He didn’t understand. This woman was Storm’s mother. That was enough for me to treat her with utmost respect and show her every courtesy. From the way Storm had avoided talking about her back in Vaarda, there were some unfinished issues between them. And even if there weren’t any, I’d still take care of her as though she were my own mother because of him.
“Don’t make me into something I’m not, Nereus. On these islands, a girl has to do whatever it takes to survive.” Especially when the man who’d sworn to make me happy, sail the seas, and rock my world at ports could be dead. My throat closed, and I had to clear it before continuing. “I take care of her so Tully will leave me alone. Nothing selfless about that. And soon, I’ll find a way to escape this place. So, if your job is to stop me, you’d better be prepared to eat my dust.”
I expected them to chuckle, but they stared back with sober expressions.
“How does taking the queen mother with you fit into that picture you just painted?” Nereus asked.
How did he know? His boss, of course.
“Lord Conyngham should learn to keep his mouth shut.”
They laughed while I glared at them. I didn’t understand what was funny. What else had Lord Bigmouth told them? I wouldn’t put it past him to have told them Tully planned to turn me and make me his plaything. No wonder they kept bowing to me.
Face warm, I debated whether to kick them out of the queen mother’s room. Nereus stopped laughing when he saw my expression.
“I’m sorry, lass, but you have to know Lord Conyngham to fully understand how funny your comment was. He never says much, which is why he’s the prince’s confidant.”
Nereus frowned.
“When he asked for volunteers to watch over Storm’s lass and the queen mother, he didn’t explain why. We are here for you and for her. We knew her health had deteriorated, but we had no idea her accommodations in the tower were this dismal. The oracle’s rooms are nothing like this.” He waved a hand to indicate the room. “The west and south towers are part of the original castle, but she modernized hers and ignored this one. How could they allow that?”
They who? The mad king and Tully? The flash of anger in Nereus’s eyes seemed genuine. Anyone who’d find the tower room subpar was fine with me.
“Thank you for clarifying that.” I wasn’t hoping for a miracle, but I had to ask. “Does that mean you can help us escape?”
“No, lass.”
Damn. “Stop us when we leave?”
“I’d have to see your dust first.”
“Ha-ha, funny. That’s not a very helpful response, Nereus.”
“Sorry, lass, but the less I know about your plans the better. The oracle can get inside people’s heads, read their thoughts, manipulate them or worse. I don’t want her knowing everything I’ve done or plan to do.”
Was that a veiled hint that he would help me? I hoped so.
“So what do you want to know about Vaarda?”
“Everything,” they said in unison, eager expressions on their faces.
Some things like the entrance to the island and the security I did not dare share, but the rest, I embellished and created a paradise.
“Life on Vaarda is idyllic. The island is lush and beautiful. They work together, help and support each other. Sailors help with the ships. Those who don’t sail guard the island or choose a trade. The market is always busy with people trading goods. If you don’t have anything to trade, there’s work to do around the island, farms to tend, goods to make, and the young ones to teach. The unmarried stay in the Great Hall whether they sail or guard the island, but when they find a mate, the islanders build them a home so they can move out and start a family or just be alone. Elders make sure the widows and widowers, pregnant mothers and their children, and those whose mates are at sea are well taken care of. One elder goes on rounds every day. Sometimes twice a day to visit the grieving and the pregnant mothers.”
I studied the queen mother’s face. Her color was normal, and she still did not appear to be in distress.
“Do you know a female pirate with red hair?” Nereus asked.
“Oh, yes,” Banan cut in. “Red. I’d love to meet her.”
“Every port we’ve visited, they talked about Red.”
“Short red hair?” I asked.
“We’ve never seen her. We know her by reputation and that she sails with Storm.”
I grinned. “Nerissa. She is amazing. Moves like a dancer when she fights. The first time I saw her, I was in awe. She captains a ship now.”
“Women can be captains?” Gwyn asked.
I hadn’t realized she’d returned.
