Sadie abruptly looked over at Dael between the last rib on the platter and the plating of the lemon cake that Kimmy had made for the occasion. “So, are you three going to keep us in suspense, or what? Last I knew, they were trying to stick you on the throne, Sirris, and Dael, weren’t you supposed to be the unwilling partner or something?”
All chatter ceased at the table, and Thomas’ fork and knife made a clatter as they hit the plate. All eyes fell on us. Sadie had a natural tact.
Mirra looked like a piece of fish was stuck in her throat, her eyes wide as she tried to swallow. Dael looked at a loss, as if trying to figure out best how to answer.
So of course, I did. “Well, sort of. Apparently, Dael and I were betrothed from birth.” None of us had to look to identify the source of the low growl on my right.
“And yes, Tarus Council, unbeknown to me, had decided I was the next heir to the throne. But nobody ever thought to tell me about it or ask if we were willing. Tarus is in the midst of a rebellion between the Seascrill and the Sylvans. The Council has some wild idea that putting us on the throne together as husband and wife will pacify the people and bring peace back to Deep Lake. They weren’t giving us much choice…” my voice dwindled, and I thought back, choking on the memories. “And then my sister, Pinna, was killed.”
Sadie’s eyes never left mine. “I’m so sorry. That really sucks.”
I nodded, not moving when I felt the brush of Thomas’ fingers over mine.
Dael, catching my troubled expression, picked up the thread of the conversation. “We both decided we couldn’t live a lie just to please Tarus Council. Whether she wants to accept it, my heart belongs to someone else.” He send a sidelong glance at Mirra, who squirmed awkwardly in her seat, blushing. “In the end, neither of us were willing to sacrifice ourselves on the altar of matrimony or monarchy for a cause that we couldn’t fully support. Draco Rebellion is not the solution, but something has to be done to bring unity to all the people of Deep Lake. The Council comprises a bunch of elderly Tarian Mer-men and women who are set in their ways and think they know best, always. The people on both sides of Tarus are sick of being told what to do, who they can marry, or how much education they are allowed and what careers they are permitted to pursue. They want more rights. Unfortunately, I don’t think the rebels are the solution. They’d just be trading one form of control for another that is just as bad, maybe worse.” His voice dwindled, and he looked sheepish. He’d overtaken the entire conversation.
The Major observed thoughtfully. “Sounds to me like you would have been an excellent choice as king.”
“But not without a queen of my choosing. Mirra and I belong in Tarus. Sirris, you would have been miserable.”
“I would have been. You found the courage to stand up and say what we both needed. I never thanked you for that.”
Mirra, who had been sitting meek as a mouse, sighed and sat her fork down. She turned to stare at Dael.
“They’re helpless without us. The Council isn’t strong enough to lead them to defeat the Rebellion.”
Dael nodded. “Our place is there, with our people, on both sides. They need us, but I don’t see how we can help bring them together when they’ve tied our hands. We left under law of banishment. If we return, they will shoot to kill.”
Abruptly, Mirra reached out and grabbed Dael’s hand in hers. He clutched it back, swallowing hard.
“What are we going to do, Dael?”
“I don’t know. Maybe there is nothing we can do.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Several days passed, and it became clear that despite my best efforts, this was not where Dael and Mirra belonged. It was my home, but they had lost theirs. Sitting in the kitchen, the morning of the fourth day, I reached out and took Mirra’s hand. Holding the slim fingers in my own, I rubbed absently at the cracked and peeling skin that ran along the back of her hands and arms. We’d already made two trips to the river for a swim. But it wasn’t only her body that was failing. She tried to smile at me, but she couldn’t hide her haunted eyes. Dael wasn’t faring much better, because what made Mirra unhappy didn’t bode well for him, either.
I was at a lost as to what we could do. I couldn’t cure their minds, but maybe I could do something about the misery they were dealing with as Onlanders. The showers were a very temporary fix. The river was better. But they needed the deeper nourishment of the mineral-rich waters of their home, in Deep Lake. I thought of the hot springs. The heat enhanced the healing properties in the waters, making it like a super pill for mermaids. It was always better for me than any river or lake. It was where I went in the winter when the air was driest.
