Tenebrasco: The Pearl Wielder Trilogy

by Hannah Reed

  CHAPTER 35

  Dispatched from the hospital, Kayla was being forced to wait until the weekend to return to Yelta. Her Dad wanted her home to have a chat. Yet, after two days at home, she had barely heard more than a ‘Good Morning’ and a ‘How are you?’ from him. Kayla was worried. The staff were starting to realise something was wrong as well. The other day she spoke to the palace manager and asked him to make sure word of her Dad’s condition didn’t leave the palace walls. Fortunately, the palace staff were fiercely loyal to the royal family. The Curo addiction was starting to take hold as he glowed a faint sky blue at most times of the day. Whenever they tried to talk the glowing intensified. She couldn’t tell if he was aware he was doing it anymore. Kayla so wished to be a merita again so she could sit on her Dad’s lap and let him solve all her problems. The distance that had been growing between her and her Dad had only increased with the loss of her Mum and April.

  As she prepared to leave the palace Kayla sat on her bed and actually looked around her room. Four years had passed since she called this room hers. While everything around her had changed, this room had stood still. Her old clothes still hung in the wardrobe waiting to be worn. They looked like they belonged to a completely different mera. Kayla felt like a stranger in her own bedroom. She couldn’t be the mera who proudly displayed all her fighting medals, or the mera who experimented with fin dye, or the mera with seahorse print curtains… that mera was gone.

  The palace was too quiet and too empty. No wonder her Dad was going crazy she thought. Being in her silent room made her miss April and her Mum even more. They both possessed an energy that influenced everything around them. She left her room without looking back. She would ask Clyde to place her in a guest room if she ever visited one of the palaces again. Kayla swam through the corridors absent-mindedly. The Hanarian Palace was never a favourite of hers. She preferred the colder seas style of architecture. This one was too big and open. She shivered even in the warmth as she looked up at the high ceilings. All this space made her feel exposed. She stopped to admire the wall towering next to her. This one was inlaid with thousands of little shells swirling out to make a mosaic of one of her ancestors.

  A large mer king was bare-chested in the middle holding his hands out before him. Kayla’s eyes followed the curve of the arc above his head. He looked like he was juggling the pearls, the first eight arrayed before him. Essentia, Commutavi, Factus, Assurgere, Curo, Tempus, Communico and Tenebrasco. Within the giant representations of the pearls were small mosaic figures to resemble their power. Kayla leant closer to the Tenebrasco pearl depiction where a Merdevil face glared out at her. She shuddered minutely. The pearl powers had never appealed to her. There was too much uncertainty. She didn’t like trusting a faceless power. She liked to be in complete control of everything she wielded. Moving away from the mosaic she swam to the end of the corridor. The final door on this floor was April’s room.

  Kayla hovered outside the silver door. A group of small fish popped out through the keyhole startling her. Shaking her head, she stopped her hesitation and opened the door. April’s distinct smell hit her. The sweetened salty smell made April’s absence even more real. Kayla swam into the room and perched on the seaweed silk bed. It was a new one since Kayla had last been here. She ran her fingers over the silken fabric. April’s room had the most windows in the palace as it was placed in one of the turrets. Where Kayla liked a house to feel secure, April always wanted to feel as free as possible. Her walls were still covered in the smooth inlay of mother of pearl that April insisted on having when she was thirteen. The room shimmered exactly like April’s tail.

  Kayla could feel her chest constricting as memories threatened to overwhelm her. Bringing her hand to her chest she mentally scolded herself for coming in. She made to swim from the room when a flutter from April’s dressing table caught her attention. She swam over to the ornately gilded, coral dressing table and mirror. Strung across the top of April’s mirror was a piece of simple seaweed string with photos clammed to it. Kayla swam up to them. There were photos of Setha and Ethan, some of April on her own, one of Maxi, one of Grandma and Perch on a swim with Titan and Tarzan and there in the centre was their latest family photo.

