by Starla Night
“Welcome, human female,” someone said.
“Human? No.” She held up a palm, stopping Queen Elyssa mid-hug. “Check my tattoo. I’m a mer.”
New amazement shook his friends. “Mer? A female mer? Secret, in Aiycaya, all along?”
He kicked to Harmony’s side, desperate to ease her transition to the warriors who had become his family. “Queen Elyssa is from Miami, Harmony.”
“I was born near there but I was raised in Iowa.”
“Nice to meet you.” Queen Elyssa’s soul burned eagerly, but she clasped her hands in front of her to respect Harmony’s reserved nature. “Have you been queen of Aiycaya long?”
“My whole life, it turns out, but I only found out about it a few…what? Days ago?”
“That must have been surprising.”
“Oh, you have no idea. One day, I’m shipwrecked, and the next, I’m a queen.”
Queen Elyssa’s eyes widened. “Of course! You dismantled a Haitian drug-smuggling operation and got thrown overboard.”
Harmony’s soul brightened. “You know what happened?”
“We got more details because the Coast Guard had to explain what happened to Faier. The teacher who helped you got hurt, and your cousin was kidnapped.”
“And? What happened to Evens and Monsieur Joseph?”
“The teacher was hospitalized. Your young cousin Evens was freed and reunited with his mother, Fabi…Fabia? Fab.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Harmony’s shoulders slumped, and she rubbed her face. “You have no idea how grateful I am to know that. It’s been tearing me apart for…I don’t even know how long. So under the sea, how’s my brother? King Kayo?”
“We have not seen him,” King Kadir answered. “Only his elders have negotiated with us.”
Her soul darkened with worry. “That’s weird.”
“Is it? Some kings would insult an army by refusing to speak with them.”
“He’s not like that,” she insisted. “He’d prefer to meet with you.”
“Different cities have different traditions.”
“Something’s wrong. Nobody’s seen him?”
King Kadir called in his scouts.
Lone-wolf Lotar, the gray-eyed, gray-tattooed warrior, confirmed. “I have not penetrated the inner circle of castles.”
Harmony twisted her fingers together. “Then he might be at the Life Tree.”
“Or within a castle.”
King Kadir frowned. “Your elders speak as though King Kayo rules.”
“Tibe issues the orders.” Gailen’s normally cheery face chilled to cold calculation. “He is capable of anything.”
“Would this Tibe cut down his own Life Tree?” King Kadir asked Gailen.
“I would not put it past him.”
Everyone looked at Harmony.
As a mer, her blood was tied to the Life Tree. Any injury to the Life Tree injured her.
“We must storm the city.” King Kadir studied the distant castles. “We must not hurt your Life Tree.”
“But won’t the defenders fight?” Queen Elyssa worried. “I don’t want to cause any needless deaths. I’m against storming if we can avoid it.”
“Gailen. Is there a secret entrance to the city? Could we enter from beneath?”
“Not secret, my king, but they do use old fish pens for prison holding cells. Lotar saw them on his last, er, patrol. One collapsed, but others might mask a small patrol’s approach.”
His Atlantis friends plotted how to return Harmony to King Kayo with the least damage to them or to Aiycaya.
Harmony’s soul light dimmed. She knotted her fingers with Faier’s. “I also don’t want to storm the city. I don’t want to sneak in at all.”
“What do you want?” he asked her quietly.
“I just want to walk in, declare myself ruler, and make everyone listen.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
She blinked. “It does?”
“Better than sneaking in. And you may not hurt anyone.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Her chin dropped. “You really think I can just walk in?”
“Better to swim.”
“Ha ha.”
“But why not? You are Aiycaya’s queen.”
She blinked rapidly. “Yeah. You’re right. I am Aiycaya’s queen.” Then her soul darkened again. “Um, how do I tell your friends I don’t want their help?”
He drew her into his arms, rested his chin against her head, and savored her soft curves against his hard planes. “You tell them exactly like that.”
“Faier? Why are you hugging me?”
“Because I am so thrilled to have the support of thoughtful friends and the love of a beautiful, strong, indomitable female who tells me her desires.”
Her soul steadied. “You think I’m indomitable?”
“You stayed with me in prison. No one visits a mer prisoner. Yes, you can accomplish anything.”
“On the surface, nobody listens.”
“You are under the ocean now. And you are mer. This is your home.”
Her soul light flared.
His own soul tingled. The red lines on his arms itched. Scabs had formed.
Harmony eased free of his arms, cleared her throat—even though she was speaking by vibrations in her chest—and called out. “Um, hi. Excuse me. Yoo hoo! Hello?…LISTEN TO ME.”
Everyone stopped. Silence reigned. They listened to her.
She hesitated.
Faier teased one finger along her spine.
She leaned into his arms, soaking up his support, and addressed the crowd. “Thanks so much for trying to help me sneak into the city. If it’s okay with you, I’m just going to swim right up and demand they let me in. I think if I tell them firmly, then they will. We can forget the other plans. If that’s okay right now.”
King Kadir consulted his chief ground intelligence officers, Lotar and Gailen, and both shrugged.
“It’s fine with me,” Queen Elyssa said.
