in the most adorable group hug.

  I let out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. “They’re all so beautiful!”

  “Girls, this is your Aunt Meela.”

  Aunt Meela. The words were like honey.

  I’d never really liked kids, but knowing I was related to these ones was an entirely different feeling. I opened my arms and was met with an enthusiastic and giggly group hug.

  “This is Clio, Sedna, Halie, Pasithea, and”—Nilus put his hands on the eldest’s shoulders—“Little Meela.”

  Her irises were the same colour as mine, her hair the same shade. She was about the age I’d been when I’d lost Nilus. My eyes burned with fresh tears.

  “The next will be here in a few months,” said Ephyra. She cupped a hand over her belly, which protruded so little I hadn’t noticed.

  “I’m an auntie,” I said thickly. “My parents—oh, god, my parents! Our parents! I have to tell them.”

  I turned southwards as if I could return to give them the news right then. Then something occurred to me and I spun back to Nilus.

  “You never came to us. You’ve been alive all this time.”

  His smile faltered. “No one would have understood.”

  I frowned. “That’s not true. I would have, Nilus.”

  It felt strange to say his name after so long. My eyes swelled again with tears that wouldn’t spill properly.

  He pulled me into another hug.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can’t believe I’m hugging you again.”

  All the affection I’d ever felt for Nilus raced through my veins, filling my heart so much I thought it would explode. It was as though the last ten years had not been robbed of him. Memories repressed from grief flashed through my mind: days exploring the forest, jumping in the ravine, climbing trees to get the juiciest apples, hiding inside hollow stumps, making forts out of branches, staying up late and sneaking outside to watch the stars.

  Whatever was happening outside Kori Maru—whoever was being attacked or imprisoned—felt insignificant. So what if the Reinas weren’t going after Adaro yet? We could stay here with everyone and help them with their coup. I didn’t need to rush.
Not when Nilus was here. Not when I finally felt, for the first time in so long, like everything was right in the world.

  CHAPTER EIGHT - Lysi

  Ruby, Emerald, and Amethyst

  I didn’t bother Meela with what was happening a short distance away. While she and Nilus talked, the others who’d returned from the acoustic channel whispered urgently. Panic rippled through them as if a cannon had plunged through the water.

  I hovered closer to listen.

  “... retaliation,” said a mermaid. “Right over Utopia.”

  The word “iron” carried through the crowd in whispers.

  Dione’s eyes bloomed red. “How many casualties?”

  “At least a hundred,” said a bearded merman. “Sounded like there were supposed to be enough explosives to wipe out the city, but Adaro got there in time to stop most of them.”

  My pulse quickened. This meant humans had tried to wage war against Adaro—and failed.

  “What exactly did the message say?” said Dione. “Is he planning anything?”

  The volume of the conversation dropped. I made to push closer, but a hand closed around my arm. I spun to find Galene.

  “We need to leave Dione to her council.”

  I glanced back desperately, unable to hear the conversation. The crowd pressed closer, everyone eager to know what was going on.

  “Some of us have wondered if the humans would respond,” said Galene. “They’ve been less friendly to us over the last few years.”

  “Meela knew the Americans would get involved as soon as Adaro broke the Aleutian treaty,” I said. “It was a matter of time.”

  Galene wrinkled her brow, examining me. “Think there’s a chance they’ll be able to get rid of the serpent?”

  I considered how humans had wiped out cities in wars among themselves. But the serpent had apparently just stopped something designed to destroy all of Utopia.

  “I think they’ll obliterate half the Pacific before they put a bruise on that serpent.”

  Galene kept studying my face like I was a foreign object.

  I said, “I’m only relaying what Meela’s told me about humans and the serpent. Adaro’s unwise to—”

  “I know. I believe you.”

  My gaze drifted over to Meela, still chatting with Nilus, the children hovering at their tails. I fleetingly marvelled that such well-behaved children could possibly be related to Meela.

  “This’ll get the king more supporters,” said Galene, drawing my attention back.

  I nodded. Adaro would seem the hero for stopping the explosives.

  “The humans will look like the bigger evil,” I said.

  “Maybe. But I like to think most Northerners are aware of what Adaro’s doing. The labour camp and all.”

  “What was the Pacific like before he took Queen Evagore?”

  Galene’s lips turned up in a half-smile. Something in her aura softened at the mention of her queen.

  Before she could answer, Ephyra appeared beside us.

  “May I borrow Lysithea for a moment?”

  Galene nodded and backed away. “Later, sugarkelp.”

  Ephyra motioned for me to follow. “I want to show you something.”

  The canyon was deserted except for a few children left playing. We passed empty caves and mounds of coral.

  The scar at my waist burned, the pain intensifying as we crossed into the shadow below the wreck. I dug my nails into my palms, forcing my attention elsewhere.

  “I’m glad you made it here,” I said to Ephyra.

  I couldn’t help remembering the last time I’d seen her, when she tried to capture me on Adaro’s orders, and I tried to bite her face.

  She offered a slight smile. “Same to you.”

  We turned into the same cavern as earlier, where the map was chiselled into the stone.

  “We have been tracing King Adaro’s whereabouts,” said Ephyra.

