by Apryl Baker
But it wasn’t only she who would suffer if she didn’t. Everyone in DeCadia would suffer. Not that she gave two cents about most of them, but her crew’s families were there. How would she look her friends in the eye and tell them she could have saved their families, but she refused because of her own selfish needs?
“Hello.”
Val started and looked up to see a young woman smiling at her. Her back was to the sun, and it caused a sort of halo effect all around her. She looked like she was bathed in some sort of glow. Her long golden hair was done up in intricate braids, and her dress was a simple white one. Her feet were adorned in sandals, the style as simple as the dress. The effect made Valeria think the woman appeared more regal than a peasant, even though she was dressed as one.
When she didn’t say anything, the woman tried again. “I’m Arulian. What’s your name?”
Valeria wasn’t sure how to respond to this woman. She wasn’t threatening and seemed genuinely friendly, but she had no idea if she was a friend or a foe. Talen hadn’t come running either. Perhaps he knew her?
“Valeria.” The Atlantians did not know her true name, only that she was Emerald. Giving this woman her name would cause no harm. However, refusing to speak would set off alarm bells. Best to play it straight.
“It is good to meet you, Valeria.” Her smile dimpled. “You remind me of someone. Someone I lost long ago.”
“I’m sorry if it brings you any pain.” The desire to spare her grief beat at Valeria in a way nothing ever had before. Who was this woman?
“No, child, it brings me great joy to have you here among us.”
Valeria’s eyes narrowed. She got the feeling the woman knew exactly who she was. Her stance remained friendly, and she hadn’t started shouting for any nearby guards.
“I had hoped you’d find your way out alone.”
Hair prickled on the back of Valeria’s neck. She stood and assumed a fighting stance as she prepared to defend herself. This woman definitely knew who she was. She just didn’t know how.
“Do not be alarmed, Valeria Dendali. I mean you no harm. I am here to help.”
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled once again. “I am Arulian, as I told you.”
“How do you know who I am?” She pulled her sword, ready to thrust it into the girl at a moment’s notice. Where was Talen? Had she hurt him?
“I know every person in Atlantis. It is my job to know who you are.”
Was she a spy for Kronos?
“But, specifically, I was designed to recognize the Dendali family.”
“Designed?” What was she talking about?
“I was created by the Dendalis. I have guided them for centuries, and now that you and your grandfather have returned to your home, it is my job to guide you.”
“Then why didn’t you seek out Tobias, and what do you mean, you were created?”
“Tobias is not the true ruler of Atlantis. He betrayed his bloodline, and his blood can no longer call to the true Atlantis that remains hidden from all. Only a Dendali who is pure of heart and pure of purpose can access the hidden city.”
“The hidden city?” Valeria edged away from the woman, trying to scan for Talen while keeping one eye trained on the stranger.
“Atlantis is three times the size of what you see now. In the beginning, the city thrived. Then we were struck with a plague that not even our best healers could cure. Part of the city was closed off until the disease burned itself out, but it lay forgotten after a while. What people fear, they forget. When your great uncle was slain, the second part of the city sealed itself off. There may still be survivors there. I am not sure. No one can access it except a Dendali whose purpose is pure. The city will open for you and give you access to everything.”
“You’re not making sense.”
“I know it must be overwhelming. Kronos has tried for years to unlock the city that most have forgotten. There are secrets there, weapons that can help you, but more than anything else, there is an army waiting for you. An army that will help you take the city, but to command them, you have to be pure of purpose. Are you, Valeria Dendali?”
“Am I what?”
“Pure of purpose.”
“What purpose are you talking about?”
“Only you can answer that.”
Valeria wanted to throw her sword at the woman. What was it with Atlantians and their riddles? Could they never just come out and say what they meant?
“My time is running out. I can only manage a few minutes a day now. Go, speak with your grandfather about the hidden Atlantis, and he will tell you I speak the truth. Come back here tomorrow, and I will show you part of the city that hasn’t been seen in more than a thousand years. To see it, you must be pure of heart.”
The woman faded, like a memory that dissolved into nothingness.
She blinked and saw Talen sitting a few hundred feet away, his eyes watching the ocean, filled with a desire that beat a staccato into Valeria’s heart. He was dreaming of something that meant a great deal to him, just as she’d longed for her ship.
He should have seen the woman who’d been here only a moment before, yet he hadn’t.
Talen’s questionable lookout talents aside, Tobias had some questions to answer.
Chapter Seventeen
Tobias sat with the others during their mid-day meal. The changeling, Stephen, Ryder, Lukas, and Ileana were all there, along with an assortment of pirates and thieves.
Ileana’s hideout was far from extravagant, but she had saved a large room with a few tables and benches to serve as the mess hall for those participating in Val’s insurrection.
Tobias sat at the end of a bench next to Stephen and across from a pair of Ileana’s thieves. The table was lively with laughter and playful jabs. Tobias remained quiet as he spooned in ladle after ladle of the thick stew. It wasn’t the best meal he ever had, but neither was it the worst.
