Water Games

by Juliann Whicker

  I relived his voice, the utter perfection, dynamism and emotional complexity. Why was he not a professional singer? He was depriving the world of its greatest beauty.

  When we reached the belly of the ship, there were hundreds of stairs dangling down. Madame Claria took a handle and pulled me beside her. The stairs rose, breaking through a water skin and into air. An air ship. I blinked drops of water out of my eyes and for a minute couldn’t remember how to breathe. I coughed a little bit, like a lot of other people on the enormous deck. The deck beneath my feet was clear so I could see the glowing house and the bulb where I slept. Would we make it back tonight? I needed Sean to hold me.

  Madame Claria dragged me between two poles which blasted me with air currents as well as glowing warm lights, drying my skin and clothing. My hair felt weird dry, long and heavy. The goo dress felt like it was going to slide off me or disintegrate if it got blown on too hard. After I was dried, Madame Claria once again took my wrist, pulling me through the crowd of now dried Soremni, towards a large area with holographs in the center.

  From a distance the mass of crabs looked like a seasonal migration, but when the image went close-up, I could make out faces like Peter’s. Humanoid. Monsters. I shivered as I studied the life-size three-dimensional monster and the tusks protruding from its enormous mouth before the image shifted to show the mass of monsters.

  It was incredibly disorienting, they were so lifelike, immediate. “What are they doing?” I asked in Soremni. It sounded so strange in air. It lacked music, echo, rightness.

  Madame Claria straightened and I realized how tall and slender she was. It was hard to remember height when everyone floated so everyone’s heads were usually at the same level. “Terramore is attacked from time to time. There’s a trench where deepness monsters dwell not too far from here. That’s part of why we’re on the edge of the Soremni domain. In these days of civilization, the king dislikes slaughtering them. We’ll evacuate until the threat has been diffused. Don’t fret. The king’s fleet will not allow us to be harmed.” She pointed at a screen along the wall where several scenes played out other than the main holograph show. There, above the army of crab men was an absolute mass of ships.

  Hundreds? Thousands? They weren’t as enormous as this ship, but they weren’t small. The crab men couldn’t possibly be armed adequately to fight against that. Were they suicidal or did they know that the king wouldn’t harm them?

  Where was Sean? I turned away from the holograph, wandering away from Madame Claria. He should have come by now. No, people were still coming through the tension skin, children and older people, priests and farmers who hadn’t been at the hall. They were evacuating the whole of Terramore. That would take some time. Sean wouldn’t be back until everyone was safe. But I missed him. I ached to have his arms around me. I put my hand on the back of my neck and flinched. It was tender. I needed Sean to kiss it better.

  I shook my head, but Sean was all I could think about. There were monsters. I should think something about them, but all I wanted was for them to disappear and go back to whatever deep pit they’d crawled out of so I could continue on in perpetual bliss.

  The crowd murmured, a low hum that attracted my attention. Madame Claria dragged me away from the exits, maybe afraid that I’d leave the ship in search of my man. She pulled me back to the biggest screen, her fingers digging into my skin, but from a distance.

  “Takeo? Why would he get his hands dirty?” A woman beside me spoke in Soremni, her sneer audible.

  “He’s teaching them a lesson.” Her man’s voice was assuring as he put a hand on her shoulder. He was one of the men who managed the brogge barns.

  In the hologram, a figure was swimming back and forth in front of the mass of crabs, a small group of males behind him wearing their midnight blue goo tuxedos with a few extra filmy bits around the hips. He swam quickly, movements sure, his sign elegant and large as he used his entire body to communicate to the mass of monsters.

  “What sign is he using? I don’t recognize that,” I asked.

  “Pugt,” a man said on Madame Claria’s other side. “I don’t know it well, but I believe he’s challenging them to individual combat.”

  Everyone broke out in mutters.

  “What is that boy doing?” Madame Claria said, voice disapproving.

  I glanced at her and then realized what I should have at the first sight of the width of his shoulders.

  I gasped and stumbled towards the holograph, putting my fingers on the image of my gladiator. My hand passed through nothing but colored light. I stared at him, challenging the terrifying army with his sweet, perfect skin.

