“I don’t think Randel wants to play with it anymore anyway,” Aislin said.
“It’s really raining now,” Liv said. “Let’s go outside.” But before they could make it to the doors Bonnie stopped them.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she said.
Liv turned slowly around. “Outside?” she said hopefully.
“Nope.”
“But you’re making us miss all the puddles!” Liv complained.
“Exactly,” Bonnie said. “That’s a new dress you’re wearing and I don’t want you getting it all muddy.” She smiled at Aislin. “Hello, Aislin. It’s good to see you again.” She looked around. “Where’s Randel? You didn’t come up here alone, did you?”
“He’s outside,” Aislin said.
“You’re making him stand in the rain?” Bonnie went over and opened one of the front doors. She leaned out and yelled, “Come on in out of the rain, Randel!” She stepped back as Randel appeared a minute later. He stopped right inside the door. Water running off him puddled at his feet. “You’re soaking wet,” Bonnie said.
“It’s all right,” he said with a shrug. “Mama always said I wouldn’t melt.”
“No point in testing that though.” Bonnie turned to the servant. “Find Randel something to wear while you hang up his clothes to dry. Get him something to eat too. The poor man looks like he’s starving.”
“It’s really okay,” Randel said. “I don’t have—”
“We’re not talking about this,” Bonnie interrupted. “Go with him. Someone will come find you when it’s time to walk Aislin home.” Dismissing him, she turned back to Liv. “You can play inside today.”
“But, Mommy—”
Bonnie held up one finger. “It’s that or your friend goes home. Which is it?”
Liv’s expression darkened, and she opened her mouth to argue. But then she took Aislin’s hand and stalked away. They walked down the hall, went around a corner, and just like that Liv’s whole demeanor changed. It was remarkable. The anger and frustration disappeared instantly and were replaced by her usual sunny disposition.
“I could have kept fighting, but I decided to let it go,” she told Aislin, giving her a sly look. “Tomorrow I’m going to try again to see if she will let us go down to the sea. It will go better if I let her win one first, don’t you think?”
Aislin wasn’t sure what to think. It amazed her how sneaky her friend truly was. She was always a step or two of ahead of everyone else, planning her next adventure. Liv seemed to relish the obstacles in her way, constantly scheming ways to get around them and get what she wanted.
They went up a couple of floors and then into a room that Aislin recognized. It was the room where she’d first met Macht Rome and Quyloc. It had a big table in the middle with lots of maps on it. There were also several mugs and a pitcher on the table. Double doors led out onto a balcony. Liv opened one of the doors. There was a roof over the balcony so only a little bit of rain had fallen on it. Liv walked out onto the balcony.
“There,” she said triumphantly. “I didn’t actually leave the palace, so Mommy can’t get mad at me. But I still got to go outside.” She grinned at Aislin. “I really hate losing.”
Aislin walked over to the railing. They were on the top floor of the palace and from here they could see out over the wall of the castle. The city lay spread out below them.
“Daddy says he used to use a room up in the tower for his meetings, that from there you could really see the city,” Liv said. “But since the vine took over the tower he can’t go there anymore, so he uses this room. I think he’s too fat to climb up into the tower anymore anyway.” She pointed. “You can see the main gates from here. They look so small.”
After staring at the city for a while, they went back into the room. Liv climbed up on one of the chairs and leaned on the table. She picked up one of the mugs and sniffed it, then made a face. “Ugh. It’s rum. I don’t see how Daddy drinks the stuff.” She picked up another one and sniffed it. “At least this one is water.” She took a drink, then started pawing through the maps. “I like maps. I like to look at the names on them and imagine what those places are like.”
Aislin didn’t say anything. She’d never really looked at a map before. She stood up on tiptoe and looked at one. All she saw was some lines on a piece of parchment and a few words. She didn’t see how looking at this would help her imagine some place she’d never been.
“This is the one I like the best,” Liv said, unrolling one of the maps. “It’s the map of the Gur al Krin desert. It shows where Melekath’s prison is and everything. It even shows where the old capital city of Kaetria is buried.”
“Whose prison?” Aislin wanted to know.
“Melekath. You remember, I told you about him before. There was a big war before we were born. Didn’t your mother ever tell you about it?”
“Mama doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“I don’t know why not. She was just about the greatest hero of the war, you know? I mean, after Daddy, of course.”
“Why was Melekath in prison?”
Liv turned to her. “Melekath was a god and long ago he made the other gods very angry, so they made a prison deep underground and put him and his Children in there.”
“What did he do?”
Liv frowned, thinking. “I’m not really sure. He broke a treaty or something.”
“Is that bad?”
Liv shrugged. “I guess so. They put him in prison for thousands of years for it.”
“And his children too? Why?”
“They weren’t really his children, not like you think. Most of them were grown up and everything. But I don’t know why. They must’ve been bad too.”
Aislin considered that, wondering how bad a child had to be to get put into prison for thousands of years.
The door opened and Brecken came walking in. He looked surprised to see them. “What’re you two doing in here?”
“Nothing,” Liv said. “What are you doing in here? Are you following us?”
