by Starla Night
He never would have taken her choices away and forced drugs down her throat. It wasn’t him. He couldn’t have.
But logically she didn’t have anyone else to blame.
If she hadn’t been drugged with elixir, she also never would have been forced to the ocean bottom. King Kayo had no elixir or nectar. He couldn’t have transformed her. She’d have been stuck on that isolated, barren, waterless island.
Or maybe the fault was hers. Someone had drugged her and her soul had resonated with Faier’s so much that she’d transformed to grow gills, see long distances, and speak with chest vibrations.
It must have been the sizzle from their kiss.
King Kayo knelt at the base of the Life Tree and touched the bark with his fingertips. He bowed his head. “I, King Kayo of Aiycaya, marry my sacred bride. Shower your blessing and healing on our union so our joining will swiftly produce a healthy young fry.”
A gentle tinkling like wind chimes filled the ocean. Up close, the bark gleamed as if she gazed upon fine jewelry.
King Kayo stood and gestured to her. “Now you.”
This was it.
Marriage.
She bounded forward.
He caught her to keep her from smacking into the branches. “Careful, my sacred bride. Do not damage the Life Tree.”
“Sorry.” She released his helpful hand and knelt at the base, just as he’d done. She rested her whole hand on the trunk.
A gasp erupted behind her.
“Release the Life Tree,” King Kayo said tightly.
She lifted her hand. “Oh. Sorry. I thought you touched it.”
“Just the fingertips. Caress. Gentle.”
She touched with just her fingertips.
Honestly, the Life Tree felt like a tree. Not fragile glass. It felt warm and alive and smooth and…
Calm acceptance filled her heart with relief.
She had arrived.
The Life Tree had been waiting for her. All this time. She was here. This was home. She claimed her destiny. No matter what happened before or after, for this one holy moment, she communed with the ancient Life Tree.
And it was perfect.
Had her mother felt this once too? Had it calmed her grief?
King Kayo rumbled behind her, “Speak the vows, my sacred bride, so we can join.”
No.
“I…”
The Life Tree tinkled on an imaginary breeze.
I refuse.
The Life Tree supported her true desires. Desires buried deep within her heart. Everything would be okay. Strength flowed into her veins. Maybe she truly was how Faier saw her. Powerful. Vital. Alive.
“I present King Kayo…” the king prompted.
“I’m sorry, King Kayo.”
“No, no. ‘I present King Kayo.’”
Harmony turned and faced him. She braced for his reaction. “I can’t marry you.”
Chapter Fifteen
I can’t marry you.
Harmony’s words caused the king to still with shock. She tensed.
Now was when he would hurt her.
But King Kayo was not Lifet. He still had a heart. King Kayo did not darken with fury.
No, his aura flickered with hurt, sorrow, and fear.
Fear?
King Kayo dropped to her level and vibrated urgently. His quiet words did not reach the crowd of warriors ringing the Life Tree. “Yes. You can. You must.”
Harmony twitched.
Normally, she would hunch in and give up. Fearful. Who did she think she was? Standing up to a king? He would only ignore her and force her to do what he wanted. Her resistance would only cause her to get hurt.
But strength flowed up her arm and into her warm chest the way the sap of the Life Tree seeped into her cracked heart.
She faced King Kayo as if she were equal to him. As if she could make demands and he could obey or at least listen.
As if, for just one moment, what she did mattered.
“I can’t,” she repeated, firmly but quietly so only he would hear. She didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his subjects.
He leaned close, relieved to keep their argument quiet, and carried on. “Because your soul still entwines with the exile’s?”
“No.”
“It will entwine with mine. Soon. I promise you.”
“That’s not the reason.”
While they had their muffled argument, a small green octopus about the size of a kitten curled a tentacle around the lowest branch of the Life Tree. Unlike the other fish who produced pleasant New Age music, she yowled like a cat crossed with an angry seagull. Gwowlll. Yogwowwl. Agwowwl. She studied Harmony curiously.
“You will acclimate to the mer world,” he promised her intently and quietly. “It will happen quickly.”
“I think it’s already happening, actually.” She sat crisscross, with her fingertips still touching the Life Tree.
“I will help you.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“You think? What does this mean, ‘you think’?”
“It means…uh…”
The little octopus crept over the roots of the Life Tree and explored Harmony’s outstretched thigh. Its eardrum-curdling noise was so ugly, it was cute.
“It means I’ll be grateful for your help and I’m on guard in case you try to dump me off somewhere to do something more fun.”
He jerked his chin in, affronted. “I would not do that.”
“You tried to leave me on the journey.”
“We needed the meat and you were probably safe.”
“Probably?”
“From now on, you will live within my castle. You will never leave it. My castle is safe. Absolutely safe.”
The little octopus looked up at her several times to make sure she would not move and then it crawled onto her lap. She stroked its rubbery texture. It curled one tentacle around her index finger.
“Absolutely safe. Huh. That’s much better than ‘probably’ safe.”