  It was one she didn’t have in her photo book. April liked candid photos. In this one April was smiling into the distance, her Mum was in the process of criticising someone, the photographer most likely, Dad was looking at his watch, and there she was obediently looking straight ahead at the camera. Kayla un-clammed the photo and held it tightly. She swam out of April’s window in a hurry. Not knowing where to go, or what to do she floated in the garden and tried not to think.

  CHAPTER 36

  “Your Majesty, we must. There is no time now. We must discuss this with Kayla. She might know something. Freya may have confided in her,” Clyde implored with Nathaniel.

  “Maybe,” he answered his eyes struggling to focus on Clyde.

  Reaching the end of his tether, Clyde swam forward. Floating in front of Nathaniel he whipped the medallion from around his neck and held it at arm’s length. The Curo glow around the King immediately dulled. Nathaniel looked up and recoiled as if slapped. Clyde averted his gaze looking to his tail fin. He might have just lost his job, but at this rate, it was the only option he had left. Nathaniel would have never allowed someone so close to his pearls. Let alone just sit their stunned and immobile if they were seized.

  “Princess Kayla will be waiting for us.” Clyde extended his arm and half carrying Nathaniel, escorted him to one of the meeting rooms.

  “Princess Kayla, thank you for meeting with us,” Clyde said politely as he settled Nathaniel down in his chair. Kayla instantly noted the lack of her Dad’s medallion. About to say something she caught Clyde’s eye. He shook his head minutely and Kayla dropped it. Clyde had always been a loyal friend to her. He was a straight-talking mer who knew how to get to the point but also possessed an excellent sense of humour.

  “Kayla. We have some sensitive information to discuss with you concerning your sister.”

  “April’s dead,” Kayla said devoid of emotion while Nathaniel stiffened at her words.

  “We have reason to believe that April is alive,” Clyde continued,

  “No, she isn’t,” Kayla stubbornly interjected. “I refuse to give into whimsical hope again. Is that all you wish to discuss, if so I apologise for excusing myself.”

  “Okay, regardless of your present convictions, the information you may have for us would’ve been transmitted to you when you were younger.”

  “Transmitted?” Clyde had Kayla’s attention now.

  “Yes, as you know the late Queen, your mother was an excellent one for concealing information and choosing to reveal only what was necessary.”

  “Umm hmm,” Kayla said. She was losing interest already. She did not want to be probed about her Mum.

  “Kayla,” Nathaniel said. Kayla’s eyes flicked up to her Dad. The pain he was in was evident.

  “We found something in your Mum’s private journal.” Nathaniel winced as if the act of talking about Freya was a blow to his chest. Clyde moved to float behind Nathaniel and nodded at Kayla to sit back down.

  “Your Mum wrote about a time with April, a time when she was scared of her.”

  “Scared of April?” Kayla interjected

  Nathaniel made no motion to answer Kayla’s question, his eyes staring impassively ahead. Clyde hurried to keep the discussion moving before either of the royals refused to continue.

  “Kayla do you ever remember your Mum telling you the Tale of the Twins?”

  “Twins? As in the mertale?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ummm, I remember it, but not as it being a special story.”

  “Did your Mum ever confide in you about April? Or April about your Mum?” Nathaniel asked

  “April always said Mum liked me more than her. But, Mum never said it. She always told me that April was very special.”

  “Did she sa
y anything else?” Clyde probed.

  Kayla thought back to her memories of her Mum, something she had been shielding herself from doing to avoid becoming overwhelmed with emotion. As she looked back through her memories the powerful light of her Mum shone through.

  “I remember, on Mum’s first visit to Yelta, she told me I would need to protect April. Which was odd as growing up, Mum was always telling me to be careful around her as April didn’t know her own strength,” Kayla said.

  Nathaniel raised his head and looked over at Clyde. Clyde nodded once.

  “Kayla, did your Mum ever tell you about your brother and sister?”

  “No.” Kayla paused and her eyebrows rose. “I don’t have a brother,” she said slowly. She looked to her Dad for an indication of where this was going. He had retreated further into his seat. His great frame becoming one with the decorative pillows.

