Sea of Secrets Anthology

by J E Feldman

  The young warrior could not help but sigh as he began to realize the responsibility placed on him by both his stepmother and mother.

  “Just promise me one thing, Airasanda,” the queen added, almost as an afterthought. “You must marry into the lineage. You must marry the other woman’s daughter when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “The other woman? Daughter? Who are you talking about? And how do we know whom the king will marry?” he asked.

  The queen laughed. “I know exactly who to marry the king off to. You must find the Lady Sienne of Krakohall. It isn’t far from here and she has a daughter named Priscilla. You must make sure that your father marries Sienne, and you, the daughter Priscilla. Win her hand if you must.”

  Airasanda bowed to his stepmother and nodded. “As you wish, my queen, so it shall be done.”

  Just as the queen had said, she annulled her marriage with the king of Galacor the very next day, after the latter had been granted mercy by the sage. Three days later, the queen left the citadel in a royal carriage with a departure that did not agree with the King Adanas. He turned morose and sad, and with guilt overtaking his conscience, he shut himself within the doors of his chambers, never once coming out, not even to eat and drink. Nothing anyone would say would bring him out, not even into the courtroom where justice needed to be given and laws upheld. Councilors, ministers, and Airasanda—every one of them tried to get him interested in the outside world, but failed in their attempts.

  A month after the departure of the queen, the king finally came out and rode in his chariot, accompanied by only a handful of guards toward Krakohall. Airasanda watched him leave, standing on the open balcony that overlooked the stretch of the river and beyond. He smiled. He had known of the king’s plans. His servants had planted thoughts about the beauty of Krakohall as soon as the king had expressed his wishes to go outside. Ten days past, so Airasanda also visited the Lady Sienne and asked her to become the queen of Galacor and also expressed his desire to marry Priscilla a year after. Both had agreed because it seemed that the former Queen Merinmeda had paid them a visit and explained to them every detail they needed to hear.

  When the king returned from Krakohall a day later, he told everyone that he wanted to wed the Lady Sienne. Though some of the councilors expressed their displeasure at the union, the majority of them agreed. If another marriage was the way the king would come out of his depression and rule the kingdom, so be it, they told themselves. And Airasanda encouraged that notion. In those few days, they had come to rely on him, though they still thought of him as the king’s bastard son and spoke behind his back. If not for the fact that their common goal was the prosperity of Galacor and the sovereignty of The Greentree dynasty, they would have hardly given him any thought.

  Ten days later, Lady Sienne and her daughter entered the city with their entourage. The city had been well-prepared. Fireworks burst in the sky—something that could be seen across leagues. Even Queen Merinmeda, who was now at the foothills of the South Ranges, saw the merriment hanging over Maishire, a place she had given her life to. Smiling then, she vanished into the mysterious caverns of the mountains, which were rumor to lead toward the lands of The Hashims. Merinmeda spoke into the very air that surrounded her. “You were always my first love, O husband, no matter how you treated me. I didn’t tell you this before. I loved you from the moment I set my eyes on you and gave all of myself to you. For what I couldn’t give, I apologize.”

  Sages and ascetics came and blessed the king. Huge feasts were prepared and every folk who flocked to the city was fed and dressed. Such was the grandiose of the celebration.

  Lady Sienne, however, laid the condition that she would marry the king only if her daughter was married to Airasanda. After much thought, King Adanas agreed to the union and blessed his son. Even as he did so, calling them to the topmost room in the spire of the castle, he thought he saw Marina staring at him from the river below, her fins splashing its cold and clean water. It was just for a moment, though. She disappeared as quickly as she had come. It seemed that Marina was never interested in setting foot on the land of Galacor ever again, just as she had promised Merinmeda.

  A year later, King Adanas’s wife gave birth to Christahel Greentree and Prince Airasanda’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named as Felicia. Joyous became the mood of the city and people celebrated and danced on the streets. However, that joy was short-lived. Adanas and Sienne were found dead ten days after. They had been poisoned.

