Everblue (2 page)

3

ASH

“Ashlyn Frances, is that you? Don’t forget to take off your boots!” Mom barked from the kitchen. “And take your swim bag with you to your room—hang up your towel and suit too.”

What am I, like five?
With an eye roll, I kicked off my shoes as instructed and trudged towards my room. Yes, I’d forgotten to remove them, but the formal speaking of my name wasn’t necessary. “Did you forget I didn’t have practice today? And call me Ash,” I said under my breath.

Mom poked her head around the corner and grabbed my arm, stopping me. I scowled while she put some of my stray hairs back into place behind my ear. “Your name is beautiful and you should be proud of it. It honors Grandpa, God rest his soul.”

My middle name was after my late Grandpa Frances, or Frank for short. I used to like it until Mom said it every chance she got. I quickly turned towards the stairs to escape, knowing a probing conversation brewed on the tip of her tongue.

“You’re home early. Is everything okay?” she asked behind me as I took the stairs by twos.

“Perfect,” I grunted.

“Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes—”

I closed my bedroom door so I couldn’t hear anything else and slumped down on my bed. Fin had flirted with me in the past, but that was—what was that? Was he about to kiss me and chickened out? Or did I read his signals wrong?

My cheeks burned remembering my willing response—hanging my lips out there, ready to be kissed. And just when I thought I had a grasp on the situation, he’d do something like this to my emotions. Hot or cold—never easy for me to read.

“Oooh,” I grunted, grabbing an innocent pillow and chucking it across the room.

I went to my window and looked toward their house. Trees blocked most of it from view, but his Jeep was visible enough. The sight of it rolled my stomach over. How one guy could be so adorable yet so frustrating irked me to no end.

If it weren’t for the fact I’d lose my best friend, moving away seemed ideal.

4

FIN

With a pop, gills opened behind my ears, allowing me to breathe as water rippled across my scale-covered skin. With a final exhale, I pushed out the last of the oxygen, lessening the resistance as we leisurely dove further into the inky depths towards the secret tunnel 1,600 feet down. Gel lenses slipped down over my eyes like goggles, enhancing my night vision and clarity. Our dive—easy for us to traverse—would be impossible for humans without some expensive equipment. Our mer bodies were unaffected by the glacial water and tremendous pressure.

Tatch swam along side me; her worried thoughts met mine.
“Are we getting relocated?”

I smirked, trying to keep our internal conversation from gaining mom’s attention. Mer twins often had mind-talking abilities.
“Stop overreacting. If whatever Azor asks is going to move us away from here, Dad will decline like last time. Maybe he has to go somewhere and I’ll get to guard Tahoe in his place.”

“You? Why would they pick you?”
She clutched her charm bracelet that held her most prized possession—a tiny vile filled with a blue colored liquid—the
essence
of our life.

“I’d be the most logical choice,”
I said indignantly.

“Yeah, right. First of all you’re not old enough and second, you’re single.”

“Nothing but technicalities.”

Though the prospect of a bigger assignment when I got older was tempting, following in my father’s footsteps and freedom apart from the colony appealed to me more. I just needed a chance to prove myself.

Tatch turned towards me, tilting her head.
“You could come with me and Ash to college you know.”

Tatch’s response bitterly sliced through my excitement; I spouted out with internal laughter.
“Ridiculous.”

She looked downward towards our destination.
“No. What’s ridiculous is how they make it seem like you control your destiny when you don’t. This huge honor is just a disguise for a huge crap sandwich. Your life will always belong to the King and the rest of the Council. Luckily, Dad has groomed you specifically for this territory by setting up Captain Jack’s, giving you some sort of freedom. But you’ll still be owned by them and at any time, like now, they could take it from you. You know it and so do I.”

“Have you forgotten Dad is actually on the Council? He’d never let that happen.”