“They can be anything they want, Gwyn. They can sail the seas as shieldmaidens, become officers in each ship, and get their own ship.”
Gwyn sighed, longing on her face. I was sure it mirrored mine.
“I was hoping to join the shieldmaidens, but now…” My voice trailed off. “Anyway, the people are very happy.”
“And shifting?” Banan asked.
“They can shift whenever they like. They practice shifting every day.”
The questions kept coming until lunchtime. We fed Storm’s mother more charcoal suspension, but I was beginning to worry. What if she didn’t wake up? The light at the end of the tunnel was dimming and becoming replaced by Tully.
I wanted to ask Gwyn what happened to Tuh’rens when we changed, but part of me didn’t really want to know. I hoped to be gone before that happened. How? I didn’t know. I only knew I had to find a way.
After lunch, I waited for Gwyn to go downstairs to return the utensils and for the men to leave. Then I moved closer to the queen mother’s bed. I took her hand and gently patted it.
“I know you can hear me, Queen Mother. Prince Tullius plans to make me his mate by the end of the week after forcing me to turn. If he does, Storm is not going to let him live. I don’t want his death on my conscience, and you don’t want your sons killing each other. Please, wake up so you and I can leave. Oh, I almost forgot to add. Storm’s never forgotten about you all these years. He still has your porcelain candelabra.”
Gwyn gasped, and I glanced over my shoulder. She was fighting tears. Man, she was light-footed.
“You know about the candelabra?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I was told that it belonged to his mother. He keeps it in his chambers.”
“It was a gift from King Orath himself,” Gwyn whispered.
“Which one is King Orath?”
“Storm and Prince Tully’s father. He gave it to her when she claimed him as a mate. She didn’t know he was a prince at the time. He never used the royal carriage or dressed like a prince. He’d dress like a merchant and traveled with one companion, so we thought he was a merchant who’d taken a shining to her. Every time he’d stop by our village, he’d bring her something. At first it was every few months. She was only seventeen at the time. Then his visits became more frequent, and each time, he’d bring her something special. Jewelry, shoes, fine fabrics. Her favorites were the porcelain figurines, but the candelabra was her mating gift.”
“They mated the old way?”
Gwyn glanced at the door before saying, “Oh, yes. He knew she was his true mate the first moment he laid his eyes on her, and courted her until she was ready to claim him. Then he gave her his bridle.” Her eyes grew shiny. “It was a beautiful ceremony.”
She wiped a stray tear.
“The king forced her to give up the bridle.”
Like father, like son, except for the part where Storm had kidnapped me. As for King Tullius, he deserved to suffer for the rest of his life.
“He continued with his travels, but he built her a beautiful house. After the twins were born, he spent more time with her and the boys. Then one day, he left for one of his trips and never returned.”
Gwyn shook her head and went quiet.
“What happened?”
“His father, King Tullius, had sent him to Thule on busi
ness. While there, he learned he’d been betrothed to the Princess of Thule. A princess renowned for her exceptional beauty, and her father’s only child. Prince Orath had never even met her until that trip, but their parents had signed a contract of marriage when they were babies.” Once again, Gwyn glanced toward the door. This time, sounds reached me. “Take a break, lass. Stretch your legs in the battlement and enjoy the view of the city. If there’s a change, I’ll send for you.”
I didn’t want to leave. “I want to hear the rest of the story.”
“You will later.”
I had kinks on my shoulders and back, and needed to stretch, but I had to know one last thing. “But he came back to be with Storm’s mother, right?”
“He tried. Now go.”
Tried? That wasn’t good enough. Storm had better more than try.
“Okay but just for a few minutes,” I said, getting up. “Promise to call me if there’s any change in her color or breathing, or if she moves.”
She nodded.
“And I want to hear more of their story.”
She chuckled. “You will. Shoo. Go.”
Nereus and Banan were on the steps by the gate when I left the room. They got to their feet.
“Gwyn suggested I stretch my legs in the battlement. I’m not sure where that is.”
