Mrythdom: Game of Time (29 page)

Now that he thought about the ebb and flow of whatever chemical reactions caused the coral and sea life to glow, he wondered how those chemical reactions were sustained. He’d never heard of coral living above water let alone glowing iridescently. Where did it get its food? How did it emit light? Where was that energy coming from? Those were all mysteries of Meria that Aurelius wasn’t sure he’d get to solve before he left.
If
he left. If he didn’t find some way to escape, he’d have plenty of time to figure it all out. . . .

Casting such depressing thoughts from his mind, Aurelius began walking around his quarters, looking for Gabrian. He hoped the old man had found his own way back. He found Reven asleep in one of the bedrooms, but the other one lay empty. Frowning worriedly, Aurelius checked the rest of their quarters, but Gabrian wasn’t hiding in the bathrooms or lying comatose on one of the couches. He was still out and about, doing whatever it was he’d left to do. . . .

*   *   *

Aurelius awoke to an insistent whisper. He turned toward the sound and found himself gazing into the lovely face of none other than the queen herself.

“You must leave,” she hissed.

He rubbed his eyes. “Must I?”

“Don’t be insolent; it’s unbecoming. It is nearly morning, and soon the city will be overrun with maidens going for their morning swim. You must leave before they discover that you spent the night with me.” Aurelius sat up, and the bedcovers fell from his trim, well-muscled body. The queen studied him admiringly.

“Why is that?” he asked, covering a yawn with one hand while he stretched languidly.

“
Because.
” The queen's glowing blue eyes snapped up with an impatient look.

Aurelius answered with bland curiosity. “Because . . .”

The queen sighed and shook her head. “If you weren’t so handsome . . .” Reluctantly, she explained, “It is a few days less than a year since my last challenge. If it becomes known that you are now my mate, there will be a challenge for you, and though I haven’t lost a challenge since I became queen, I am not ready to risk that you'll be the first.”

Aurelius smiled. “I’m touched. So much concern for me. But is it not true that a maiden must first convince me to mate with her before she can challenge you for me?”

“It is.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about. I would never betray you.”

“Good, but I take no comfort in your promises. Men are weak. You will not betray me, because I will not let you. If you do, I will win you back and have you killed. Remember that.”

“Of course, my beauteous queen.”

“Now leave. Here—” She gathered up the bed sheets and threw them at Aurelius. “Wrap yourself in these to shield yourself from view. I will instruct my guards and mates to keep our secret until I have been challenged anew. Then you will be safe with me for a whole year.”

“As you wish my queen.” Aurelius began dressing into his green tunic before wrapping himself mummy-like in the sheets. He proceeded from the queen’s bedchamber with a small, self-satisfied grin. Soon he would have her tell him exactly where she had hidden the relic, and then she would either give it to him or he would steal it. But first . . . first he had to find a way out of Meria, and a way to be rid of any would-be pursuers. Let Malgore think he’d hidden the relic safely with the queen. Let him think there was no way for anyone to escape Meria. Let him think he’d won. But he hadn’t.

Gabrian smiled, but it was Aurelius’s lips which turned upward, and Aurelius’s cheeks which dimpled.
Magic can be so useful sometimes,
Gabrian reflected.

Martanel watched Aurelius leave the queen’s bedchambers, wrapped in white sheets to conceal his identity. The apparently-young guard contemplated what he had witnessed that night. It had seemed to him a vile and perverted thing to watch as a man and woman mated, but the ways of mermaids had little to do with the ways of men, and he’d had to guard his shock from registering in any visible way. After all, he was meant to be inured to such perversions, and he could not afford to expose himself for who he really was.

Martanel tried to imagine what the elder had been thinking to mate with the queen, but he could neither discern nor imagine the boy’s reasons. There was no conceivable motive for it, and it seemed out of character. Why would he resist the princess’s arguably more compelling advances only to willingly submit to the queen later that same night? It was senseless. Perhaps the boy had simply yielded to his baser instincts after he’d spent an entire day being aroused and goaded by the sight and smell of so many beautiful women. Perhaps he thought he might be allowed more freedom or status if he mated with a queen rather than merely a princess.
Perhaps
.

