Serving as a king thrust him into a conflict that took place on a whole different battlefield, one where words were weapons in lieu of swords and harpoons. Now, the pen was mightier than the most powerful warship.
When he took his place beside Kai and made his way down the narrow corridor of the smaller assembly house and into the open space where their audience waited, he already knew what he meant to say. The crowd adored them as a couple, and his brethren born of the warrior caste had felt truly represented due to his experience in command. It was for them that he planned to address the crowd that day and for Kai that he overcame his own desire to retreat from public.
In the olden days on the surface, the bouleuterion served a different purpose and wasn’t far from its prytaneion, but Atlantians had never been fond of following every aspect of their Ancient Greek heritage. It was for that reason that the nobles’ tumultuous relationship with Kai surprised him. Atlantis had built its kingdom on change and adaptation, yet Thalia dared to call Kai a tyrant for instituting the very thing that had guaranteed their survival for so long.
“Whenever you’re both ready,” a plain-faced mer told them in a quiet voice. Manu knew the man as one of the local representatives on the school council, someone he’d spoken to only briefly when meeting with officials regarding the enlistment of new Myrmidons freshly finished with their education. “Thank you for coming here today, Your Majesties. I’m sure your presence will do much to quell the uncertainty.”
“As do I,” Kai said, squeezing Manu’s hand. “Ready?”
“Aren’t I always?”
Manu fucking hated public speeches. He loathed them as much as he hated dressing up in the rich, formal clothing expected of a king. Not long after he’d been announced as Kai’s betrothed, his royal valet had taken his measurements and spent hours dragging Manu to one tailor or another, ensuring the queen’s chosen mate would always be dressed to their standards. He hadn’t dared complain since the mer was an old but kindly fellow from Pacifica who spent many of those hours passionately telling Manu how much joy it brought him to see another Pacifican king on the throne, and the honor it brought them to unite both kingdoms once more. After that, he couldn’t bring himself to shit on the mer’s enthusiasm.
Due to Kai and Manu’s mixed heritage, Nikau enjoyed playing up that half of the king’s lineage. The old mer even ventured into the vaults and retrieved the priceless jewelry once worn by Kai’s grandfather Maui.
Of everything recently gifted to Manu, however, what had truly surprised him was the warrior’s kilt Queen Laka made with her own hands and gifted to him. It was a truly rare object to receive, sewn from sharkskin and seal fur and intended only for members of the royal family. Numerous shark teeth lined the waist, and the spiraling designs of koru leaves had been tediously embroidered into the skins.
Receiving Queen Laka’s acceptance meant everything. Slowly yet surely, he grew accustomed to the excessive practices and exorbitant styles. And part of him liked representing Pacifica. If the two kingdoms were to be truly united in friendship, it was the least he could do.
“So many of them,” Kai murmured. The crowd hadn’t been so packed on the day of her coronation, according to Cosmas. Above them in the stands, thousands upon thousands of people were waiting for them to speak.
Manu squeezed her hand. “Now or never. You have nothing to fear. Remember that.” Then he turned to the crowd and raised his voice. “Citizens of Atlantis! It is our joy and greatest honor to stand here before you today to discuss the sweeping change throughout our kingdom. Thank you for having the faith and the trust to join us.
“We realize that many of you fear the changes to Atlantis.
“But we are here to tell you there is nothing to fear. It is true that we have dismissed the Council of Lords. Contrary to rumors you may have heard, as well as flagrantly false claims, we do not plan to act without an advisory body. As king and queen, we believed the former board did not adequately represent Atlantis as a whole. While we will always appreciate their years of service and the commitment to this city, it is now time for you to elect your own senators and choose officials as you have in smaller communities across the city while using this very same bouleuterion. To make this accessible to all, we have initiated construction of additional bouleteria throughout the city and her colonies.”
The rumble of discontent tapered before ceasing altogether. He scanned the crowd and read the faces of startled mers, their expressions a mixture of disbelief, joy, and skepticism. He couldn’t blame them for latter.
Manu exchanged a brief glance with Kai and felt the trepidation radiating from her. Then she straightened and raised her voice.
“It is our hope that Atlantis will emerge from this stronger. Abolishing the caste system has in no way benefitted me as queen. It is for you, the people, to take control of your lives. We are here to alleviate your concerns.”
A low murmur of voices rippled across an audience at least a few thousand people strong. They would have never been able to answer a thousand individual questions, but key representatives among them turned to their individual sections and gathered questions from the mers seated among them.
One by one, they Kai and Manu answered every question under the sun, from whether they were forbidden to continue a system of arranged marriages to whether they would be forced to marry servants into their families. Some questions struck him as outlandish and silly, and others, he realized were purely Thalia’s way of sowing dissent among them by playing to their fears. Some truly believed she planned to take hard-earned money from their laboring force.
“What of the rumors that you wish to turn Atlantis into an underwater duplicate of the surface?”
“Yeah!” someone shouted.
“This has nothing to do with my time on the surface,” Kai said. “I have met with the leader of the Loyalist party and agree wholeheartedly that Atlantis has been stagnant for far too long. I hope in time you’re all able to find that the Atlantis you love remains but is stronger for having endured necessary changes to adapt with the times.”
