The Veiled Descendants

by Sophia Menesini

  ​Semele bows mockingly in Shea’s direction. Shea thinks she sees her change the color of her eyes to green, taunting her with a peek at her magic.

  Shea’s hands tighten on the top of her chair as she watches Semele leave the dining area.

  ​They’re finally all seated at the table, Phoebus at one end and Shea at the other.

  ​“So, we’re all seated,” Shea announces, gesturing around the table. “What did you want to talk about?”

  ​Phoebus glares at her callous attitude; he’s been in a bad mood since she arrived and she’s not fond of it.

  ​“I’ll leave the one subject for later, as it seems you don’t wish to speak about it in mixed company.” Phoebus points after Semele, and Shea rolls her eyes.

  ​“Who is Semele?” Jo asks.

  Shea turns to her with tired eyes.

  ​“I promise I’ll explain one day, but for now I want to stay focused. You said Triton is at the ruins, I’m not familiar with the route, is it possible to hire a guide?”

  ​Dari finishes passing out cups of tea and Shea takes a sip as Caeruleus swoops down and steals a cookie off the table, flying back into the oak tree before Dari can finish chastising him.

  ​Beck smiles up at the Lionbird and Shea chuckles at Caeruleus’s antics.

  Phoebus and Caen are not amused.

  ​“You won’t need a guide. I can get you there,” Phoebus tells her, taking a cookie for himself.

  ​Shea coughs on her drink of tea. “No. It’s too dangerous.”

  ​Phoebus laughs darkly. “Remember who the first captain of the Duchess was, girl, I know what I can handle.”

  ​“She’s just trying to protect you,” Poseidon begins, but Phoebus snarls at him.

  ​“I’ll thank you kindly to keep your input to yourself. I helped raise that girl and if I need your opinion, I’ll bloody ask.”

  ​“Phoebus,” Shea growls.

  ​Phoebus doesn’t answer; instead he takes an angry bite of the cookie in his hand and ignores Shea’s warning.

  ​“I can take you and that’s the end of that. The island isn’t that big, and the temple is at the center, shouldn’t take us longer than half a day to get there and half a day to get back. Especially if we ride.”

  ​“Great,” Jo states. “When do we leave?”

  ​“You’re not going,” Shea tells her.

  ​Jo turns to her with an affronted expression. “Of course I am.”

  ​“No. I can’t stop Phoebus, but I also need a guide I can trust. You, I can stop and you’re not going. I need you to stay here. The fewer people going, the faster we can get there.”

  ​“Shea,” Jo starts, but Shea covers her mouth with a hand and a pointed expression.

  ​“No.”

  ​Jo glares but nods.

  ​“Okay, so how many of us are going then?” Beck asks, standing from his seat.

  ​“You’re not going either,” Shea chuckles.

  ​“What? This is the whole reason I came!”

  ​“No, you came to see the mission through; I’m going to do that, but you’re also the governor of Oceanus. She’s the queen, and you both need to make it back alive to lead your people through this crisis.”

  ​“This is ridiculous!” Beck growls.

  ​“Hey, if I can’t go, neither can you!” Jo argues and Beck groans, stomping off toward the entrance to the inner gardens.

  ​“So, then who is going?” Caen asks, looking around the table at who is left.

  ​“You,” Shea tells him, and Caen grins in response, “me, Poseidon, and Phoebus. And we leave now.”

  ​“It’s just about noon,” Poseidon tells her. “Shouldn’t we wait until morning, so we don’t arrive in the dark?”

  ​“Scared?” Caen mocks and Poseidon scoffs.

  ​“I know the temple at the center of Orena, considering they worshipped me.” Poseidon draws up to his full height. “This island was one of my first attempts to create a paradise for my people. It fell to slavers and traders.” He glares at Caen and Phoebus, who both look offended. “But they protected the temple with magic, tests, and traps. Darkness is not a friend in a place like that.”

  ​“We don’t have a choice. We don’t have time; we need to leave now. But you knowing the temple is an advantage, and we’ll use that considering we don’t know what to expect,” Shea commands. “Now was there anything else?”