Spices tried to hide the poor quality of the meat. The vegetables were fresh, if sparse, in the dish. Baskets of dark bread sat on the table, along with pitchers of water and mead.
“Do you smell that?” Ryder pinched her nose at the opposite end of the table. She got up in a hurry, shaking her head from side to side. “That is foul. Whoever did that needs to be checked by a doctor.”
At the same time Ryder stood, the changeling began coughing into his stew. He had taken on the appearance of a wealthy young man, with black hair and a pointed nose.
“And you call me a monster?” The changeling began dry heaving into his bowl. He looked over at Stephen with blame in his eyes. “You did it, didn’t you?”
“No.” Stephan denied the allegations. “I don’t smell anything yet. It’s someone on your end of the table.”
Tobias gathered his courage and forced himself to breathe. Past the smell of the fresh stew and bread, he didn’t notice anything.
“It’s me.” Ya-You, the shaman sitting at the opposite end of the table, stood with a large smile on his face as if proud to reveal the true culprit behind the odor. “Strong gut make for strong smells.”
The table erupted in more coughs and gags with a fair share of laughter mixed in. Tobias even found himself smiling. Like it or not, these misfits of monsters, Dragons, and warriors were bonding like any family should. It was inevitable. Anyone who spent a large amount of time together and experienced struggle as one would bond to one another. Tobias had seen it happen on ships, in kingdoms, and now in the midst of a revolution.
“You feeling all right, Tobias?” Stephen looked over at the sorcerer with laughter still in his eyes. “Did Ya-You’s rectum stun you?”
“I’m fine.” Tobias caught the very faint stench of something like a skunk who had not washed in a month then went rolling in rotten eggs. “I think I’m just tired. I’m going to lay down for a moment.”
Stephen nodded, already turning to join the others ribbing the medicine man for his foul-smelling gas.
Tobias walked out of th
e makeshift dining room, choosing a path that would take him around Ya-You and through the exit. Tobias tried ignoring the laughter and moment of joy behind him as he traveled down the hall to his room. The sad truth was that half, maybe even more than half, of those in the room wouldn’t live past the next few weeks.
Tobias had seen a regime change before. He had a front row seat to what it meant to seize power from one dictator and give it to another. Valeria was nothing like Kronos. Still, lives would be lost in her rise to power, like it or not. It was inevitable.
Upon reaching his room, Tobias closed the door behind him and lay on his tiny bed. The room was small, with nothing special about it, but it was clean. He was almost never in his own chambers, anyway, except for when his head hit the pillow as it did now.
Tobias closed his eyes, allowing his mental guards to lapse the slightest bit as he made the transition from wakefulness to slumber. In those moments, she came to him.
He understood he was in a dream, but there was nothing he could do to wake himself up if he wanted to. He stood on a grassy cliff overlooking the vast ocean that extended out as far as the eye could see. The sun was high overhead, beating down rays of heat on his head.
He heard her coming before he saw her. The soft crunch of grass blades bending under her feet was barely audible above the waves below.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to come,” Tobias said without looking behind him. “Working for Kronos now, are we? That’s beneath you. You used to be such a—”
“Please.” Hera sidled up next to Tobias. He could just make her out in his peripheral vision. “You talk as if you know me so well. But you abandoned me before you could ever truly know me.”
“I left you because of your obsession with dark magic.” Tobias finally turned to face her. She had aged, but the years had been kind to her. Her raven hair contrasted with her pale skin just like he remembered. “You didn’t come to talk about the past though. What is it that you want?”
Hera’s dark eyes shone with a mild level of seduction, but what really lived there was danger. Tobias had seen that same look when a snake stalked its prey. The wide eyes just before it struck.
“Why, Tobias, so straight to the point? I thought you’d at least want to butter me up a bit.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“Because I’m in a position to help your granddaughter claim the throne, of course.”
“How?”
And just like that, Tobias knew he had fallen into her trap. She had manipulated the conversation already. She had him asking her questions, already intrigued and wanting to know more. The serpent that Hera was readied herself for the strike.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m Kronos’s left hand. His right hand is that moron of a general, but he’s nothing in the grand scheme of things.” Hera shrugged and began to move around Tobias slowly. “Who else is in a better position to feed you information?”
“What’s in it for you?” Tobias refused to fall completely into her trap. Instead of turning to see her as she circled him, he remained still. “You’re going to do this out of the kindness of your heart?”
“I don’t have a heart anymore, thanks to you.” Hera laughed out loud, but the sound was void of any true joy. “I want money and power, of course. I want to be rewarded for my work like anyone would.”
“And?” Tobias waited for Hera to come full circle back into his line of sight before asking his next question. “In what form do you want this power and money?”
“Oh, you do know how to treat a girl.” Hera winked at him. “Let’s see. Anything I want, right?”
Hera tapped a long fingernail on her chin as she pretended to think on Tobias’s question.
“I’ll take enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, a large estate in the city, and…you.”
