by S. K Munt
In Ivyanne’s arms, Lincoln melted.
*
Knowing that there would be fall-out from kissing Lincoln, Ivyanne decided to spend Friday afternoon in the library, locking the sunshine, and her oh so inquisitive suitors out and curling up on one of the velvet lounges with the journal she’d yet to finish.
It was hard work. The book was old-centuries old-and many of the entries were in foreign languages. Each page was yellowed parchment, and the thick ink used in different hands varied from watery black to scratchy blue. It strained her eyes so much to read it that after half an hour, she yanked on the tasseled cord of a nearby lamp and leaned closer, trying to focus her wandering mind on the next entry though she was fighting sleep.
Nothing grabbed her attention at first, though she could see why Ardhi had enjoyed it so much. Most of the stories were human encounters of mer-sightings, recorded by mermen who’d heard of possible encounters with their own kind, secondhand. There were many similar books in existence. In fact, the Court family had had a few published over the centuries-the most ludicrous ones-to help throw the humans off the real scent. Knowing what the humans noticed was pivotal to maintaining their secrecy.
However this book had a very distinctive theme- evil mermaids. As far as Ivyanne knew, there was no such creature and never had been. The entries she could get her head around reflected the behavior of pirates, not her own gentle species. Others accused women of performing witchery while in the ocean, naked.
But one entry did give her pause. It was in french, and had been recorded by Athalia Loveridge’s first husband, Pierre, about a strange man his friend Rudolph had met drinking in a tavern. The man had been affable at first, commanding the attention of the room. But as he’d grown more intoxicated, had began behaving in a way that had amused the patrons. One particular passage had Ivyanne’s rapt attention-it was a direct quote from Rudolph himself. Ivyanne’s grip on several languages had loosened since she’d concluded her schooling, but she’d spent so much time in France that only the curled writing slowed her translation, which she quickly jotted down on a notebook:
“This Luca fellow was quite inebriated and flew into a rage, screaming that the mermaids had stolen his heart, his crown and his mind. We laughed but he stormed out of the inn, tearing off his clothes. Imagine our surprise when he dove into the ocean without a stitch on, and was never seen again.
The rapes started a week later and lasted over the three nights of the full moon. Each woman was dragged into the ocean for the act, and left to swim back to the shore afterwards. Two wives never returned. Nor was a single body found.”
Ivyanne blinked, re-reading it three times. Rightful ruler? She glanced up at the portraits on the wall across from her, eyes going to an oil painting of her grandfather in the king’s crown, five hundred years before. That was the only mer crown in existence-but it’s rightful ruler was Bernard Court, a man who had died at the hands of pirates over nine hundred years before. He’d never been mer.
Ivyanne glanced back down at the notebook and frowned, reaching for the whelk shell she’d had holding it and some other papers down.
‘How did we get that crown?’ She asked herself quietly. She’s seen the vision within the whelk countless times, but in no part of it, had she noticed Bernard wearing his crown when he’d come to kill Anna.
A quick re-play showed her that she was right. Though he was wearing it in the first few scenes, it was not visible in the horrid part of the story. So how had Anna procured it? There was no doubting that it was the exact same one.
Ivyanne felt a chill shoot down her spine. Had her grandmother gone back for it? And if so, who on earth was this Luca to think it was his? Some drunken sailor who’d had the idea to steal it? Or was there more to it than that?
Voices neared the door, breaking Ivyanne from her reverie. She realized that the sun was beginning to set, and the light in the room had dulled to a deep burgundy. She smiled, realizing that she’d spooked herself. It was a book of fables and nothing more. Ardhi’s interest in it had her treating it like a textbook instead of a fictional anthology. She needed some distance from it before she started believing the one about the half-octopus lady too!
‘...I’m glad you sought me out.’ A soft female voice said. ‘I’ve noticed, as I assume you have, that the queen is making her preference known.’
‘Yes well...I mean, I’m still hoping for the best,’ Tristan’s low voice was unmistakable. ‘But I need to be realistic too. I’m the last male in my line now. I need to think about my future.’
‘Yes! I agree whole-heartedly.’ Sahori gushed. ‘Any time you want to talk it over, I am open and willing to your proposal.’