By the end, he was drained and mentally exhausted, ready to collapse into a seat with a cold beer to unwind from the day.
And still, they had much, much more to do, beginning with his visit to Demetrius’s office. No one could prohibit Thalia from spreading filth about them throughout the city, but they could certainly urge Demetrius to investigate the claims of her orchestrating the elvish smuggling ring and all of its goods entering Atlantis.
And they could definitely force an inquiry into the nature of her archaeological dig at the bottom of the Erebothian Trench. Loto already had plans to send a team of investigating Myrmidons.
“Split the work?” Kai asked. “If you handle Demetrius, I’ll contact King Andarien to ask what he knows of his own people smuggling contraband into Atlantis.”
And she’d simply have to hope the mighty king of the fae was as oblivious as she and not a participant in the black-market magic trade.
17
Unseen Ties
When the rulers of the other magical kingdoms promised to provide aid if asked, Kai never imagined she would need to ask for their help within months of the offer. She settled at the table in her palace bedroom where she was guaranteed absolute privacy and pricked her forefinger on the tip of a knife. Blood welled to the surface. Here, there were not even Royal Guards posted outside the bedroom, as no member of the palace staff was allowed inside save for Amerin and anyone personally vetted by her.
Months ago, Kai contacted Queen Laka using the summoning chamber connected across the magical world. With that polished wall of enchanted rock, she could call any ruler, for they had similar creations that, in emergencies, could be used to in a conference between each magical realm. Just prior to his departure from the island, however, the King of Alfheimr told her he preferred another method of communication.
The oval-framed mirror was a marvel of fae craftsmanship and one she had seen her mother
hang on the wall numerous times, without understanding the significance of it or why Queen Ianthe covered it with a silk cloth afterward. This was the direct line to His Majesty, a method that circumvented any members of the palace staff.
In hindsight, she realized it was ludicrous to feed her blood to a mysterious mirror of unknown magical power. On the other hand, the fae of Alfheimr were absolutely honorable folk, and she had to have some measure of trust in their allies. Manu didn’t believe the king knew of the smuggling. Neither did Cosmas.
Kai fed the mirror a drop of blood and her magic then exhaled over the surface. It fogged and turned milky as quartz, and the surface rippled when she spoke. “King Andarien.”
A nerve-racking five minutes passed while Kai wondered if she’d used the summoning mirror correctly. Andarien had assured her it was connected to his private chamber within the palace and guaranteed absolute privacy between them.
“Did I do it right?” Kai hesitated to touch the mirror again, suddenly reminded of Saruman’s magical seeing stone and the fate of the hobbit who dared to toy with an object beyond his understanding. At the time, she’d thought Pippin a fool. Now I’m the fool playing with magical artifacts.
Irritated with herself, she reached for the silk cloth nearby embroidered with magic-nullifying runes, only for the swirling mists within the mirror to dissipate and the clear scene of a breathtaking landscape in sunset hues to manifest above a forest of silver and pink leaves. A male figure appeared from the waist up, broad shoulders adorned in a sage green tunic and draped by red hair bright as embers.
“You did everything right, my friend. Apologies for the delay. Your call reached me from the garden,” he explained, flashing her a magnanimous smile, “and I was unable to immediately respond. How may I be of service to you today?”
An hour of rehearsing and note-taking proved useless. Thankfully, the king didn’t rush her. “I need…advice,” Kai finally blurted inelegantly, wondering if she’d spent all of her charisma on that morning’s crowd at the bouleuterion and saved none for now.
“Ask and you will receive,” the king replied, his regal features the very definition of compassion.
Something about him set her at ease and made Kai wonder how she’d ever considered that perhaps the king knew everything about the smuggling efforts and may have participated in them himself. “There is an issue involving Atlantis and Alfheimr. Smugglers at our border are bringing in prohibited goods, namely elvish fire-potion bombs. They’re not allowed here in Atlantis.”
“Fire-potion bombs?” A quizzical expression came over his face, wrinkling his nose. “Those have been outlawed in our lands for decades. They’re not permitted here either. Only magical water can quench them, you see—which you know of course, if you’ve witnessed the mischief caused by them.”
“I have.” Kai told him of the issue with the rioting Loyalists and the potions falling into their hands. By the time she finished describing the riots, the destruction, and her suspicions regarding Thalia, she wondered if she’d overstepped her boundaries by trusting an outsider.
My mother trusted him.
“I’m familiar with Lady Thalia, but only by reputation. My knowledge of Atlantis and your current events is, sadly, minimal due to our own ongoing conflicts. Please. Tell me more.”
Babbling through some portions of the story, she started from the beginning with what she’d learned about Amerin’s assault, Democrates claiming no Loyalist would harm a servant, and each new discovery related to key members of the nobility orchestrating chaos to suit their own agendas. For the most part, Andarien listened without interruption or judgment.
“One question,” he said when she reached the end of her tale.
“Yes?”
“Lady Thalia is a former Myrmidon, yes?”
“She is.”
