The Veiled Descendants

by Sophia Menesini

  Poseidon shakes his head as he stands from the bed. “No. I cannot see all from the Underdeep, and by the time I knew, you were on the Duchess with…Paetre.”

  “And so what? You thought piracy was better for me than being with my mother?”

  “No—”

  “They took me from her! I’m lucky I found people who cared for me and loved me, but she didn’t know that. Did you even tell her? How many times did that sad mortal woman pray to you for the return of her child?”

  “She asked me to leave you there!”

  Shea’s mouth audibly shuts. Her eyes are wide and her face pales, as if he struck her in the gut.

  Poseidon doesn’t look much better. His own handsome features darken. He tucks a strand of his jaw-length hair behind his ear and wipes a hand down his face with a sigh.

  “What?”

  “It’s not what you think,” Poseidon explains.

  He tries to step closer to Shea, but the captain flinches back, her shoulders hitting the wall as she forgets she was leaning up against it.

  “She didn’t want me?”

  “No! She loved you, but after Perses was exiled because of his power, she was afraid that when the time came for your claiming, they would do the same to you.”

  “She couldn’t have known that,” Shea growls, pushing off the wall and heading for the door.

  Her father races past her and blocks her exit; she stops and looks up into his pleading face.

  “Yes, she could.”

  “No—”

  “Yes! Because she was on the council who voted Perses’s exile. Ami sentenced him herself. And then she got pregnant. She realized what she’d been part of.”

  Shea can’t believe this, any of this. Her mother banished her half brother and left her with pirates and her father just let it happen. Her eyes burn as she uses all of her strength to hold back her tears; instead she keeps her eyes on Poseidon, glaring at him as if a simple look could rip him apart.

  “Ami?” Shea mutters, and the name resonates to her very being.

  “Yes, your mother. Ami,” Poseidon says with a ghost of a smile.

  “And here I thought I only had you to blame for the end of Nereid. Looks like I can blame Mom too.”

  Shea shoves past Poseidon, and he stumbles. His back hits the wall and Shea stalks away, hoping he won’t go after her, but she’s not fast enough. He catches her arm and pulls her back toward him. Her fist flies on instinct, but his other hand catches that too.

  “We’re done,” Shea barks, trying to pull away.

  “No,” Poseidon growls back. “We’re not. Like it or not, you need me. Your powers are only going to grow. If you think that little trick you did with the Oceanan boy surprised you, wait until you force someone to sleep and they don’t wake up at all because you can’t control your powers.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I want to help you, but I need your permission to do so.”

  Poseidon releases her from his grip and she almost falls back from the force of trying to escape, but she manages to catch herself on the hallway wall.

  Shea wants to kill him, but something inside her knows she’s scared of these growing powers and the only one capable of understanding what’s happening to her is, unfortunately, him.

  “How? How can you help me?

  “We train, every day. A couple hours each morning on the deck, early so that most of the crew is below in case things get out of hand. Give me a chance to teach you and then maybe we’ll have a chance against Triton.”

  Shea’s eyebrow rises. “You mean Perses?”

  “Him too.”

  “Are you saying we might be in for an unfriendly welcome from Triton when we get to him?” Shea inquires with a frown.

  “I don’t know. That’s the truth.”

  Shea nods. Guess immortality wasn’t the problem after all.

  “What do you say?”

  Shea wants to tell him to walk the plank and get eaten by a hydra, but instead she says, “Fine. Right before first light. We’ve been up all night. Morning sun should be coming up soon, so we’ll start tomorrow. I’ll meet you on the deck. But if I don’t think it’s worth it, then I don’t want to see you until we reach Triton. Got it?”

  Poseidon chuckles darkly. “Got it.”

  And Shea leaves him at that. She stalks away down the darkened hall and doesn’t stop until she hits the steps leading to the quarterdeck. She’s about to go up when she remembers that Jo is waiting for her in her quarters. She thinks about going up anyway, but with everything that’s happened, she hasn’t really gotten a chance to properly see her fiancée.

