by Hannah Reed
It all made sense now April thought. She tried to think back to the last thing she remembered before waking up in the bathroom. Blood, she remembered blood. Instinctively she moved her hand to rub the back of her neck. As she rubbed the faint scab, the evening started tumbling back into place. The fall from the helicopter, the necklace-watch swap, the blood and that final image of Ethan jogging towards her, all of these images swam in April’s vision. She gripped the table edge in panic. Another photo of her Dad came onto the screen. April breathed a sigh of relief, at least her Dad was okay. He would fix everything.
There was no way he masterminded the attack. The Peace Treaty was his baby. So, it must have been the legged then? There was so much security. It seemed impossible that an outsider could have successfully launched an attack without it being foiled. She thought back to the Peace Treaty, her dress, and the poisoned sea. It must be the legged. Her Dad had been fighting for peace ever since he ascended to the throne and campaigned for it long before that. April’s expression hardened. She needed to go back home and help her family. Without realising what she was doing she had already stood up and turned to go towards the conservatory.
“Well at least we know where Dad is then,” Alex shrugged.
April span around. “That’s your father?” she said incredulously. She was in the octopus’s den.
“Yup, President Darius is our good old Dad,” Alex joked uncomfortably as he turned his attention back to the pancakes. April felt herself shifting her position as she nervously scanned the room. Get a grip she told herself. She must act composed, clearly they had no idea who she was and she needed to keep it that way. April lifted her head up and smiled towards Alex and Connor hoping that she was portraying a calm and completely unruffled disposition.
April rapidly ran through her mental memory from her Peace Treaty preparation. Darius May was President of the legged’s most powerful nation. He had three sons, Frederick whom she had danced with and of course, Alex and Connor. His wife had died when the boys were young. The Alex and Connor April was introduced to at the treaty were definitely not these two. As she tried to maintain her stance she noticed that she was not the only one who was struggling to keep their cool. Connor was wringing his hands beside the TV as he swapped the channel onto a random film.
“I can’t believe this,” Connor muttered under his breath. “I’m going to go and freshen up,” Connor announced to the room. He gave a tight smile to April and then suddenly departed.
“Don’t mind him,” Alex said as he flipped yet another pancake. He was creating three perfect stacks of pancakes and seemed intent on continuing until they were each 10 high.
“He isn’t a fan of Dad’s political agendas,” Alex continued.
“Oh,” April said not sure what to reply to that, “And you? Do you...care for his political agenda?” April asked hesitantly, hoping that Alex would say no.
“Honestly, I’ve never paid much attention to politics. I didn’t want to be known as the President’s son so I invested a lot of time in trying to avoid becoming anything like him.” With a final flip, Alex placed the last pancake onto the stack, “And the pancakes are ready!” Alex beamed looking proud of himself. “Sorry if I sound completely politically ignorant but I never saw why my Dad’s career should impact who I am.”
Alex busied himself pulling out a wide assortment of condiments onto the breakfast bar. April got the impression that Alex was slightly embarrassed by his admission. She knew exactly what he meant, in fact, he reminded her of Ethan. Between them they had had many a conversation about refusing to comply with everyone’s predetermined ideals of the King and Prime Minister’s children. There was no reason to fear these two even if their Dad was the President. April walked around the bar and picked up two plates of pancakes.
“I think politics is boring too,” April smiled, “Where did you want me to set these?”
Alex’s mood visibly relaxed as he picked up his tray laden with condiments and a third stack of pancakes.
“Follow me, we can eat out on the veranda and enjoy the view.”
“Sounds good to me,” April said as she followed him. The veranda was large and spacious with wooden slats. The glass table glinted in the sunlight as April placed down the plates. She sat down and looked out to sea, from a distance she could almost forget that it was poisonous.
“Do you think the news reporter was right?”
“Right?” Alex asked through a mouthful of pancake.
“About war I mean. A war starting between leg…uh I mean humans and mer,” April asked.
“Personally, I reckon this is some radical group who are going to cause some fuss and eventually everything will calm down. Just hopefully there weren’t too many serious casualties.”
“Yeah, hopefully.”
“Trust me April. Being the son of the President makes you realise that disasters like this happen every day.”
“I suppose,” April said while thinking that her Dad must have shielded her from many such disasters. Once again, she thought of how much better equipped Kayla was to deal with these situations.
“Don’t worry about it April. These things are always painted worse by the media than what they really are.”
As they ate their pancakes in silence April’s worries overwhelmed her. She was trying to figure out how to get home and make sure her parents and Ethan were okay. She focused on her pancakes and tried to stop tears from welling in her eyes. Suddenly her finger tips started glowing a faint blue. She hurriedly hid them in her lap. She could feel her powers welling within her. If she cried then she wouldn’t be able to hold her powers in. She tried to focus on Alex and his pancakes. But, looking at him it reminded her of one of her most pressing concerns. If these were the President’s real sons, who were the boys she had stood with at the treaty?
“We can take a boat to the mainland and hopefully figure out how to get you home,” Alex said with a smile.
