It was one less worry weighing down her shoulders when their wedding party departed from the Pearl Shark onto the warm sand of a secluded tropical island off the coast of Colombia, splitting the distance between Pacifica and Atlantis and placing the event in neutral territory held by neither kingdom. Loto’s ship remained nearby, less than two leagues away from the shore in the event that hundreds of Myrmidons were required for battle.
On the morning of their first day inhabiting the island, Amerin and Elpis swore to never leave her side. As a throwback to the days of Ancient Greece, Atlantians celebrated matrimony over the course of elaborate three-day ceremonies that increased in cost the higher the couple belonged in society. As the bride, the first day would have been a time to spend with her mother and close friends. With Queen Ianthe no longer among the living, Amerin stood in for the first hour of the grand celebration as they prepared offerings they would give to the gods.
“Do you remember this?” Amerin asked, placing an antique doll into Kai’s hands. Time had marred its features and faded the handpainted warmth from the brown cheeks. It was in her likeness, long brown hair dyed violet and bound in two braids. It wore dusty sea silk fibers broken down by time.
“My dolly from Venice. Where did you find her?”
“I held on to her,” Amerin admitted, a shy blush spreading rose hues across her cheeks. “When you left to journey with your parents, you left her behind on accident. I wanted to give her back to you, but…”
The Gloom attacked their royal party and orphaned Kai to the mortal realm, dooming her to years of lost memory thanks to the traumatic events. She wondered at times how much had been normal, and how much had been an act of the gods guiding and protecting her.
If she’d retained her memory, she would have been desperate to return to Atlantis.
“When you returned, I searched through the undercroft where all the old things from your parents’ reign were stored, and I found her again. Now she’s here for you when you need her.”
“For my sacrifice.”
Amerin nodded.
Kai held the tattered token from her childhood against her chest, remembering the day her father had first gifted it to her from his travels. Time had not been kind to it, but the value of its memories brought a smile to her face just the same. Once she had swallowed the rising emotion in her throat, Kai leaned down to hug her seated friend. “Thank you, Amerin.”
Leaving Amerin to prepare their shrine for the ritual sacrifices, Kai and Elpis directed their attention to the hearth and makeshift kitchen bungalow. As a gift from Pacifica, with whom Kai and Manu both shared the bonds of different bloodlines, her aunt had sent a team of caterers to prepare and serve the actual wedding feast on the day of their gamos when Manu and Kai pledged themselves as a couple before the gods and all magical kingdoms of Earth. During her proaulia—as close as their people had to a bachelorette bash—Kai wanted to make all of her favorites and to clumsily work her way through an Atlantian cookbook alongside a woman who had quickly become one of her closest friends.
“Do we have enough eel broth for this soup?”
“If we’re short, I’ll arrange a delivery from the cook aboard the Pearl Shark. How much do we have?”
Between shark steaks, Atlantian bouillabaisse, and an assortment of other goodies, they made a feast large enough to support a half-dozen women. Kai didn’t understand the enormous selection until Elpis opened the door to permit Queen Laka inside. The queen strode within the bridal cabana with a large jug of coconut wine in each hand, milky delight sloshing within the translucent vessels.
“Aunt Laka? You’re…you’re early. A whole day early.” Most of the dignitaries weren’t expected to arrive until the next evening for the gamos.
“Far from it, niece. I’ve arrived precisely when I meant to, at the hour when I am needed.”
Elpis relieved the queen of both jugs then poured generous glasses of the sweet, coconut-flavored nectar. Then she joined them in the kitchen where the women created a feast truly worthy of queens. Afterward, the four of them sat together and imbibed until they were silly drunk, laughing uproariously as Amerin and Laka took turns telling tales. One told stories of Kai’s childhood, while the other regaled them with what she recalled of the late queen’s youth, her rule, and the early days of her marriage.
For a powerful, centuries-old monarch, Laka was incredibly down-to-earth.
“My mother was afraid?”
