by Hannah Reed
CHAPTER 13
“Silence.” An authoritative voice rang through the cave. Kayla entered. She let the boulders roll back into place, creating an impressive dome behind her before she proceeded into the cave. She swam slowly and in a controlled manner. Now more than ever she needed to impress upon these mer that at seventeen she was their senior and their leader. At 5ft this was no mean feat, her armour that usually made her feel powerful, now made her feel like she was playing dress up. A strand of hair floated in front of her face her eyes focused on it for a second but she resisted the temptation to brush it away or blow it from her face. Nothing would faze her now. As she reached the end of the cave she turned and swam upwards to the royal throne. She floated into her seat and surveyed the faces she had impassively swum past.
The war council was assembled. Yelta’s War chamber was located in the centre of the Yeltan whirlpool in an ancient cave that was buried deep within the corals. It was only used for highly confidential matters because of its sheer depth. Spending too much time in the cave was incredibly claustrophobic as the water pressure mounted upon you. This cave was believed to have been where the original pearl wielders first mined for the black Tenebrasco pearls. Those hungry for their destructive power had mined to the death according to mer legend. The cave interior was smooth and rounded, and glistened as black as the pearls it was rumoured to hold. Kayla had never liked the cave. It echoed horribly. Sound was thrown back aggressively from every surface and voices were distorted into sinister mimics. Not to mention it was freezing.
The stern faces around her were looking up expectantly. They waited for her to lead them, but their expressions revealed their doubts. Kayla knew that they chafed under the authority of a seventeen-year-old. In mer culture you weren’t considered an adult until you turned twenty-five. At that point, a mer’s powers were fully realised. But, with her Dad otherwise occupied she was the only royal trained and available. At least she wasn’t April she mused. Right now, all power plays would involve her sister and how best to utilise her power. Kayla was often thankful that she at least had been asked if she wanted this role. For April, there was no escaping hers. Kayla turned to the war council leader Demetrius. He gave her a small, but encouraging smile. Demetrius was her father’s best mer and had served as a father figure for Kayla since she joined Yelta three years ago. After his smile, she gave him the nod and allowed Demetrius to start the session.
“Welcome Princess Kayla. The war council has convened after the Peace Treaty attack. You have all been briefed on the current situation. I shall now update you on the most recent developments.” At this Demetrius took a deep breath. He glanced in her direction before continuing. Kayla stared forward impassively as if immune to the cold and critical stares of her council.
“The update I received this morning detailed the tragic news of Queen Freya’s death.” He heard a sharp intake of breath from Kayla but continued on before she could react further.
“We will hold a minute of silence at the end of our session in respect of her Royal Highness.” The heads of the war council simultaneously bowed in respect. “The second critical update we received is that there are several bodies of water that are reportedly poisonous to mer. Each of these poisonous waters surround islands or coastlines that are controlled by the US military and navy services. It is believed that these areas hold captive mer and house plans of the next assault. Unfortunately, we have no lead as to which location holds which information, if any,” Demetrius continued.
Demetrius spoke and drew images up out of the Iris platform. He showed the locations of the poisoned areas on the water map for the council to see. The mer dignitaries captured at the Peace Treaty bombing were thought to be held at these locations. Kayla took it all in. Her training had taken over. On an emotional level she was devastated. She wanted to break down and dive out of the room. She wanted to scream at her Dad for not being the one to tell her and she wanted to wield a tidal wave through the room to knock everyone who doubted her out of their seats. However, her rational side was already devising a strategy to see if there was a way around the poison. She would need to decide which team would be best equipped to deploy a neutraliser for the poison once one was found. Demetrius continued speaking detailing the location of each of the areas and the circumference of poison that surrounded them. As he concluded his report Kayla felt all eyes shift back to her.
She leant forward and squashing the emotions surging through her she began to speak.