  A creature rose from the ranks, approaching with head tucked, stalks erect above where his ears should have been. The monster lunged towards my beautiful Takeo. I stopped breathing for the first few seconds as Sean sparred until it became obvious that Sean was one hundred percent in control.

  I exhaled and gazed at him as he fought them one at a time. Then the crab men were joined by the dark creatures with glowing eyes. When the holograph caught them, they were still humanoid, but their faces and bodies were strangely flat, and those eyes had red phosphorescence or glowing red glasses. Their arms and legs were lined with fluttery black fins. Page 78 of the monster cookbook. Those pretty fluttery bits were deadly poisonous.

  I clasped my hands together as the first one approached Takeo. The people around me were chanting, low, barely audible, but Takeo, Takeo, Takeo, filled me with a strange sense of jealousy. He was my Takeo. Not that it mattered as long as he came back safe. He shouldn’t be out there without me. I would destroy anything that threatened my love.

  I clenched my hands into fists. I should go to him now, but he’d told me to stay. The conflict was so strong between my need to protect and the need to obey, that things went spotty.

  Did I faint? Hands gripped my arms, holding me up.

  “Allow me to help you to a seat.” The voice was unmistakable beside my ear, Oliver, Soremni prince, but seemed to come from far away, past the jelly bubble of Soremni obedience and perfect Sean adoration. The crowd separated for us, until he carefully helped me onto a bench. I stared at the nearest screen, at Takeo as he fought against the shadow men.

  I sat for ages, watching Sean fight monster after monster, endless movement and utter perfection. Was he going to single-handedly defeat their entire army? I shifted and brushed the man standing perfectly still behind me. I’d forgotten about Oliver. No, my body hadn’t forgotten, but my mind had. Not my mind exactly. It was so hard to focus on anything besides Sean on that screen, my beautiful gladiator.

  My skin buzzed, itching until I shifted, once more touching Oliver. I reached up and gripped his hand. His fingers curled around my palm and he exhaled long and deep, like he’d been holding his breath for centuries.

  An enormous armored creature approached Sean. This one had no stalks, and his shoulders were more defined, massive enough to dwarf Sean’s. He fought differently from the others. He wasn’t only huge, he knew how to anticipate an opponent. He slashed through Sean’s guard, slicing his tux to ribbons and leaving strands of blood that floated into the water between them.

  I was on my feet, heart pounding. The ship shifted and I stumbled to the side. Oliver was there, a hand around my waist to balance me.

  “Gen, you should wait for him in his room. You need to stay calm. Breathe. The ocean can feel you.” His words didn’t make sense for a long time, but eventually I nodded.

  “Can I watch him there?”

  “Of course.”

  He stepped away from me and gestured ahead. My hand ached without his. How strange to ache in two directions at the same time. We walked slowly.

  “How have you enjoyed your stay in Terramore? It’s a wonderful province.” He spoke in English, his accent rich and delicious.

  I cradled my hand against my chest. “Why don’t you kill them all?”

  “The monsters? It’s hard to recruit people you annihilate.” He
smiled at me, a slightly amused expression that didn’t reach his luminous green eyes. His eyes caught and held me for a moment before I looked away. I couldn’t look at another man. Sean. He shouldn’t have left me for so long.

  “How many gladiators do we need?”

  “Sean’s always wanted to expand the reach of Terramore, including the deepness monsters under his protection. The injustice always bothered him, one people with sanitation, education, food, housing, and the other with the barest essentials. I know it’s difficult for you to allow your mate to leave your side, but he is well-protected.”

  I swallowed and didn’t disagree. I’d seen the ships, but how could any of them reach Sean before something hurt him? I swayed for a moment and Oliver’s arm came around my waist once more.

  “Ah, my love, I hate seeing you like this, miserable for two princes instead of the usual one. I hadn’t thought Takeo would take you quite so thoroughly only to abandon you afterwards. I’m sure he has his reasons.” He pulled me against him a little tighter.

  I didn’t resist, didn’t do anything other than walk with Oliver down halls with moving floors towards Sean’s room, trying to breathe beneath that massive ocean.