  Though Airasanda had ordered an investigation into their deaths, no clue as to who had administered the poison could be found. Five days later, a mermaid named Selena came to the court and told Airasanda that the deaths had been caused by The Fallen, who had sent in one of their most vicious assassins named Kelemoth, who she said was a Mute.

  Airasanda investigated the Mute himself, even going as far as the village of Makaranya. He found it deserted and noticed that the ape-like colony had migrated after the daemons had attacked it. He wondered why the Mutes had decided to form an allegiance with the daemons after their village had been destroyed by the same people. Even as he lay pondering over their disappearance, Kelemoth wandered far away from the borders of Galacor and came to a sandy beach just a few leagues away from the Armandorean capital of Port’s Mouth.

  The Mute waited for about an hour, ignoring the long, curious looks the people around gave him. He wanted to drive them away. He moved to do so, but stopped as they got scared on their own. He followed their wide, bulging eyes and saw a mammoth dark cloud of smoke approach from the direction of the sea. The winds blew it faster toward them. It blew over them even as they retreated deeper into the lands beyond the shoreline. But he stood steadfast, not once wavering from the passing clouds, or shivering from the gathering cold.

  A stream of water made its way toward him. Bubbles rose in them, popping open with a sound. He smiled and placed the pouch of poison in it. The water swallowed it and retreated into the sea. The smoke cloud disappeared and just when he was about to leave, he felt a stinging pain in his stomach. In front of him was a large daemon with its wings like a bat. Its crimson eyes stared at him, making him quake under his glance; its pincers were ready to strike him. He looked down and saw a blade rammed into his abdomen, the skin around the stab wound wet with his blood. His life-force gurgled out of his mouth, finally open, which he had never thought could happen in his lifetime. He fell to the ground, his body vaporizing into ashes.

  “Is it done?” a voice called out, musical as ever.

  The daemon snarled and turned to face a beautiful mermaid walking toward it. It was Marina.

  “Done!” it said in its usual brusque voice.

  “Good, then my job for the moment is done too.”

  “So, Airasanda is not the innocent soul?” the daemon asked.

  She laughed. “Think you that I would give such an innocent soul to those Greentrees? I needed my curse broken, hence I agreed with Merinmeda’s plans. And I also need my revenge against those of my kind who saw fit to exile me because I stole the Amulet of Mazielle and used it to divide the Rock of Truth. I was exiled because a Greentree interfered in mermaid business and so have I now with theirs. And as for that innocent soul, it is pretty much in the body of my other child, who now lays chained in the caverns of the Icy Mountains, right in the captivity of The Brothers Dark.” She guffawed again like a lunatic would. “You can do with him whatever you want. You can tell your master that. That innocent soul could turn the tides of battle in your favor if only you find ways to turn him to your purpose. In return, the daemons shall keep away from the mermaids. You have drunk enough of our blood already. The massacre twenty-five years ago ensured that you got the powers you have always desired in order to be equal to those that call themselves The Hashims.”

  “And what about Airasanda?” it asked, pulling the blade from the sand where the Mute’s body had lain moments ago.

  “Airasanda will do as he is bidden. He doesn’t know
everything yet. He plays his part beautifully and now that he is wed and has begotten a child, the lineage of The Greentree family continues. But tainted as we both wanted. The son that was born to me of your seed, daemon, is both daemon and mermaid rather than human and mermaid as they now believe. That kind of blood will always answer to The Shadow. And the kid, she is a tri-brid—human, daemon, and mermaid. She will have powers that could very well change the future of the world. How is yet to be seen.”

  She paused to take in the joy she hadn’t felt for a hundred years. “We have succeeded in our quest, daemon!”