He huffed. “Forget the past. The moment is gone. You should not think about it.”
Now she was irritated. “How can I not think about it? I begged you not to leave me. I cried.”
He knelt stiffly, hands on his bent knees. “And that is why you will not marry me? Because you do not trust my ability to protect you?”
“That’s still not the reason.” She gathered her courage. “I heard what you said to Elder Bawa and…I’m not a sacred bride.”
“That is a lie. Observe.” He pointed to the octopus. “My house guardian resides in your lap. She recognizes you as the female who belongs in our castle. You are a sacred bride.”
This was his pet octopus? Huh. “She sounds like a box of angry seagulls.”
“House guardians are not attractive singers, but they are formidable protectors.”
“What’s her name?”
“She is a house guardian. She has no name.”
Harmony tugged her little tentacle. The octopus gnawed on her fingernail with her tiny beak. “Well, I can explain this.”
“You are a sacred bride.”
“My mom was a sacred bride. My whole tribe had to leave that island. You saw why.”
“And you are a—”
“I was raised on the mainland.”
He tilted his head. “You are a modern female?”
“I guess. A few weeks ago, I met my tribe. And my great-grandmother told me that marrying you was my destiny.”
“Then you are a sacred bride.”
“But I wasn’t raised on the sacred island. Is it okay?”
“Is it?”
“Are you asking me?”
“Yes.”
She snorted. “I don’t know your rules.”
“Because you are a modern sacred bride.” His lips quirked to the side. “It is fine. We will not tell Elder Bawa. You came to the sacred island to marry and give me a young fry.”
“But—I didn’t go there to—I was shipwrecked. I was fleeing
somewhere else. I don’t know how I ended up at the sacred island.”
“The Life Tree guided you.” He looked up at the branches. “It sensed your presence and pulled your soul.”
She squinted up at the pure gemstone brilliance. Faier had said something similar. “The Life Tree controls the wind and the waves?”
“Perhaps.” He returned his gaze to her. Pure and gentle and without guile. “How is any warrior united with his sacred bride? There are as many humans on the land as stars in the sky. And yet, one female makes her way to the city and drinks her husband’s Life Tree blossom nectar. Their souls entwine for all time.”
“That’s beautiful.”
“It is the Life Tree’s power.”
His poetic words lulled her to calm. For the first time, they both spoke from the heart.
“And,” she straightened, “actually, the one who guided the raft was Faier.”
King Kayo scowled. “The exile.”
“He’s not an exile. He’s a warrior who… He assists with the… Um, he rescued me from the storm. He fed me and kept me from starving.”
“If you were starving, he did not feed you well.”
“I could say the same about you.”
He blinked. “You are hungry now?”
“Yeah.” Her stomach growled again. “I’m hungry now.”
He gritted his teeth. “But you must marry me.”
“I can’t!”
“Because of the exile…”
“For the umpteenth time, he’s not an exile.”
“Then what is he?”
“He’s a…fine. I’ll tell you. Even though I’m not sure he’d want it.” She lowered her already quiet voice. “He’s a citizen of Atlantis and another city. It starts with a D.”
“Dragao Azul.”
“Right. He’s the opposite of an exile. The only exile here is me.”
But once more, King Kayo wasn’t listening. “He’s a rebel. All those scars. They must live like sharks fighting for every mouthful. No wonder he kept you weak and dependent. He starved you.”
“He didn’t!”
He glanced behind them at the warriors and made the lower-your-voice gesture. “Calm, my sacred bride.”
“Sorry,” she whisper-vibrated. “But, I mean, what if I am a ‘dangerous danger’? What would you do then?”
“Take you to the surface.”
Her heart dropped. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Then take us!” She almost strangled herself in her urgency. “We’re both extremely dangerous—”
“Silence.” He stopped her with a deadly expression.
Fear punched her belly.
“You do not understand what you say. But never say these words to any mer ever again. Not if you value your rebel’s life or your own.”
She hugged herself with one arm. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”
His brows smoothed and he started to reach out a hand to touch her trembling arm.
She tensed for the blow.
He stopped, shocked. In the same hurt tone Faier had once used, he said, “You fear me.”
She nodded jerkily, not trusting her voice or her words. Her octopus stroked her softly.
He lowered his hand to rest on his knees. “I would never hurt a female. You are safe in Aiycaya.”
She dared to point out the inconsistency. “But you just said—”
“Because Elder Bawa lectures me so.” He looked chagrined. “He might bore you to death. But do not give him reason by pretending you are dangerous.”
“If you’ll just return me and Faier to the surface—”
“Your case and the rebel’s are different. You will return to the surface after bearing my young fry. He never will.”
“Never?”
“He must face the punishment for his crimes.”
“But he didn’t do anything wrong…” Her heart sank. “Isn’t there anything I can do? Any thing I can say or offer? Any way you can let him go?”