I glanced up at Dael, sitting next to Mirra and trying not to let her see the concern in his eyes. Mirra didn’t appreciate anyone worrying about her. “What if we take a different trip today?”
They both looked up at me. “What did you have in mind?” Mirra asked, unsmiling.
“I think we need to take a trip to one of my favorite places on Shephard’s Mountain. I’ve been going there since I was a child. Talk about a power punch of magic, you’ll love it, I promise you,” I offered.
Dael didn’t look nearly as excited as I’d hoped. “We need to talk about where we are going to go. Permanently. We can’t stay here with you forever, you know. We have to find somewhere else to live. I’m sorry Sirris, but Mirra especially isn’t meant to live on land. I don’t think it’s good for either of us.”
Dael was faring better than my sister. But even he scratched absently at the back of his hands, the knuckles growing red and cracking. They both needed more than what was here in the middle of Shephard’s Mountain and a mile from the nearest natural water source.
“We can do that later. First, let’s get you somewhere you can replenish what this dry mountain air is taking from you. Hard to think about relocating when you don’t feel well.”
Mirra glanced up, shrugging. “Let me get a few things from the room. I can be ready in about ten minutes.”
Both of us watched as she got down from her stool and moved in the bathroom's direction. The customary spring in her movements was gone, replaced by a lethargy we could both feel from across the room.
I met Dael’s eyes as he spoke. “This can’t go on much longer. It’s not just the water she misses. It’s her home. She mourns Tarus, and Deep lake.”
I turned to stare at the closed door and sighed. “Being away from home has changed her. I want the old Mirra back.”
An hour later we were moving along the path that led to Bear River and then farther up the cliffs to the top of the falls and the springs concealed behind them.
Thomas had joined us, and he cast furtive glances from time to time at the two who walked behind us without speaking, their heads down and depression in their every step.
He said little—none of us did. It took little for us to recognize that they were in no mood for conversation.
The first glimmer of hope I’d seen in days was when we stepped beneath the mist of the falls and both lifted their faces to the cooling spray, sighing in abject relief.
If they thought that was good…
We stepped into the doorway of the caverns, thick steam swirling about our ankles and dampening our clothes. A broad smile, the first genuine one in days, lit Mirra’s face. “Oh my, this is nice.” She reached out, running her hands along the slick walls, her eyes on the bubbling pool in the center of the cavern, ringed with a variety of large boulders to lean against. The pool itself wasn’t overly deep, topping only five feet at its center. The geothermal heat from the earth’s core warmed the water that fed in from the river above our heads where the Bear River tumbled freely down the mountain into Breathless and the lake there. Mirra and Dael didn’t wait for us, moving in and disrobing.
They were already sliding in beneath the rolling water with a groan when Thomas and I joined them. I disrobed down to my Gypsum suit and slid in, Thomas joining me as scales erupted behind my ears and my legs fuse
d into a long tail and fins.
Mirra gave a squeal of laughter when Dael swung his tail in a hard arc, spraying us all from head to toe. I gave Thomas a smirk as he swiped a meaty paw over his drenched beard and face.
I grinned at him knowingly. He wasn’t nearly as thrilled when I did that. I gave him kudos on his restraint.
Mirra gave me a grateful smile. “This is wonderful, sister, but you should have led with it. I’d be here every day for a morning dip. This is better than anything else I could have dreamed up.” She extended her arm, turning it and admiring the fresh, healthy glow. In no time at all, the scaly dryness had evaporated.
“I have to tell you, I don’t know about Mirra, but the itching was driving me nuts. I think the showers were actually making it worse. No moisture? How can you have dry water, anyhow?”
I knew what he meant. It was why I visited the springs so often myself. The minerals plumped my skin cells like nothing else could.