  Shea turns around and heads to her quarters. Besides, Caen will let her know when they hit the boundary. They’ve both got some time to spare.

  Chapter 13: I’d Fight for You

  Jo

  As Shea storms off toward the quartermaster’s room, ignoring Jo’s shouts, Jo starts after her once again but is stopped by Poseidon, who puts a finger over his lips in a gesture of silence. Jo closes her mouth, Shea’s name dying in her throat.

  ​“I’ll take care of her. I should talk to her about this alone anyway. Why don’t you head off to your cabin? I’ll send her your way after.”

  ​“I don’t think—” Jo tries to object, but Poseidon has already turned her around and is pushing her in the opposite direction before going after his daughter.

  Jo sighs, sending a silent prayer up to Amphitrite for strength, then freezes. She’s sending a silent prayer to Poseidon’s wife about his demigod daughter, probably not the best course of action.

  But overall, she thinks it would be best if Shea talks to Poseidon alone. At the very least Jo knows her fiancée can handle herself.

  Jo pauses as she passes Nol’s closed door and thinks about the young man lying on the exam table inside. It didn’t take a genius to see how Shea looked at him, the concern in her eyes, and yet, Jo doesn’t doubt the captain’s love for her.

  Sure, the jealousy rises in the pit of her stomach, but she doesn’t for one second believe that Shea doesn’t love her. She’s just not ignorant of the connection that’s sparked between the two.

  They’ve been apart a year from each other. A lot can change—in fact a lot has changed. Shea’s powers have grown, she’s the daughter of a god, and Jo is no longer a dutiful princess but the governing queen of her own country.

  Time didn’t just stop for a year.

  Jo isn’t guiltless, with the countless balls and the many governing functions, she’s looked even if she hasn’t touched. She came close once, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. All she could think about was her captain, and if she ever found out, she would ruin everything. It wasn’t worth the risk.

  Events have altered Jo’s perceptions of the world; she shouldn’t ignore the idea that the same hasn’t happened to Shea.

  ​Jo nearly runs into the door at the captain’s quarters, so completely lost in her thoughts she hadn’t even realized she kept walking. She shakes her head, trying to clear her mind, and pushes the door open.

  It’s like going back in time as soon as she passes the threshold. There are small differences, the fabrics on the bed have changed, there’s more items scattered along the floor. But the mirrors have remained, in fact there’s definitely more than before. The standing mirror is still off in the corner covered in silk scarves and dazzling jewelry.

  Light is starting to stream in through the stained glass in the back of the cabin, spreading beautiful colors throughout the quarters and over the centered bed pressed up against the windows.

  Shea’s desk still sits in the center of the room with various maps strewn all over it.

  One of the windows is open and a meow draws her attention.

  Jo closes the door behind her, and when she turns back to face the room, Caeruleus is perched on the back of Shea’s intricately carved wooden chair behind her desk.

  Jo smiles as he jumps from the chair to the table, pulli
ng his wings against his back, and drops, spreading out across the maps and other important paperwork.

  His blue fur looks absolutely brilliant in the colored light, and as she walks the rest of the way to the desk, she notices bits of gray scattered through his Azulean bright green wings. His silver-blue eyes open and close as he relaxes on the desk, his massive paws kneading the hard surface.

  Jo grins down at him and pets the top of his head all the way down toward his feathered tail. She laughs when his nails puncture through one of Shea’s documents. Carefully, she extracts it from his paw and places it out of the way. Knowing how sturdy the desk is—a flash of a memory streaks through her mind’s eye of lazy kisses and warm cuddles from a year ago on a life-changing voyage—she hops onto the edge and scratches Caeruleus’s belly as he purrs louder in approval.

  “Hello, Caeruleus. I was worried about you, you know. I hadn’t heard from you in a while before everything happened.”

  Caeruleus swivels his body so he’s lying on his back and unfurls his wings to make himself more comfortable. The gray is more noticeable on this side of his wings; Jo absently wonders what the average life span of a Lionbird is. She also notes a few of his feathers seem to be missing.

