by T M Caruana
“Susy spent a long time on Teli. She needs some time to regain her memory.”
Leo’s words made Myra murmur in pity with sad eyes that quickly turned into a smile.
“Myra, can you take care of our guests? They need a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we’ve got a lot to do.”
Leo started walking towards the door when my voice stopped him.
“But Tarus said you had to be close to us all the time.”
He turned his head, but didn’t turn around.
“You are safe with Myra, I have taught her all I know,” he murmured.
In the next second, he charged from the door and ran to the window, throwing himself out of sight. Katrona and I sprang to the window to witness his body hit the water below, and disappear into the depths.
Myra took us to one of their bedrooms where Katrona, Michael and I would spend the night. The bed, that was actually a large stone bath, was emptied of water and filled with a mattress. I had forgotten that the people from Vati had to be in the water every twelve hours and it was therefore not surprising that they slept with their bodies under water.
Katrona and Michael fell asleep right away, but I had too many unanswered questions to be able to relax. When I was sure they were asleep, I crept out to search for Myra. Alike Leo, she too looked like a Greek goddess as she stood by the window of the tower and looked out over Atlantis. Her thick hair meandered down her naked body, reaching to the hip and covering her light torso.
“I hope he doesn’t do something he’ll regret.”
Her voice was meant to reach me. She must have heard when I arrived. The window was big enough for both of us to peer at the beautiful town beneath us. I could have stood there for hours.
“What do you mean?” I asked ingenuously.
“I hope he hasn’t gone to see Athena. If Triton finds out that he is in Atlantis, he will turn the city upside down until he finds him. It will be impossible to hide him from all the guards. He has a few friends left in his battalion, but there aren’t many and I don’t know if they would dare to protect him.”
The response was equally open to interpretation and I had to ask more questions if I was going to figure out what was going on.
“Or has he gone to meet…”
“Athena? But I thought you and Leo were…”
My question had interrupted her and she looked disgusted at my assumption.
“I forgot about your memory loss. No, I’m Leo’s little sister. Well not exactly, but he has always raised me as his little sister. He took responsibility for me when no one else did. My parents died in a shark attack when I was little. Pallas is the only one that Leo has ever loved.”
Her voice was soft and patient. It proved that she had great respect for her brother’s past.
“Why do you think he has gone to see Athena?”
My question didn’t seem to upset her, and she looked rather relieved to have someone to talk to, which made me feel confident about all the questions I wanted to ask after this one. But Myra had already taken the hint.
“It started long ago when Leo joined Triton to become an Atlantis Guardian.”
17
THE CHIEF’S DAUGHTER
“Actually, it didn’t begin with Leo, it began even further back. It all started when Noah and you sent ‘the saviour’ to Teli to provide guidance when Teli’s people left their souls to greed and forgot your motto: ‘Love conquers all’.”
Her story began long ago, but for me it wasn’t long enough and I had to interrupt her.
“You mean a saviour like in the stories from the prophecies? Did these characters exist for real?”
My doubt wasn’t surprising considering I had lived at CERN with scientists during the twenty-five years of my life that I could remember. For that reason, I had always been a realist, and had assumed that the ‘prophecies were only fairy tales or stories that were elaborated on by every person who had told them. As in a fish story, where a small catch becomes a big shark before it reaches the last listener.
“You…don’t believe in ‘the saviour’ from the prophecies?” she asked softly, staring at me as if I had said several curse words in a row.
She left her mouth open in surprise, and I could only assume that she knew the prophecies well and was a faithful follower. Probably it wasn’t the time to discuss my non-existent standpoint on the matter. Most people actually seemed to think I was the creator of the Earth and that there was no higher power that would have sacrificed his only son as a saviour of Teli.
“Have you not met Noah yet, since you came back? Has no one explained to you who you are?”
Myra’s abrupt change of topic turned my thoughts to Noah’s displeasure about the situation with Tarus that made him determined to stay on Pixi. I was also suspicious about how she could know that Noah had survived when everyone had thought he was dead. Leo couldn’t have updated her since he had already left and hadn’t had time to talk to Myra privately.
“Huh? Yeah, he told me that I’m the creator of the worlds, but I’m tired of that story. Please go back to Leo’s story – who was the saviour that we sent to Teli?”
“Susy…the saviour was your and Noah’s son.”
The shock made my blood burn in my chest. My tongue was dry in my mouth and my eyes motionless. I was paralysed. Did I have a son with Noah? Was it possible? The seriousness of the situation and the understanding of why Tarus and I had never started a romance was becoming clearer, but also more complicated. I had promised myself to Noah and given birth to our child, forgotten who I was and had then thrown myself into the arms of another man. It was no wonder that Noah was hurt. I wished I had found out that information earlier.