“Afraid is a strong word,” Laka replied, grinning. “Ianthe feared no one, but she was certainly wary of Neptune’s intentions. We argued plenty over it.”
“Because Neptune wouldn’t marry your daughter?”
Laka grinned. “I told her to shit or get off the pot. Your mother never stepped into any situation without fully analyzing every possible outcome and whether it would be advantageous for Atlantis or only herself. She weighed the needs of the kingdom against her own constantly. She stressed as much as you do. Perhaps it is there that you’re the most similar.”
Anxiety brewed in Kai’s gut as she listened. She’d guessed from the beginning that her parents had been an arranged marriage, but now she wondered how long it had taken for them to become the loving couple of her hazy memories.
The conversation never grew stale, each woman adding to another dimension to an event designed to fill a soon-to-be bride with courage and peace. That evening, she fell asleep alongside her family and the concerns of her kingdom at last vanished.
Before her eyes shut for the final time that evening, she wondered if thoughts of her traveled Manu’s mind as surely as he occupied hers.
“I can’t believe I had to take a special bath in holy water to get married,” Kai griped as Amerin and Elpis fussed over her dress. While the former made final adjustments to the layers of silk and the ornamental corals, Elpis turned her hair into a masterpiece of violet and black coils pinned with gilded anemone.
“It isn’t holy water.”
“It’s special water from a temple carried in a sacred vessel,” Kai disputed. “It’s holy water.”
“She has you there,” Queen Laka replied, laughing.
Amerin frowned. “Okay. You win this time. I know it may seem silly, but it’s tradition.”
“I get it.” Kai smiled in reassurance. “Doesn’t mean I won’t tease you about it.” There were worse traditions to follow when it came to marriage, and she’d gone to bed confident Manu was with his male friends hunting in the water off the island instead of guzzling alcohol to the musical rhythm of a strip club.
With Laka’s aid, Amerin made a masterpiece of Kai, tying her into a beautiful a sleek dress of champagne silk, accented in pale peach and pink. They draped her in pearls and gilt and clipped ornaments in her hair from her mother’s jewelry storage. One, a blue pin in the shape of a butterfly, stood out to her as familiar. It tugged her memory, as if she’d seen it before. When the memory refused to stir, she dismissed it and carried on with the arrangements, wondering all the while what Manu did for his share of the preparations.
Probably nothing. He’d be as cool and collected as ever.
“There, my niece,” Laka said as she placed the finishing touch upon Kai’s hair, securing the veil of silk ribbons and cloth into place. Their wedding would be one of mixed customs, both Atlantian and Pacifican. When she’d asked about implementing customs from the surface, Amerin had beamed and promised to weave in the appropriate traditions among those of the magical worlds. Kai lacked a father to give her away and Atlantians didn’t trade rings, but her bridal bouquet was a true work.
Kai emerged from the bungalow to find Manu waiting at the opening of another small beachside cabin. Manu had never been more handsome, standing barefoot on the sand in a traditional beaded kilt from Pacifica. All that time, it never occurred to her that he wouldn’t await her at the shrine in his uniform.
He isn’t a commander anymore. Not really. He’ll always be a Myrmidon, but this…suits him.
His long hai
r had been brushed and bound with dark green twine laced with polished coral beads, the red striking against the natural dark teal strands woven throughout his black mane. The eyes of onlookers behind him were all fastened to the backs of his shoulders. This was the first time Manu had put the mysterious divine gift on display.
Yards of sea silk drifted behind Kai across the sun-warmed sand. She and Manu met in the middle from opposite ends of the aisle and clasped hands. The whole while as they walked together toward the shrine and waiting priest, her attention occasionally flitted out toward the sea of faces, some striking her as mer from Atlantis, others from Pacifica. What took her by surprise were those of the long-eared persuasion, and the dusky, dark skin of the gargoyles watching with stoic, unblinking faces. She had not made the guest list nor signed the invitations to know who to expect, only told that each kingdom would send representatives to stand witness.
