Mervidia (3 page)

Zane hastily popped the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth and looked at her with an e
xpression of concern. “What is it?” the red-scaled neondra asked. “I don’t need to be a member of the Divine Family to see that something is obviously wrong.” Zane twitched his long tailfins to face Jade fully.

Direct and to the point as always,
Jade thought to herself. It was one of the qualities that made Zane a good commander, but she was afraid it would get him killed one day in the nebulous and intricate machinations of everyday life in Mervidia. “The Queen is dead!” Jade blurted out, unable to hold the news in any longer.

Zane’s mouth gaped open, and Jade could see the gills on the side of his neck flare open su
ddenly as he struggled to breathe. He began to slowly drift upwards towards the ceiling, his body’s involuntary regulation of its own buoyancy overcome momentarily by the shocking revelation. Zane recovered quickly though, his neck gills folding back down until they were almost completely closed, and he flushed the excess water out the slits along his torso, causing the vents in his sharkskin vest to flare out until the bubbles escaped.

When he recovered, Zane spoke.
“What!? How!?” he sputtered before taking a long cleansing rush of water in through his neck and out his torso. “
Who?
” he asked, his brow furrowed and his voice full of menace. His ruby scales flushed to an angry scarlet.

“No one knows,” Jade replied.
Seeing her normally stoic leader upset threatened to bring her own feelings bubbling once again to the surface, like a bloated black swallower drifting up into the thin waters high above Mervidia. Her mind quickly seized onto the facts in an effort to keep her emotions in check, and she related the information she had in a precise, disciplined manner, as was expected of her. Jade straightened further and began to recite the events of the day so far. “I was awoken early this morning by a messenger from the Queen Mother, Damaris of House Lumen, and told to come to the Royal Palace. No explanation was given as to why my presence was requested, nor did I ask. Upon arriving at the palace, I was conducted with haste, and a surprising amount of stealth, to a small chamber and told to wait. Soon afterwards the Queen Mother entered the room, leaving her personal guard outside. Damaris appeared very upset, but I did not feel it was my place to inquire as to why. She informed me that Queen Beryl had been… mur....”

A tide of emotion rushed through Jade’s body and threatened to sweep away her resolve.
She took a long gulp of water in through her neck gills and out through those at her torso in the same manner as Zane had just done. The red-scaled neondra looked concerned but said nothing, waiting respectfully for her to regain her composure.

A short moment later, Jade continued.
“Damaris informed me that the Queen had been killed in her bedchamber and wished for me to find the assassin. I then gathered all the information that I could, and that the Queen Mother was willing to offer. Then, I immediately made my way here to inform you that I would be unavailable for the foreseeable future, while I conducted my investigation.” Jade sagged and hung limply in the water. After giving her report and all the information was out, she felt strangely hollow inside, the news leaving a peculiar cavern in her chest.

“Who found the body?” Zane asked.
His demeanor had gone quickly from shock and anger back to its normally disciplined manner.

Jade took strength from
her leader’s stoicism, raised her head, squared her shoulders and responded, “Iago, the Queen’s Consort, said that he awoke to find her floating against the canopy of their bed.”

“How was she killed?” Zane asked, his red scales having returned to their normally bright r
uby color.

“Her throat was slit by a curved blade of some type.
Though I did not see it, I was told that the wound was clean suggesting a carved or spell-shaped bone blade.”

Again
, Zane’s scales flushed a deeper red. “Savages,” he spat, as though tasting the Queen’s blood in his own mouth and immediately expelling the foul flavor. “To kill the Queen like that....” The Red Trident’s Captain left the sentence unfinished.

Slashing the throat of a merwin,
any
merwin, was an insult. It showed a blatant disrespect for the victim, as though killing them was nothing more than gutting a fish for a meal. It put Mervidia’s Queen on the same level as some grotesque grogstack, laboring away in the Deep Mines. It was an offense, not just to Beryl and her family, but to all of Mervidia.
You show respect to your opponent by killing them with your own hand and in such a manner as to portray forethought and intelligence,
Jade thought.
Otherwise you are just as bestial as the creatures that roam the dark waters beyond the city’s reach.
The assassination was disgusting.

After a moment, Zane composed himself again and continued his questions.
“Do they have any suspects?” he asked.

“None yet that I am aware of,” she replied.
“I haven’t had the time or opportunity to question any of the staff or residents at the Royal Palace. Given the Queen Mother’s insistence on discretion I’m not sure I’ll be able to either.”

Zane looked strangely at her, the confusion evident in his handsome face and milky white eyes.

“The Queen Mother insisted that I tell no one that she had hired me to investigate on her behalf.”

“And yet you’re telling me about it now,” Zane replied, his brow furrowing further.

“I insisted,” Jade responded. “I reminded the Queen Mother that I am a Red Trident and could not take on such a matter without my captain’s knowledge.”

“She must not have liked that at all,” Zane said, his brow remaining pinched, but for a diffe
rent reason now. There were merwin, especially in the high houses, and even some of the middle ones, which did not like what Zane had done with the Red Tridents. The ranks of the mercenary company were drawn from all the races of merwin, regardless of house or standing. There were ethyrie who swam shoulder to shoulder with octolaide, neondra and seifeira. There were even several grogstack who carried the Red Trident. To some, the Red Tridents were an abhorrent mixing of houses and races that flew in the face of hundreds of cycles of Mervidian tradition. Among the highborn, loyalty to one’s house was paramount. The Red Tridents represented the idea that it was Mervidia as a whole which should take precedence over the inter-house politics. While most merwin publically endorsed such a group that made Mervidia their utmost concern, they privately wished for its rapid and violent demise. There were even rumors that certain members of the Coral Assembly were making plans to push through a decree that the Red Tridents be disbanded, though under what fabricated pretense none of Zane’s soldiers could discern.