“Demetrius, thank you for the update.” She swallowed, the lump in her throat. “The time has come for us to make our move. My Father, King Nathaniel, has entrusted me with the leadership of Yelta’s forces. I trust that you all support my father’s decision and in turn show the Meridian crown unwavering fealty. We have already lost my Mother and I doubt this will be the last of our losses. It is time for us to fight.” Kayla finished her speech. She discussed with the council members her plans and after some minor alterations everything was sorted. But, in reality she wasn’t there. Kayla could feel herself looking in on the situation as if she was floating outside of her body. The confident war commander she saw scared her. Calm and efficient with an iron will that was the leader everyone needed. But, in reality she was devastated and vulnerable. To do this she was going to need an ally. Someone, the mer could rally around.
“Demetrius, has there been any news on April?” Kayla asked quickly, her voice hitching with emotion. “As the most powerful wielder of the pearls she is an imperative piece of the rescue effort,” she continued more composedly.
“Your Highness, I thought you had been informed. As of yet there has been no information on April’s whereabouts.” Demetrius pulled up an image on the Iris platform. “This is the last time your sister was sighted.”
Kayla leaned forward and watched the ragdoll figure being lifted into the air and thrown backwards into the sea.
“None? And what is being done to rectify this? Can’t my Dad or the Shamans locate her?”
The war council ministers shifted uncomfortably. Kayla eyed them coldly.
Gregor spoke, “Your sister.”
“Her Royal Highness,” Kayla interjected
“Princess April has not been considered a high priority rescue Your Highness. Considering her age and lack of training, we felt it was better to focus on the missing members of the mer court, the Pearl shamans and pearlists, and our own missing mer warriors. As a member of the royal family she will be used as leverage and won’t come to any harm.”
The glare Kayla directed at the minister caused him to tail off as he reached the end of his excuses. She turned to stare around the rest of the table.
“Your father has tried to find her, as have the shamans but something is blocking them from locating her,” Demetrius intervened. Kayla paused for a moment then straightened herself up again.
“The loss of Queen Freya, my Mother, will have a devastating effect on the King. At this time, he will need my sister to bolster his own powers. We do not want a war.” At this she paused to stare them down again. “What we need is to reveal who was behind this attack. We will punish them and continue on our path to peace.”
Most of the ministers were nodding along, however, she could see a few of them frozen in place. She fought hard not to let their disapproving gazes falter her resolve.
“Your Highness, we cannot sit back and let this attack go without a retaliation. We will look weak,” Gregor countered.
“What we are attacking is the accusation that it was mer who launched the attack. We do not look weak, at the moment we are the threat,” Kayla argued.
“Kayla is right,” Demetrius stepped in again. “Our main aim is to prove our innocence and prove to the legged who was behind the terror attack.”
“Thank you, Demetrius,” Kayla smiled in approval. “Now you all have your briefs, I would like you to initiate our plans among the departments. We will meet again tomorrow to comment on your progress.” She stared around the circl
e to make sure no one undermined her rule.
“Perfect. We will now hold a minute’s silence for her Royal Majesty Queen Freya Meridia, my Mother.”
Kayla bowed her head and wielded her Essentia pearl, willing it to glow with her heart’s energy. The rose pearls of the war council lit up the dark cave. The Essentia pearl was the ‘life’ pearl. During a period of mourning the Essentia pearl was lit to celebrate the life lost as a sign of respect. The pale pink light revealed everyone’s faces in a warm glow. Kayla took this moment to look around the mer gathered before her. Sometimes she forgot that they all had lives outside of Yelta. Some of them had been present at the Peace Treaty. They may have lost loved ones too. After a minute, she let her Essentia pearl dim. Before anyone could say another word, Kayla pushed upwards with a powerful stroke of her tail and addressed the entire chamber.
“The council may be dismissed.” And with that she swam slowly from the room, desperate to flee but managing to muster enough control to compose herself for her final moments in the chamber.
Upon leaving the council cave Kayla fled. She didn’t wait for questions or for anyone to offer their condolences. Right now, she wanted to be alone. She swam straight to her bedroom. She sunk to the floor and curled in on herself. All the emotions she suppressed throughout the meeting came rushing forth. Her Mum. She hadn’t seen her properly in over two years. And now, now she never would. She couldn’t think straight. Crying was beyond her. Huge sobs shuddered against her armour. She started stripping off the stiff material and threw it onto the bed. Hugging her tail, she rocked herself backwards and forwards. She tried to comprehend the news. Why did no one warn her? Why didn’t her Dad or April tell her? Although she had lived alone for over three years it was only now that she felt isolation press against her.
