Blood of a Mermaid (10 page)

Riord bowed deeply, and swam from the Great Hall without another glance at either Lybio or Shea.

Shea was puzzled by the king’s actions. “Why did you allow him to leave? If he was the last person to see Kae…”

The king chuckled, cutting him off. “I see you have no qualms about questioning the motives of your king. Which will make you a fine leader someday, if a poor subject.”

Shea looked down, feeling heat creep into his cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, Sire.”

“Not to worry.” The king looked sharply at Lybio. “As your king, I could not allow you to further manhandle a foreign guest in my presence. I understand a father’s feelings, but ask you to put them aside for the moment. Did his description trigger any cogent thoughts?”

Lybio shook his head. “I know of no one in the castle with hair as he described, nor has my daughter ever mentioned such a merman. My daughter is also not one to wander away with a stranger without informing her mother or myself. I’m beginning to agree with your grandson that Kae was indeed kidnapped.”

Shea blinked rapidly as he looked from Lybio to the king and back again. It was one thing for him to worry that Kae had been kidnapped. It was an entirely different thing for everyone to reach the same conclusion. The blood pounded in his ears, making it hard to listen to what was being said. Lybio and King Koios were discussing possibilities, but Shea’s mind was reeling off in its own direction.

Kidnapped! Who would really do such a thing? If no one knew of the secret hearing in Atlantis, who would even have motive to take her? Who would want to harm her? His thoughts flew to the last merman who had attempted to harm Kae.

Demyan.

The murderous Adluo had held a knife to Kae’s throat in an attempt to get Shea to confess to spying. He’d seen the bond between them and used Kae against him, having no moral qualms about hurting an innocent to get what he wanted.

His mind traveled back to that night, Shea’s first time ever visiting the underwater castle. He and Kae had been hunted by Adluo soldiers, taken prisoner and tied up with ropes for questioning by Prince Demyan himself. Luckily, Kae had insisted Shea cover his royal birthmark, otherwise Demyan might’ve killed him on the spot.

As it was, he’d sliced Kae’s skin and only left them both alive in order to blackmail Shea’s mother, the Aequorean princess, into marrying him.

Demyan now held a grudge against Shea for thwarting his plot. Would he try to use Kae against him a second time? The more he considered the possibility, the more certain Shea became.

“Sire, it was Demyan,” Shea blurted, interrupting the two mermen. They both turned to stare at him. “I know it’s him. And he’s using Kae to get at me. He knows she and I are friends, from Solstice when his soldiers took us both captive.”

“The Adluo pretender is swimming for his life,” Lybio said, his tone dismissive. “I doubt he’s spared as much as a single thought for you in the last few weeks. He’s too busy hiding from Atlantean justice to consider revenge.”

King Koios looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t be so sure, Lybio. That Demyan is one determined merman, and if he’s found himself somewhere to hole up, you can be assured that his mind is busy weaving new plots to take over the Atlantic, if not our entire world.”

Revenge
. Shea remembered Demyan’s bitterness as he blamed the Atlantic king for his own father’s death.
I’m sure he blames me for ruining his plans for revenge
, thought Shea.

Shea could hear the doubt in Lybio’s voice as the older merman spoke, slowly reasoning through the possibilities. “Who would harbor such a criminal when we are seeking him? Certainly not anyone in our own clan. And not the Adluos, since he murdered their entire royal family, including the boy king. He’ll find no safe haven in the Pacific, either, after poisoning Prince Azul. That leaves going north…”

“…and the Nerine,” Shea finished for him. Lybio had told him not to bring up the Arctic clan, but now it seemed impossible not to. “Could they be hiding him? Or working with him in some way?”

“Anything is possible,” King Koios conceded. “But how to go about proving your theory…” The king looked off into the distance for a moment, his eyes seemingly focused on the far wall of the Great Hall before snapping back to his servant. “Lybio, I need you to go personally as my emissary to King Naartok, since you are familiar with his court. While he is not exactly Demyan’s type of merman, he may know of a disgruntled faction within his clan.”

Shea saw Lybio’s momentary hesitation, those few seconds where the merman went perfectly still as if made from stone. Finally, he bowed, his face betraying no emotion. “Yes, Sire.”

