by G. Bailey
“What do you see for our future, Ryland?” I ask, wanting to distract him if only for a second.
“All of us, on our ship, free. Maybe even a baby or two to hold,” he says, chuckling at my shocked expression.
“A baby? I didn’t know you wanted children,” I say.
“I never did until I met you. We would have stunning children, wearing little pirate hats and causing trouble,” he grins, and kisses my cheek. “Go before your cheeks burn any brighter.” I grin and turn around, walking to the bridge. As I step onto the bridge, I feel its power wash over me. I continue my walk across, but pause when I get to the middle, hearing a noise. I look around, spinning in a circle to see where the noise came from.
“Cassandra . . . leave the mountain. No time,” the Sea God whispers, and I fall to my knees, holding my hands to my head. The pain from his words echoing in my mind make it feel like my head may explode.
“Leave, Cassandra, leave now,” he demands, and then the voice drifts away, like it was never there. I have to lie on the bridge floor for a while, feeling lost and in pain. When the pain leaves, and it's reduced to just a dull ache, I manage to get up. I wish he would stop making demands. I walk the final part across the bridge, feeling better with every step.
“I heard there was a meeting?” I ask as I step off the bridge, and see only Master Light waiting for me in the cave room. He has a white cloak on today, and his tired eyes meet mine across the crystal table.
“Yes, the others will join us shortly. We have a problem that we did not expect,” he tells me as I step closer, and see his pinched face. “Please sit down, Master Cassandra.” I do as he asks, and we wait silently for the others to come. Master Pirate comes into the room, sitting down with a huff and a face full of annoyance.
“We should begin, the others won’t be here for a long while with everything that is happening,” Master Pirate says, and Master Light nods, switching his gaze to me.
“You must leave the mountains,” he tells me simply.
“What?” I ask, surprised.
“Three hours ago, a ship came to us. All but one of the king’s guards on board were dead. The entire ship was full of guards that had sided with the rebellion, every single one of them. The king knew exactly who had betrayed him, which causes everything we have been told by the guards to be compromised. We only know this, because he left this one guard alive to send a message to us,” he sighs.
“What was the message?” I ask carefully.
“The king has an army ready, armed with three hundred ships. He is coming to the mountains in one month's time, when the councils have been ordered to send him more fighters. He will come in, riding his dragon, and destroy this place. He knows you are here, Cassandra. Someone in the mountains must have betrayed us,” Master Pirate growls out. “I will find out who and have their head for the betrayal, but the mountains are no longer safe for you.”
“That’s why you think I need to leave?” I ask, but the question pretty much answers itself.
“Do you think the sea god only tells you things? Whispers only to you? We know of the map and the crown that lies with the mermaids. You must learn to trust us, Cassandra. In time, I hope that happens,” Master Light chides and stands up. He walks over to me, sitting on my desk, and placing a hand on my shoulder.
“The deal must be completed, and I know you can see this through. We will ride across the storm sea in three weeks. You have three weeks to travel to the mermaids, and get that crown,” he tells me. Master Pirate locks eyes with me.
“Cassandra, the crown will make your power rival his. For all the pain and death he has caused, make sure he dies for it. Do not second guess yourself. I believe in you,” he tells me, and I smile.
“Didn’t know you could be so nice, Master Pirate,” I say.
“Not nice, I just don’t want to die, and you are the only way to secure my survival for the foreseeable future," he tells me. His cold, aloof expression is back, but I think it’s only a way to hide that he can be nice when he wants. “I have found five men to travel with your pirates and help run the ship. They are all very trustworthy and brilliant fighters, which you may need.”
“Thank you. I best go and tell my chosen the plan,” I say, sliding out of my seat.
“Make sure the girl goes with you,” Master Light’s demand stops me before I can walk out of the door.
“What girl?” I inquire.
“The future queen,” Master Light says, and I give him a confused look. He shakes his head and looks at Master Pirate who chuckles. “She hasn’t told you yet? Have you not guessed?”