“Whatever you would like to do,” King Kadir agreed, and the rest fell behind her, opening the way for her to swim first.
She linked fingers with Faier. “I want you to come too.”
“Of course, my queen.” Faier gripped his trident in his other hand, enjoying how her soul brightened with strength. “I will follow you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
A knot of Aiycaya warriors guarded the official entrance to the city.
Harmony hesitated outside. “Faier, tell me what I have to do.”
Her warlord regarded her with steady faith as though she should already know the answer. “Be the queen you know you are. I will be right beside you.”
His answer filled her with calm.
Of course.
“Thank you.” Harmony kicked her fins.
Faier flew at her side. “You believe me.”
“Yes, because it’s you.”
He glowed.
Behind them spread the weight and breadth of the Atlantis army. So many warriors dwarfed the population. The army breathed like an animal.
A hunched, waiting animal.
The Aiycaya guards braced. She recognized Elder Bawa, Chiba, and other warriors who had never been introduced.
She flew straight over them. Her intention was to fly into Aiycaya as if she belonged there. Because she did.
The guards realized her intention at the last moment.
Elder Bawa kicked hard to intercept her. “You, there. You! So, you are back, leading a foreign army to attack.”
“Why would I do that?” She waved as she flew over him.
“Huh? No! Stop, there. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to my Life Tree.”
“Wait. Halt!”
Elder Bawa scrambled his guards. They blocked her entry at the outermost ring of castles.
He drew himself up importantly. “I will die before I allow a foreign army to pass.”
“That’s noble of
you.” She dove beneath them. “Well, don’t mind me. Carry on.”
He raced in front of her again. “But—but you must not lead an army in here.”
“Good news. I’m not leading anyone.”
Elder Bawa pulled up. “Your army has not come to destroy us?”
“They came to rescue Faier. And he’s rescued. So, they’re waiting outside. As for me, this is my city. I don’t need an army to take over my home. It’s already mine.”
“This is King Kayo’s city.”
“And I’m his sister.” She kicked.
He surged to meet her. “Anathema.”
Faier slashed his trident. Elder Bawa jerked back. The other warriors ranged around Faier, tensed, to engage.
But she felt pity. “Really, Elder Bawa? Is that how you treat all the relatives of your kings? Or just the females?”
He flinched. “You should not exist.”
“And yet here I am.”
He lowered his trident to engage her.
She tutted. “Look, Elder Bawa, I don’t need your permission to enter my own city. You can either swim with me, or you can get out of my way.”
“Or?”
“There is no third option. But I will tell you it’s my idea to talk to King Kayo alone. If anything happens to me, then there’s plan B.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder.
He gazed beyond her. “So you are leading the army.”
“Only if you make me.”
He grimaced. “Chiba. Go tell King Kayo that his…that Harmony has returned.”
The pineapple-yellow warrior turned and flew.
Harmony let go of Faier’s hand and kicked. Her fins unfurled. She darted past the guards and caught up to Chiba. “We’ll go together.”
He jolted in surprise and dove away from her.
“Stop!” Elder Bawa cried, far behind.
She torpedoed after Chiba’s fins, kicking for all she was worth. The water slipped around her like silk. Darting behind the warrior felt like winning a race. Not running it. Winning it. She wove between the castles, soaring and diving, to keep Chiba in her sight. The clash of metal behind her said Faier guarded against retaliation.
Chiba flew through the innermost ring of castles.
The Life Tree gleamed, pale and beautiful. A ring of warriors guarded the dais. She picked out Kusi, Zaka, Poro, and Luin. Elder Yane led them.
A figure slumped against the trunk of the mighty tree. King Kayo. The small, green form of Lady was curled in his lap.
Her stomach dropped.
The unease returned times a hundred, and a consistent thought banged inside her brain. I’m too late.
“Warrior Chiba!” Elder Yane broke from the ring of dais guards. “Are we invaded?”
“Yes!”
“Not yet.” Harmony flew past Chiba’s fin tips. “What happened to King Kayo?”
“Happened?” Elder Yane relaxed. He had never seen her as a threat. Not even after the mantis shrimp incident when she’d left. “Nothing has happened. He is sleeping.”
Her stomach twinged. “That’s crazy.”
“The threats of the All-Council and of Atlantis were too stressful. The young king could not handle it.”
“He’s not a child.”
“But he is.” Elder Yane used the long handle of his trident to bar her from passing. “He needs his rest.”
“He’s not resting,” she insisted.
Elder Yane frowned. “What do you mean?”
She shoved Elder Yane’s trident aside. The shy warrior beside him—Zaka—allowed her to pass. “Where’s the doctor? What’s his name?”
“Healer Hobin,” Faier supplied, arriving at the dais’s edge.
“Why do you need the healer?” Elder Yane demanded.
“Something’s not right.” She retracted her fins and bounced across the cascade of pure, holy pearls. They tinkled with warning.
Lady watched her with her big plus-sign-shaped eyes.
It felt like the day she’d awoken to an empty house and police knocking on the door to inform her that her mom had never come home from her late shift because there’d been an accident. Or the walk from the parking lot into the federal building to meet with the interviewers about a question of citizenship.