“Thanks, that would be great,” April said, trying to keep her voice upbeat. Her stomach dropped. She didn’t want to go home and face war. She didn’t want to be told what to do and what her role in the war was. But, she couldn’t stay here.
“Is this your summer home?” April asked trying to change the subject.
“Yes, sort of,” Alex said and put his fork down. “We used to come here with my Mum, it was her favourite place in the whole world. But, she passed away when we were young and I think it was too difficult for my Dad to come back.”
“I’m sorry,” April said.
“It’s okay. I’m just glad to be back. We’ll have to show you around before you go.”
“I’d like that.”
They both lapsed into silence.
CHAPTER 12
Ethan woke up and stretched his arms above his head as he did every morning. He had hoped yesterday was a bad dream but as he opened his eyes the stark reality hit him once again. When the bomb exploded he was inside the main hall. His hands were full of tissues and plasters to help April. When he replayed the scene in his head it happened in slow motion. He shut his eyes and saw April’s look of horror as she was lifted like a doll up, into the air and slammed outwards away from the glass wall. As the ceiling-high glass doors collapsed, Ethan was thrown into a pile of broken glass and debris from the building. Everything fell down around him. All he could hear was crashing and screaming. The scene made no sense, all around him was utter chaos. However, the chaotic images didn’t last for long as from above one of the many ornately carved animals dropped down and buried Ethan underneath it. From there his mind went blank.
He didn’t know how many hours he was unconscious for but when the army came in to help shift the debris he was awake and in an agony that felt like he had been stuck for weeks. His whole body screamed in pain. He wasn’t sure what was wrong but he was certain that several bones were broken. Luck was on his side at least as an elephant sculpture had fallen to his left and the legs and trunk saved him from being crushed to death.
Ethan lay still and called for help intermittently. He was too tired to even thank the soldiers who eventually found him under the rubble. As he was pulled out he could see several other groups roaming through the chaos to try and help the trapped. Some were barely recognisable from the night before.
Everyone was covered in a thick coat of dust. It clung to their bodies, hair and clothes. The brown dust was only absent where it congealed with blood to form a sticky burgundy clump. Ethan remembered being supported out of the rubble to a van of sorts. He was handed over to the doctors. The fresh air gave him enough energy to open his mouth to thank them when one of the nurses calmly noted. “He’s one of them.” Next thing he knew he woke up in this hellhole.
From the guards’ chatter he knew that the peace conference only took place two days ago. He had been found yesterday. In opening his mouth to say thank you, Ethan revealed his tongue and unwittingly exposed himself as the enemy. So much for peace, he thought despondently. From a throbbing on the back of his head that he didn’t remember yesterday, he presumed he was knocked unconscious by a blow. Other than that, he seemed to have been patched up by the doctors before being locked away. This disconcerted him more than anything else. If he was the enemy then why did they want him healthy? There were no casts on his body or any other signs of legged medicine. He felt as if he had been healed by Curo energy.
Yesterday his numb body stopped him from standing as he regained consciousness. The darkness outside meant he couldn’t take full stock of his surroundings. He stood up now in his ‘room.’ He felt surprisingly well, but he was acutely aware of the absence of his pearls. He reached down into his pocket and confirmed what he already knew. April’s pearls were gone too.
Three stark white walls surrounded him. No other furnishings were in the room other than the bed. The fourth wall shimmered. Ethan stood up and moved towards his transparent wall. Inspecting it closely he slowly reached out to touch it. His hand was confronted with a hard force field. In hindsight, he realised that he was lucky that it was not electrified. He pushed against it with all his weight and deduced that this wall would not be granting him exit from his room any time soon. Sighing he leant against the invisible barrier. If only he could just fall through it he thought. He willed himself to slide through the invisible wall. But, to no avail, today was not the day he developed a superpower. He turned around and looked up and down the hallway. All he could see was a white corridor with several closed doors and some similar looking cells to his own. None of which appeared to be occupied. Excellent Ethan thought worriedly.
With nothing better to do Ethan decided to take stock of his body. Stretching from side to side to test the damage of the explosion he winced in pain. He rolled his shoulders back and forth hearing them crunch from lack of movement. Then he leant over to stretch out his legs. As he did a door at the end of the corridor opened. Cautiously he rolled upwards. He could hear several people purposefully striding down his corridor. Somehow, he just knew they were coming for him. Doing what all Vale men did in the face of a threat Ethan stood tall and braced himself. Whatever he had landed himself in he did not have a good feeling about it.
Ethan stepped back as three military men stopped in front of his cell. The leader of the group pressed his hand against the transparent wall and a blue light dashed around his hand, a quick beep later and the wall was divided into two, granting the two other men access into the cell. Ethan stepped back in surprise at the wall’s separation. His momentary lapse and current state allowed the two men to quickly restrain him. One fastened his hands behind his back and the other attached a collar around his neck. The leader lifted up his right hand and with a tap of a button the cuff around his wrist shot out a blue light to Ethan’s collar. Ethan felt a small tug emanating from the collar on his neck. As the leader started marching back up the corridor Ethan found himself pulled along behind him, with the other two men flanking him. The entire procedure was performed in complete silence. Ethan held his tongue. His questions could wait. He was taken through a menagerie of corridors and staircases. Ethan monitored his surroundings trying to decipher where he was, but the stark whiteness remained disorientating.
