Secrets of the Sea Lord

by Starla Night

  “Tell me the honeymoon has food,” she muttered near King Kayo’s back while she floated behind him.

  “Yes. Let me speak to Tibe a moment.”

  King Kayo spoke in his language to his first lieutenant. She swore she heard Atlantis and Dragao Azul intermixed in his words. Tibe held her gaze coldly. Then his gaze narrowed as he pulled back.

  “Now! We will have a great feast.” King Kayo drew her into his arms and waved to the crowds of warriors. “Come with me to celebrate the first marriage since old King Aka’s reign!”

  The warriors cheered and followed.

  But she couldn’t ignore the dangerous gaze of cold Tibe.

  Or how he turned away and swam toward the prison…

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Impressive healing for an exile,” Healer Hobin said again as he rested his hands on his tools. “You are, as you stated, an exile?”

  Faier stared down the healer without fear. His injury felt better. “I never said I was an exile.”

  Healer Hobin swallowed. “I see.”

  The prison was cold and quiet as other warriors attended King Kayo and Harmony’s wedding.

  Faier had to get free. He had to save her. He needed just one opportunity.

  Xarin’s fingers tightened on his trident. Anger darkened his soul. “You claimed to be from Nerissa.”

  “I am.”

  “Nerissa was lost.”

  “It was.”

  “Then you lie!”

  He held the warrior’s blue-green gaze and changed the subject. “You have a young king.”

  Xarin blinked.

  “I am surprised you do not have an older, more skilled leader.”

  “Yes, perhaps, but King Kayo is popular.” Hobin applied a stinging salve to Faier’s abdomen. “His father, King Kamuy, was a great hunter and patient ruler. His son…well, King Kayo does enjoy hunting.”

  “Hobin,” Xarin said quellingly.

  “He relies on Elder Bawa and First Lieutenant Tibe to manage. And the other elders, of course. It is not surprising since King Kamuy himself was never groomed for succession.”

  Faier latched on to that detail. Opportunity. “King Kayo’s father was not the intended successor?”

  “Oh, no. Xarin’s father, First Lieutenant Xawey, you might know, was the intended. Everyone was so surprised when the old King chose ordinary Warlord Kamuy.”

  Xarin hissed in his chest. “He does not need this knowledge.”

  “Ah, he will not keep it for long. The judgment will happen soon after the wedding feast. Shame to heal so well.” Hobin finished his work and retied the seaweed bandage. He rested on human heels. “Once the elders judge, they will disfigure you and throw you into the vent.”

  Yes. That was why he needed to create an opportunity now to steal a weapon, overpower the guards, and escape with Harmony.

  Faier’s heart squeezed and relaxed, squeezed and relaxed.

  “There. I completed my handiwork.” Hobin floated. His feet elongated into fins. He kicked backward. “You will live.”

  Faier would live.

  He had to make it count.

  Furious commotion at the entrance interrupted his thoughts.

  Xarin frowned, turned, and exited. Beyond the entrance, tridents clashed and shouts vibrated.

  Ominous.

  “That cannot be good,” Healer Hobin muttered and floated toward the entrance.

  First Lieutenant Tibe burst into the prison with Chiba and Kusi floating right behind him. All were armed. Tibe aimed two tridents at Faier.

  Faier rose. Arms loose, ankles still sore from being bound for the journey from the surface.

  “No, no. Do not move!” Healer Hobin shouted at him in a panic. “You will reinjure your wound. Xarin!”

  Xarin flew into the prison and aimed his trident at Tibe without hesitation. “First Lieutenant Tibe, King Kayo did not authorize you to enter.”

  The first lieutenant waved one trident at the exit. “Xarin, go outside.”

  Xarin didn’t move. “The exile awaits the judgment of the elders.”

  “Outside.”

  “King Kayo ordered—”

  “Outside, now! Second Lieutenant.”

  Xarin stiffened. He clenched his trident tight to his side in a grim gesture of obedience. “First Lieutenant.” He flew out the exit, but his form remained visible in the portal.

  “Tibe…” Healer Hobin’s tone lilted in warning. “He is not healed…”

  “Healer, this is no matter for you. Out.”