  “I’m worried, Caeruleus,” Jo murmurs and Caeruleus’s eyes open. He seems to meow in acknowledgment.

  “We were apart for so long, Shea and I. And together for so short a time. Perhaps things have changed. I look at her and my heart beats faster. She takes my breath away and my mind sings but…we’re not the same people we were a year ago.”

  Caeruleus mewls, turning back onto his front. He lazily stretches and gets up, walking closer to Jo. He presses the top of his head against her petting hand and places a paw on her thigh.

  “She’s not saying it, but I can tell. She found something this year, and it affected her. She’s wiser now, more experienced than the young captain I once knew. When we met, it was like I found the other half to who I was. I still feel that way when I look at her. But so much has happened.”

  Jo hisses in pain when Caeruleus’s razor-sharp talons cut into her thigh as he kneads against her pants. She hears the naval uniform rip slightly.

  “Caeruleus,” Jo chuckles and the Lionbird meows, releasing Jo’s thigh and dropping back onto the desk. His tail flicks every so often.

  “I’m sorry. I’m complaining, aren’t I?” Jo sighs, and the answering tail flick says it all.

  “I think I need to let her go.”

  Caeruleus growls, his bright silver eyes staring at the queen. Jo shakes her head with a smirk.

  “Not like that. I don’t want to leave her, but we’ve been apart a year. I know what I want; every written letter was enough for me, to keep me going, but I won’t judge if it wasn’t enough for her. I love her, I want her. But I need her to choose me.”

  Caeruleus sneezes, then brings his paw up to his face, licking the pad.

  “I need her to choose me,” Jo repeats, standing from the desk.

  “Caeruleus, you’re a genius.” Jo laughs, straightening out her naval uniform.

  Caeruleus yowls in objection of her standing from the desk and goes back to cleaning himself.

  “Don’t you see? I can’t expect her to just go back to the way things were because things aren’t the way they were. We’re different, the both of us. I need to show her that’s okay. Well, take that, Governor Beck. I romanced her once, I think I can do it again.”

  “There you are.”

  Jo jumps as the door to the cabin opens behind her and Shea saunters in.

  Jo’s gaze wanders over the redhead’s gorgeous form. From her dark boots to her loose pants held up by a scarf belt, the flowing material of her peasant blouse and black doublet obscuring her luscious bust to her braided red hair complementing her golden skin.

  Their eyes meet as Jo studies Shea’s one green and one white eye, and the more she stares the more entrancingly beautiful she finds them. They’re a mark of her strength and that’s gorgeous in itself.

  “I was wondering where you could have gone when I found myself alone with Poseidon,” Shea remarks, closing the door.

  She leans back against the wood, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Jo’s face heats and she has to look down to compose herself before meeting her fiancée’s heated gaze again.

  “I’m sorry. You both needed to talk eventually, and he caught me off guard. I shouldn’t have left you.”

  Shea tries to keep her tough exterior, but a small smile breaks the illusion. She pushes off the door, walking straight toward the queen, surprising Jo by wrapping her arms around the back of Jo’s neck and pulling her in for a hug.

  She smiles and pulls the elf closer, putting her arms around Shea’s middle. She decides not to mention that she can see that Shea is on her tip toes from one of the mirrors, instead she just enjoys the feeling of having her close.

  “It’s okay. You were right, as usual. I needed to hear what he had to say.” Shea sighs, pulling away.

  Jo resists the urge to tighten her hold and releases the captain.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Jo asks, clearing her throat.

  Shea opens her mouth to answer but stops and instead groans when she notices Caeruleus lying on her desk.

  “Caeruleus, how many times have I told you? Not on the desk, you mangy Lionbird. Go help Aster with watch.”

  Caeruleus yowls and continues to lie on the desk.

  “Caeruleus,” Shea warns.

  The Lionbird looks up and Jo swears he glares at his mistress, mewls, and then stretches slowly.

  She laughs as he kicks three rolled-up maps off the desk behind him.

  “Don’t encourage him, Jo!”

  Shea grumbles and picks up the maps.