“I’ll show you.” Nereus slapped Banan on the back. “Call me if we have unexpected visitors, lad.”
“Why can’t I show her the battlement?” Fen asked.
“Because you’ve fallen under her spell, and you need to snap out of it. She’s spoken for.”
God, I hoped he didn’t mean by Tully. Banan flushed and shot me a sheepish glance.
“Don’t tell him any stories without me, muh’Lexi,” Banan begged, and tears rushed to my eyes.
Muh’Lexi. Storm had called me that. I wanted to tell Banan not to use it, but I didn’t think I could speak without giving myself away. I followed Nereus to the hidden stairs.
CHAPTER 6
The stairs led to the top of the tower. It didn’t have a roof like the towers back at home in Vaarda. That was how I considered Vaarda now. My home. It was where Storm was. I hope. Damn, I had to believe he’d made it back to the island and was amassing an army to come to my rescue. He was supposed to make me fall in love with him. Instead, I was on this pile of rocks, second-guessing his actions.
Pushing thoughts of my rescue aside, I studied the battlement. I’d seen enough medieval movies to know people had thrown all sorts of things at their enemies from places like this. I peered at the tiny openings on the wall.
“Those are arrow slits,” Nereus explained, coming to stand beside me.
“For shooting at what?”
“Enemies of the royal family, but that was a long time ago.”
I studied the palace from the top. It was H-shaped with two front towers with domes, and two in the back with battlements. There were doors at the bases of the towers, where they met the main roof of the palace.
“The towers are not guarded?” I asked.
“Not anymore,” Nereus said.
If I made my way to the roof, I wouldn’t know where to go. Maybe if I had a rope, I’d loop it around one of the Kelpie or Selkies statues standing guard around the edge of the roof like saints and climb down.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing at the metal structure in the middle of the roof.
“Water tanks for the palace. It’s pumped from the mountains, through the valley, and up the hill to the palace.”
The palace was built on the highest point of a small mountain with the city spread out in every direction. The valleys and mountains bordered the city on one side and the ocean on the other. The wall surrounding the palace continued in the back, past gorgeous water fountains with statues, manicured gardens, and a forest. If I headed that way and disappeared in the forest until Storm came for me, could I survive?
“How far does the wall go?” I asked. “I mean, is the forest part of the palace grounds?”
Nereus chuckled, and I glanced at him. I caught him studying me with a tiny smile.
“What?” I asked.
“The second you got to the roof, you started looking for an escape route.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Not really. But you’d have to make it downstairs, past the guards in the main hall and the ones by the gates.”
“Are you trying to discourage me? Because if that’s the case, then you should go back downstairs and leave me alone,” I said, not masking my annoyance.
“No need to be prickly, lass.” He bent down and picked up a stick from the ground. “If I leave, how else can I show you my beautiful city and explain how things work. The only way out of the palace grounds is through the gates, which are always guarded. You may not see the Royal Guards, but they patrol the wall from here to the valley where the palace forest ends.”
I wish I understood him. He either wanted to help me, or he didn’t. Instead of getting angry, I moved to the other end of the battlement and studied the front part of the palace.
“How often do the guards change shifts?” I asked.
“Four times, every six hours,” he said. “Six, noon, six, and midnight. The best way to walk past them is when they are changing shifts. You see those buildings at the back of the palace and along the wall?”
The buildings were lined outside the wall, and the one inside the palace was at the edge of the gardens and surrounded by a hedge.
“Yes,” I said.
“Those are the quarters of the royal guards, part of the Royal Army. A long time ago, they did more than guard the palace and the royal family. They stood on this very building and used arrows to stop the people from protesting.”
“That’s horrible.”
“That was life, but it’s in the past.”
The city looked huge, hulking mountains and hills with farmlands on one side and the ocean on the other. Ships lined the docks.
“Whose ships are those?”