Shea knew how conflicted Lybio must feel, with his only child out there somewhere, missing, and his king entrusting him with a vital mission. He reached out to touch Lybio’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll find her.”

“No you won’t.” King Koios crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his grandson sternly. “I need you to take the girl’s place before the Court of Atlantis. The trial will be held in ten days time, with or without our witnesses. We can not allow Demyan to get away with murder.” He looked from Shea to Lybio, narrowing his eyes. “Although…if I send you to visit the Nerine, Lybio, who will make the journey with my grandson?”

Lybio frowned. “Could he not travel with your guards, as my daughter had planned?”

“Not in light of our suspicions about Demyan’s scheming,” said the king, tapping his forefinger against his chin. “Not all the way from here to Atlantis. If only there were some way to get him closer to the Aegean Sea.”

Shea realized he didn’t even know where in the world Atlantis was situated. All he knew were the cartoon versions of it being an ancient island city that was lost under the sea, much like the Roman city of Pompeii was lost under a volcanic lava flow. He clenched his fists in frustration at how many times his lack of geographic knowledge had failed him in the last few months. Not wanting to interrupt the king’s thought process he elbowed Lybio. “Aegean Sea? Where’s that exactly?”

“On the far side of the Atlantic, just after you pass through the Mediterranean Sea,” Lybio explained quietly.

“Perhaps it would be safest for him to travel above the surface by ship, in drylander fashion,” mused the king. “Agents from Atlantis could meet him on the shores of Santorini and escort him from there. He should make it in time for the last days of the trial.”

Shea’s ears perked up. He’d heard of Santorini before. Isn’t that where Hailey said she was going next week? “Wouldn’t an airplane would be faster than a ship, Sire?”

The king looked at Shea and frowned. “Those new metal drylander birds that fly across the sky?” He shook his head. “They fall into the sea all the time. I couldn’t ask any of my guards to risk that type of journey. Merfolk do not fly. No, a ship is safer transport for all.”

“Airplanes are perfectly safe, proven technology,” Shea argued. “They’ve been around for decades.”

Lybio chuckled. “Decades are mere drops in the ocean of time.”

Shea continued to press his point. “The number of crashes you see is a tiny percent of the total number of planes in the sky every day. In May I flew with Gramma from Oklahoma to Cape Cod, so it must be safe for merfolk, too.”

“You didn’t have your gills then,” Lybio argued. “They say gills cease to function at such high altitudes. Merfolk can’t fly.”

Shea glanced at him, realizing that Lybio must not know Martha’s secret after all.
Interesting
. He turned back to King Koios. “My neighbors are flying to Greece next week, to Santorini. I could travel with them.”

“Drylanders?” Lybio snorted. “How would they protect you?”

“Protect me from what? You and the king say merfolk don’t fly.”

King Koios raised both hands. “Enough bickering!” He pointed at Lybio. “I’ve already given you instruction, Lybio. You must leave at once for the Arctic Ocean, and return with word as quickly as possible. Your wife, Kira, can continue the search for your daughter.”

Although Shea could see the frustration etched on his face, Lybio bowed deeply and didn’t protest. “Yes, Sire. I shall return to you soon.” He swam out of the Great Hall, a swirl of tiny bubbles in his wake.

The king’s gaze settled on Shea. “And you. You truly feel these flying contraptions are safe?”

“Safe, and faster than going by ship, too.” The more Shea thought about it, the more excited he became at the prospect of traveling to Atlantis. Yes, part of him was still worried about Kae – a really large part, actually – and the thought that someone could be harming her was paralyzing…but he couldn’t focus on that.

Bringing Demyan to justice was the key to finding Kae, he was sure of it.

Now to figure out how to tell his grandmother that he needed a plane ticket to Greece.

The floor beneath her felt hard as she shifted her sore hips. She yanked the thin, scratchy blanket tighter to her chin, keeping her eyes closed as she shivered. The water felt colder than she was used to.
Maybe the last few days have all been a bad dream
, she hoped.
Maybe when I open my eyes, I’ll be back in Nantucket Sound and Mom will be in the kitchen preparing the morning meal.