  ​“We can talk on the way,” Phoebus responds. “I’ll get my bag.”

  ​He pushes his seat away from the table and storms off in the direction of the bedrooms, down the white clay hall.

  ​“I’ll go get the horses ready, are there enough?” Caen asks Dari.

  ​“We have five in the stables at the moment. Can I help?”

  ​“No, I’m fine,” Caen tells her and goes to leave, but Poseidon stops him.

  ​“I’ll come with you. Two sets of hands are better than one.”

  ​Caen nods and takes off toward the stables just outside the kitchen. Poseidon has to jog to catch up to him.

  ​“Well, seems everyone’s off on the grand adventure, I should get this cleaned up,” Dari chuckles, and begins cleaning up the table, putting cups on the silver tray.

  ​“I’ll help you.” Jo grins and starts gathering cups on the tray as well.

  ​“Actually, Jo, can I see you a moment?”

  ​Jo glances at Shea and then looks to Dari, who waves her on.

  Shea leads her down the white clay hall, to the familiar bedroom that started it all.

  ​They enter Shea’s old chambers, and Shea takes a deep breath, feeling the tension fade from her shoulders as she takes in her familiar surroundings. They can see Beck from the balcony tossing stones into the pond and scaring away the obnoxious monkeys.

  The floor is covered in the pink blossoms from the nearby tree and the bright sun is shining on the mythological mosaics spanning the walls and ceiling of the chamber leading out toward the open balcony.

  ​Jo’s hands wrap around Shea’s middle, and Shea leans her head back against Jo’s shoulder, her white-blond hair tickling the side of Shea’s face.

  ​“What is it?”

  ​“What if he refuses to help?” she whispers.

  ​Jo turns her around in her arms so they’re looking at each other, and Shea wraps her arms around Jo’s neck.

  ​“What?”

  ​Shea repeats, “What if he refuses?”

  ​“He won’t.”

  ​“But what if he does? All Poseidon has told me is, after something happened, he sent Triton to Tenaro to redeem himself for his actions. Since then he hasn’t heard from him, and now, we find out he’s not even on Tenaro; he came here. What if he knows about Perses already and doesn’t want to get involved?”

  ​“Then we’ll find another way,” Jo tells her.

  ​ Shea groans and breaks their embrace, stepping away.

  ​“Who’s Semele?”

  ​Shea looks up, her hands on her hips, and she chuckles as she takes in Jo’s guarded expression.

  ​“It’s not like that.”

  ​“Really? You won’t tell me who she is, she makes you uncomfortable. What am I supposed to think?”

  ​“It’s not that. I saved her, you could say.”

  ​It’s Jo’s turn to laugh. “She must not have been very grateful.”

  ​“No.” Shea smiles sadly. “She isn’t. I got involved when I shouldn’t have, I made a calculated mistake, and I almost paid for it. It cost her life. And so, I took her away, to teach someone a lesson. I don’t know if what I did was right, I haven’t really had the time to process.”

  ​Shea turns her back on Jo and stares out into the gardens, watching Beck sit down on the grass and pull his knees up to his chest. He takes something out of his jacket pocket and Shea cocks her head as he brings the long object up to his lips. A familiar tune fills the air and Shea realizes he’s playing the flute.

  ​“He said his mot
her taught him,” Jo explains, her voice close.

  Shea hadn’t heard her move beside her.

  ​“I recognize the tune,” Shea murmurs. “It’s elven.”

  ​“Oceanus has a lot of elven refugees from Lycos and the Eastlands, from what I understand; as long as they remain within the borders, they’re safe.”

  ​“For the most part,” Shea responds.

  ​“Is she dangerous?” Jo asks.

  Shea remembers they were talking about Semele.

  ​“Yes.”

  ​“And Dari and Phoebus know?”

  ​“Yes,” Shea answers.

  ​“Do I need to know?”

  ​Shea thinks for a moment and turns to Jo with a tired smile; she takes Jo’s hands in hers and looks her in the eye.

  ​“When you do, I’ll tell you. But for now, the story is a world away and we have bigger problems.”

  ​“Okay then,” Jo states, “I trust you.”