“Who?” I ask, but I know; deep down, I think I've always known the identity of the true heir.
“Everleigh,” Master Light says, and I turn around, walking out the cave as shock rolls through me.
“Everly?” I ask, opening the door to her rooms. I’m surprised when Tyrion walks out of a doorway to the left of the entry. He stops/pauses when he sees me, and the basket of clothes he was carrying drops to the floor. Tyrion hasn’t changed much since when he was with the king’s guards. He is still as handsome as I remember, with wavy brown hair and bright-blue eyes. He still looks and carries himself like a guard. That hasn’t changed, but I know his loyalty has changed. Maybe he knows who Everly is, and that’s why he is here. He guards her. Maybe he always knew, even when she was just another prisoner in the king’s games.
“Cassandra, it is good to see you again,” he says, but I’m in no mood for pleasantries. I need to talk to my best friend and find out some answers. It’s like everything is clicking into place, everything that I ignored for so long when I shouldn’t have.
“Did I come to the wrong room? I’m looking for Everly?” I ask, but I’m pretty sure I have the right rooms.
“No, I share a place with her,” he tells me, yet another thing Everly hasn’t told me about. Is she with Tyrion? “Everly is in that room.” Tyrion points to a room opposite the one he left.
“Thank you,” I say, walking to the door. I don’t knock, just walk in, and Everly looks up from where she sits, brushing her hair in the mirror. She puts the brush down as I shut the door, and smiles at me.
“I’m so happy you came to see me . . .” She drifts off when I cross my arms and glare at her.
“You are the future queen? The heir of land and sea? How could you not tell me?” I demand. She appears shocked for a second, before a cold look crosses over her face. She starts to say something, but I hold my hand up, cutting her off. “I would have protected you, never judged you! I thought we were best friends, sisters! And you have been lying to me!”
“I don’t have to tell you anything, Cassy, but I did try. Your pirates just never gave me an opportunity. Don’t be mad at me for something I can barely admit to myself, for something I do not want to be,” she says, her voice cracking at the end of the sentence and she walks over to the bed. She sits down, dropping her face to her hands and starts to cry. Not a little cry, but a heart-wrenching cry, full of fear and anger. I recognise those kind of tears, the tears you can’t stop. All the anger and shock I feel fades away as quickly as it came. I walk over, sit next to her, and pull her into my arms. I guess I didn’t think about what it must be like for her, and my anger seems nothing in comparison to what kind of future she is meant to have. She was tortured in that castle, lost her mother there, and now she is supposed to rule the very world that has been so cruel to her. Who would want that?
“Tell me everything,” I whisper, as she calms down some time later. She shakily nods, pulling back and wiping her eyes. I reach across the bed, and get some tissues from the side, handing them to her. She wipes her eyes and blows her nose as I wait for her to explain everything to me. I look her over, examining her beautiful features, and it finally hits me. Her blonde hair is so very unlike the dark hair of the royals we know, but her blue eyes, they are family. They look like Ryland’s, and that's why they always looked familiar to me.
“Before my mother
died, she told me everything. Things I had no idea about, and really didn’t want to know,” she says and clears her throat. So, she didn't know from the beginning about all of this. It hasn't been that long since she learned of her own past. When we grew up, I would never have guessed the girl I played board games and climbed trees with would be the future queen. Or that she was an heir to the crown. I guess that’s why Onaya was the perfect place to hide her. Onaya is quiet, dead almost, and no one in the world would look for royalty there.
“My mother was the bastard child of a maid and the old king. The current queen is her half-sister, my aunt, and that makes Ryland and Hunter my cousins in a way,” she says, and I squeeze her hand. When I marry Ryland and Hunter, we will be related in a way. I can’t believe this whole time she was their cousin, and they never knew it. They think all their family is dead, or soon to be. I believe learning about Everly would help them. I think back to the ship, and the book I read that mentioned something about a fair-haired bastard child being born.