Except she was pretty sure it wasn’t a dream.

Slowly she pieced together what she could remember. The past forty-eight hours were a blur in her mind, hazy indistinct images of traveling across the Atlantic. Kae had traveled as part of the royal entourage for years with her parents, swimming long distances from the Southern Atlantic all the way to Nantucket Sound, but she’d never made a journey like this.

Vaguely she remembered passing along the outskirts of a few villages –
Yesterday? The day before?
– but most of the swimming had been in the open ocean, zooming through the middle depths, far enough below the surface so as not to worry about humans and their ships but high enough from the ocean’s floor so as not to be seen by other merfolk. In fact, she hadn’t seen a single soul besides Xander since leaving the castle gardens.

She’d never swum so fast for so long in her entire life, let alone gone straight out for almost two full days, barely stopping to eat let alone sleep. When they’d finally stopped swimming, it had been the middle of the second night and pitch dark. Every single part of her hurt – from her shoulders down to her tail fin, and every muscle in between. Even now, she could feel her muscles protesting the simple act of sitting up, so she didn’t even try.

Xander had said he’d explain everything in the morning. He’d kissed her on the forehead and said goodnight. She’d been too tired to question him and had fallen dead asleep. How long had she been asleep? And where was Xander?

For the last two days he’d held her hand, giving her hugs of reassurance when they stopped briefly to eat or when they’d encountered that lone great white shark off the coast of Massachusetts, very early on in their journey. She missed his warm, solid presence by her side. Apparently he’d left after she fell asleep, because she could tell by the coolness of the water around her that she was all alone. She missed him.

Thinking about it all now, that was the strangest part of the entire journey – how quickly she’d grown so close to Xander. It felt as if she’d known him all her life, and when she held his hand, nothing else seemed to matter. Nothing. She was able to swim by his side without feeling fatigue or hunger, and without worrying about her family or her responsibilities. Or… Shea. His name and his face suddenly filled her mind.

Not Xander, but Shea.

Shea, with his blond hair and big green eyes. Shea, whose smile lit up his entire face and warmed her like summer sunshine. The only son of her royal princess, heir to the Atlantic throne, and the boy who’d given her a first kiss she would never forget…

Except that she had let it all slip from her mind like sand through her fingers.

How had she forgotten about Shea?

Her eyes flew open, finding the water around her as black as a cloud of octopus ink. How long had she been asleep? She tried to focus on the silver bracelet around her wrist, feeling the metal against her skin even if she couldn’t see it in the total darkness. With great effort, she flexed her arms muscles and reached over to run her fingers along the silver, five strands for earth’s five oceans, hammered into the shape of rolling waves.

So you don’t forget me while we’re apart
… Shea’s words echoed now in her head. He knew she was going on a journey, and had given her a gift. He knew they would be apart. But how had she forgotten all about him for two whole days? Kae shifted uncomfortably.
What will he think about me swimming away with Xander? Or did he know I was going with him?
She tried to concentrate, to remember, but that piece of her memory was still missing.

Xander. The green-haired merman remained a mystery to her, despite having spent the last two days alone in his company. He still seemed like an odd mixture of tough guy and lonely little boy, and part of her ached to make his sadness go away. It felt like those dark eyes of his could look right through her, that Xander knew everything about her and everything she was thinking, but she couldn’t figure him out.

They hadn’t spoken very much at all along their journey, as her gills were already working overtime to keep up the fast pace set by the determined merman. But then again, maybe they had talked. She didn’t really remember much of anything. Was that because of Xander?
Did he do something to control my mind?

She sat bolt upright, her muscles protesting and her tail scraping along the hard rock floor as she shifted her weight. She strained to see but the utter blackness of her surroundings yielded no clues.
Why did I leave Nantucket Sound in the first place?
She had been planning on a journey to…somewhere.
Am I supposed to be with Xander?
There were huge blank spots in her mind, as if parts of her memory had washed away with the tides. She reached up to touch her transmutare medallion, and found it missing. A chill of fear ran down her spine as her tail fin quivered.