  ​Shea reaches up and lands a soft kiss on Jo’s lush lips. The queen pulls her fiancée closer and deepens the touch. Shea moans into the embrace.

  ​“I should go,” Shea whispers.

  ​“I don’t want you to,” Jo says.

  ​“I’ll come back.”

  ​“But what if you don’t? Shea, I don’t want to lose you. I want to be with you, forever.”

  ​“We will be, Your Majesty,” Shea promises.

  ​She pulls away from Jo, and Jo reluctantly lets go.

  ​A knock sounds at the door and Phoebus’s gruff voice shouts that they’re ready; it’s time to go.

  ​“Take care of him,” Shea asks, pointing at Beck, who’s still playing the flute in the garden.

  ​“Anything for you.” Jo nods.

  ​Shea leaves her in the room.

  ​She doesn’t turn back. She starts heading toward the gardens to say goodbye to Beck but with everything that’s happened what can she say. I’ll come back? It’ll be okay?

  She doesn’t want to leave without saying goodbye but everything between them right now hurts. She’ll see him when she comes back, hopefully. And if she doesn’t come back? Well, maybe he’ll forgive her someday in the underworld. She’s probably making a mistake but with a heavy heart Shea moves towards the kitchens instead.

  Semele is sitting at a table towards the back of the room chopping vegetables from the garden for dinner that evening.

  Dari brings in a tray and kisses Phoebus, hugging him tightly in the doorway to the stables.

  ​“Come back to me.”

  ​Phoebus kisses her once again, then continues into the stables.

  ​Shea hugs Dari and glares at Semele, who is watching the exchange with a wicked smile.

  ​“If you say anything…” Shea begins and Semele laughs.

  ​She closes her eyes, tapping into her abilities, and soon her body shimmers as one of her illusions settles over her frame. She looks just like him, the man who haunts both their nightmares from the adventure earlier in the year.

  ​Her chameleon abilities have gotten stronger.

  Shea can just barely see the ripple when Semele moves, giving away that the man sitting in front of her in Semele’s place isn’t real.

  ​“You’re stronger,” Shea mutters.

  ​“Dari’s helped me learn to control my ability. I couldn’t have done it without her,” Semele says in that deep baritone voice of her husband.

  ​“Semele,” Dari barks, and the illusion ripples away, revealing her in the man’s place.

  ​“What? I didn’t say anything.” She laughs darkly.

  ​“Thanks,” Shea says to Dari.

  ​“Shea,” Dari sighs. “Be safe.”

  ​Shea nods and closes the door to the stable behind her.

  ​Caen is already astride his large horse, and Phoebus has mounted his trusted pony, Kenna.

  ​Shea wanders over to a new stallion she hasn’t seen in the stable before, his coat a gorgeous dark brown.

  ​Poseidon helps her up and she settles onto the horse, noticing the packs on each steed. Enough supplies to last them a couple days, should things go wrong. Hopefully things don’t go wrong.

  ​“Ready,” Poseidon states as he mounts his horse.

  ​“Right,” Phoebus responds. “Everyone stay close. Follow my lead, we can slow down once we hit the roads at Starfish Cross.”

  ​Everyone voices their agreement and soon they’re off. Phoebus shouts for Kenna to take off and they race through the streets toward the border of Port Town and the rest of the island.

  The other parts of the island are separated into a starfish map of roads all leading to the center of Orena, the temple. Paetre used to quiz Shea on maps of places she’d been, but that was years ago. And the reason the rest of the island has never been mapped out is because not everyone believes the elves of old are gone, and most who have tried have disappeared.

  ​The green vines and tropical plant life grow larger and thicker as the horses weave past the old elven structures. Finally, they break into the old city streets that remind Shea of the small flashes of memory she still has of Erebos, buildings half built of stone and trees.

  They gallop away from everyone they love and toward the border, toward the temple, toward Triton.

  Chapter 26: Forever Isn’t Long Enough

  Jo

  Jo isn’t sulking. It’s been about an hour since Shea left with the others, and she’s still in Shea’s room. Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t want to run into this new Semele and also because she can’t help but wonder—what if Shea doesn’t come back?