There was a sigh. ‘Thank you Sahori. I’ll find you when my shift is over, okay?’
‘Okay.’ Sahori breathed. ‘Until then.’
Ivyanne counted the retreating footsteps and flung open the door on the tenth, annoyed to see Tristan standing in profile, watching Sahori’s departure with a bemused smile.
‘Better have your receptionist book that talk in,’ Ivyanne said, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the door. ‘Sounds like something you wouldn’t want to miss.’
Tristan’s head whipped around to hers, surprise widening his lovely eyes. Genuine surprise-not a façade. ‘Oh shit!’ He exclaimed. ‘You scared the life out of me! Garridan said you were in the theatre room. I’ve been standing outside the wrong door all this time?’
Ivyanne had told Garridan that she was going to watch a movie in peace, only had changed her mind at the last moment when Lachlan and Adele had gone in there. ‘Yeah well, here I am. Your avid audience, as always.’
‘Audience?’ Tristan rolled his eyes. ‘Come on Ivyanne. I could have done backflips down this hallway naked every hour on the hour for the past week and you wouldn’t have noticed.’ He gestured to the hall Sahori had disappeared around. ‘I’m sorry you overheard us. And I’m even sorrier that I had to have that conversation.’ He shrugged. ‘But like I said to her...’ He adjusted the gunsling over his shoulder, and part of his fitted sleeve inched up, exposing the most masculine arm she’d ever had the pleasure of kissing as he turned away. ‘Anyway, I’m due to check in with Garridan so…’
His unflustered though self-conscious manner caught broke Ivyanne’s heart. Where was the Tristan she knew? Where was the sarcasm, or the relentless innuendo? How much had she damaged his self-esteem in the short time they had known each other?
He turned to leave and she grabbed his sleeve. ‘Tristan wait! Don’t…’ she floundered for the right word. He wasn’t stopping, or slinking or even swaggering. He was just leaving. Quietly. It made her stomach lurch. ‘I’m sorry, okay?’ She whispered, her voice catching in her throat. ‘For how I left things Saturday night, and how I’ve ignored it since. I didn’t know what to say so I said nothing. I still don’t know what to say!’
Tristan stared down at her hand, then up to her face. ‘I know.’ He said softly, gently tugging his arm out of her grip. ‘I haven’t been angry Ivyanne just…tired and frustrated.’ He looked away, raking a hand through his curls and exhaling through pursed lips and said: ‘You know my terms, and they haven’t changed. Just as I know that you’re being torn in two, and I hate that. But that’s the thing, you see-’ He slid his gaze back to hers. ‘I understand why you love him. I mean, that scene by the pool was something else. If it weren’t my girl he was kissing, Lincoln would have earned himself a high five.’ He pressed his lips together in a sad smile. ‘But every day, I’m finding one more thing to love about you, one more thing to fear losing if you walk away.’ His lip curled. ‘The way you creep downstairs for coffee when you think no one’s looking like you don’t realize that there are six people being paid to watch your every move. The way you sing T.V commercials under your breath. The way you sneak flowers into our rooms to make us more comfortable...and when you turn the page of a book you’re reading with the tip of your nose so you don’t have to stop pattin
g the dogs…’ He shook his head, softly chuckling. ‘It slays me.’
Tears were running more rapidly down Ivyanne’s face.
‘But-the fact that you’re forcing yourself to feel that kind of certainty for me, that it’s not coming as naturally as swimming-’ his face contorted. He dropped his hand and looked away. ‘It’s tearing me apart. It’s making me see that Lincoln is more resilient than I. He’s wounded easier, but he heals faster. And maybe that’s the one thing he can give you that I can’t-he can accept what crumbs you can spare because he’s used to loving you from a distance. His ability to forgive is...limitless.’ Tristan smirked. ‘Which is a good thing, because if you turn me down, and Sahori gets a better offer, I might need Lincoln to turn a wife for me one day and I’d hate him to pick an ugly one out of spite...’
Ivyanne sniffled. ‘Sahori won’t get a better offer.’
‘Neither will you darling.’ Tristan said, his eyes soft. ‘And yet…’ he gestured to the space between them.