“Believe me,” he said, sitting down in one of the chairs. “I have lots better things to do than follow you two around.” He flicked his hair out of his eyes and looked at Aislin. “Aren’t you tired of her bossing you around yet?”
With him staring at her with those big blue eyes Aislin found she was unable to speak. She felt her face get hot and suddenly found something on the floor to look at.
“Don’t answer him, Aislin,” Liv said. “He’s only being difficult. He’s good at it.” To Brecken she said, “And I’m not bossy.”
“Then you don’t know what bossy means.”
“I do too!”
“She thinks she runs this place,” Brecken told Aislin. “She’s always bossing everyone around. She’s almost as bad as Mother.”
“Shouldn’t you be out learning how to swing a sword or something?” Liv asked.
“It’s raining too hard. You better not mess up that map. Father will be mad.”
“I know that. I’m not some little kid, you know. Go away, Brecken,” Liv said irritably. “We don’t need you here.”
“That’s no way to talk to someone who could get you in trouble so easily. It would only take one word in the right ear,” he said, with a sly look on his face.
“Nobody’s listening,” Liv said, sticking her fingers in her ears and squinching her eyes shut.
“That’s not going to work,” he said. “I can stand here all day.” He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, then started whistling loudly.
“You’re impossible!” Liv yelled. “Don’t you have something else to do?”
“Nope. I can’t train and my math tutor is sick. So I can sit here all day if I want.” He had a little grin on his face. He was clearly enjoying this.
That’s when Aislin had an idea. It kind of shocked her, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked it.
She looked at the pitcher. It was on the other side of the table and somew
hat behind Brecken, who was turned toward them. She waggled her forefinger. The water began to rise into the air. Liv spotted it right away and turned to Aislin. She grabbed onto Aislin’s arm and put her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were sparkling.
“Do it,” she whispered.
“Do what?” Brecken wanted to know. “What are you two planning?” By then the water was hanging in the air, suspended right over his head.
“Do it!” Liv yelled.
Aislin let go of the water.
It crashed down on Brecken’s head, soaking him instantly. Spluttering, he jumped up and looked behind him. “What? Where did that come from?”
Liv was laughing madly. “Serves you right!” she yelled. Aislin was giggling softly. Brecken did look funny, all wet like that. But she was also kind of worried. What if he was mad at her now? What if he didn’t think it was funny?
Brecken’s eyes fixed on Aislin. “You did this, didn’t you?”
“You should see yourself,” Liv howled. “That will teach you!”
Brecken ignored her. He came a few steps closer. Different emotions played across his face. Aislin was starting to wonder if she’d made a mistake.
Then he smiled. It was a calculating smile. “You win this one, Aislin. But we’ll see. My time will come.” He turned and left the room.
“That was awesome!” Liv said, grabbing Aislin and giving her a big hug. “I never beat him, but you did it, easy as that.” She shook her head, marveling at it. Then her smile faded a bit and was replaced by determination.
“You pranked Brecken and he won’t forget it. We have to be careful. He’s going to get us back sooner or later. Brecken never lets anyone win that easily.”
Chapter Five
It took a couple of months, but Bonnie finally agreed to let the girls go down to the sea. However, when the agreed-upon morning came, she spent a considerable amount of time lecturing Randel on all the things to watch out for and letting him know what she’d do to him if he let anything happen to her baby. Randel was subdued after that and didn’t speak the whole way down to the sea.
They dismounted near the mouth of the river. “Hand me your reins and I’ll tie the horses to these trees,” Randel said. “And wait for me,” he added quickly. “Don’t go down to the sea until I can go with you.” Unfortunately for him, as soon as they hit the ground the two girls raced for the sea, completely ignoring Randel’s yells.
Aislin made it to the sea first and dove into the water. Liv, following her, ran into the water up to her knees, where she hesitated. Almost immediately a wave crashed into her, soaking her and nearly knocking her down. Liv shrieked and ran back out of the water. “It’s so cold!” She hugged herself, shivering. “Aren’t you cold?” she called to Aislin.
Aislin was a few yards out already, only her head sticking out of the water. “No. Not at all.”
Liv wiped water off her face. She licked her lips and got an odd look on her face. “It tastes like it has salt in it. Why?”
“I don’t know. Because it has salt in it, I guess. Are you coming in or not?”
Liv walked hesitantly up to the water’s edge again, watching the incoming waves warily. Having finished tying the horses, Randel came hurrying up. “You’re all wet!” he said. “Your mother said you were only to go in up to your knees.”
“I did,” Liv said. “But then a wave hit me.”
She took a few steps into the water, Randel staying right beside her. Another wave crashed against her, spraying her with water, and she laughed and ran back out of the water. When she went back in she tried jumping the next wave and got even wetter.
Aislin came back to the shore and for the next half hour or so they played in the waves, laughing and yelling and splashing each other. Liv was fascinated by everything. She marveled at how it felt like the waves were trying to drag her out to sea. She liked the way they dug out the sand from under her feet when she stood in one place. She screamed a little when a long strand of seaweed wrapped around her legs. When she realized it was only a plant and not some kind of snake, she draped it over her shoulders and pretended it was a scarf and she was a fancy lady.