  Caeruleus finally takes flight, flying once around the room. He lands on Jo’s shoulder and nuzzles the side of her jaw with his face, before he’s off and gone through the window.

  Shea’s still mumbling to herself as she puts the maps back on the table.

  Jo smiles and walks up behind the elf, wrapping her arms back around Shea’s middle and then pulling Shea against her chest.

  She buries her face into Shea’s braided hair.

  “I missed you,” Jo tells her.

  Shea chuckles. “I missed you too.”

  She turns in Jo’s arms. The blonde can feel the captain’s stare, but she keeps her expression open, allowing the examination.

  “It’s going to work,” she says.

  Jo smirks. “I know.”

  Her eyes flicker down to Jo’s lips.

  “Do you want to, uh,” Jo stutters, “talk about anything? Catch up?”

  Shea grins. “Not exactly.”

  The captain is leaning in, and Jo closes the last of the distance between them. A shiver runs down to the base of her spine as their lips touch.

  She moans at the feel of Shea’s plump lips, and it gives the redhead the opportunity to press her tongue inside, deepening the kiss.

  Jo’s hands fall to Shea’s waist, working at the fisherman’s knot on her hip. It takes some coordination, but soon she unties the scarf and Shea’s pants fall to her ankles.

  She’s vaguely aware of the elf kicking off her shoes and undergarments, until she’s naked from the waist down, her peasant blouse falling over her firm bottom.

  “Should we be doing—” Jo huffs as her hands run up and down Shea’s muscled sides.

  “Gods yes,” Shea interrupts, breaking the kiss so she can focus on getting Jo’s leather belt undone.

  Jo toes off her own shoes while Shea whoops in success at getting Jo’s belt off, dropping it to the floor.

  Jo pulls Shea back in for a kiss, moaning as their bodies press together, basking in their warmth.

  The captain’s fingers make quick work of Jo’s last fastenings on her pants, and Jo helps her push her trousers down to the floor before kicking them off.

  She undoes the buttons on Jo’s naval uniform and grins when
she finds only a white corset underneath.

  She offers her hand and Jo takes it as she’s led to the bed.

  They stop with Jo’s back to the bed, and Shea takes off her blouse, exposing her beautiful body, her breasts bandaged down like usual.

  Jo licks her lips, wanting to hold that beautiful form as she makes love to her over and over again.

  Even after a year, it’s nice to know the attraction is still there.

  She gasps as she’s pushed back against the bed and falls on top of the firm mattress. Grabbing one of the pillows, Jo presses it under her head as Shea climbs on top of her.

  “Look at you take charge,” Jo murmurs huskily, letting her eyes roam over Shea’s muscled physique until they land on strange markings peeking over the top of Shea’s shoulders.

  “Don’t I always?” Shea teases, holding herself up as she leans down to kiss Jo again, but the queen stops her.

  Her thumb brushes over the marking.

  “What is that?” Jo murmurs.

  Shea cocks her head, confused, and looks to her shoulder before understanding lights her eyes.

  “Ah. That.”

  “That?”

  Shea laughs and gets up; she takes her braided hair and brings it over the front of her shoulder exposing her back fully. She turns so Jo can see.

  Jo gasps and sits up to examine the tattoo.

  It’s a huge Lionbird covering almost Shea’s entire back, detailed, the mouth open in a roar. His wings peek over the top of her shoulders and his tail drops to her hip. Greens, blues, and black run through the entire tattoo. Her freckles stand out on her shoulders from the ink and along her arms.

  Shea turns back to Jo with a sultry smile.

  “Do you like it?”

  “It’s stunning,” Jo tells her and runs her fingers down the side of Shea’s arm. “You’re beautiful,” Jo breathes and laughs when Shea’s pointed ears turn red.

  “Oh hush,” Shea groans, pushing Jo down and climbing back on top of her.

  Jo grins and sighs as Shea runs her hand through her hair.

  “Where’d you get it?” Jo asks, but Shea merely kisses her.

  In a mysterious adventure it would seem, Jo wonders, but pushes the thoughts away so she can focus on the task at hand.