My mind searched through the registry of the few memories I had of Noah and stopped at the time he had told the story of when we had stolen apples from the Garden of Eden. His eyes had been affectionate and he had stammered out his words, as if he had wanted to say something more, something slightly sensitive, which he couldn’t just throw out to someone who didn’t remember it. That evening it had happened. That night we had created our son. It was what he had been trying to tell me before we had been interrupted. Would it really have made any difference if I had known it from the beginning? My feelings for Tarus were unavoidable and my lust was difficult to control around him. In the long run, wasn’t it best to follow my heart? Or had I ruined a balance in life, which I had created for the right reasons? I hoped our visit here wouldn’t last long. I wanted to re-join Noah and tell him how sorry I was. I would force him to tell me everything. I hope it wasn’t too late to beg his forgiveness, although I would still choose to be with Tarus. Or my heart would at least.
“I know that Michael told me something about how people from Pixi create descendants. Both must be close to each other and want to have children, is that true?”
My question indicated doubts about the information. Possibly it was to confirm to myself that I once had made a different choice than I would today.
“That’s correct.”
Myra’s compassionate eyes wandered over my face to read my reaction. Going by her facial expressions, I don’t think she could decide how I felt. My face was blank, not a muscle moved, but under the surface I was full of questions.
Myra took a deep breath to continue. I guessed she didn’t want to give me a chance to feel sad. If I were to try to find a similarity between her and Leo, due to his parenting, it was that she was just as protective and wise as he was.
“The rumours about how you sent a life from Pixi to Teli spread rapidly around the worlds and reached the most powerful magic warlock on Vati. His greed and evil nature were notorious. One myth says that he ate children for breakfast, abducted young girls who swam in the deep water and sucked out men’s courage from their hearts, so that they couldn’t die with dignity. When the news reached him, he decided to do the same thing: a child for a child. He successfully stole the blue power stone and travelled to Teli where he forced himself on t
he sleeping princess of Dyfed. Emrys, the son who was born, would be the most evil counterpart to your son that ever lived, and was more widely known as Merlin.”
The name came out as a growl between her teeth. It was noticeable that his immorality had followed her as a shadow and the very thought of him caused her to shudder.
“I’ve heard of him. I thought he was good, he was the advisor to Arthur of Camelot.”
In all honesty, I didn’t know much about history, but the name Merlin was well-known on Teli and many TV programs had been made about him.
“He was good at manipulating the people of Teli. It was he who created the contest that would announce the new king as he who was able to pull a sword that was stuck in a stone. The sword was stuck in the stone due to one of his own spells of course, which made it easy for Arthur to pull out. It was convenient for Merlin if Arthur were to inherit the throne and in that way he would indirectly rule. After he had massacred many of the upper class, he led an expedition to Ireland to retrieve Chorea Gigantum stones. He placed them in a circle in Amesbury around the upper class people’s graves and that is what came to be called Stonehenge.”
A sudden tear from Myra’s cheek fell on her arm, which she crossed over the other and tightly placed over her waist as if she had stomach cramps. She continued, without explaining the reasons for her tear or even taking the time to wipe it off.
“His downfall came when he fell in love with ‘The Lady in the Lake,’ as she was called, at the Fountain of Barenton. He brought her to Vati and converted her to his own kind. They lived together and he taught her all he could until their son’s birth, when she had enough power to imprison him for her own evil gain. No one has seen him again, but it’s said that she locked him in a glass tower, unbreakable even by him,” she whispered gratefully, evidently pleased that he had disappeared, but still worried that the fight wasn’t over.
The story had distracted me somewhat and I hadn’t really kept up with it all. There were too many names and I had no idea who they all were.
“What does that have to do with Leo?” I asked after a moment having lost the thread of where this discussion began.
Myra took a deep breath, delaying her response for a long while. It was as if she was going to say something horrible and unthinkable. She looked away from my face and back to the view of Atlantis Palace.
“Leo is Merlin’s son,” she said shortly after more deep breaths.
We both stood silent, staring unseeingly out at the view. I thought of the little I knew about Leo. How could it be possible that he was the descendant of the most evil, most magically knowledgeable man of the seven worlds? I had always seen him as protective, fair and polite even though he usually stayed outside any personal discussions. His perfect face showed neither a trace of violence nor evil thoughts. However, it was true that he had experience of spells and chants that even Eutychia respected.
“And Pallas was Triton, King of Vati’s, only daughter by blood. You can imagine how inappropriate it was when Pallas began sneaking out of the palace at night to meet with Leo.”
Myra looked at me to check that I agreed about the tragedy, but my face must still have been blank as she looked quickly back at the palace. My face wasn’t blank because I disagreed; I was just amazed at the information that I had been given and there were still too many unanswered questions. Moreover, I felt sick that Leo had been judged by who his father was when he clearly had a completely different character. Wouldn’t a wise man like a king of a nation have realised that?
“What happened to Pallas?”
I already knew that she would continue her story and tell me of everything I already knew, but I wanted to ask the question to show my interest. It was the social protocol, or at least it was on Teli.