“Good. Then my memory isn’t so poor as I thought. Perhaps it would help if you understood what she has to gain from your armies growing in power. Who remains connected to Lady Thalia? Who are her allies? Do your Myrmidons continue to hold her in high esteem? This may be a question best asked of your husband or general, considering their military experience.”
“She could have been general, though. The position was offered to her, but she chose to decline.”
“One does not need to operate in an official capacity to hold power, my friend. She merely needs to hold their respect. Respect and loyalty are far more valuable a currency than the power wielded by titles. More importantly, until you refused her, she thought you an ally she could control and bend to her will. You have proven this false with your recent actions. Now, let me ask one more question of you. What are your greatest ambitions?”
Kai blinked. “My ambitions? I don’t understand what that has to do with our smuggling problem.”
“It has little to do with your smuggling problem. Forgive my intrusion if my inquisitive nature offends you, but it seemed more weighs heavily on your mind than a few disloyal nobles fighting over the crumbs that fall from your plate.”
He wasn’t wrong there. They both knew it. Studying his earnest expression, again she felt that she could trust him.
“I feel as if I’ve been torn five different directions. Everyone wants something from me.”
“Indeed. It is an endless dance one balances in royal life, Kailani. Until the final hour of your rule, you will give to others while hoping to find moments for yourself. Trust me when I tell you to take whatever moments of peace you can claim whenever they arise.”
The tension binding her ribs eased. “I try. I don’t know how to begin.”
“It won’t be easy. I tell this to you, because your mother and father cannot. What I recall of them were two compassionate rulers who cared for their people, and loved you greatest of all.” Andarien reached beyond her frame of view. His hand returned with a ceramic cup he brought to his lips. “So, I will share with you the advice I would want someone to give my own son following his ascension to the throne, if I were gone.”
“Thank you.”
“You need not thank me for doing what is right. Now, you have outlined a number of issues and problems plaguing your kingdom that vary in severity, and you have identified some of your internal threats. From what I understand of your situation, you have done a splendid job thus far of restoring Atlantis, but what is your ultimate goal? What, if you could choose a single improvement to attach to your name in the history books, do you desire to be known for by the generations to come?”
The depth of the question required consideration. She stilled in her seat and let her gaze wander. Would she be satisfied with merely freeing the servants or abolishing the caste system altogether? A tiny voice told her none of that was sufficient and Atlantis deserved so much more from her legacy. “Everything. I want to tip Atlantis on its ass and make it everything it should be.”
He grinned. “I like your enthusiasm.”
“I wish my fellow mers felt the same way. I don’t know where to begin, Andarien. There are nobles declaring me an enemy of Atlantis. There’s no peace. We’re on the verge of civil war.”
“Change is never easy. When I was a new king, fresh to ruling Alfheimr, I made many mistakes of my own. I trusted the wrong people. I…distanced myself from those I later came to understand could be my allies. If I had it all to do again, and I could go back in time, I would—”
“Start over?”
The elvish king smiled, perfect teeth flashing in the mirror. “Would do nothing differently. It is our mistakes that mold us and teach us the way of becoming a true ruler. Carry on as you have, Kailani. I pledge one thousand of my fae to you. I can afford no more, as we face issues of our own now this realm. Our mortal enemy has come closer and closer to Alfheimr in the past years. They test us.”
“Andarien, you don’t have to share troops with us. Would… Can your people even survive in our domain?”
The king laughed this time, the rich and genuine sound of warm sunshine given sound. “Yes. I could no
t. Elves cannot, but there are fae among our people who could survive your ocean depths. They may not enjoy the cold, dark seabed, but we all must make sacrifices sometimes. Now, what else may I do for you before I dedicate the remainder of my day to looking into your smuggling matters?”
Of all the worries on her mind, only one other matter remained an uncertainty.
“Did my mother ever mention a surviving relative to you?”
“A relative?” His expression turned quizzical. “No. She often lamented being the only surviving child, and how she felt it was her duty to repopulate the Atlantian bloodlines. More than anything, your mother wanted to bear at least three more children, but time and fate were not kind to her.”
“I was over twenty when they died. Why did she wait so long?” Mortal women sometimes had a dozen kids in that kind of time span. Kai couldn’t imagine why her mother hadn’t done the same.
Andarien spread his hands. “I couldn’t say. We never spoke that deeply of it and I can only speculate. I do know that she desired more. But, if I were to guess, I would assume she waited for the reason all people of our long-lived span wait—time was on her side. I am three hundred and seventy-one, Kailani. I have only one child because my wife and I planned to have many more.”
Kai knew enough about the king not to ask why they didn’t. He ruled alone because orcs had killed his wife during the war, and he was the lone survivor of the attack.
Memories crept in again. A voice shouting in pain as arrows flew, and the great wings of moths blackening the sky. The ghostly images teased the edges of her memory
“Manu and I found an orphaned child by an underwater volcano several days ago. She’s healthy, but…she shares my bloodline.”
Andarien grimaced. “A threat to your bloodline? I…hesitate to suggest this possible explanation, but have you verified the child was not fathered by your other relative?”
Goddess of Sea and War: a Fantasy Romance (Kingdom in the Sea Book 3) Page 15