  “We’re here.” Oliver gestured towards a buzzing rainbow doorway with elaborate carvings above the silver frame. “Do you want me to stay with you until he comes?”

  I hesitated on the threshold. Was the door made out of strands of light? I wove on my feet as the ship tilted again.

  He gripped my hand. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  We walked through the doorway that shimmered but didn’t seem to have any actual door. It was like walking through an invisible curtain. Which made zero sense. The first room was an alcove that led deeper into a large space with an enormous bed and sleek couches lining the space. Everything was sleek and rich at the same time, silver and green accents over the black. It didn’t look like Sean.

  Oliver led me to the couch and left me standing there while he touched a wall screen, turning on a scene of Sean. Oliver then picked up a tray on a side table and brought it over to me. He put it on the coffee table and sat. I automatically started serving the Soremni dishes to the prince while I stared at the screen, gazing adoringly at Sean while I did my duty.

  After Oliver was appropriately laden, I sat down and picked up a handful of my favorite pickled vegetables. I hesitated before I took a bite. Eating in air instead of water was complicated. How to breathe and eat from the same orifice?

  “The last time I saw you, I was sewing up your stomach. It’s nice to meet under more pleasant circumstances. Do you like Vulgrha?” His voice was perfectly modulated, but too close.

  I glanced at him then away before I nodded. “It’s one of my favorites. These are very nice. I made them from field to table. Housekeeper Mirta said they were adequate.” I looked at him for only a moment before refocusing on the screen where Sean struggled against the other fighter. It looked like they were equally matched. How long would they fight?

  “I can’t imagine Genevieve Castle mastering traditional Soremni dishes. It boggles the mind.” He took my hand absently and began running his fingers over my skin. I frowned at that hand. Sean should be kissing it.

  “That’s not right. Stop.”

  Oliver immediately dropped my hand and laughed, a beautiful, wonderfully musical sound. What would his singing voice sound like? Would he be as exquisite as Sean? Of course not. It was utterly disloyal to think that.

  I slid away from Oliver and took a jelly stick from the tray.

  “You’re truly under Sean’s spell. And he always talked about choice and freedom. I suppose there are always exceptions. I could have taken you at any time if I hadn’t allowed you distance.” He laughed breathlessly, a sound that made my skin prickle. “I have such arrogance, needing to reassure myself that your mindless obsession for me is much stronger than that of his. His won’t last. Mine will. Perhaps a few more hours and then you’ll wake up with an aching body and a headache. Drink lots of liquids. May I?”

  He poured me a fancy goblet full of dark red liquid and handed it to me. A Soremni male shouldn’t serve me, should he? I stared into his green eyes and for a moment forgot Sean, forgot everything. My hands shook when I tried to take the glass. He smiled, the curve of his soft lips undeniably tempting as he touched the cool glass to my mouth. I drank the tart liquid that mellowed to sweetness in the aftertaste, but not as sweet as his lips.

  “Veran nectar,” I whispered, staring at his lips. The harvest. Picking with Petra. Sean working behind me, his strength and beauty beyond compare.

  I turned away from him, heart pounding, stomach twisting.

  He sighed heavily and his arm brushed mine. Fire chased over my skin. “It’s a wonderful plant with many beneficial qualities. I can’t believe that you’re here, eating our food, speaking our language, looking like one of my people, a very beautiful Soremni woman.” He brushed my hair back from my face, fingers touching my cheek and trailing down my throat.

  I held perfectly still, staring at the screen, but I couldn’t focus on it, not with his fingers caressing me as though I belonged to him. “I am not beautiful.”

  Oliver leaned away from me, crossing his arms as he stared. I could feel his gaze, see him in my periphery; however, I kept my adoring gaze on Sean. I belonged to Sean. It didn’t matter if Oliver was here, real, flesh and blood that called to me and mine.

  “Do you think you’d be allowed to perform to such a large audience if you weren’t well-dressed? Of course you’re beautiful, Genevieve, but now you’re beautiful as a Soremni female, soft, pliant, submissive. I’ve never seen a Soremni with softer eyes. You look so concerned. Do you think that I would touch another man’s mate?” He brushed the back of my hand with his fingers.