“Leo had managed to join the guardians of Atlantis,” Myra said, resuming her story. “The guardians have a duty to circulate the outskirts of the city to protect it from the evil sea creatures such as sharks or witches. The other guards were impressed by Leo’s knowledge and he quickly rose in rank. Pallas met him for the first time during a ceremony where he was awarded a medal for his courage after having engaged in a battle where he was outnumbered and close to losing his life. The witch had tried to attack the palace with a troop of her subjects, and Leo hadn’t hesitated to defend us all. When he couldn’t save my parents, he was the only one who offered to be my family.”
Her voice was filled with pride for her brother’s actions. She searched under her loincloth and took out a piece of metal shaped like a star with a blue ribbon hanging from it. She passed it to me to see, but I had the feeling that I shouldn’t touch it. It said: ‘Atlantis gratitude’ on it.
“It was love at first sight. However, it wasn’t acceptable for a person with royal blood to date a person in the guard. That was how Triton classified him so he didn’t openly discriminate because of his family’s name. Pallas used to sneak out of the palace to meet him. It was a lovely time. I’ve never seen my brother so happy.”
I could see a smile hovering on her lips and a glint in her eyes as she wandered further and further away in her thoughts. I didn’t interrupt. It looked like she was enjoying the dream, back in a time where she had been content, where Leo had been happy. As Myra continued telling her story her breath started speeding up again.
“Athena, who was her foster sister, had ignored her adventures and pretended not to know anything of her sudden disappearance from the palace,” Myra said and frowned. “She had assumed that Pallas had finally found love in someone, as Triton had for so many years tried to marry her away to suitable noble partners from distant waters. It was natural that she wanted to see her sister happy. When Pallas, after many months, still hadn’t revealed to her about why she snuck out and whom she was meeting, she decided to pursue her to see for herself. She instantly recognised Leo and knew who he was.”
Myra’s breath was fast and violent, which made it difficult for her to continue. She shook her head. It was clear how much she was hurting for her brother. She suffered for him, as if he had fought against a serious illness, but actually it was worse than that. I already knew how the story would end, because I had met Pallas in the overgrown forest. It ended with Leo losing her, losing his one true love. The person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with had been snatched away from him, never to be seen again.
Myra gulped and struggled to talk. “They had danced around each other’s emotions. Both had been cautious about declaring their love because they knew what complications it would bring. One evening, Leo had been very nervous. He had confided to me that he would tell her the truth. He could no longer keep his feelings to himself. He held Pallas’s hand, ready to confess, when Athena confronted Leo with a trident in her hand. I don’t know what she had in mind when she must have known that Leo’s powers were much stronger than hers. Maybe she knew that he was too kind and would never have entered into a battle with her. If Pallas hadn’t stopped her, he would have let her spear the trident into his body without resisting her. He had too much respect for the Royal Family to even draw his sword in defence. There was a fierce battle between the sisters and Athena threatened that she would tell Triton about Pallas’s treacherous acts. In a crucial moment, Leo had tried to bellow out for them to stop the fight before anyone got hurt.”
The next words from Myra were unidentifiable through her tear-filled voice and she stopped since she couldn’t get her words out. Her cheeks were filled with tears that flowed down through her thick hair. She closed her eyes, wiped away the tears from her face and cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, how ridiculous I am to cry. That was a long time ago now, but it was wonderful to see Leo again today and everything was so emotional.”
Her behaviour was heart-warming for it proved what a wonderful person she was and how sincere Leo’s character must have been, that he had managed to raise her to become so sympathetic. She accepted my comforting hug and wiped the last tears. I felt hopelessly unhelpful wit
hout my memories. If only I could remember, I could have comforted better. I decided to remain silent. It must be better than saying something wrong, that might upset her and maybe make her storm out and leave me in a room and in a world that I knew nothing about.
“Leo came home that night and told me how Pallas had stumbled over Athena’s foot after his scream how he had seen her fall on the trident. It was like everything had been in slow motion, but yet happening so fast that Leo didn’t have time to react to save her. Pallas’s beautiful blue eyes had filled with fear before they shut for the last time.”
Myra pointed towards one of the bridges leading out from the palace.
“It was there, at the end of the seventh pier,” Myra said and pointed, “that everything happened that dark night. Over there you can see the yellow roses that line the railings around the pier. The ground is completely covered by them. People from Atlantis still go there to mourn her passing. She was a gentle woman and everyone loved her. They had all hoped that she would become the next queen of Atlantis as Triton can be…”
Myra stopped her sentence abruptly.
“I probably shouldn’t speak badly about my King, but Atlantis is dying, spells are being forgotten each year and the people are becoming weaker. Triton says it’s because you don’t come with the power stones to recharge the world’s energies, but I don’t know if I believe that’s the only reason,” she said, returning to the tragedy. “The yellow roses symbolise the fire-rose, which is a legend about a rose that wouldn’t burn when the holder is near his true love and its ash is the only ingredient that can heal a broken heart. It’s the people’s message to Leo. They hope that his heart may one day heal and they wish him well. We all miss Pallas very much. She looked on every soul with eyes that made you believe that she had known you all your life, knew what you had gone through and had compassion to the extent that she would give her life for you. She treated everyone with dignity, even people from the lowest social class, and always took the time to listen.”