  ​What if something happens and she’s not there to help her? Her mind spins with scenarios and she feels as if she might start hyperventilating when a melody catches her attention. One her mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl. She stands from the bed in the corner of Shea’s room and walks over to the balcony.

  ​Beck is still in the gardens, but he seems more cheerful. He continues to play the flute he bought in the market, and the monkeys chatter along the grass as if singing along.

  ​Jo makes up her mind, pushing her fears away, and heads out the door of Shea’s childhood chambers and toward the music playing in the gardens. She makes it to the same doorway off the dining area and realizes she’s never actually been on the garden’s grounds. She’d watched from Shea’s balcony, the night Shea asked her to stay on Orena; she’d slept on blankets the captain had laid out overlooking the inner gardens and had cried herself to sleep listening to Lena’s trumpet trills.

  ​A pang of sadness for the old elephant hits Jo in the chest, but she continues to venture into the beautiful garden.

  Beck is sitting next to the sparkling pond, no longer with his legs pulled up against his chest but instead sitting cross-legged.

  Jo realizes he’s watching Caeruleus, who is swooping down from the trees surrounding the water and splashing Beck with his feathers playfully.

  Every time he misses, he yowls in frustration and Beck plays a particularly loud note in retaliation before going back to the familiar melody.

  He hasn’t noticed Jo yet and she smiles as she hears the beginning of the song start to play.

  “There were four cities / along the old trident road.”

  Jo sings the first two lyrics of the song, and Beck startles slightly, but he continues to play, smiling the best he can with the flute to his lips, encouraging her to sing the rest.

  She clears her throat; she knows she doesn’t have the best voice, if Beck’s chuckles are anything to go by, but she thinks of her mom, imagining Triteia’s voice.

  He begins to play the beginning part of the song again and Jo sits down next to him and hums the first couple notes.

  There were four cities,

  Along the old Trident road.

  It ’twas a pity,

  Divided by code.

  One day a great queen rose,

  The ocean lord’s gem.

  They promised at the willow
/>
  And the el-vens did wept.

  For the empire saw it,

  And slayed the great queen.

  It ’twas a pity,

  United they would have been.

  Now there are four cities,

  Along the old Trident road.

  It ’tis a pity,

  Still divided by code.

  Beck plays the last of the melody before dropping the flute onto his lap.

  Caeruleus swoops down one last time and finally manages to swipe enough water at Beck, splashing him in the face.

  “Caeruleus!”

  Caeruleus yowls in delight and flies in through the open doorway out of the gardens and to the rest of the house.

  “I think you pissed off the Lionbird.” Jo laughs, and Beck wipes a hand down his face, trying to get rid of the excess water.

  “Apparently,” he remarks, looking over at Jo with a grin. “I didn’t know anyone from Arethusa knew that song.”

  “It was one of my mother’s favorites. The woman the song is about is my great-great-grandmother and the lord who fought against the empire for Oceanus’s independence.”

  “A Lycon duke actually,” Beck corrects but Jo doesn’t mind. “But yes, he became the first governor of Oceanus. I’m a direct descendant of him. Governor Michaelan Orus of Oceanus, formerly Lycos.”

  “Our ancestors were lovers,” Jo states and they gag at each other, laughing.

  “The empire does enjoy taking things.” Beck sobers, thinking of Lycos.

  ​“Yes, it does. You know Shea and Ceto don’t have a great relationship,” Jo begins to explain.

  ​“I’m sure,” Beck comments.

  ​“We made the mistake of asking for her help once. No. I made the mistake. And it almost cost me Shea. Well,” Jo laughs, “and my life. I would do anything to see Ceto fall and someone else take over Lycos.”

  ​“One of her first official acts was killing my mother.”

  ​Jo places a hand on Beck’s shoulder, remembering the death of Governess Elizabetta of Oceanus.

  Murdered, Jo’s mind supplies.

  ​“I’m sorry,” Jo tells him.

  ​“It was a long time ago.”

  Suddenly Beck laughs, startling Jo.

  “What?”

  “I just realized we’re both orphans. Seems Shea has a pension for collecting people like us.”