  “I’ve seen this. Dione showed me and Meela.”

  “Did she tell you the significance of the gemstones?”

  “Attack sites?”

  Ephyra placed a forefinger on the ruby at Eriana Kwai.

  “Our sources from Utopia and the spies along the acoustic channels have helped us create a nearly complete map. Fortunately for us, the serpent’s movement can be felt for leagues in every direction, making Adaro easy to track.”

  She traced her finger from Eriana Kwai to the ruby at the top of the Aleutian Islands, and then to one on Vancouver Island.

  “He acquired the serpent at Eriana Kwai and then went to the Aleutian Islands before moving east again.”

  I scanned the rubies, committing their locations to memory.

  “The next wave of attacks happened in Canada.”

  Ephyra traced a zigzag of emeralds. Then she moved to the next round of attacks, marked by amethysts. I took in every gemstone, determined to remember all of the locations.

  “I do not think he moves in a predictable pattern,” she said. “Tracking his location is a waste of time.”

  I looked up. “You don’t think it’s possible to predict where he’ll go next?”

  “Are you familiar with king tides, Lysithea?”

  “Sure. When the full or dark moon coincides with the strongest tides. Happens a couple of times a year.”

  Ephyra nodded. “There is one pattern worth investigating. I noticed it when I worked for him.”

  “King tides?”

  “During king tides, Adaro disappeared for a whole day without warning. He simply left, and no one knew where he went or why.”

  “Did anyone else notice?”

  “I am not sure. We did not discuss it.”

  I considered this information. The behaviour was odd, but I had no idea what to make of it.

  “What do Dione and the others think?” I said.

  “They plan to leverage it. If we can expect the king to disappear, that will be a good time to attack Utopia.”

  “So when’s the next king tide?”

  “Next tidecycle.”

  We fell silent. I could tell Ephyra wanted to say more. I wondered if she’d been able to share a lot of valuable information about the king, having worked by his side for so long. Then I recalled Dreadlocks saying Adaro made sure nobody in his government knew everything about him.

  “Why did you tell me this?”

  “It is something I thought you might find interesting.”

  I nodded to the exit. “They aren’t going to try and find him any time soon, are they?”

  Ephyra hesitated. “It is not the priority.”

  A moment passed where we stared at each other. I saw my fears reflected in her expression, felt them in her heavy aura. All we had to work with was an odd pattern of behaviour. We were no closer to finding Adaro and the serpent.

  “There are two wars happening, Lysithea.”

  I nodded. The effort at Kori Maru was dedicated to the civil war, not the one against humans. But the latter was leading to explosives being dropped all over the Pacific. We had to stop it as soon as possible. I didn’t want to think about what might happen if we didn’t.

  “What do you know about Medusa?” I said.

  If Ephyra thought this was a strange question, she didn’t show it. “The king never spoke of her. Anyone who did was punished.”

  “He’s scared of her?”

  “Perhaps. He clearly wants us to forget she exists. He might be worried that many who followed him to the Atlantic regret their decision.”

  “Do they?”

  “It is hard to tell. You know as well as I that no one speaks ill of the king.”

  Her eyes drifted to the map, but they were unfocused.

  “I want to get Medusa’s help,” I said. “I think she’s our only chance at defeating Adaro.”

  Ephyra seemed to consider this. She nodded slowly. “Perhaps.”

  Her agreement surprised me; I’d expected more res
istance. Maybe I’d just spent too much time trying to convince Meela of the same.

  “Meela doesn’t think so,” I said. “She’s being as stubborn as a barnacle.”

  “Maybe she does not understand Medusa’s power.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not about that. It’s about how long it would take to get there. I don’t know how to convince her it’s worth it.”

  A shadow eclipsed the cave entrance, and we spun around.

  “Convince whom of what?” said Dione, as she and several others entered the cavern.

  “Family troubles,” said Ephyra with a graceful smile.

  Dione looked at her a moment too long before saying curtly, “I see. Lysithea, may I speak with you privately?”

  With a parting glance at Ephyra, I followed Dione out of the cavern. She led me to the surface—a place we could speak without being overheard. We breached to strong winds and a cascade of fat raindrops. Waves rolled in enormous, slow swells.

  “Our meeting was cut short, but I wish to learn more from you and Meela.”

  “We told you everything.”

  She studied me, expressionless, the whites of her eyes stark against the grey sky.

  “This news from Utopia requires my attention, but I will arrange a private meeting to debrief both of you in more detail.”

  This intrigued me. Was she trying to negotiate an exchange of information?

  No matter what Dione told us, information on how to control the serpent would not be up for exchange. Meela and I agreed on that much.

  “That would be nice,” I said.

  Dione nodded once. She seemed about to submerge, then stopped.

  “Consider, Lysithea—” A tinge of red appeared in her eyes. “—that forging an alliance on half-truths and deceit would be most unwise.”

  CHAPTER NINE - Meela

  Blood of Eriana

  I followed Nilus through the canyon to his family’s grotto. We kept glancing at each other with shy smiles. I was still trying to take in his appearance. Had his hair always been so dark, or did that change once he became a merman? His muscle mass had certainly increased.