Dread rose in her throat until it choked her.
“King Kayo?” She spoke gently just in case. Please, let her instincts be mistaken. “Are you awake? Kayo? It’s me. Harmony.”
His chin bobbed on his unmoving chest. His legs splayed and his arms hung loose, palms open.
Wrong. Something was wrong.
She knelt at his knees. “King Kayo?”
His aura was dark. So dark. And his tattoos were duller than she remembered. Salmon pink instead of iridescent neon.
“Kayo?” She brushed dark hair off his forehead.
His aura glimmered. He sensed her presence. Her touch. But he could not awaken. Something prevented him.
She trailed her hand over his chest to the new dot tattoo on his heart.
No.
That small dot was no tattoo. It was hard. Like the end of the tattoo stick. The long, slender rod was tipped with a shard of adamantium. Metal that could impale a body and penetrate the Life Tree.
A puff of blood leaked around the circle of hard wood.
“No. No! NO!”
“Harmony!” Faier flew over the tangled warriors and grabbed her shoulders. “What has happened?”
“Someone stabbed him. Through the heart. To the Life Tree!”
“Stabbed?” The guards crowded them. “Our king? He is hurt?”
“Give him air,” she ordered. “I mean, water! Get back.”
The warriors moved back, craning to see the truth for themselves, horrified someone had mortally wounded their king while they were guarding him.
“Where’s Healer Hobin?” Harmony grabbed the stunned Elder Yane’s immobile trident and shook it. “Answer me!”
“H-healer? He, ah, he is…”
“He is at the Echo Point,” Chiba said, actually helpful for once.
“Yes! The Echo Point. Go, Chiba.”
“Kusi is fastest.”
But Kusi stared, stunned.
Elder Yane waved at Chiba. “As fast as you can. I will fly right behind you.”
Chiba flew out of the city at an upward angle. Elder Yane sent warriors to other positions—first phalanx, second phalanx, rear guard—and then flew after Chiba.
Five guards remained, including ragged-finned Warrior Luin and shy Warrior Zaka.
“Are there any other healers?” she cried. “Anyone?”
The remaining warriors shook their heads.
Faier gripped her. “I will get Queen Elyssa. She brought King Kadir back from death. More than once.”
Harmony hesitated.
His aura dimmed. “Believe in me.”
“I do.” She shook herself. “I was just worried about managing without you.”
He checked. “I will remain. Another warrior can go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Harmony. You are my queen. I will obey you.” But something else lingered beneath his tone.
She stopped.
Yes, she worried about managing on her own. But that was just the nerves of a new monarch. She had no doubt she could rule.
Faier was worried about something else. What was it?
“I will not leave you,” he said.
“You’re not.” She touched his repaired compass rose. “I’m here with you. And you’re here with me. No matter where we are we’re together. And we’re home.”
He straightened. New belief filled him. “I will not disappoint you.”
“Of course you won’t.” She nuzzled him. “You’re the greatest hero who’s ever lived. You rescue everyone no matter what. An entire army came to repay you. And you have my total faith and love.”
He nodded sharply and glared at the five guards. Everyone heard his silent threat. If anything happened to Harmony, he would exact
vengeance. He kicked away.
Her hope flew with him.
She knelt again beside King Kayo. “Please. King Kayo. Come back. You never listen, but now you have to listen.”
His lashes fluttered. Or was it a slight current? She pressed her forehead to his. Please. Of all the prayers in my life, let this one come true.
“Don’t leave me alone,” she whispered.
“Is King Kayo dead?” Kusi asked. He’d crossed the dais and stood behind her.
She rocked back on her heels and looked at the warrior.
He gripped his trident with both hands, locking it to his chest as though defending himself from a hidden attack.
“He’s not dead yet.” She pointed to the ring of blood around the tattoo stick. “His tattoos are dulled but there’s still color.”
“But someone stabbed him all the way through?”
“Yes. That’s why he’s upright. They pinned him to the Life Tree.”
He wrinkled his nose as though he was suppressing a terrible sneeze.
“How long has he been like this?” she demanded.
Kusi didn’t respond.
She looked at the other warriors. They shuffled, jostling the pearls. No one had any idea.
“How long has he been ‘sleeping’?”
Warrior Zaka answered, “Right after you left, he went to sleep.”
“Did you see that?”
No. No one had seen that.
“Did anyone else speak with him? Anyone?”
“First Lieutenant Tibe said not to bother him while he was resting.”
Her heart cracked into two. She drew his name out into an epithet. “Tibe.”
“They argued over the All-Council.” Kusi still looked like he needed to sneeze.
“What happened?”
“Elder Bawa thinks the army from Atlantis scared off the All-Council,” Warrior Luin answered for Kusi. “They must have expected rebels to destroy Aiycaya. But then Atlantis never attacked.”
“Where is Xarin?”
“He chased after the All-Council representative and never returned,” Warrior Luin said.
It made sense. A horrible sort of sense. She glared at her brother. “I’m gone for days and look what happens.”
King Kayo’s aura—no, Faier called it a soul light—glimmered as though he’d heard her complaint somewhere deep within and reacted with amusement.