  The daemon roared and stood tall in front of her. Content with what had passed, it turned toward Marina and said, “You are a vicious mermaid, Marina. Your plans have come to fruition and my masters reward alliances and cooperation. But you are also full of trickery and deceit. You have betrayed your own family and kindred; who is to say you won’t betray us when you find the chance? I cannot have you wandering about, plotting everyone’s downfall.” It opened its mouth and revealed its pointed fangs. “Remember these fangs? They had almost killed you years ago when you seduced that king. And now they thirst for your blood once more. Last time, they didn’t kill you, but this time, they have only one purpose when they pierce your filthy mermaid skin: your death.” It snarled and leaped toward Marina.

  She staggered and stumbled onto the sand-filled ground. Raising her arms, she conjured a shield of shimmering water. The moment the fangs touched the shield, they began to burn and char. The daemon bellowed loud; it sounded full of pain.

  The shield disappeared and she stood up, hoisting herself from the earth. “You forget one thing, daemon. I am always a few steps ahead in the game than anyone else. Do you think I came unprepared for an eventuality as this? The last time, I had to be convincing. Hence, I let you sip my blood, though instead of sipping, you gulped it down as if I was a delicacy you didn’t want to let go. I almost died that night, but thank you for not killing me then. Thank you for having the wisdom to recognize my importance. Also, I must also commend you on the control you got at the last moment. If I had died then, I doubt your masters would be happy considering I carried the innocent soul in my womb. Not to mention, your son, daemon.” She smiled and let a blast of blue energy that struck the daemon in its chest, making it groan in pain. “Also, you forget that you also came close to dying at the hands of Adanas. I saved you then, daemon, by protecting you. I transported you by manipulating the flow of time itself. Do you know much power that required? I was only able to do it because I had a part of the Rock of Truth in my pockets. And now that the job is done, I am to be killed? Shame, daemon, that you turned out like….me! I thought you people were better. Very well, since I have done most of the job for you, in my eyes, you are the one who is expendable. So, when all of this is done, I shall drink to your death.”

  She raised her hands and a sparkling blue sword appeared in them. She jumped into the air and stabbed the daemon’s heart as she fell down. The monster roared and tried to push her away, but she never let go. She pushed deeper until the daemon’s strength gave way and it went limp from head to toe. Smiling maliciously, she leapt off the daemon’s corpse and vanished into a puddle of water as she was wont to do.

  The wind that blew from the sea breathed a white mist around the body and when it cleared, there were no signs of the battle. The entirety of the beach went silent except for the knights of Armandor, who came racing down the coconut groves that stretched beyond the shoreline for miles to the beach, wanting to investigate the ruckus. They found nothing but empty beaches and glorious, white sand that looked new and untouched.

  Faraway, from the surface of the blue ocean, Marina looked at them and said, “Now it is their turn to be afraid.” She vanished into the depths of the ocean even as seagulls flew in the sky above, circling the beach and the knights on it.

  Layne Calry

  Biography

  Rowen and Attina

  Layne Calry

  ROWEN

  Rowen moved quickly from the captain’s quarters, his eyes on the horizon and the storm fast approaching them. At each wave that rocked his ship, he shifted his weight and walked with a rollicking gait. He shivered once and frowned at the oppressive air and darkness that pressed on them from all sides. Lightning struck nearby and the water grew choppier as he fisted his hands at the loud clap of thunder. The wind tugged at the leather throng holding his jet-black hair back and he cursed under his breath. It had been clear sailing all day, but now this.

  A large shudder shook his ship’s timbers and Rowen barely caught himself from falling to his arse. He turned his head to stare at the portside of his vessel. The only warning of something coming from the depths was his first mate’s loud curse and bellow.

  Rowen stared as the creature rose from the deep. The blue of its eyes making his own green orbs sting, the monstrous horns and spikes laid across it. It was ten times the size of their small ship and truly a monster of the deep. The salty brine stung his face as the wind whipped it around the area, the creature’s putrid breath, a mix of rotten decaying meat, and the sea made his nostrils flare. He listened to the sound of his mates, screaming in fear and anger.