“I read a book that was on my pirates’ ship, where it talked of there being a child born of a maid and the king . . .,” I explain to her, and she hastily nods her head. When her fear-filled eyes look back at me, I know there is something more that she is scared to tell me.
“There’s more,” she says, holding back a sob. I can see she is scared I will reject her. Or that I will be frightened of her.
“Go on, I won’t care what you are. You never cared that I’m a changed one, or that I could be dangerous. You protected me, just as I will protect you. What is in our blood, what we are born with, doesn’t make the choices in our life for us. We get to choose, and you will choose your own path,” I tell her firmly, and she sobs, wiping her eyes with the tissue.
“My mother said that one day, a mermaid man washed up on the shores of Onaya. She said she hid him in her home, that she looked after him as he suffered from poisoning of some sort,” she smiles a little, “she said they fell in love with each other.”
“Are you saying what I think you are?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes, I’m half mermaid. But I don’t have any powers or a tail,” she points at her legs, making me laugh.
“No, but mermaids are said to be able to sing men to their deaths, and no man could resist their deadly beauty. Have you tried singing?” I ask, and she shakes her head.
“I haven’t sung since I was a child. My mother always told me not to. Maybe there was a reason for it,” she says quietly. It must be hard for her to know her mother kept so many secrets from her, even if it was for her own good. The sea god had to know who she was, and made sure that we grew up close together.
“So many secrets, so much hidden from us and planned out for our lives . . . are you going to be able to take the throne if I get it for you?” I ask the most important question. Now that I think about it, there isn’t anyone else I could imagine giving the throne to. It has to be Everly, it always has been.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want the responsibility that will come with it, but I don’t have a choice. I’ve accepted that,” she says sadly.
“Sometimes in life, the things we don’t want are the best things for us,” I tell her, and she rests her head on my shoulder. “I never wanted my mark, and I never wanted to go to the sea, but they were exactly what I needed.”
“I would make a bad queen, and I have no idea what I’m doing. I may have the right blood, but that doesn’t make a queen. It doesn’t make a ruler,” she replies, and hearing her say that, just makes me more certain that she is the right person for the job. A queen that wanted the throne, would kill for it, is not the right kind of queen that Calais needs to heal. Everly is thinking of the people, not the fame and riches. She may be young like I am, but she won’t ever be alone when she takes the throne.
“I think you will make a brilliant queen, if that’s anything. If I could give the throne to a person of my choosing, it would be you. You know why?” I ask, and she shakes her head.
“You are kind, yet firm when you need to be. You have suffered, but you have risen above the evil you have faced, and you are so strong. You can do this. You were born for this,” I say, knowing every word is true.
“Cass, I’m no queen. I don’t know a thing about ruling,” she mutters as she lifts her head and pushes her hair behind her ear.
“Neither do I, but the master will help you. You can’t do worse than the king has done, but promise me something?” I ask, and she gives me a questioning look. “Promise me your first law will be that changed ones are free. That anyone that hunts, kills, or sells them, will be hung for it,” I ask.
“It will be my first law, and there will be many others. Changed ones, the world needs them, and we should protect them,” she says.
“What do you mean?” I ask, curious.
“While I’ve been here, I’ve watched how the changed ones help Calais. They make the plants healthy, they make rain clouds, they give their magic to Calais. We need them. The world is dying because we keep killing them. Changed ones are a gift from the gods for the world, and we keep throwing the gift away rather than using it. We need a balance, or we will never know peace,” she tells me, and I smile.
“Makes sense, there always has to be a balance, and our powers could help. Imagine if I used my water powers to water the trees and other plants in Onaya,” I muse.
“A lot of people wouldn’t be starving, that’s for sure,” she says, and then I remember what happened before I found out about her being the heir. We have big problems we need to sort.
“We have to leave, and go to the mermaids now,” I tell her.