  Healer Hobin joined Xarin reluctantly.

  Faier faced the new warriors empty-handed. His heart thudded. Blood pumped swiftly through his veins.

  “Faier of Atlantis.” Tibe pointed his long trident at Faier’s chest. “And of Dragao Azul. I judge you a notorious rebel. You and your ‘sacred bride.’”

  Faier flexed his empty hands. “Leave her alone.”

  “King Kayo has seen through her lies. He will end her with his own blade.”

  Fury burned in Faier’s chest. “Then I will kill all of you!”

  “Try.” Tibe tossed Kusi’s broken, two-tined trident. It landed on the bare rock in front of Faier with a clatter. “Fight me. But I assure you that you will die.”

  Harmony couldn’t get Tibe’s cold gaze out of her mind, even though she should concentrate on the wedding feast.

  King Kayo swam, with her pressed to his side, to his castle and zipped through the doorway—a vast tunnel with arched ceilings—and burst into a giant inner hollow of the sphere.

  At the base, a lush garden grew in tended lots around a pedestal. King Kayo identified the small, palm-sized bean in the center as a seed of the Life Tree.

  Holes pocked the vast inner walls. Each doorway led to secret corridors.

  “That was my father’s favorite wing.” He pointed at a twisting cavern etched with drawings. “It goes to the castle’s heart chamber. The king before him favored those chambers nearest the courtyard. You choose whichever rooms you like.”

  “Where’s the pantry?”

  He snorted. “Indeed. Here.” He flew her to the pantry.

  The movement of warriors blocked the large corridor as they set out stores for the feast. From the procession, King Kayo snagged a small wooden box. He removed the planks. Inside glistened a delicious fish steak. He unsheathed the dagger from his bicep and cut a slice.

  “Here is festival meat.” He handed her the slice—big enough for both hands—a little sadly. “Someday, we will eat this again. When I wed my true bride.”

  Who would be someone else.

  She stuffed the meat in her mouth without responding.

  Smoked salmon and Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas ham fresh from the oven and smothered with gravy. Heaven.

  King Kayo abandoned her and swam to a cluster of elders in the middle of the courtyard helping to oversee the feast. They conferenced.

  Harmony felt alone and afraid. But surely no one would hurt her in this wedding feast in front of King Kayo.

  She tried to control her fears and scarfed big, juicy bites. Her meat disappeared in seconds. And then, since more remained in the box, she pulled out the second half. Mmm! Rich, savory, satisfying. She licked her fingers and then licked the box.

  Had Faier gotten to eat anything like this? He must be starving as well. She should smuggled him some of this. As soon as King Kayo finished his duties with the elders and returned to her, she would ask.

  They seasoned the wood with gravy…

  She collected a plank and chewed on it. Mmm. Could she eat it?

  “Er, Sacred Bride.” A shy warrior held out his hands to take the empty box. “I must take your… Did you eat all that festival meat?”

  She spat out the plank and linked her fingers in front of her chest. “Um…yes? Did you have any more?”

  “Excuse me. I must not speak to…” Then, he blinked. “You are still hungry?”

  She nodded.

  “There is…uh…” H
e looked up at King Kayo, still conversing with the elders about his hunt, and then he lifted a long vine beside her and plucked off a line of pods. “These are succulent. And here, these grasses, humans have said they are very palatable.”

  She followed the shy warrior.

  He gave her a short tour of the garden. She filled the box for Faier and stuffed her mouth. The pods mushed against her tongue, creamy and filling, like garbanzo beans. The long fronds crunched like lettuce.

  “And the rest of the meat is that way.” He pointed at the corridor. “Festival and ordinary meat.”

  She noted it, storing up her knowledge as she continued to pop food into her mouth. In Haiti, there hadn’t been fancy food, but there had always been enough. Cooked fresh through backbreaking labor, simple and tasty.

  For the first time in years, she didn’t salivate over the thought of biting into a puffy slice of snow-white Wonder Bread.

  “Anything else?” the warrior asked, edging away.

  “This is great. Thank you.”