“I thought you might say that.” Tobias looked her up and down. “I might even give your offer a second thought if you could be trusted.”
“And therein lies our little dilemma we’ve had since the very beginning of this twisted tale. Trust.” Hera grinned at Tobias, clearly enjoying their conversation. “There was a time I put my trust in you, and you broke it. Now there has come a time where you need to place your trust in me. Scary, isn’t it?”
“I’m not that desperate.” Tobias shook his head, noticing the bright colors of the grass and ocean beginning to fade, signaling an end to his dream state. “I don’t need your help.”
“No, you’re not…not yet.” Hera stretched up on her tiptoes and placed her lips so close to his ear, Tobias could feel her hot breath on his skin. “But there is a day coming soon when you will beg for my help. I promise you that, Tobias Dendali. You will beg.”
***
Lukas sat back and pretended to watch the antics of the group as they consumed dinner, but his focus was on his captain. She looked deep in thought. She might have a smile on her face, but he wasn’t fooled. Something bothered her. He got up and walked over, leaned down, and asked her to take a walk with him. She agreed, but again, her entire demeanor was distracted.
They found their way to Ileana’s private entrance to the public gardens. There should only be a few guards around this time of night, and they could easily dodge those. The smell of roses and jasmine assaulted his nose, and he sneezed, finally pulling a small chuckle from Valeria.
“Why would you bring me here, knowing how allergic you are to most flowers?”
“Because you love them.” He took her arm and steered them toward the center of the gardens where the night flowers were in full bloom. He’d suffer from a snotty nose come the morning, but if it made her smile, it was worth it. “Now, tell me what’s bothering you.”
“What makes you think something is bothering me?”
“Because I know you better than anyone, even your Royal Navy captain.” He was proud of the fact he didn’t sound jealous even though that particular green-eyed little monster ate away at him every day she was around Stephen.
Valeria sat on one of the benches hidden from the main path, and he joined her, stretching out his legs. He knew not to push her. She’d talk in her own time. For the moment, he relaxed and looked up at a cloudless night sky with millions of stars twinkling down at him.
“It’s beautiful here.” She rolled her head on her shoulders.
“Mmm.”
“If you look to the east, you can see the moonlight shining down on the water. Did you think we’d ever see such clear, blue water?”
“No.” He leaned over and picked a dark blue flower he didn’t know the name of it and gave it to her. “Here you go. A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady.”
She took it and smiled, the first real smile he’d seen since they began this journey. He loved it when she smiled like that. It lit up the entire night.
“You are going to be a runny mess in the morning.” She buried her nose in the blossom and took a deep breath.
“Can’t be worse than that time we hid in the flower gardens at the queen’s palace, our pockets filled with jewels from her fancy party. Now, that was a night.”
Valeria burst out laughing. “I told you it was a bad idea, but you just had to try your hand at stealing from the royal family.”
“It worked out.”
“You were sick for a week.” She held her nose and mimicked. “Cap’n, please have mercy on me poor bones.”
“You wanted me to go up and man the wheel during a storm, and I was so sick I couldn’t move.”
“All because you decided to rob the queen like a common thief instead of robbing her merchant ships blind.”
“As I recall, you never said a word about that emerald necklace I filched for you.”
“Of course not. Spoils of war.”
He shook his head, glad to hear her laughing.
“Do you think I can do this, Luk?” She swept her hand out in front of her, toward the city.
“What do you think?”
“I
think people shoved this at me, and I got steamrolled into it.” She pulled her long locks up into a loose knot. “I never wanted to be the ruler of anything. I’m a pirate, not a queen.”
“I think you’ll make a good queen because you’re an amazing captain. It’s just wrangling more people than the small crew we have.”
“But I like being a pirate.”
“But you want a home more, somewhere you feel you really belong. And I think that’s here. It suits you, this place.”
She was quiet for a long time, thinking his words over. It startled him a bit when she laid her head on his shoulder. “Promise me, if I do this, you’ll stay with me. I can’t do it alone.”
“Whatever you need, Cap’n, whatever you need.”
“No, Lukas. I don’t need my first mate. I need you, my friend.”
“Of course, Val. You know I’m here for you. I’ve always been here for you.”
“I know.” She let out a long sigh. “I think I’m seeing things.”
Now, that got his attention. He was used to her quickfire subject changes, but this wasn’t something he’d ever heard her admit before. “What do you mean?”
“I saw someone on the beach yesterday. Talen took me, but he didn’t see her.”
“Her?”
Val nodded. “The woman told me only I could see her.”
“Hallucinations? Have you been dipping into Ya-You’s liquor?”
“No.” She sat up and stared him in the eyes. “It was a woman who said only I could see her because I was a Dendali, and she was designed by them.”
“Designed?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. She told me about a hidden city within Atlantis. One that has been locked away forever.”
“Tobias never said anything about a hidden city, did he?”
“No. The woman told me to talk to him, but I haven’t seen him since the noon meal. I checked his rooms, and he wasn’t there before dinner.”