“No, she did not,” Jade replied to his question about Damaris.
“However, she knows that you are a merwin of your word and would keep quiet about it. Furthermore, you would be aware that her hiring an investigator outside of the purview of the Coral Assembly would create a stir that Mervidia did not need at this time.”

“Her words?” Zane asked, smirking.

“Her words,” Jade confirmed, her own lips turning up faintly at the corners. Her smile vanished though as she continued on in a more serious tone. “She also, very vaguely and non-committedly, hinted that should the investigation come to light, that from her seat on the Assembly she could make your life even more difficult that it already is. However, if the investigations by a third party remained undiscovered, she would be a powerful ally should you wish to expand your ranks in the future.” Jade paused a moment before saying very deliberately, “my words.”

“I appreciate the paraphrase.
I figured that Damaris hadn’t been anywhere near as direct or succinct,” Zane said.

“Surprisingly, the Queen Mother was much more straightforward than I would have suspec
ted,” Jade replied. “Just between the two of us, she seemed truly distraught.”

“Understandable,” Zane said, rubbing his chin with a webbed hand.

“It’s more than that,” Jade said and then stopped abruptly. Zane motioned for her to continue. “I don’t wish to speak ill of the Queen Mother, but I think she is up to something.”

“When is she not?” Zane said, a wide smile spreading across his face.
“When is anyone in the High Houses not up to something?”

Jade was struck by two things.
First, that Zane had made so cynical a statement, true as it may be. The neondra leader was known for his optimistic outlook; it was what led him to form the Red Tridents in the first place. Perhaps life in Mervidia was finally beginning to wear on Zane’s sanguinity. Secondly, Zane’s family, House Ignis, was one of the High Houses. It was one step away from a seat on the Coral Assembly. Again, despite the remark being the truth, it was surprising to hear a highborn make such a disparaging remark about the ruling houses of Mervidia in such an offhanded way. In spite of their many cycles together, there were parts of Zane that were still a mystery to her.

“True as that may be,” Jade stated, “this was something more.
The Queen Mother was obviously upset, but there was something darker to her request for discretion, something vengeful. I fear that should she find out who the assassin is she may not wait for the Coral Assembly to pass judgment. I can’t really point to anything specifically that she said, but…” her voice trailed off.

“We are not a simple people,” Zane said when Jade did not finish her statement.
“I wouldn’t let being unable to discern the motives behind one of the most devious minds in Mervidia trouble you much.”

Again, there was a strange cynicism to Zane’s words that was not like him.
There is something going on here that I don’t see,
Jade thought.
Why is he acting this way?

“Have you spoken to Lachlan?” Zane asked.

The abrupt shift in the conversation shook Jade out of her contemplation. “What? Why?” she blurted out.

If Zane was taken aback by her strange response, it did not show on his face.
“I ask to see if Lachlan was aware of what happened. I assumed that he would know something was amiss. You said you were awoken early this morning. Had Lachlan left before you woke for some reason?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.
“Lachlan was still asleep when I left.” The romance between Jade and the seifeira was hardly a secret. She didn’t know why she was startled that Zane was aware of it. Knowing his warriors was one of the things that made the neondra male such an effective and likeable commander. “I came here directly after my audience with the Queen Mother.”

“Of course you did,” Zane said, his tone one of mollification.
“I apologize if my words suggested otherwise.”

“I didn’t mean…” Jade began, but Zane cut her off.

“Lachlan has many contacts amongst the seifeira and through them to nearly all the houses in Mervidia. He may be able to help,” Zane suggested.

Jade realized that Zane had ignored her response and continued to speak, not to be rude, but because he felt her apology was unnecessary.
As far as he was concerned, the matter was settled and warranted no further discussion. He had glossed over it to save her any embarrassment, and for that she was thankful. Furthermore, Zane was right. Lachlan was still closely connected to his people, the seifeira, the race of merwin that harvested the food for Mervidia. They kept the city fed. Despite his race’s low standing amid the merwin for being bottom dwellers, there was a simple nobility to them, and to Lachlan in particular, that many people found admirable. Jade and Zane were among them. Lachlan’s people, through their contracts with the various houses to supply them with food, may have heard something that would prove helpful.

“Of course he would,” Jade said, self-consciously.
“That should have occurred to me.”

Zane swam forward and placed a reassuring hand on Jade’s shoulder.
“You have come bearing shocking news, and it speaks of uncertain times to come. A little distraction is to be expected.” There was a calm to her captain’s words and tone that helped settle Jade’s mind. He removed his hand and took on a more formal demeanor. “I understand the Queen Mother’s request for discretion and subtlety. I leave it up to you to conduct your own investigation. Use your resources as you see fit. The Queen Mother chose you for a reason, and I trust your judgment. I also trust that you will conduct yourself appropriately as a member of the Red Tridents, so there need be no more discussion on the matter.” From anyone else, Jade would have taken the statement as a warning, but from Zane it was a statement of his confidence in her. “Should you need anything from the Red Tridents, come to me directly. We will, of course, respect the Queen Mother’s request that your investigation be kept as quiet as possible. I will remove your name from the active duty rosters for the time being.”

Jade straightened and then placed her fist across her chest.
“Yes, sir,” she said, firmly. “Thank you, sir.”

Zane returned the salute.
“Any further business?” the captain of the Red Tridents asked.

“No, sir,” Jade replied.

“Very well,” Zane said formally. “Dismissed.” The red-scaled neondra lowered his arm and his face relaxed, taking on a concerned expression. “Be careful, Jade,” he said.