  “You are welcome, Sacred Bride…” He frowned as though searching for her name.

  “Harmony,” she supplied.

  His brow cleared. “Sacred Bride Harmony.”

  “And you are?”

  “Warrior Zaka of Aiycaya.”

  “Yes. Warrior Zaka.” She smiled around her mouthful. Hey, she could now eat and talk at the same time. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you. When you finish using that box, please allow me to take it.”

  She clutched the full box of legumes. “You need this?”

  “My role here is packing the king’s meat. He hunts often. We are always in need of—” He broke off. His brow lifted in sudden realization. “Do not give it until you finish! We can make new boxes. I did not think. Please forgive me, Sacred Bride Harmony.”

  “Oh, sure. No problem.”

  “Here. Have a second box. No, have three.” He stacked two more meat boxes atop her legumes.

  She didn’t complain. “Thank you.”

  “Yes. I—”

  A shout of anger interrupted them.

  “What do you mean, First Lieutenant Tibe interrogates my prisoner?” King Kayo’s chest vibrated with fury at the elders, silencing everyone nearby. “That was not my order!”

  Her blood ran cold.

  “You were busy with your wedding,” Elder Bawa murmured. “We did not wish to disturb your sacred bride at that most important ceremony. Why are you upset? We have done this as a favor.”

  “First Lieutenant Tibe interrogates too roughly!” King Kayo caught her eye. “If he injures my prisoner, you, Elder Bawa, will accept responsibility!”

  “My king, please calm. He is only an exile.”

  “Why do you call him that, Elder Bawa? I told you just a short while ago that I had learned he is a rebel from Atlantis and Dragao Azul.”

  Elder Bawa blanched. “Excuse me, my king. I had forgotten that…yes, I had meant to keep the information from upsetting the other warriors…and…from embarrassing you! It is one thing to bring a dirty exile back to our city instead of correctly dispatching him in the field, but you must not risk infecting our city with a nasty rebel. I did not wish to embarrass you.”

  “And that is why you ordered Tibe to interrogate?”

  “My king, I do not order First Lieutenant Tibe. You issue his orders.”

  “And I did not order him to interrogate my captive!” King Kayo gestured to several warriors, including Zaka, and they flew to him.

  “My king, where are you going?” Elder Bawa called.

  “I will conduct any interrogations!” The king and his warriors exited.

  “Your wedding feast is here!” Elder Bawa vibrated with exasperation at the empty passage. “Do not behave like a child.”

  She prayed King Kayo was not too late.

  Tibe was dangerous. But Elder Bawa poisoned King Kayo by undermining and lying to him. And she knew where poisoning led.

  Harmony rubbed her wrists. They were no longer bruised, but she would never forget the terror of being manacled by the man she’d once loved.

  Elder Bawa murmured to a warrior with thin features and ice-blue tattoos.

  She strained to hear over the crowd.

  “…go quietly and answer no questions.” Elder Bawa’s chest vibrations just reached her. “Quietly, Warlord Sao.”

  Warlord Sao nodded once, dropped his food half-eaten and gathered several warriors.

  Elder Bawa turned to her with smug satisfaction—that wavered when he noticed her looking back at him. He took the icy warrior’s place in the feast, drew everyone’s attention, and made what sounded like toasts in their language accompanied by lots of cheering.

  The ice-blue Warlord Sao swam to Harmony.

  Cold shivered in her veins. She hunched in the isolated pantry.

  He stopped right in front of her.

  Oh, no.

  He released a bundle of seaweed rope. His vibration was icy as his tattoos. “Put that on.”

  She hugged the food boxes to her chest. “Why?”

  “Do not speak.”

  Her heart thudded. Faier had promised these warriors would not harm her. But Elder Bawa made her nervous.

  “I will take care of it.”

  She’d feared being left alone in the dangerous ocean. But inside the city seemed even more dangerous—and inside the castle of her supposed husband, the king, was the most dangerous of all.

  The seaweed floated like the ropes Xarin had used to bind Faier and drag him.

  “Wh-what is it?”

  Warlord Sao refused to answer.

  The four warriors behind him remained at stiff attention.