“We still have to figure out what we are going to do. I mean, I don’t know about Hollow Top Lake. It seems too close to Deep, and then there are nothing but nymphs that live there. They won’t welcome our intrusion into their domain,” Mirra mused.
“What about Bitterroot, inside Shephard’s Mountain in Drae Hallow? It’s easily large enough to accommodate you, and it’s nestled in an entire Valley of Magicals that won’t lose a whisker over your sprouting fins and a tail.”
“What’s that? I’ve never heard of it?” Dael frowned.
I smiled. “No, you wouldn’t have. When you move through the underground river systems between Bear River and Hollow Top Lake, and then farther to Deep Lake, you go beneath the valley. There is a tunnel that emerges farther along in the valley into Bitterroot Lake, which is pretty big, with the substantial town of Bitterroot in its curve. Thomas is right, it might be a perfect solution. Worth checking out at least, and with the town right there, you could always join us and take a walk on the Onlander side from time to time and join us for a movie or pizza.”
“Pizza?” they both asked at the same time.
Thomas gave a snort of laughter. “Yeah, just as long as you get your own. I draw the line at anchovies or capers on my pie. Sirris loads hers with the nasty things every chance she gets.”
I nodded, giggling. “Trust me, you’ll love it. And Thomas just doesn’t know what’s good.” I leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, smiling in satisfaction when he reddened.
When a large shadow fell over the doorway, we all turned with a gasp, tensing in alarm.
I blinked when several elderly forms emerged into the pale rim of light surrounding the pool. I stared, speechless, at the Council, on Shephard’s Mountain, in the hot springs that I had thought a well-kept secret. I had no idea how they’d found us.
Leta stepped forward, close enough for the mists from the pool to reach up and swirl about her ankles. She closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure. “Oh, that feels good. I can see why you prize this place.”
I finally found my voice. “That doesn’t explain how you found it?” I added grimly.
She gave me a small smile but didn’t respond to my question. “We need you to return,” she said instead.
We blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?” we all said at once.
Dael laughed darkly. “I thought we already had that conversation. It didn’t go well, remember? I abdicated the throne. You lost your minds and banned us from Deep Lake. Did I leave anything out?”
Her face tightened, her eyes darkening with anger. “Yes, well. You need to change your minds. Since you three left things have grown…difficult.”
“How could they have gotten any worse than they were?” Mirra asked drily.
“Well, we have it on good authority that Draco Rebellion is gathering their forces. We expect them to attack in the next couple days. There is rioting in the streets of Tarus and looting even. No one wants to listen to the authorities.”
I couldn’t prevent a sneer of laughter. “What, you mean nobody wants to listen to you? I have to say, I didn’t see that one coming.”
Leta’s mouth drew down in a thin line. “We need you to come back.”
I looked at them all, stiff and straight and still in command. Or so they thought. I glanced at Dael and Mirra. They met my eyes and both of them smiled. We turned back to Tarus Council.
We took a deep breath and gave them our answer. “No!”
They all gave a jolt of surprise, and then we watched as they seemed to fold in on themselves, becoming what they were. A group of lawmakers whose time had come and gone, and that no one was interested in following with blind obedience anymore.
Dael leaned forward, facing them more fully. “Tarus has been my home, Mirra’s, too, our entire lives. We care what happens as much as you do. But we’re not interested in being forced to follow your rules anymore. It’s time past for change in Tarus, whether or not you’re ready for it.” He paused and took a breath. “I have a compromise, if you are interested in hearing it.”
The Council glared at us. I caught several of them glancing towards the swirling waters with longing. Finally, Leta sighed.
“What conditions?” she asked grudgingly.
Dael reached under the water and snagged Mirra’s fingers, bringing them free of the swirling mists and planting a warm kiss in the middle of her six fingered palm, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke. “Condition one. I will agree to assuming the throne as king, as long as I get to choose my queen.”
There was little doubt who his choice would be. Mirra started to say something, but his finger to her lips stilled the words.