We looked at each other for a moment—my twin, my little sister by five minutes. If she actually chose to leave us, to go to college and live “normally,” the consequences meant erasing her memories and starting afresh as a human. People killed for our secrets and she was throwing it all away to be
normal
. No one in their right mind ever chose to leave.

I clenched my jaw.
“I doubt you’ll be able to go through with it.”

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

I gulped down my emotion and shook my head. How could she act as if our family didn’t mean anything to her? That our memories deserved to be heaved into a dumpster bin? The thought of losing her forever tore me apart the day she’d mentioned the prospect of college. Of course the decision would be easy for her to make—not having to feel the pain of losing the ones she loved. But I’d never do that to Mom and Dad, or to her.

I gritted my teeth.
“You get the good end of the bargain.”

“We’ve talked about this before. With the colony, there’s no certainty. Dad’s protection only goes so far. The King still has expectations. Leaving is my only choice,”
she said matter-of-factly.

 “You could go to school close by. You don’t have to leave leave.”

“You just don’t get it,”
Tatiana swam a little faster.
“They’d still own me.”

I gritted my teeth and silently followed behind. She was technically right. Everything
could
change after tonight. But I highly doubted we’d be leaving for good.

A statue of Tessie, Tahoe’s loch ness monster, loomed in the dark as a joke, but ironically was a door to the meeting room. Mom felt under the statue’s neck for the lever. As the statue’s jaw lowered, the water undulated around us, disturbing the blind shrimp and other sea life. They scurried away as we swam through her mouth into the ante-chamber.

“
This sucks, Fin.
”

“It’ll be okay
,” I said, still hopeful I’d get my big chance to guard the gate.

Upon breaching the surface of the flooded cave, my heart barreled in anticipation of what could happen within the next few minutes. Bluish lighting—native to our world—danced across the abalone-encrusted ceiling, brightly illuminating the two-hundred square foot space. The cave, originally just a tunnel bridging Tahoe to Natatoria, was carved out by Dad to become a place for the Council to meet, far away from prying ears in the palace. A colorful mural of our city, inlayed with gems and shells, covered the main wall. I hadn’t seen it yet and was blown away by the detail Dad had incorporated.

But to my disappointment, not only were Dad and Azor in attendance, Uncle Alaster and Colin were, too. Why would they be here?

Dad motioned for us to join them at the large granite slab that appeared to be floating in the center of the room. I swam up first and wedged my tail into one of the eight L shaped seats carved into the slab’s ledge under the waterline, across from Uncle Alaster and Colin.

Azor, son of King Phaleon and second in command of the army, sat at the head of the table with his slicked back hair and cocky smile. His calculating dark eyes watched as we chose our seats. Mom took the spot between Dad and Colin, leaving a seat next to Azor and the one between Dad and I open.

“Tatiana, don’t you look lovely. Please. Sit here,” Azor said, ogling her blatantly, making my skin crawl.

She smiled, but chose the other seat.

“Ugh,” Tatch groaned ever so slightly once she settled in. Out of the water, we couldn’t mind-talk but I could imagine what she was thinking about Azor and what he could do with the seat next to him.

“Now that we are all here, we can start the meeting. Nice to see everyone,” Azor spoke in our native tongue. The blue light gleamed off his white teeth as his glance darted across the attendees. “Let’s get down to business.”

Mom shifted in her seat. Of all the merpeople here, she was the only beta-mer: a human changed into a mer. That fact made her cower in the presence of the pure-born, the native tongue still difficult for her to speak without an accent.

Azor cleared his throat before starting. “First, I have to congratulate you, Jack, for your vigilance at the Tahoe Passage. Things have been peaceful and the rumors you’ve spread have been effective in containing curiosity.”

 “Well done, Brother,” Alaster said, waggling his white eyebrows and giving a golf clap.

Dad nodded, keeping his posture stiff. He and his younger brother rarely saw eye to eye, especially with matters surrounding how to handle Tahoe.

Tatch sighed next to me as if to say “what a kiss-ass.” I bit my lip to refrain from laughing.