  She swallowed. “I want King Kayo.”

  “Put the harness on now.” His tone was even more clipped.

  She had no choice. They could overpower her. They could punish her. Or worse, they could punish Faier.

  Harmony curled her hands around the hard corners of the boxes.

  She had no choice. She had no choice. She had no choice.

  Just like always.

  She—

  Tinkle, tinkle.

  The soothing calmness of the Life Tree flowed through the castle walls and into her heart. Her desperate beat of panic soothed into calm.

  Yes, they could overpower her, punish her, or worse.

  And yet, she still had a choice.

  I refuse.

  Harmony straightened and grabbed one of the seaweed ropes.

  The ice-blue warrior looked relieved. “Wrap that end around your waist.”

  She vibrated loudly. “No, I won’t, Warlord Sao!”

  He went still with shock.

  “I won’t!”

  Her vibrations cut through Elder Bawa’s toast. The cheers died. Warriors craned to see inside the pantry.

  Warlord Sao narrowed his gaze. “Sacred Bride, please—”

  “I’m not putting on any harness until I see Faier or King Kayo.” Still holding the rope, she crossed her arms over her chest. “And if you try to make me, I’ll scream.”

  Warlord Sao clenched the seaweed with new conviction. “Quiet.”

  “No!”

  The murmurs outside increased. “What is happening? Where is Warlord Sao taking the king’s sacred bride?”

  Warlord Sao looked across the feast at a red-faced Elder Bawa.

  Elder Bawa gestured for him to act.

  The warriors ranged around her picked up different ends.

  She screeched. “Don’t touch me!”

  “Touch? Warlord Sao!” Two elders—sun-gold Yane and bone-white Wida—approached the doorway. “You will not touch another male’s sacred bride.”

  “No. I will not touch.” He fingered the seaweed cable as though he would loop it into a lasso.

  “Come out.”

  Warlord Sao did not leave. “I have orders.”

  Elder Yane’s smile was strained. “They will wait. This is a wedding feast. Come out at once.”
/>
  “I will not touch,” Warlord Sao insisted.

  “Only an idiot would try to bind a bride against her will—inside close quarters—and swear they would not touch her. And on her wedding feast,” Elder Yane said, disapproving.

  “You have earned my contempt,” Elder Wida boomed. “If the king does not cut off your hand, I will.”

  “He will not cut off my hand.” The warlord’s eyes flashed. “I act on his orders.”

  Everyone looked relieved, as if they believed Warlord Sao.

  “No way,” she protested. “He didn’t order you to do anything.”

  The elders stared at Warlord Sao, flummoxed.

  “King Kayo doesn’t want me tied up. Ask him yourself.”

  Elder Yane frowned. “Warlord Sao is very honorable. He does not lie.”

  Warlord Sao lifted his chin in triumph.

  Harmony braced.

  She didn’t want to be a victim anymore. She didn’t want to get thrown overboard or deported or pushed around.

  But she was all alone. Again. She had no—

  The little green octopus flew into the pantry and twirled beside her as though her fear had summoned it.

  Oh. Thank goodness. Even though the octopus was tiny it shored up her heart. Now they were two against five hardened warriors and the others outside.

  Harmony refused to give in even though didn’t know if she would survive.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Faier did not attack wildly.

  The first lieutenant defended carelessly. Faier’s first calculated swipe caught him by surprise.

  “You disgusting rebel.” Tibe vibrated with amusement. He took his time swimming back and forth before Faier, enjoying stalking him almost as much as he enjoyed flaunting his power in front of seething Xarin. “A sacred bride’s pity will not save your scarred hide. You will die.”

  Faier measured his dexterity and reach. “I survived your last ‘mortal’ attack. You must work harder to kill me.”

  “Very well.” He slashed.

  Faier kicked hard. He rolled over the slash.

  Tibe reversed directions. “Ha!”

  Faier twisted—agony in his side—out of the blade’s path and brought down his borrowed broken trident.

  Clash.

  Their tridents locked.

  The motion stretched his abdomen. Pain stabbed him, and his side throbbed. Hot blood seeped from the bandage.