Kayla and her Mum had been close, really close. They shared the same determination to succeed no matter the cost. Both were resolute and found it easy to let their heads govern their hearts. With grief still heavy in her heart Kayla slowly sat up and swam towards her bookshelf. She picked up a large green leather book the same colour as her Mum’s and her tail. They both had dark emerald tails that glistened like the gemstone. She heaved the book into her lap. It was a photo book that April made for her as a leaving present when she moved to Yelta to complete her training. Kayla turned the pages and now the tears came thick and fast. She paused on a photo of her and her Mum. Strength and determination was what Kayla learnt from her Mum. She knew that her Mum would tell her it was okay to grieve. But, she would remind her that she had a duty to her mer and she could not let them down.
She flipped the pages until the book fell to the centre page. It was a photo of her Mum and her with seaweed goo all over their hands, a disaster of a kitchen all around them, and the world’s most hideous looking cake sat in front of them. April bet that neither of them could make a cake. She reckoned they were so focused on success they were incapable of making something which was frivolous and fun. Her Mum gave the kitchen staff a day off and they spent the whole day together just the two of them. April and her Dad popped down to taste the final product and snapped this picture. It had tasted horrible. But, her Mum pretended to love it and ate her entire slice. When April and her Dad left incredulous, her Mum broke down laughing. Laughter was what she remembered from that day, so much laughter. Hysterical laughter started to bubble out of Kayla now as she stared at the picture. Picking up the book she hugged it to herself and resumed her rocking back and forth. “Mum,” she sobbed.
CHAPTER 14
Setha’s crab cakes were left after one bite. The news unfolding on the TV stopped all ideas of food. Newsflash after newsflash, each showing more horrid images than the next kept her mind occupied. CTV footage of the Peace Treaty had been uncovered. April was shown being blasted from the building and King Nathaniel was pictured shielding the people closest to him with his powers. But, the attack had come too quickly and as too big a surprise. His attempts saved many, but in the initial blast Queen Freya was crushed immediately. The scene was horrific.
Setha was horrified watching the footage but she couldn’t look away. As the news reporter started reading the names of the dead Setha hugged her tail even tighter. When she moved onto naming the missing mer Setha was relieved to hear Ethan and April’s names on the list. At least there was hope that they were both alive. Setha tried messaging and calling them again and again. But, to no avail. Now she was receiving error messages from both of their Iris’. It was while watching the news her Iris pad rang.
~
Setha floated awkwardly in April’s living room waiting for the royal family’s Head of Operations. Setha was not entirely sure what his job was. The King liaised with so many officials it was hard to keep track. April would have been able to tell her. Hundreds of times, possibly thousands Setha chilled in this lounge. It was huge. Once, when April was upset about a grade, Setha convinced April to wield her Assurgere powers to grow a seaweed forest in the room. For the whole afternoon, they played hide and seek amongst the weeds to cheer April up. Setha could still remember chasing the flashes of April’s diamond coloured tail. But, all the fun memories had been wiped. The windows were shuttered down and no natural light permeated the room. The palace was in lockdown. All the large entrances were blocked and security was tripled around the border. Setha underwent rigorous screening to enter even the palace grounds, which were usually open to all.
Setha drifted around the cavernous room. Summoned to give information on Ethan and April’s activities before the Peace Treaty, Setha felt gloom seep through her. She knew she had nothing of use to say. How could she let King Nathaniel down again with even more bad news? Setha tried not to think about the alternatives of what could have happened to Ethan and April. A thud sounded behind her and she whipped around. Galloping towards her were the King’s two pet giant seahorses, Tarzan and Titan. They raced at her in excitement completely oblivious to the sombre atmosphere in the living room. The two whizzed round her twirling Setha in their tail stream. She calmed them down so she could stroke them.