Randel finally relaxed enough to get out of the water, though he hovered nearby, too nervous to sit down.
Eventually, they tired of playing in the waves and sat down on the sand. Liv was shivering a little and there were goosebumps on her arms.
“What do you think?” Aislin asked.
“I love it. It’s so beautiful.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “But it’s scary too. It’s so big and powerful.”
“It is,” Aislin agreed.
Liv dug her hands into the sand. “The sand is so soft.” She saw something moving along the beach and said, “What’s that?”
Aislin looked over. “It’s only a crab.”
“Does it bite?”
“No. It pinches a little, but only if you scare it.” Aislin put her hand down in front of the crab. It was only a little one, about the size of a coin. It waved its pincers in the air, then climbed up onto her hand. She held it up where Liv could see it.
“Are those its eyes?” Liv asked. “They look funny.”
Aislin looked at the crab closer. “It does look funny, doesn’t it?” She’d never before thought about how strange crabs looked. To her a crab didn’t look like anything. It simply looked like a crab, something she’d been seeing her whole life.
“Now show me some of the things you can do with the water,” Liv said. “Since it’s only us.” She glanced over her shoulder at Randel who had finally sat down, though he was still watching the girls closely. In a low voice she said, “Does Randel know what you can do?”
“He knows,” Aislin said. “He doesn’t care.” But now that it was time, Aislin found herself nervous. What if Liv thought she was weird? She’d already said the sea was scary. What if she thought Aislin was scary too?
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Liv said. “Mommy always says I’m too bossy. She says I tell people what to do all the time.”
“No, it’s okay.” Aislin pointed out to flatter water, past where the waves were breaking. She fluttered her finger and a swirling column of water rose up into the air a few feet.
“Are you doing that?” Liv said in awe.
Aislin nodded.
“Wow.”
Seeing that her friend didn’t seem scared, Aislin decided to go a little further. She pointed at another spot and waggled her finger. Another swirling column of water rose up, a few feet from the first. She started to sing, a soft, wordless melody, and the columns changed color. One turned dark green, the other light blue. Sparkles and flashes of light appeared in them.
“That’s so incredible,” Liv breathed. “I had no idea.”
Aislin changed the pitch of the song and creatures appeared in the water, odd, brightly colored fish in all shapes and sizes, manta rays, sea horses, tiny sharks. She caused them to jump from one column to the other, faster and faster until the air was filled with them.
She stopped singing and lowered her hands. The creatures dissipated and the water sank back into the sea.
“That was the best!” Liv said, throwing her arms around Aislin and squeezing her fiercely. Aislin tensed at first, surprised by the sudden display of emotion, but she didn’t pull away and after a moment she was able to relax a little.
“You really liked it?”
“No,” Liv told her with a serious expression. Then a smile broke over her face. “I loved it! You should be in the park with the entertainers. You’d be the greatest.”
Aislin had been to the park to watch the entertainers, the tumblers, the puppeteers, the actors and musicians. The thought of performing in front of everyone like they did filled her with horror and she shook her head no.
Liv looked down the beach. “There’s someone coming.”
Aislin turned and looked. “That’s Treylen.”
“Oh, good,” Liv said, jumping to her feet. “I’ve been wantin
g to meet him.” Aislin had told her about the old man and how he’d helped her.
Liv ran over to Treylen, Aislin trailing along behind her. But when she got to Treylen she didn’t say anything or stick out her hand. Instead she turned and gave Aislin a meaningful look. “Well?” she said to Aislin.
“Well what?” Aislin asked, looking from one to the other. Both Liv and Treylen were looking at her expectantly. Treylen had a smile on his face.
“I think your friend is waiting for you to introduce us,” Treylen said.
Aislin blinked at him in confusion. “Why?”
“It’s the polite thing to do, silly,” Liv said.
“I don’t know how,” Aislin said, taking a step back. She didn’t like the way this was going at all. Why were they making this so hard?
“It’s easy,” Liv said, grabbing Aislin’s arm and pulling her forward. “All you do is say, ‘Treylen, meet my friend Liv.’”
After a moment Aislin repeated what she said, but she mumbled the words while staring at the ground. This was looking like a worse idea every moment.
“Not to me! You say it to him. Then, to me you say, ‘Liv, this is my friend Treylen.’”
Aislin frowned and said nothing, but it didn’t slow Liv down at all.
“And then I say, ‘I’m very pleased to meet you, Treylen,’ and he says the same thing back. There, now we’re all friends. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“I’m going back into the sea,” Aislin said, and ran off.
“Don’t worry about her,” Liv told Treylen. “She has trouble with the little things sometimes, but she usually gets over it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her seriously.
“Aislin told me about you,” Liv said.
“She told me about you too.”
Liv’s eyebrows went up. “What did she say?”
Treylen gave her a little smile. “That you’re loud.”
“What? I’m not—” she yelped, then broke off with a sheepish grin. “Okay. Maybe a little. What else?”
“That you’re brave.”
Sea Born (Chaos and Retribution Book 3) Page 7