Chapter 4: Shrouded in Shadow
“Most days I hate this job with a passion,” Bain admitted as he maneuvered the crane in the moonlight, “but I have to admit that when we’re above water like this and we can see the progress of the bridge stretching for miles…”
“Involuntary sense of accomplishment?” Aazuria asked as she signed papers in the seat beside him, shining a flashlight down so she could see the figures.
“Completely involuntary,” Bain agreed. “Is that the last load?”
“For today at least,” she said.
“Thank Sedna below.” The large man reached forward to switch the engine off, and sighed as he stretched back in his chair. “So have you given the coffee thing any thought?”
“Um,” she said, fumbling with her papers, “I don’t get thirsty very often.”
“Well, you can tell me when you are thirsty,” he said with a grin.
“I can’t, Bain. Please stop that. I have this horrible history that you don’t even understand…” She trailed off, touching the fake brown hair on her head in frustration. “Never mind. I just need to get home to my daughter.” Aazuria opened her door and began to climb out of the vehicle when Bain yelled at her.
“Wait, Undina!” he shouted, quickly popping out of his own door and climbing across the top of the cabin to Aazuria’s side. He opened the door the rest of the way and extended his hand to help her down from the machine.
She tentatively accepted his offered hand, while clearing her throat awkwardly. “This is an industrial construction crane,” Aazuria reminded him, “hardly the time or place for chivalry.”
“I was born and raised in Old Adlivun where there was always time for chivalry.”
This sentence brought a curve to Aazuria’s lips, and she could not help but glance over at Bain’s features in the moonlight as they walked down the center of the bridge back to the camp. “Everything has changed so much,” she said softly. “It’s so confusing. Now there’s the Diomede city, New and Old Adlivun, Lower and Upper Adlivun… we used to be just one unified nation.”
“That’s right, you’ve been abroad for a while?” Bain asked. “Let me clear it up for you. Basically, Upper Adlivun refers to the posh aboveground palace where Elandria and her entourage live, while Lower Adlivun is the submerged bits for the lower class. Those floating flea-hotels we stay in? Those are lower than low—let’s call those the slums of Adlivun. Now, obviously, New Adlivun refers to any post-bridge period, while Old Adlivun refers to the pre-bridge era; the golden period when Queen Aazuria was still with us. The poor lass would have done so much for our country, Sedna keep her soul. She wouldn’t have let this happen.”
“What makes you think that she could have prevented this?” Aazuria asked, frowning. She was growing exhausted with the extreme level of sainthood to which her people had elevated her memory in her absence. It seemed that the best thing she had ever done for her public reputation was to die.
“If you have to ask, then you didn’t know much about the woman,” Bain told her. “She got things done. She placed our interests above her own. She was a true leader.”
Aazuria’s skeptical expression diminished under this praise. She felt the warmth of a blush saturate her cheeks as they approached the main camp, and was thankful for the cover of the long, dark Alaskan night. Soon, a dismal sight greeted them. Any pleasant feelings instantly vanished and transformed into defensiveness when Aazuria saw the American soldiers waiting near the group of Adluvian workers, each of them equipped with a rifle.
“You two!” a soldier shouted. “Get back to work. You are required to pull another shift. We’re behind schedule.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Bain cursed, pulling off his hard hat and throwing it down onto the fresh asphalt angrily. “We have already worked double shifts! This lady and I both have young children who are waiting for us back on the ship…”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” the soldier said, lifting his gun and pointing it at Bain. “Get back to the crane.”
Aazuria’s lips parted slightly in surprise, her heartbeat quickening. She stared at the tired, defeated faces of the men and women behind the soldiers, and she felt her stomach clench. This is not my Adlivun, said a voice in the back of her mind. You cannot shroud yourself in the shadows anymore and allow this to continue…
“This is a treaty violation,” Bain declared. “This is illegal and you need to stop. I want my lawyer!”
“His lawyer,” one of the soldiers chortled to his comrade. “Do you hear that? He wants his lawyer.”