A cluster of winged women stood in attendance, each wearing radiant and golden armor. Occasionally, one shot a dark look towards a trio of men beneath parasols, one pale, the others a ghastly sort of sallow gray.
Vampires.
Kai would never doubt Amerin again. Her friend had truly invited the greatest members of every kingdom, including a woman who floated inches from the ground in an elaborate silk dress in shades of green, teal, orange, and purple that drifted in a wind current affecting only her.
Later, after the ceremony, Kai would meet them all—gargoyles, fae, Valkyries, vampires, and the djinn sultana alike, as was customary during the presentation of gifts.
Hipponax stood before them at an altar dedicated to each deity of the sea, a breathtaking sculpture of stone featuring Thalassa, Pontus, Poseidon, and Amphitrite amid many of the lesser gods of water and life. “It brings me great joy to unite our queen to one of our finest military officers,” the elderly priest began.
With each word of their exchanged vows, the sensation in her chest grew hotter, the grip around her ribs tightened. Magic wound around and bound them. It flashed over their joined hands and swept through her, scorching soul-deep in an unexpected way that grounded her back to the present.
It wasn’t only a wedding in words and tradition.
Something had happened—was still happening.
When Cosmas fulfilled his duties by producing a crown upon a velvet cushion, Kai knew there was no turning back. From that point forward, they would be irrevocably bound together by love and ancient magic.
And she would have it no other way. Despite the newfound rush of confidence zipping like a lightning bolt across her neurons, her hands grew clammy and moist, each new breath drawn into her lungs too small to meet the demands of her body. All eyes were upon her, a sensation she felt but could not see, for her gaze couldn’t leave the almond-brown gaze of the man before her. The representatives of six other kingdoms watched the historic moment.
“I pronounce you my king and husband before the gods and seven kingdoms.”
Kai removed the elegant royal crown commissioned from her own design, the only part she’d taken in the whole wedding. Like the Treasure of Pontus, the Myrmidons never recovered her father’s crown. From her memory she had designed an improvement, a true work of art designed to resemble emerald fins imprinted in gold, offset by numerous snail shells embedded with jewels that jutted up from the jewelry.
It fit perfectly upon Manu’s head.
They joined hands to the applause of what seemed like millions—of a dozen dignitaries, her aunt, and thousands of mers rippling across the sea.
4
Gifts of Friendship
Kai and Manu’s status as the royal couple and the event’s location on the surface required adjustments to Atlantis’s cultural traditions. Despite her longing to retire with Manu to their temporary bridal home, guests expected the queen and her new king to remain on the beachside dais for hours to accept well-wishes and gifts from those in attendance.
Gifts from loved ones would come the next day during the epaulia, the final day of a wedding ceremony.
Foreign diplomat after diplomat came to them with pledges to serve as Atlantis’s allies. While Manu spoke with and thanked a leader of a prosperous Pacifican clan, her attention wandered to the next pair in line. Both were tall and beautiful; fae, she thought at first glance when she took in their long ears and flawless faces. The eye-catching red hair of the one she presumed to be their monarch framed his high cheek bones and fell like a scarlet wave around broad shoulders clothed in rich slate and gold fabric. He wore a crown of brambles and thorns engraved in writing Kai couldn’t make out at a glance, unless she wanted them to catch her staring. The male stood out to her at once. His features swam from the foggy depths of her memories as a face she’d seen in her recent past.
The woman beside him was truly unique to behold, striking her as a figure of beauty and strength wrapped into one package. Her biceps were also as large as Kai’s thighs, the refined musculature of a woman who could snap tree trunks with her bare hands. A little boy waited patiently between them, a rectangular parcel held tightly against his chest.
A soft smile came to Kai’s face as she studied the handsome family. The adults stood together, speaking in low voices, and both rested a hand on the young boy’s shoulders.
Kai leaned close to Manu and whispered the moment a lull in the line allowed them a moment to breathe. “Who are they?”