The man leading Ethan slowed and scanned them into another room. This room was, if possible, even brighter than the others. The opposite wall to the door was a giant window. Ethan was glad it was not another force field. The wall was perfectly still and didn’t exude that strange hum. Bright sunlight pierced through the room. Ethan blinked, it had been a while since he was exposed to natural light. He was marched further into the room and his guard shot the blue beam of light from his cuff to attach it to a chair. Ethan scrabbled forward as his neck became attached to a high-backed chair in front of a glass tabletop. His eyes finally adjusted and Ethan peered up into the piercing eyes of the woman sat in front of him.
“Hello Ethan, how are you? I trust you’ve found yourself in good health?”
“Ummm,” Ethan was lost momentarily for words. There was something startlingly familiar about those eyes. And why was this woman being so nice? Ethan decided to go for feigned confidence, he had nothing to lose at this point.
“I’m good thank you. Who are you?” he said with as little feeling as he could muster.
“Hah, my brother said you were a gentleman. I’m Lydia. This is my research facility.”
The game Lydia was playing was not one Ethan fancied entertaining at the moment.
“I know your brother?”
“Yes, an unfortunate and brief liaison but, you two knew each other none the less.”
“Right…” This was getting him nowhere, Ethan was trying to maintain his bravado but internally he was becoming more and more apprehensive at this woman’s familiarity. He wiped his hands tentatively on his trousers. Her eyes pierced into him and suddenly it clicked where he had seen them before. William.
“William is your brother,” Ethan said in mild shock. Lydia let out a sharp bark of laughter.
“Figured it all out now have you.” She leant against one of the high lab tables. “Poor old Will, I think he really fell for you. Until of course the swimming incident.”
“Where is he?” Ethan demanded.
“Will is off flying his plane somewhere I’m sure. He has no idea I have you here in my facility.”
Ethan was quiet for a moment. He felt used. William may know nothing but he clearly came from a mer hating family. He caught onto the last part of Lydia’s sentence.
“Facility? What are you doing here?”
“All in good time Ethan. I’m afraid I’m the one who will be asking the questions.”
The fixed smile slid from Lydia’s face. The sinister smile that replaced it was, if possible, even more uninviting. She stood up from her desk and walked towards the window. She tapped her metal wristband as she moved and Ethan felt a jerk at his neck again.
As Lydia walked she dragged Ethan along behind her. Lydia stopped and gazed out of the window. Ethan’s electrical tether was kept at a restricted length, just out of arms reach he noted. The sun was setting and Ethan couldn’t help smirking again as he thought how romantic a location this could be and yet here he was electrically tethered to a crazy woman’s wrist. They were overlooking the ocean and Ethan felt a pang of longing to be swimming in the sea and not looking at it. Glancing down he could see the sea gently lapping at a rugged cliff face. He was trying to work out whether he had seen this shoreline before when Lydia snapped him out of his reverie.
“Do you know where Princess April is?”
Ethan froze. They didn’t have April. That meant there was hope.
“Pardon?”
“You heard me, where is Princess April?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been unconscious. Had you not noticed?”
Choosing to ignore this Lydia continued, “This necklace was found in your possession.” Lydia tapped her control cuff and a projection of April’s necklace appeared circling in front of them. “This necklace is Princess April’s is it not?”
“It might be? I don’t know?”
“Well it certainly isn’t your necklace, is it? And I know that you prefer the company of men so it’s not a present for a lady friend.”
Another tap on the cuff and April’s voice echoed through the room, ‘My necklace was irritating the cut, so my friend, Ethan, swapped with me.’ An image of his watch appeared on April’s dainty wrist.
Ethan stared blankly at Lydia as he tried to remain impassive. All the while his brain was going into overdrive.
“Are you willing to play with me now? I know you know this is April’s necklace and I know you know where she is.” She turned to the door. “Are you going to tell me, or will Frederick have to force the information out of you.”
With her final words a man walked into the room.
“Why hello Ethan, I’m not sure we had the pleasure of being introduced at the Peace Treaty. I’m Frederick. I danced with your friend Princess April at the …”
“I remember,” Ethan said curtly.
“Frederick here has kindly been helping me with my research. We’ve been collaborating together on a little project. However, your friend April, her powers… Well she could make our operation so much simpler. Help me with my research, and help Frederick remove a potential obstacle and we’ll send you home. We’re both very interested in finding her. Finding her for…” Lydia paused and smiled, “research purposes.”
“We think you know where she is, and I will do whatever is necessary until you tell us,” Frederick said.
“You’re always so serious Frederick.”
“What do you want with April?” Ethan demanded.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Lydia said her eyes gleaming.
Ethan instinctively leant away from her. Frederick tapped on his wrist cuff and Ethan felt himself jerk towards him. With a look back at Lydia, Ethan shivered at her cold smile fixed on him. He wasn’t sure which one of them unnerved him more.