“These fucking mermaids!” said the soldier holding the gun. He gave the machine a vicious shake in his grip. “You are freaks of nature, so stop trying to act like human beings. You aren’t even Christian!”
Every muscle in Aazuria’s body tensed and she reached out to put a hand on Bain’s chest, drawing him back, away from the soldiers. She recognized this as the most dangerous sentence that had been uttered so far—a statement of personal alienation and hostility. That treaty wasn’t signed by the rightful leader of Adlivun, Aazuria’s mind reminded her. The documents could be null and void if you reveal yourself. You could cause this bridge to crumble with a few strategically placed words.
“You ungrateful fool!” the soldier screamed. “We are protecting you from your enemies! ‘Cause you male-mermaids are too pussy to do it for yourselves! A fair exchange of construction labor for military personnel—that was the bargain struck between our nations. You should honor your side of the deal!”
“I have honored my side of the deal!” Bain said, walking forward and rolling up his sleeves. “I didn’t realize that being abused and threatened was the price for living!”
“Bain,” Aazuria said in warning, trying to restrain the large man unsuccessfully. She felt her blood pumping wildly as she saw her friend walk fearlessly toward the gun that was pointed at him. Her head spun in a moment of helplessness. No! her mind screamed. That was the old Aazuria. That was the spoiled princess who needed Visola to be three inches away from her at all times just so she could stay alive. You’re a new person. You’re a warrior, and a mother. You will not let harm come to this man!
“I can’t work 24 hours straight!” Bain bellowed. “Just because I can breathe water doesn’t mean I am some kind of supernatural being—I’m human. I need to sleep. I need to eat, and relax, and spend time with my family! I need to get rid of these giant bags under my eyes so I can convince this beautiful girl to have coffee with me!”
Aazuria winced when all of the soldiers turned to look at her. “I prefer tea,” she said awkwardly.
This drew a few chuckles from some of the soldiers on the bridge. “He’s right, man. Look at those bags under his eyes—no woman in her right mind would go near a brother looking like that. Let’s give these folks a break.”
“Why the fuck should I care about their personal lives?” the solder with the gun said angrily. “We have our orders and we need to implement them! This one man is not a special case—I’m not going to make an exception because he has bags under his eyes.”
“You’re going to listen to me,” Bain said, still moving forward toward the gun, “or you’ll regret it.”
“Are you threatening me? This is bigger than both of us, sea-breather! This is a multinational initiative to build a bridge between Alaska and Russia, costing billions of dollars. All the other little mermaids are keeping their mouths shut and doing as they’re told. Thousands of your countrymen are being instructed to keep working, and they’re not complaining.”
“That’s because you have guns pointed at their heads,” Aazuria said softly, apprehensive about the consequences of Bain’s show of aggression. “Maybe if you stopped terrorizing the Adluvians they would be more cooperative and productive.”
“Do you see this?” a soldier said with a smirk. “Bitch is telling me how to do my job. Get your little tail back to work before I shoot your boyfriend!”
Aazuria
stepped forward, placing her body in front of Bain protectively. She placed her arms out to either side, in a gesture of strength that was unmistakable to anyone who witnessed it. She raised her voice so that all the civilians on the bridge could hear her words. “We all have given what was required of us, and still you demand more! This is an explicit violation of our rights, and enough is enough! Do you hear me? This ends today! Adlivun will take no more!”
“What are you doing?” Bain whispered nervously, touching her shoulder. “This is hardly the time or place to start a revolution.”
“I was born and raised to rule Old Adlivun,” she whispered to him. “I have started a revolution before, and this looks like a good time to start another.”
Bain was rendered speechless by her words, and he removed his hand from her shoulder as though he had been burned. “Are you… but it’s impossible…”
The citizens on the bridge were all chattering amongst each other in excitement, and pushing against the soldiers in the fashion of an angry mob. Aazuria could feel the energy of a horde waiting to march to freedom and seeking a reason; a stampede was bursting at the seams like a mug that had been filled to the brim, and only one more drop was needed to cause the liquid to overflow.