“The ones to the north are for the Royal Army. They defend the island and our waters. There’s another port in the western part of the kingdom, where they train, but they keep most of their ships here. Next to them, right by the marketplace, are merchant ships owned by the royal family.” He pointed at the ships farther south. “Those are private ships, like Lord Conyngham’s. I’m an officer on one of his.” He picked up another stick from the ground.
“What position are you?”
Please, say captain… Please, say captain…
“Bos’n Nereus at your service, lass.” He bowed.
Swallowing my disappointment, I curtseyed. Well, bobbed. “So, Bos’n Nereus, why aren’t you at sea?”
“We were on the ship that brought you to the island. We’d been at sea for three weeks, hauling goods to and from Atlantis. Lord Conyngham insists we allow our legs to get used to the land before we take off again.” He frowned then threw me a sheepish glance. “I wish we’d made it to Captain Ren’s ship before…” He rubbed his nape. “Before everything happened.”
“Would you have fought Captain Ren?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation, and I found myself trusting him a little more.
“Wouldn’t that be considered treason?”
“Yes, but you have to pick a side sometimes.” He picked up more of the sticks.
This time, I noticed the sharp tips and the feathered ends.
“Are those arrows?”
“Yes. I told you the Royal Guards used them to defend the palace from up here when disenchanted islanders took to the streets and demanded reforms. What I didn’t add was we learned from them. We got better bows and arrows, drove the guards from the roof and battlements, and forced them to fight us on the grounds. That was then.” He shook his head. “Now, our people are so beaten down they respond to bells and horns like cattle.”
“Does Lord Conyngham know how you feel?”
“Sure. He’d have to be blind and deaf not to know
how we, his crew, feels. We don’t hide it.”
“Yet he does nothing. Nice. What a douche,” I said under my breath and flushed when Nereus chuckled.
“No, he’s not. He is a fair man, one of the few noblemen I’d call that. That’s why we are loyal to him.”
“And the royal family? Are you loyal to them, too?”
He grimaced. “The queen mother, yes. I remember how kind and caring she used to be before she became ill. She’d often visit the marketplace to talk to the people, distribute food to the sick and needy, and even stop by the Transition Headquarters.”
“Transition Headquarters?”
“The place where Tuh’rens are turned. She always had a kind word for everyone.” Nereus stopped and frowned. “But even when she’d smile, her eyes always seemed sad. I was a child at the time, but I remember asking my mother why the queen mother was sad, and she’d say I was imagining things. It was only years later, when Tully was announced as the heir to the throne, that rumors of another son started. One she was forced to leave behind when she came to Port Hy’Brasil. I’ll never forget the look on her face when Storm won the Centennial Games. No one knew who he was until he was crowned the champion and she presented him with a royal gift as was customary. Instead of the traditional golden candelabra, she gave him one made of the finest porcelain. It was the happiest I’d ever seen her even though she was crying. Of course, we didn’t know he’d be hanged the very next day. Oh lass, I’m sorry I made you cry.”
I didn’t realize I was crying. Forced to leave behind. By whom? The mad king, of course. I wiped the tears away, pissed on his behalf. I wasn’t sure how I’d contain myself when I met the mad king. I’d probably spit in his face.
“Where was his father?” I asked.
“Prince Orath died in a boating accident after the coronation. He returned from Thule, where he’d broken the engagement to their princess, and King Tullius had him crowned as the king. Some said he renounced his throne and was headed east to live in one of the royal country estates when something happened to his ship. While others believe he’d told his father about his mate and was going to bring her back to the palace to be his queen. He and his crew didn’t make it. The ship disappeared. The king said he was attacked by Dragons from Atlantis. We weren’t even warring with Atlantis at the time, just regular tension over boundaries, but that was the beginning of a war that lasted decades.” He frowned. “A few months after the incident, King Tullius introduced the queen mother and Prince Tully to the kingdom. One of the visiting monarchs at the time came from Thule. When it was time for them to go home, the king asked the princess to stay and teach the young prince and his mother the ways of the court. She never left.”
Storm Unleashed: Phantom Islanders Part III Page 8