Ivyanne dug her nails into the door trim to stop herself from stepping into his arms and offering comfort she couldn’t freely give. ‘It’ll be over soon.’ She whispered, for lack of anything better to say. ‘The full moon...Ardhi…’
When Tristan smiled again, actual tears glistened in his eyes. ‘I can’t think of a single way this is going to have a happily ever after for any of us Ivyanne.’ He stepped up to her and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. ‘But I love you so much more for trying to find one.’
And then he walked away.
*
‘Would you like another cup of Chai?’ Pintang asked, getting up from her seat at the table. The sun was setting over the ocean, and as Garridan had left the doors open, the entire room was bathed in a rosy glow.
Ivyanne however, was not glowing rosily. She’d still been reeling from her conversation with Tristan when Garridan had burst into the library, announcing the new arrivals.
‘Oh... no thank you.’ Arundel and Ivor exchanged a glance, giving Ivyanne a glimpse of their twisted profiles, which would have been hideous on a human, but only served to enhance their dramatic beauty. Scar tissue ruptured the surface of their arms and legs and snaked up their torsos-giving them a tribal look, like the indentations on the body of seahorses. ‘We’ve spent long enough on the surface for now.’
‘Of course,’ Garridan said quickly. ‘We’ve kept you here for almost an hour-I apologize.’
An hour? Ivyanne thought, I’ve sat here in a daze for an hour?
‘Will you sleep? In the water I mean?’
Arundel fixed her navy blue eyes on Ivyanne. ‘No,’ she said with a smile. ‘We will swim for some time, and then take turns, napping-there’s always somewhere on land where we can fit ourselves into, away from the naked eye.’
‘Don’t you get cold?’ Adele asked, looking awestruck.
Arundel shook her head again. ‘Our scales have migrated quite high on our bodies over time. Mine keep me very warm.’
Ivor turned to Ivyanne with a gentle smile. ‘I was quite eager to meet the uh, well your…. suitors, before retiring. But I suppose they are quite busy at the moment?’
Ivyanne blushed. ‘Well Lincoln is having a rest-his painkillers make him woozy-and Tristan might be doing the same thing.’ Unless he’s wide awake with his future Japanese bride making perfect little babies! She added silently.
Arundel covered her mouth and giggled slightly, her dark blue eyes dancing.
Ivor glanced at his wife. ‘What?’
But Arundel shook her head. ‘Nothing my love.’ She smiled broadly at Ivyanne. ‘I just remembered that I have met Tristan before-quite an affable young man, isn’t he? I imagine half-japanese, half-Loveridge children would be quite striking!’
Ivyanne’s mouth fell open. ‘Say what?’
‘Oh….’ Ivor chuckled and shook his head. ‘Honey don’t do that to the queen!’
Arundel turned to her partner. ‘She screamed it at me!’
‘Yes but it’s not polite to mention it, remember?’
Ivyanne’s clapped over her mouth. ‘You can read thoughts?!’ She turned to her bodyguard accusingly. ‘Why am I just only learning this now?!’
There were murmurs of alarm from around the table.
Garridan coughed. ‘Uh... yeah guys... forgot to mention that….’
‘Oh this is illuminating!’ Price shifted forward on his chair, his dark eyes glinting eagerly. ‘Who is she going to choose?’
‘Price!’ Ivyanne exclaimed. Her hands went to her ears, as though she could stop the thoughts from seeping out. ‘You don’t want to know what I’m thinking right now!’
‘That won’t help.’ Arundel reached across and pried Ivyanne’s hands off her ears. She was bare breasted, and once again, the lines of scars around her breasts only artfully enhanced her somehow.
‘Oh you’re a sweetheart.’ Arundel said. ‘I’m going to like being around you.’
Ivyanne’s hand went back to her mouth. ‘Oh my god!’
‘Why?’ Ivor asked quickly, looking intrigued.
His wife turned to him, squeezing Ivyanne’s hands. ‘She thinks our scars make us more beautiful.’ She turned back to Ivyanne and smiled beatifically. ‘So pure of heart….quite extraordinary.’
‘Just not so pure physically anymore.’ Bane cracked.
Ivyanne shot him a murderous look. ‘You looking to get pushed off a building again Londeree? Because I can pull you up to my balcony later.’
‘God no-not your boudoir!’ Bane shot back. ‘Any man who goes in there comes out with a bandage on a body part and a lobotomy.’