“So,” Azor said quickly. “That situation up North we discussed in the Council meeting has escalated. Jack, we need your expertise and advice after all. The King was hoping you wouldn’t mind leaving your responsibilities in the hands of Alaster and helping us out.”

I glanced at Uncle Al. His smirk under his white beard made my stomach flip. Why would they be allowing him to oversee again after the disaster last time? We still hadn’t fully overcome the rumor mill over the fire and near sinking of the
Empress
. He was the last person I wanted in charge of our lake or our business. In quiet alarm, I waited for Dad to object, to insist I stay to protect Tahoe and run things in his absence.

“If that’s what the King wishes, ” Dad said to my dismay. “Of course.”

“Great. And then, as far as the family—”

I swallowed hard and clenched my jaw. Uncle Al taking over the lake? The last thing I wanted was to share living quarters with them.

“—Finley and Tatiana are having their eighteenth birthday soon, correct?”

Mom folded her hands on the table top. “Yes.”

Azor smiled wide. “Perfect. The Coming of Age festival is less than a month away and there is much to prepare. We’ll just have you stay in Natatoria for the time being. Have any prospects of promising been voiced?”

Tatiana hit her tail against mine. I kept a straight face.

“Not unless it’s happened within the last hour,” Dad said with a smile. “We’re allowing Fin and Tatiana to choose, you know.”

Azor’s countenance fell. “Well . . . hopefully they’ll find suitable mates before the festival.”

From my peripheral vision, I noticed Tatch close her eyes, as if she’d sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

“Fine then,” Azor continued. “Magdalene, you and Tatiana will be assigned to the palace to help prepare for the upcoming festival. Finley, I’d like you to join me in my command. One day, you might be given an actual gate of your own to guard so it’s important you’re trained.”

Trained? Was he kidding? I’d been guarding the gate with Dad from the day I could swim. Maybe if he got off his pompous fin and actually spoke from experience instead of barking orders from his dad, I’d respect him. I bit back my retort once I caught Dad’s cautious eye.

 “As you wish, Azor,” I said begrudgingly but shot a pleading look back. Dad still had time to suggest I stay in Tahoe in his place.

Dad kept a mask of strength and nodded his head. “I’m proud of you, Son.”

“Excellent. Now that that’s settled, I’d like to speak to Jack and Alaster alone. We have details to discuss.” Azor raised his arm, directing us—the outcasts—toward the shimmering waterway in the opposite corner of the room. The tunnel leading to the city of Natatoria.

Dread crept across my scales. Our “convenient” assignments brought us right under the nose of the King. We’d have to fall in line and follow their rituals. No more jaunts on land for the time being. But the worst part was Dad’s assignment.

What possibly could be happening up North that would shake him so badly? He’d never arbitrarily leave Alaster in charge of Tahoe and ditch us to deal with things like a pre-promising festival if there wasn’t something big happening. Whatever the situation, though he tried to hide it, I’d never seen him so concerned before. When
would
we see him again? I suddenly didn’t want him to go without me.

Tatiana responded to the gravity of the situation first and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Bye, Daddy.”

He patted her on the back and his gruff exterior crumbled a bit. “You take care of your mother. I’ll be home soon.”

Mom forced a smile and hugged my father next, but for much longer.

“When will you be home?” she asked quietly in English, caressing his face with her hands.

Azor interjected, answering to prove he understood her. “A few weeks, Magdalene. We’ll take good care of Jack. It’ll be difficult, but of anyone I know, you two can handle it.”

Ignoring Azor, Dad hugged Mom and caressed her hair. “I love you,” he said, distress lining his tanned face. “Always know that.” They shared a tender kiss.

Anger burned in my belly. The fact the King and his son had such control over us irked me. All the expectations sent a dagger into my chest. I wanted to jump up and demand Dad decline the mission. The whole thing reeked of danger. He shouldn’t have to feel obligated to go if he didn’t want to. What happened to the man who fought for his family? For honor? For what was right?