“That’s preposterous,” Leta blustered.
Dael looked up, all tenderness fleeing, his expression hardening. “I’m not done. Furthermore, you will all agree to step down immediately from Tarus Council. Instead, you will assume roles in an advisory capacity to a newly elected Council.”
Several members gasped, sputtering in outrage. Leta’s eyes had gone frosty. Dael smiled.
“I think twelve is a nice number. Six from the Tarian community and six from the Seascrill, for a balance of power.”
“Absolutely not! What you are proposing is ludicrous. Tarians have run the Council with impunity for over a hundred years. There is no way we’ll agree to that.”
Dael gave them a heavy lidded smile that never reached his eyes and shrugged. “Well then, this conversation is over. If you’ll excuse us, the water is lovely and I feel like getting positively pruney.”
All three of us turned, reclining back against the smooth, rocky side of the pool with a sigh of pleasure. We could practically hear the gnashing of teeth behind us.
A long moment passed. We could feel the Council’s eyes boring into our backs as they struggled in indecision, unused to having anyone question their authority, let alone downright dispute it.
Finally, her voice vibrating with anger, Leta ground out, “Fine, you’ve left us little choice in the matter. But the Tarian members should have two votes each to the Seascrills one. Tarus is a Tarian city.”
Mirra turned, smiling pleasantly. “And as queen-elect—because Dael had better not be planning on another bride if he knows what’s good for him—I veto that. Equal—all votes will be equal. Change is coming and it will be best for us all if everyone is on board. We need to learn to work together for the betterment of all of Deep Lake. United, we will no longer have need of such forces as the Draco Rebellion.”
We turned in time to see a resigned sigh bubble up from Leta’s throat. “On that we can all agree. Now, if we are done arguing the fate of Deep Lake, that water looks positively wonderful. Do you mind?”
Mirra smiled graciously, spreading her arms wide. “By all means, come on in. We’d be delighted if you joined.”
#
“No way are you going back there alone. I think we’ve established that it’s too dangerous,” Thomas said.
We were walking back to the Tuttle’s place for supper from the caverns with Dael
and Mirra up ahead of us, their heads bent close in conversation.
“Well, I am going. I need to see things finished before I leave. I have to help my sister. We aren’t out of the woods yet on this. Just because we’ve made a huge breakthrough with the Council for Tarus going forward doesn’t mean Draco Rebellion is suddenly just going to fold and give up. They’re out there, and they are a danger to us all.”
“I’m not disagreeing with that, which is why I’m going back with you. When the others find out what’s up I bet they join, too.”
“You almost died last time, or have you forgotten that?”
Thomas snorted, his eyes darkening with the memory. “Hard to forget nearly drowning. It was a great lesson in restraint, though. You do not know how difficult holding back was. But the full moon is past, and I believe I have things under control now.”
“Are you sure? I was on the cliffs the other day when the Rebellion attacked us. I wouldn’t say you looked that way then.”
He shrugged, giving me a perfectly evil smile that made me shiver. “Do you think that was me out of control? That was me using every inch of it to call what I am. Nobody hurts you Sirris, not while I have breath to draw and beasts to call.”
I couldn’t prevent a small snicker despite the seriousness of the conversation. “My hero,” I teased.
He reached out and grabbed me in, squeezing my shoulders and ruffling my hair. “Yeah, that’s right. You’d best not forget it.”
#
Over dinner, we made plans to return the following afternoon. Thomas was right. The gang was all there, and everyone had decided they needed to see me home to Tarus, along with Dael and Mirra.
Most of us took a back seat to Dael and Mirra’s enthusiasm. No longer were they wallowing in depression. Instead, they carried the show, discussing plans for the upcoming coronation and the re-imagining of the government in Tarus. Mirra’s smile was infectious, and it was good to hear them both laughing. None of us had seen much to smile about in a while.
Rule 9 Academy Series Boxset: Books 3-5 Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Rule 9 Academy Box Sets (3 Book Series) 2) Page 74