“Hello Titan,” Setha said stroking him on the head. Titan gleamed a deep purple flecked with gold. He was shyer than Tarzan and intuitive to people’s feelings. He nuzzled against her tail. Tarzan tried to butt him out of the way. He was like a great black bulldozer. He was a deep shiny midnight blue and constantly excited.
“And hello to you too Tarzan,” Setha said. Moments later King Nathaniel, and presumably the Head of Operations, swam into the room. Setha straightened up flustered. Tarzan and Titan swam back to Nathaniel. From then on Titan didn’t leave the King’s side. The first thing Setha noted was that the King looked a sallow grey colour, one that was not too different from her Dad’s. However, despite his colour, he still floated tall and seemed even more imposing than usual.
“Hello Setha, thank you for coming to help me in these troubling times.”
“Your Majesty,” Setha bobbed a bow and the King inclined his head. Nathaniel floated over to the settees and gestured for them both to sit down. At this point Clyde took over. He leant forwards.
“Good afternoon Setha, I’m Clyde, Head of Operations.” He shook Setha’s hand firmly and then got straight to business.
“The Meritia are interested in only one thing. They want to prove the mer’s innocence and punish those who incriminated us.” Setha nodded and tried to look like she was in the know.
“But, this is only half the story. My job is to find out why they attacked us from the crown’s perspective. This set up was a very clever scheme, years in the making and we need to know what their end game is.” Clyde was no longer really talking to Setha but seemed to be voicing his own internal thoughts.
“And you think I can help?” Setha inquired.
“Yes, all information is vital!”
Setha glanced confusedly at the King but he was staring across the room. He absent-mindedly stroked Titan who floated by his chair.
“Umm okay,” she started hes
itantly. “What would you like to know?”
“I need to know if anything unusual has happened to Princess April or Ethan recently, something out of the ordinary. The bomb went off when they were both isolated from the main chamber and each other.” Clyde leant further forwards. “We have reason to believe they may have been targeted. At no other time during the ceremony were those two alone together.” With this revelation, he gave a satisfied flick of his tail.
Setha rarely felt the social differences between herself, April and Ethan. At school Setha was the popular one in their year, Ethan had been too, before he graduated. April always invited Setha to the royal functions and Setha made sure April attended all the parties at school. Money wise Setha was never without anything she needed, and Queen Freya always kept April to a strict budget. It was only times like this when Setha was reminded that April and Ethan were of mernational importance and she was just one of the masses. And yet, it was in these instances that she didn’t feel any jealousy for the spotlight the two possessed.
Setha racked her brain for Clyde. But honestly, she couldn’t think of anything.
“Well I’m not really friends with Ethan, so I’m not sure about him.”
Clyde looked at her obviously disappointed. Setha couldn’t help but hope he had more leads than her to work with otherwise his intelligence was going to be minimal.
“He did start dating a legged!” Setha blurted out. Why on earth did she say that she mentally scolded herself, but Clyde perked up.
“A legged? And how did this come about?” he said clapping his hands on his tail.
Setha blushed automatically. She developed a crush on Ethan when she first moved to Hanaria. He was charming and perfect, and that was also why she hated him. For the first two years she admired him from a distance. As she rapidly became one of the most popular meras at school she hoped that he would pay attention to her. And she hated herself for this weakness. Setha was someone who took what she wanted. She didn’t sit around pining after some mer. Yet, here she was multiple opportunities missed over the years and Ethan was still none the wiser of her crush. Setha had never spoken about it with April, but she hoped April was completely oblivious. When she wanted, Setha could conceal her feelings pretty well. One of the main reasons she didn’t tell April was because she felt stupid that she once believed the rumours surrounding April and Ethan, and so actively avoided April’s advance of friendship. Thankfully that was behind her. Not telling her also meant saving April from being in an awkward position between her two best friends. It was this crush that meant she had kept tabs on Ethan’s whereabouts for years. However, information on Ethan’s love life wasn’t what Setha thought Clyde would want to know.