“Why?” she asks.
“Part of the deal I made with the sea god means I need to find a crown. It’s with them,” I tell her, and I know I need her with me. They might not attack us if Everly can be at my side and speak with me. She has their blood, and she is their people. When Everly meets my eyes, I know I don’t have to tell her all that. She knows what I’m thinking.
“Then I’m at your side. I can fight really well, and I guess we should bring Tyrion with us. He is a brilliant fighter, too,” she says, not mentioning the main reason she needs to come, but I know better than to push her on it. She has said she is at my side, much like I’m on hers always.
“Sure,” I grin, and then nod my head at the door. “Are you and Tyrion together?”
“No, he is my best friend. I mean, I think he is as hot as anything, but he never has tried to take it further. I don’t think he likes me that way, and I won’t risk our friendship by trying to find out,” she tells me, her eyes drifting to the door for a second. “He knows who I am, and I think he knows I will likely have no choice in who I marry. He won’t get too close. Might be something I will have to get used to.”
“He will give in, you are stunning and amazing, Everly. Plus, you shouldn’t give up, he is pretty handsome,” I grin.
“I won’t tell your fiancés you said that,” she laughs.
“You probably shouldn’t, they would attempt to kill him,” I say, and we both laugh.
“Everything is changing, and we are growing up,” she says suddenly.
“Yes, but all things change. And this is for the better. We can do this together,” I say, pulling her into a hug.
“Yes, we can, or at least we can try,” she whispers.
“Will I have to call you queen? Or your highness?” I joke.
“No, never you. I’m always Ev or Everly to you,” she laughs and squeeze me tight.
13
Chapter Thirteen
Cassandra
“It’s time to leave,” Ryland says, stepping to my side as I rest my head on Vivo’s nose. Vivo doesn’t growl at my chosen, she is happy to let him near her, but no one else. In the last two days, while we have gotten the ship ready to leave and enough food to last us the trip, she has caused problems. It was like she could sense I had to leave, and I was distressed about it. It’s not that I don’t want to leave the mountain
s, because I do, but I don’t want to leave Vivo. She feels like family to me.
“Vivo, I have to leave, and go to the mermaids. I can’t take you with me, sorry, girl. I'm scared they might try to attack you,” I say, and she huffs, snow falling on my feet as it drips from her mouth. “I know you want to come, but the mermaids might take offense to me flying a dragon to them. So, can you stay here with the mountain people until they leave, and go with them? We will meet at the other side.” She huffs again, stepping back and flying off the mountain, the rush of air making me step back.
“I don’t think that was a yes,” Ryland says wryly, as he wraps his arms around my waist.
“It wasn’t. She is stubborn, but she won’t do anything that will risk my life. I know that,” I say, watching her fly away towards the other dragons flying around outside.
“Like her rider,” Ryland chuckles, and kisses my forehead. “We must leave if we have any chance of getting to the mermaids and back in time.” I let Ryland lead me away from the landing dock and down towards the bottom of the mountains. People are rushing around us so much that they don’t even notice me and Ryland. The mountains are in a panic trying get ready for the war. The announcement was made not long after I left Everly’s room, and it’s been crazy here ever since.
“Is the ship ready?” I ask.
“Yes, we had to move it the edge of the waterfall, but the crew have it all set up to go. We believe it will take two weeks to travel to the mermaids in the Lost Sea. The Lost Sea is extremely dangerous to travel, with a lot of jagged rocks and broken ships. It will be easier to navigate out of the Lost Sea than in, so only a week to travel from there to the king,” Ryland explains to me.
“Do you think the mermaids will make a deal with us?” I ask him, wanting to know his opinion.
“No, not with us, but perhaps with you and Everly.” I give him a confused look, “Mermaids are known to make deals with powerful women. They do not like men and usually kill them. I still have no idea how my father got close enough to make a deal with them,” he says, and I hate the pain I see in his eyes when he speaks of his father.