King Kayo’s expression ended her quest. Despite tears and begging and bargaining, he was unmoved. Harmony could trick him into letting her go. Faier would be held and then executed.
Harmony communed with the little green octopus while she dealt with this blow.
Faier had remained with her all the weeks she’d been stuck in the raft. Even though it was dangerous, and he could have abandoned her at any time.
She would remain here with him. Somehow, she would save him. They would escape together.
Or not at all.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she said heavily. “If I can do anything to free Faier, anything at all, tell me.”
“I do not know that I would tell you,” he returned, somewhat bitter. “I already know you as a female who breaks her promise after I have kept mine.”
She jerked up. “What promise?”
“On the surface, you promised to marry me.”
“Well, you promised you wouldn’t hurt Faier.”
“And I did not hurt him.”
“Your men did.”
“I did not vow to stop my men.”
“That’s what I wanted!”
“You made a mistake. I spoke the truth. You misunderstood.”
“Well, so, you misunderstood too. I only promised to travel with you. I didn’t promise to marry you.”
“But a sacred bride’s purpose is to marry.”
“Too bad. ‘You made a mistake. I spoke the truth.’ How does that feel?”
He flexed his jaw. “A sacred bride’s purpose is marriage to produce a young fry.”
“My purpose was to save Faier. I haven’t gotten what I want, so I don’t see why you should get what you want.”
“But I am the king. There is no worthier male. The elders chose me.”
“I did not.”
He twitched. Anger darkened his aura. Dangerous, for the first time. He glanced at the crowd behind them, waiting patiently to finish this ceremony, and then he vibrated his quiet question with a biting tone. “Is it Xarin? Is that the male you choose?”
Xarin?
The heck?
“No,” she said.
His shoulders lowered.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Many have said he should be king. If my sacred bride chose him also…” He shook his taut muscles and rolled his neck. “Then. You cannot marry me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your soul enmeshes with the rebel’s.”
“I guess. Yes.” She straightened. “Please don’t hurt Faier. He really did save my life. If I can just change your mind—”
“The elders judge exiles. Since he is no exile, they will not judge.” King Kayo lifted his chin. “Aiycaya is a traditional city. We will obey the tradition.”
“Oh, thank—”
“The All-Council mediates disputes between cities. We will await the All-Council’s ruling.”
She swallowed. “When will that happen?”
“We must convey our request at our Echo Point. Then await their judgment in return. It will be a little time.”
She wouldn’t get a better offer. The delay gave her more time to learn about the mer, about Aiycaya, and about King Kayo.
But that didn’t mean she felt great.
“So, just to be clear, none of your warriors will hurt Faier? Not you, not Tibe, not your warriors, not anybody?”
“No one in this city will injure Faier until after the All-Council ruling.”
“If we are having another misunderstanding, I will never trust you ever again. Ever.”
“I am a male of my word,” he insisted.
“And I want to repeat, right now, that I have no feelings for you. There is no way we can ever marry.”
“I have a year to change your mind.” He rose and held out his hand.
“A year?”
“According to the ancient covenant, if after one year our souls still do not synchroni
ze with resonance, then I must return you to the surface.”
“And what about young fry?”
He raised a brow as if she were crazy. “If our souls do not share resonance, then how can we produce young fry?”
She didn’t know how to answer.
He gestured below his waist to his flaccid cock.
His. Flaccid. Cock.
He was naked right now.
And she was naked.
Right.
Now.
Her dress, which had been threadbare before she’d run off into the jungle for a week and then hadn’t gotten any nicer after Lifet’s beatings or the storm, had finally disintegrated on the surface. She, like Faier, had been naked under the water this whole time.
This. Whole. Time.
And so was King Kayo. The bright pink tattoos that shone, iridescent, like scales on a reef fish, also coiled around his flaccid male member.
As did the tattoos on the mermen floating respectfully in the distance. And the males in the war party who had escorted her from the surface to the ocean bottom. Chiba and Kusi. Tibe. Xarin.
She hadn’t noticed. Her brain had willfully blinded her. The warriors were muscular, and some were even handsome. But she didn’t see them as men? Huh.
Harmony looked up to King Kayo’s face.
And it happened.
His aura gleamed like a reflection off pink chrome, and she sort of forgot he was naked until she forced herself to think about it. Totally naked.
So then it was the same for him?
“You can’t impregnate me because our souls don’t resonate.”
“Of course.”
Oh, thank goodness. What a relief.
He tilted his head. “Is it not the same for humans?”
“It’s not the same.” She suppressed her hysterical laugh and took his offered hand, rising. The little octopus spilled off her lap, and the Sea Opals tinkled. “It’s so not the same.”
“I see.” He lifted her to her tiptoes and, still keeping his voice low, murmured, “You will tell everyone we are married now. That way, no other male will try to steal you.”
Her heart lurched. “That could happen?”
“It is the most common reason for intercity warfare.”
“But I thought you just said no warrior could impregnate me unless our souls resonated.”