  I shivered, staring fixedly at the screen. “No. You wouldn’t.”

  He cocked his head. “This conversation is going on and on. It’s absurd, talking to someone enrapt in someone else, but it’s you. I would listen to you breathe in contented bliss for the rest of my life. Particularly when it speeds up, like you can’t get enough air, or what you need isn’t air, but me. Genevieve.”

  He touched my face with careful fingers. I gasped and then in a movement too fast for me to follow, he’d turned me and pushed me down onto the couch with him above me. I clenched my hands against my chest. There was space between us as he hovered there, staring at me, lost and far past drowning. I ached and burned for his touch, but he stayed above me, searing me with nothing but his eyes.

  There was something else. I closed my eyes. Takeo. Sean. Captain Hotness. “You should go.”

  He laughed, a ragged sound that sent a breath of air against my cheek. Air was so strange. “Should I? Why would I go when I have the world beneath me?”

  He wasn’t touching me, except his breath, his weight on the couch to either side of my head. He smelled like spices, like fresh water and warm nights. My hand reached up and touched his face, the skin slick beneath my fingers, but not compared to Sean’s face underwater.

  I gasped and opened my eyes wide, clasping my hands once more to my chest. “Sean. He’s coming.”

  His eyes darkened. “He’ll be fighting them for hours, Genevieve. What he wishes to accomplish can’t be done quickly. He has such ambition. Soremni love makes females compliant and males more determined. He’ll change the world for you. He’ll bring monsters out of the shadows and turn them into well-trained monkeys. Eventually they’ll become their own country, respected, an economical force as well as a cultural one. Such a beautiful love, don’t you think?”

  “What do those monsters have to do with me? Why would he waste his time on them?”

  He raised his dark eyebrows while his green eyes grew brighter. “Them? You’ve forgotten what you are. When is the last time you were kissed?” His eyes fell on my lips.

  I pressed them together and tried to make myself smaller. “A hundred times a day.”

  “Ah. When is the last
time you kissed?”

  I stared at his mouth, lips parted, soft, inviting in a way that made every particle of my skin ache and my stomach twist. When had I last kissed Sean? “I can’t remember.”

  “One kiss wouldn’t hurt. One kiss.” He didn’t sound like he was talking to me.

  “No, Oliver. Takeo wouldn’t like that.”

  His eyes shone brilliantly. “Then he shouldn’t have sent you to me.” He bent his face towards mine, slowly, slowly, until his lips brushed mine. Electricity swept through me, fire and ice and this trembling agony that made it difficult to breathe.

  “Oliver, no.” I put my hands on his shoulders to push him away, but somehow I pulled him down instead, my lips parting when his met mine a second time. His body grew heavier on me, and I couldn’t breathe. Kissing and breathing and Sean and Oliver, things got weird as the ship heaved. The ocean wanted to help me. It would show me the truth. It would wake me up from this tangled dream of princes and kisses. And it would crush everything with its massive weight.

  I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, at the ocean beyond that I couldn’t see. “Oliver, the ocean wants to crush Terramore.”

  “Does it?” he murmured as his lips brushed my jaw. “That would be a pity.”

  I shivered as his hands brushed over my skin and his lips trailed lower down my throat. “The ocean. Oliver, you have to stop!” I shoved against him, sending him to the floor while I scrambled over the back of the couch, gripping it while I struggled to stay on my feet. There was so much in my head, my body, my bones.

  Oliver stood slowly, eyes staying on me as though I were his prey and he would consume all of me. “Of course, Genevieve. You have only to say the word.”

  “You should go.”

  He nodded but his eyes stayed on me, such hungry eyes. “I should. You love Takeo. You belong to him.” He licked his already wet lips. I felt that tongue as though on my own. “The thing about being a Soremni prince is that ownership is always one-sided. I own every Soremni thing. And there you are, looking so deliciously Soremni. Someone should really do something about those Soremni laws.” He vaulted over the couch and dropped down next to me. He was so fast. So much silver. “I can only resist so much, Genevieve,” he murmured as he took me in his arms, his hands strong, immovable, body electric against mine. “And the least is your resistance.”