“From this day onward we will not touch your bridge unless we have fair working conditions!” Aazuria declared. “Every treaty violation will be punished by law! Adlivun’s law. These are not international waters—this is territory belonging to the sovereign Kingdom of Adlivun! We are free citizens of this great submarine nation and we have civil rights! You will not come into our home, take us from our houses, and disrespect our existence!”
A roar went up from the other civilians on the bridge, and they began to slam their construction equipment into the ground, beating their hard hats against shovels and flashlights, anything to create a ruckus to support Aazuria’s words. They began to move forward, pushing the soldiers forward and throwing the nearest oppressors to the ground.
“Quiet! Order, order!” shouted the soldiers, brandishing their rifles in the air. Many of them fired warning shots into the starry night sky, but the sea-people did not care as they fed off each other’s energy like any exploited people thirsting for vengeance. They pushed the soldiers to the ground and trampled over them in rage, rushing forward to reclaim their dignity, like any denigrated mob in history.
“Are you real?” Bain asked softly from behind her, his voice very close to her ear. “No real woman could manage to do what you just did—and you used only your words. Tell me you’re real, because I won’t be able to bear it if you’re some kind of ghostly apparition.”
In response, Aazuria reached up and pulled her wig from her head, allowing her white hair to cascade down her shoulders. “You know who I am,” she told Bain quietly. Then, feeling infected by the thundering of the crowd before her, she raised her voice and shouted it again. “You know who I am!”
“The Sapphire!” bawled a woman on the bridge, falling to her knees. “It’s her! She has sapphire eyes! The prophesized savior!”
“Sapphyra!” echoed dozens of people. “The Sapphire has risen!”
Aazuria wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Um.” She turned to Bain to ask him to sort out the mayhem of words and screams. “What’s going on? Don’t they recognize me?” she asked him.
He moved his head from side to side, indicating both the positive and negative answer. “My queen, you have started more than a few fires in some dusty hearts tonight. They recognize you—but you have been gone for nearly ten years. They think that you have risen from the dead.”
“Oh.” Aazuria was stricken. “I must not look my best today.”
Bain chuckled. “You look like the very Daughter of Sedna—a true goddess of the sea. You came out of nowhere, showing yourself at this moment. Are you sure you’re real?” he asked again.
“What? I’ve been working with you for weeks,” she hissed, beginning to grow uncomfortable with the people kneeling around her and chanting. “I just took a wig off my head—I didn’t ascend out of the water in a glowing bubble.”
“I know, it’s just… you might as well have.” Bain cleared his throat nervously. “For the record, I said all those nice things about the queen before I knew who you were—and I would still happily beat down your husband and take you out for coffee… or tea!”
She smiled. “Keep trying. It’s getting harder to refuse.”
“Good! You know, you should use this sapphire thing to your advantage,” Bain advised in a whisper. “That’s what Visola would do. Oh, Sedna! The general’s going to flip…”
A scream drew both of their attention and they noticed one of the soldiers fighting his way toward them. Aazuria frowned, not having realized that any of the foreigners were still standing. She began to move toward the instigator, weaving through the crowd with Bain close behind her.
“You sea-monkey piece of shit!” he screamed at Aazuria as he pushed bystanders violently out of the way to get to her.
“Stop this,” she commanded, “by order of—”
She was rudely interrupted by a loud sound echoing into the dark night, and a brutal impact that ripped the wind from her lungs. The American soldier had fired his rifle and shot Aazuria in the chest.
Chapter 5: Kiss of Loyalty
Aazuria felt the blinding impact of bullets hitting her chest before she stumbled backwards, feeling Bain’s hands grip her arms. She stared down in shock, seeing the damage to the front of her shirt where the shells had ripped through the fabric. Her fingers lifted shakily to trace these holes as she blinked away her blurred vision.
“Varia,” she whispered blankly, realizing the reason she could not die.