  He grasped the nearest thing to him, his fingers slick with water and cold as ice from the cool wind air. It had been a regular mission, but now it was suicide and he wasn’t sure if they would make it out alive. Rowen stared at the small harpoon in his hand and growled low in his throat. He hefted it, weighing it in his hand and then stared the creature down, his gaze following as it bobbed and weaved, grabbing his men in its jaws and pulling them into the salty sea.

  The sailor shifted and gave a second of calculations, factoring in the wind and the rain. Rowen cursed one more time and hefted his weapon at one of the creatures’ eyes, knowing it would only make the beast angry. He was not about to go to Davy Jones without a fight. In the end, his body would feed the fish anyway and the circle of life would keep on going.

  Rowen gave a cruel smile as the harpoon struck its mark, his aim true and the creature screamed as it’s one eye no longer worked. It thrashed and Rowen rushed to the side, picking up a sword that had fallen and stood next to his men. Blood colored the wooden pieces of the ship crimson and his men were at the ready. Rowen stood firm as the creature thrashed and jutted its head at his men while they parried and blocked each swing with their swords, clanging and causing their arms to ache.

  Rowen panted softly as he hefted his sword again and finally with one swift blow, he was thrown overboard. He fought to hold tight to his sword, but the creature thrashed and frothed in the water with its tail and legs. Finally, one blow knocked Rowen at the side of his head and with quick precision, the edges of his eyes went black and he sank into darkness.

  ATTINA

  Attina chased after the large creature, her heart pounding in her chest. Her sole focus was saving the sailors in the ship above her. She screamed as she heard the muted cries of the men above and launched herself to the surface. Rain pattered against her head and sounds that had been subdued under the sea now were booming to her sensitive ears. She stared up at the sky as brilliant flash of lightning blazed across the inky darkness. She cried out again as she heard the humans calling out guttural war cries and she rushed forward, anxious to help where she could.

  King Kairius had gone completely crazy at the loss of his eldest son to a sailor’s hand. Vowing to kill all and any humans that rode his waters, she made it her personal mission to warn and save as many as she could, much to the irritation of all those in her former home. There had been enough war and death to last her a thousand lifetimes.

  Attina froze and watched as the men stabbed and jabbed at the creature. One lone man loosed his harpoon and when he was knocked from the ship’s deck, Attina launched into motion. She swam as fast as she could and threw her arms around his middle.

  She swam and dragged him through the currents with her, panting softly as she tried to get him to the nearest cove. Attina ha
d retained her people’s ability to travel on land with legs. Most of her people had lost the ability after the war seasons ago, but she had not. Attina was certain it was due in part to the fact she was trying to save her people and the humans at the same time. Even if it was only one human or one merperson at a time. The great mother saw fit to allow her to keep her gifts if she continued to save those she could.

  As they made it to the cove and the sandy beaches, she pushed and tugged at the large sailor until finally his body left the water and she was on top of him looking down. Attina sucked in a breath and stared at him. Long black hair flowed around his head and his eyes lay closed, long black lashes curled at his cheekbones, prominent and rugged he gave the appearance of a well-worked man. Attina rested her head at his shoulder as she fought to catch her breath. She was a fast swimmer, but a man twice her size had almost sent her down to the deep. She would have been fine, but it would have been his death. She sighed and shifted her memory of what she was there to do, putting swiftness in her movements.

  Attina exhaled quickly and bent her head to his chest, hearing the gurgling of his lungs and the beating of his heart. She pushed the rest of him out of the water and with a small kiss to his forehead, threw herself back into the ocean and swam towards the fast sinking ship. Perhaps she could save more of them? Or even gather him weapons or food. Anything to give him a fighting chance at life away from the ocean and the creatures in it because she knew Kairius would never stop. No sailor was safe, at least not until the king was dead or his reach no longer spanned so far.