“King Andarien of Alfheimr and his son.” His breath stirred a loose strand of hair sneaking free from beneath her crown, sending goosebumps tingling down her arms.
“But who is she?”
“His general. Why do you ask?”
Kai’s gaze cut back to the pair, to the proud cant of the woman’s shoulders, features that were pretty and marble-carved, as if she were an exquisite work of art hewn from stone then polished with love. General? I’ve seen them before. “It’s nothing.”
The way Andarien gazed at his companion was not the way a man regarded his general, however. Guarded affection smoldered in his violet eyes, hidden longing and unconcealed adoration visible for anyone to see. She stood beside him in garments of flowing lace draped around molded leathers, form and function creating a splendid vision of elvish beauty. Half-elvish. The ivory points of two tusks poked over the fae’s lip, indicating orcish bloodlines. The little boy leaned into her as if she were his mother, though there was no resemblance between them at all.
Orcs and elves were perpetually at one another’s throats, embroiled in an endless war between the forces of Jotunheimr and Alfheimr. Naturally, the former had not sent a representative, for they were too occupied with ravaging the lands of the light fae to concern themselves with matters of diplomacy between the kingdoms. It surprised her that the king and his general had departed from their lands at all.
“His Royal Majesty King Andarien, His Highness Prince Nymaras, and the esteemed General Selindrys,” Aegaeon announced with a flourish and deep bow.
When the fae trio stepped forward, a trio of Goliath-sized gargoyles remained standing to their rear in triangular formation. The woman in the forefront wore gauzy silks in fair shades of pink, contrasting the stonelike texture of her dark skin. The males Kai presumed to be her personal guards resembled statues carved with stoic faces. Their broad-shouldered bodies blotted out the sun, their large figures both two full heads above the elf king and twice the breadth.
“Greetings, Queen Kailani and King Manu,” Andarien said as he bowed at the waist, mirrored by his general and son. The cadence of his speech flowed in lyrical measure, tempered by a rich depth that contrasted his beautiful face. “It is a great honor to congratulate you on this day and to wish you a long, prosperous rule of Atlantis. The well wishes of Alfheimr and the love of Myrkwood are with you.”
“We thank you as well for attending our union,” Manu replied.
Kai searched for their faces in the depths of her memory, turning up little more than a fleeting vision of forests and the beating wings of moths. Much of what she had se
en during her vision in the Temple of Amphitrite had faded, recurring at unusual moments or conversations in her day-to-day life. “Thank you. I’m equally honored to host such esteemed guests. Thank you both—well, all three of you for visiting us. And you especially,” she said to Nymaras, crouching to bring herself to his level. “Have you enjoyed your journey away from the woodlands?”
Still clutching the rectangular parcel of polished wood carved with floral motifs and graceful leaves between both of his fair hands, the little boy practically shrank behind his father’s leg.
The king chuckled. “Excuse my son. This is his first adventure away from Myrkwood, and he’s shy. Come, lad. Give the king and queen their gift.”
The boy turned his face up to his father and spoke, then mirrored the words to the silver-skinned general. Beating Andarien to the reply, she laughed and mussed the child’s hair with one large hand. At once, he found his courage and moved forward with the gift.
With his rosy, freckled cheeks and head of red hair, Nymaras had to be the most adorable child she’d seen in months. Two pointed ears poked out from his neatly braided hair, and he beamed up at her with a bashful smile while raising the box. He couldn’t have been any more than four or five in fae years. Their people aged differently, as long-lived as Atlantians and even slower to reach maturity. That could have placed him at two decades or even three true years of age.
“Thank you.” Kai returned to her throne and unknotted the green ribbon. Inside the package, a translucent glass vial rested on a bed of fragrant white leaves. The clean smell of snow wafted to her on a tropical island breeze.
Goddess of Sea and War: a Fantasy Romance (Kingdom in the Sea Book 3) Page 3