  “We have reason to believe that the Tale of the Twins was not merely a tale but founded on fact, as many tales are. And that the very same phenomenon occurred when your parents gave birth to twins.”

  “Twins? When did Mum and Dad have twins?” Kayla pushed up out of her seat as she scoured her brain for the Tale of the Twins. She tried to recall the details.

  “Before April was born, your Mum and I had twins, Anthony and Julia.”

  “And you never told us!” Kayla demanded her tail twitching.

  “They died when April was very young and it pained your Mum to talk about them so we didn’t,” Nathaniel tried to explain. His body was shaking now and the faint blue glow around his hands was growing stronger. Clyde leant forward shooting a wary look at Nathaniel.

  “The Queen believed, that like in the mertale, the powers of the royal firstborn couldn’t be divided,” Clyde said.

  “So, the twins gave April their power?” Kayla asked looking from Clyde to her Dad.

  “She absorbed it,” Nathaniel said. Clyde turned to his majesty in shock.

  “April has double the power of a normal first born to the throne,” Nathaniel continued while Clyde stared on in shock.

  “No,” Kayla turned to her Dad slowly. She was losing the ability to be shocked by information anymore.

  “We think April is alive and that her full powers are about to manifest earlier than they should.”

  “But April’s dead,” Kayla said.

  Clyde smiled with compassion at the young Princess. The control and manner in which she conducted herself often made him forget how young she was.

  “I’m going back to Yelta,” Kayla declared. She waited for Clyde or her Dad to protest.

  “I’ve almost fully adapted to my new… situation and with continued physio I will be back to normal. Clyde could you arrange transport for myself and Fallon, my physio, to Yelta tomorrow.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” Clyde bowed respectfully. He acknowledged when he was defeated. There was no point in distressing Kayla any further. She swept from the room without a backward glance.

  Clyde looked hesitantly at Nathaniel. The King sunk further into his chair and was staring through the wall opposite him. Clyde didn’t know how to proceed. He raised himself out of his chair and floated momentarily.

  “Your Majesty,” Clyde hesitantly asked, “I’m sorry if I overstepped my mark. But, I think you need help.”

  “My medallion.”

  Nathaniel held out his hand without looking up. Swimming forward, Clyde dropped the medallion into the King’s hand. Nathaniel’s palm closed slowly over it, his gaze straight ahead.

  “That is all. We can meet tomorrow and discuss the implications of April’s power later,” Nathaniel said dismissing him. As Clyde swam for the door he looked back and saw the blue glow move from His Majesty’s hand and slowly make its way up his arm and toward his heart. To the guards outside the door, Clyde said, “Make sure the King is watched tonight.”

  CHAPTER 37

  “Fallon, pack your bags, we’re leaving,” Kayla said swimming into the guest suite Fallon was staying in.

  Fallon looked up from her book as Kayla swam up and down the length of her room.

  “Are you ready to leave?” she asked following Kayla’s progress with her eyes.

  “Yes,” Kayla said stopping. “I have to be.”

  Fallon nodded and moved off the bed to start folding her clothes into her suitcase.

  “Do you want to leave?” she asked.

  “I want to start the war and end it,” Kayla said momentarily sitting down on the end of the bed then springing up again to resume her swimming.

  “But, can’t you do that from here, helping your Dad?” Fallon asked slowly.

  “The pearls dictate that a member of the royal bloodline must be head of the army,” Kayla sighed.

  “Oh,” Fallon said but Kayla quickly continued.

  “The pearls want someone in power who will protect their interests. They want someone who has access to the mer who can wield all the pearls.”

  Fallon turned around her eyebrows raised. “The pearls want you to rule the army.”

  “Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous,” Kayla said gesticulating with her arms. “But, in the past the ‘pearls didn’t approve’ whenever someone else tried to lead the meritia,” she said making air quotes. “Storms raged for weeks on end, the pearl caves refused to shine for the next generation of mer.”

  “So the pearls are alive?” Fallon said.