Ivyanne plucked a frangipani bloom out of the bowl of floating candles before her and pegged it at Bane’s head. He caught it deftly and stuck it behind his ear, wriggling his eyebrows and declaring: ‘The seduction has begun!’
Everyone laughed at that. Ivyanne couldn’t actually fight back a smile, even though she was imagining doing just that-what a coup it would be to make Bane fall to his knees, if only for a minute and a half!
‘Now you’re the one who doesn’t want to know what she’s thinking.’ Arundel joked, squeezing Ivyanne’s hand. ‘Though I must say, even your malicious fantasies are quite reserved.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Unlike your personal ones. I can see why you’re having such a hard time choosing between Tristan and Link. They’re both exemplary specimens, are they not?’
‘Amen to that!’ Saraya said lightly.
Ivyanne blushed and released her hands, stepping back. ‘Have you been doing this the whole time?’
Arundel shook her head. ‘No. I can’t make out everything-most of the time it’s all white noise I’ve grown accustomed to. But if I’m close enough and I pick up one conscious thread-say an unspoken thought like what you had when you thought about your prospects, it just jumps out at me.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry. I can see I’ve made you uncomfortable. It’s yet another reason why I shy away from mers and humans alike.’
‘But also why she’ll make a brilliant guard.’ Garridan interjected. ‘If Ardhi’s close enough, Arundel will hear him coming mentally before the water breaks around him.’
Ivyanne’s eyebrows lifted. ‘How close?’
‘Two hundred meters underwater, easily.’ Arundel said. ‘But only a meter or two on land-less if there are many people about.’
‘Wow.’ Ivyanne shook her head, making a mental note to stay at least ten feet away from Arundel whenever she was scoping out Tristan or Lincoln. Then no sooner had she thought that then she peeked at Arundel, mouth going dry when she saw her smirk knowingly.
‘Oh… crap.’
‘It’s a good idea.’ Arundel said reassuringly. ‘And don’t worry, I’ll stay in the water to give you some personal space.’ She turned to Price. ‘And to answer your question-’ Ivyanne’s heart sank as everyone turned their saucer-wide eyes to Arundel, even Garridan. ‘-when you asked who she was going to choose, Ivyanne thought: “May as well tell me while she’s at it becaus
e I have no freaking idea!”
Bane’s face fell. ‘Oh man!’ He shot Ivyanne a dirty look, who’d actually found a smile by that point. ‘You’re just as messed up on the inside as you are on the outside!’
Ivyanne snorted. ‘You’ll never hear me say any different.’
‘No.’ Arundel said, turning to Ivyanne. ‘I know people, your highness-I know a lot of them better than their own parents or lovers ever will. And I can tell you right now that you are the most clear-thinking, honest young woman I’ve met in my life.’ She bowed graciously. ‘I am honored to serve you.’
Ivyanne leaned forward and smiled. ‘Could you serve me right now?’
Arundel hesitated, then straightened. ‘What would you like to know?’
Ivyanne motioned to Bane. ‘Has he had any more sex dreams about Lincoln this week?’
‘Bitch!’ Bane exploded.
‘Busted!’ Marcus spat.
‘Nuh-uh!’ Bane protested. ‘I haven’t! I swear it!’
Ivyanne grinned at Bane. ‘Arundel…?’
‘Sex dreams? About Lincoln?’ Arundel looked baffled, and Ivyanne supposed she’d never been called upon to use her gifts for entertainment purposes before. ‘Someone has but…’ her gaze shifted, and settled. Everyone turned to see Grace cradling her head in her hands and staring forlornly down at the tabletop.
‘I should have stayed in Hawaii…’ She muttered. ‘The Londeree's had dignity there…’
Ivyanne chuckled with the others, but averted her eyes lest anyone caught sight of her paranoia. Trying to hold onto two men was not only greedy, but exhausting. The time was coming when she’d have to let go of one in order to hold the other with both hands-that was no surprise.
But what if both were torn from her in a moment of weakness?
And to make matters worse-the full moon was only eight days away, adding pressure to her already strained heart. What would happen, when it’s glow illuminated the chaos she’d created? Would true love abandon her for someone else’s arms?