She became aware that Bain was shaking her shoulders and yelling her name. Her real name. It snapped her out of her stupor, and she blinked away the pain, taking a huge gasp of air. “It’s fine,” she told him hoarsely, turning around. “I’m wearing a Kevlar vest under my blouse. Just… ouch.”
“Thank Sedna,” he breathed. He looked for the offender and saw that the mob of Adluvians were already restraining the rogue gunman who had fired the shots. He squeezed Aazuria’s arms reassuringly, helping her to regain her steadiness after the bullets had swayed her. He gazed down at her face in awe. “You’re really here. Everything is going to be better now.”
“Bain,” Aazuria said earnestly, “I will try to be all that you think I am.”
The warrior dropped hastily to one knee, bowing deeply before her as he saluted across his chest. He held the posture for a moment before reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips. “My queen. You are all that we need and more.”
Aazuria felt warmth spread through her hand at the kiss of loyalty.
Another deafening explosion sounded in the night, and Aazuria flinched, fearing that she had been shot again. Her head pivoted to find the source of the gunshot, and she saw that there was one American soldier who had not been quelled by the mob, standing a short distance away from the crowd. Adluvians rushed to seize the man, and Aazuria stared without comprehending. The soldier was smiling in victory, but she did not feel any pain. All she felt was moisture on the back of her hand where Bain had kissed her. No. She slowly turned back to the man bowing before her.
Sure enough, there was a splatter of blood on the top of her hand near to her knuckles. The dark red droplets contrasted sharply against her pale skin in the moonlight. No… She saw the trail of blood droplets trace up her own arm, but she felt no pain. She looked down at the warrior kneeling before her fearfully. “Bain?” she whispered. It was a second before his amber eyes lifted to look at her, and she saw that he had been shot in the side of the head.
“No!” she cried out, falling to her own knees before him. He slumped forward against her, his wounded head sagging against her knees. Aazuria sobbed, raising a hand to her lips and staring in shock for a moment before reaching down to cradle the man’s face in her hands. “I’ll get a medic. Hang on! We need a medic—
”
“Take care of my boy,” he gasped, reaching for her fingers. He squeezed her small hand in his large one as he lay in her lap. “Watch over Glais.”
She nodded, noticing the blood pooling in the man’s eyes. Soft sobs shook her chest as she used her free hand to trace the triple-moon tattoo on his neck. “Sorry we didn’t get to do coffee,” she whispered.
“No problem,” he said hoarsely. “I think I have a date with my wife in a few seconds anyway—in the sea of tranquility.”
“She’s a lucky lady,” Aazuria said with a tearful smile. When the man became still under her hands, she clamped her eyelids together tightly. Tears still squeezed their way through the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks in the silence. She was not sure for how many minutes she sat there, with Bain’s bleeding head in her lap. When she finally opened her eyes, she saw that the citizens of Adlivun were on their knees around her, bowing to show her their respect.
Hundreds of people on the bridge around her were tired and overworked, but with spirits renewed by her words, which had been a catalyst to their pain; she had unleashed an impromptu event, an avalanche which was sure to spur more events and nationwide change. But none of that seemed to matter to her now that she had lost the only person she had become comfortable talking to since she had returned home. His still-warm skin under her hands was breaking her heart, and she knew that if she allowed it to be, her heart could remain broken over this moment for eons.
Shifting Bain’s heavy body gently from her knees, Aazuria slowly used the muscles in her legs to lift her to her feet. I am not the weak girl I used to be, she told herself as she looked around at her people. She gestured down to Bain and spoke with anguish in her voice.
“A good man has died on this bridge today. He died for no reason except that he stood up for himself, and for all of us,” Aazuria said. She did not have to project her voice much to be heard in the deathly silence of the midnight after the riot. She flung her hand forward, gesturing toward the man who had shot Bain. “If these are the people who are supposed to protect us from the Clan of Zalcan, then who will protect us from them? Tell me, if this man was killed without any war, how is this situation better than war?”
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