Martanel didn’t think the boy was that calculating. No, his instincts told him something more sinister was afoot. Something to do with the relic. After all, why else were they here in Meria? They’d followed him for one reason and one reason only. In his recently-usurped position as one of the royal guard, Martanel spent most of every day near the relic, watching the comings and goings of those who entered its presence. Aurelius must have been after the relic. It was the only explanation for his suddenly strange behavior. Martanel frowned and turned to look over his shoulder, as if to reassure himself that the relic was still there, but the doors to the queen’s bedchambers were closed. He caught his fellow guardsman giving him a knowing grin.

“That was something last night, wasn’t it?”

Martanel suppressed a frown and traded it for a matching grin. “Yes, quite something.”

*   *   *

Lashyla entered her mother’s bedchambers and closed the doors behind her. She stopped at the foot of the bed and bowed low as was customary.

“Good morning, Mother,” she said.

“It is indeed a good morning,” the queen said, rising from her bed. She was naked, but Lashyla didn’t bat an eye. All mermaids slept naked, and she had seen her mother disrobe many times before. The queen went to her closet to retrieve some clothes for the day and set about dressing herself. Lashyla waited patiently for her mother to finish. At last the queen turned to her daughter with a smile and said, “You need no longer trouble yourself with Aurelius; I have discovered for myself who he is.”

Lashyla’s eyes widened. “Truly? As have I. Last night—”

The queen interrupted her daughter with a quick swish of her hand. A fierce look crossed her face and she asked, “You have already heard what happened last night? Who told you?”

“What do you mean?” Lashyla’s eyebrows drew together in confusion.

The queen hesitated a beat, her eyes narrowed angrily and suspiciously as she tried to determine if her daughter was being deliberately obtuse. “What have you heard about last night?”

“Nothing. Aurelius and I went on a tour of the city; I took him to the Launch, and he admitted to me that he is an elder.”

The queen’s anger visibly abated. “Ah. Then you know nothing of what happened afterward?”

“He infuriated me and I had him sent back to his quarters where I presume he spent the rest of the night.”

The queen shook her head. “But he did not. He came to me, and consented to mate with me.”

Lashyla’s eyes flashed with anger and then hurt. “He couldn’t have!”

The queen smiled. “But he did. I summoned you here to tell you the happy news, and to have you keep a closer eye on him. He will still be treated as a vestal and kept out of sight to protect him from the advances of other maidens, but we will double his guard and forbid anyone to enter his quarters. Have the guards say that Aurelius and his friends are suspected of plotting against me; no one need know more than that, and no one will want to associate with traitors lest they be condemned by their association. Yes . . .” The queen’s voice took on a musing tone. She completely missed the gaping shock on her daughter’s face. “Yes, that should keep him safe until I am challenged anew. He will take his meals in his quarters and be exempt from the usual duties of the other vestals. See that it is done, Lashyla, and if any of the maidens complain, I will have their names.”

“But mother . . .” Lashyla’s look of outrage was still in full force, and she had to work hard to keep her tone civil.

“Yes, my sweet?” the queen asked, oblivious.

Lashyla fumbled for words, her mouth opening and closing with impotent jealousy and rage. At last she managed to say, “Never mind. May you both be happy and satisfied, and may he bring you many more beautiful children.”

“Thank you, daughter. That is very kind of you. I know you had your eye on him yourself, but you will find another; I will see to it.”

Lashyla gave a shallow nod, and began turning to leave.

“Oh, and one other thing—”

Lashyla turned back.

“—make certain that Aurelius does not get too restless. You must see to his needs until he can be released.”

Lashyla nodded again. “As you wish, mother.” With that, the princess turned and stalked from her mother’s room. She wondered wryly if seeing to Aurelius’s
needs
could be interpreted as she was imagining now. . . . But she couldn’t steal Aurelius away from her mother. Even if he consented to mate with her, she had no other mates to fight a challenge for him, not to mention that it would not be easy to find one who could conceivably challenge Thorin the Triumphant in the ring.

She felt like her blood was boiling. She couldn’t believe that Aurelius had chosen her mother over her. How could he! He had led her on! He had rejected her and pretended his objections were based on principle rather than any lack of attraction or desire. Now she saw that he had merely been setting his sights higher. Why settle for the princess when you can have the queen? There had to be a way for her to get revenge. She couldn’t let his wretched insolence go unpunished. . . . But all the forms of vengeance she could concoct were only possible if he first became her mate. Then she would have complete control over him.