  “Some mer believe they are,” Kayla said swimming away from Fallon again.

  “Do you believe they are?” She asked staring at her across the room.

  “I don’t know what to believe in anymore,” Kayla said quietly.

  CHAPTER 38

  “So, what do you think the darkness is?” Megan asked Connor at breakfast that morning.

  “I’m not sure. But April can’t control it, whatever it is,” he said.

  Megan nodded. She prodded her plate of scrambled eggs that she had prepared for them. She snuck a look at Connor while he ate his way through his plate of food. He really was cute, she thought.

  “It’s scary isn’t it, but also kind of fascinating,” Connor said.

  Megan blushed and turned her attention back to their conversation.

  “Yeah, mer powers are intriguing aren’t they, and to think we all used to have powers,” Megan said.

  “After seeing April I’m not sure I would want them.”

  “Wouldn’t you? I would love to have powers. I think the Tempus pearl sounds really cool. But, then again, they’re really rare nowadays,” Megan said.

  “The ability to control the weather, yeah, April has that.” Connor brought the conversation back to his favourite subject.

  “Yes, April has all the pearl powers, doesn’t she?” Megan asked.

  “I presume so,” Connor said.

  “I thought so because she is next in line to the throne.”

  “Odd, isn’t it, that April’s a Princess.”

  “It is odd,” Megan agreed. She cupped her coffee and looked up at Connor. “Do you think it’s safe to be around her?”

  “Safe? Of course, it is,” Connor said indignantly. “It’s April.” He slid his plate away from him and went to get more coffee.

  “April,” Connor said rather flustered as April appeared on the staircase. His coffee left forgotten, he went to move towards her. But when Alex followed closely behind Connor stopped. Standing in the middle of the kitchen now unsure of what to do he reached for a bar stool and hurriedly pulled it out.

  “Here you go, how are you feeling this morning?” Connor asked. He ignored his previous seat and sat down in the available chair next to April’s.

  “I’m feeling fine this morning Connor, thank you,” April said. She stretched out her arms in front of her. They were bare this morning. No traces of the black energy were left. Megan eyed April’s hands as she silently ate her eggs and toast.

  “That’s so good to hear. Megan, can you make April some breakfast please?” Connor said not bothering to look at Mega
n as he requested her service. “I was worried about you April.”

  Megan looked up from her plate and glanced at Connor but his full attention was on April. April smiled apologetically at Megan. Megan averted her gaze and moved from the kitchen island over to the hob.

  “Wait why were you worried about April?” Alex said grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl in front of him. He bit down into it with gusto.

  “Because of last night. Didn’t April tell you?” Connor said. He didn’t try very hard to keep the smug tone out of his voice.

  “April?” Alex asked through a mouthful of apple.

  “Oh yes, I forgot after you told me the news about my pearls!” April said.

  “What news?” Connor asked. April continued addressing Alex while swinging on her stool.

  “Some sort of dark light energy consumed me. I had some sort of vision or nightmare. I’m not sure. Connor and Megan found me.”

  “That’s the understatement of the century, she was wrapped in darkness,” Connor interjected, “Swathed in it, and it seemed to be coming out of her.”

  April shot an annoyed look at Connor.

  “What?” he said indignantly.

  “Don’t be alarmist!” April said. Alex opened his mouth to comment but April cut him off, “anyway, Alex has some exciting news!”

  Alex paused to check it was his turn to speak again.

  “Here you go.” Megan walked over and placed two large plates of food in front of April and Alex before settling herself opposite Connor.

  “Thanks,” Alex and April said in unison.

  “During my meeting yesterday they accidentally let slip where the laboratories are. The main one is three levels down, almost directly below here,” Alex said.

  “We’re going to get my pearls,” April said with a beaming grin. Connor noted that April was glowing a faint white again.

  “And how are we going to do that?” Connor asked.

  “Well, I’ve been thinking about this,” Alex said. He whipped out his phone and placed it on the counter. “I was running searches through the information we took from Dad’s study and I think I’ve found the software they’re using for access rights.”