Yes . . .
Lashyla mused bitterly to herself.
Then that is what I will do.

*   *   *

Aurelius woke to an insistent banging. He sat up on the couch and rubbed his face tiredly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

What was that infernal racket? It took him a moment to identify the sound. It was coming from the door. Before he could rouse himself enough to answer it, the sound stopped and he heard a voice. “Yes, what do you want?” It was Gabrian.

Aurelius turned to look, wondering when the old man had returned.

“Where is Aurelius?” a familiar feminine voice asked in icy tones.

Aurelius felt a spike of dread and wondered if he should try to hide himself. That voice did not sound amused. Could Lashyla still be angry that he’d asked to leave Meria?

“He’s right here, my beauteous princess. Is something the matter?” Aurelius watched the old man turn and open the door wide to reveal Lashyla standing at the door with a compliment of burly guards. Even at a distance he could see her expression of barely contained fury. She stalked across the room to his couch, and he had to try hard to conceal his apprehension. Somehow sleeping on her ire had only made it the worse.

She stopped before the couch and gazed balefully down on him. “Rise, vestal, and bow to your princess.”

Aurelius bristled at being commanded to show a respect he hardly felt, but he complied, not wanting to get himself into even more trouble. As he straightened from his bow he fixed her with a quizzical frown. “Why are you so angry?”

“I’m not angry. I’m disappointed.”

“Then why are you disappointed?”

“You consented to mate with my mother!” Aurelius blinked and his mouth dropped open. “You needn’t act so surprised. She told me all about it. Do you know what you’ve
done
?”Aurelius was shaking his head with denial, but Lashyla barreled on, not giving him a chance to speak. “You fool! You thought you’d have more freedom with my mother than with me? More rights, more privileges? A better life? We could have been happy together, just you and me! I would have had no need for others, save those I would use to defend you, but now see what you have cost yourself: my mother has dozens of mates! She calls upon them
rarely
, and tires of them quickly. She keeps them hidden and guarded so that none can presume to steal them from her. She collects them like pearls, and keeps them where no one will see them to appreciate or covet their beauty. You will spend the rest of your days in isolation and lonely longing for the one who will never ever long for you. We could have been happy, Aurelius, but now I see that you prefer to be miserable. As a token of what’s to come, you and your friends will be confined to quarters until further notice. You will be exempt from doing the usual work of vestals, but you will also have nothing to dull your boredom.”

Aurelius’s eyes were wide with shock and apprehension. The picture Lashyla had painted of his future was a very bleak one, but he still had something to say in his defense.

“What in the nethers are you talking about?”

*   *   *

 “How dare you take that tone with me!” Lashyla was furious. He was a wretched man. She couldn’t believe she had ever been attracted to him—ever wanted him to be hers.

Aurelius forced himself to speak more calmly. “I did
not
sleep with the queen!”

“You did. There were two witnesses.”

“Then they are liars!”

The princess’s eyes narrowed sharply. “Bearing false witness to a mating carries the death penalty in Meria. Who would risk that for you?”

“I don’t know! Surely it’s happened before? That people lied to secure a mate or offer a challenge for one?”

Lashyla’s expression turned thoughtful. Even in her short experience, she knew of such a case. In that particular situation, once the facts had all been verified and the farce revealed, all those responsible for perpetuating the lie had been thrown into the ring, and the maiden who’d presumed to falsely steal a mate had been exiled to the sea. Such things only ever happened with extremely coveted mates—only then was the risk worth the gain.

And who could be more coveted than Aurelius?

Was it possible that her mother would risk everything by lying about having mated with him?

At last, she shook her head. “It does not matter, Aurelius. There was a third witness.”

Aurelius’s eyebrows shot up. “Who?”

Lashyla frowned. “My mother, the queen. Do you really expect me to believe that she and her guards would all lie about this? Do not flatter yourself. You are not so valuable that the queen would risk her crown for you. No, now that you realize the full extent of your foolishness, you are having second thoughts, but it is too late.
You
are the liar, Aurelius!” She stabbed him in the chest with an accusing finger.

“I am telling the truth!”