Salt & the Sovereign: The Siren's Curse 2 (The Elemental Origins Series Book 8)

by A. L. Knorr

  Nike’s lips parted in surprise, her eyes glued to my face. She skipped right over the sunlight comment and went straight to the crux of the matter. “Have you fallen for this Atlantean? I can’t believe it.”

  “Haven’t you ever thought that an alliance might be a good thing between our people?”

  Nike scoffed derisively. “A good thing? For them, yes. For us, no. We’re the ones with all the resources. We own the richest, most valuable terrain in the Atlantic. How could we benefit from breeding with them?”

  She shuddered and it shook her entire torso, it had come from so deep within her. She made a sound of disgust.

  “I’m not so sure.” I was thinking of Jozef’s incredible intelligence, his love of the ocean, his desire to understand it better, his love for all things within it, and the ease with which he lived on land in harmony with humans.

  “There are things we might learn from them… some of them,” I added hastily. “I understand your point of view, Nike, but you’re basing it on the vagabonds. The only Atlanteans you’ve ever seen, that most sirens have ever seen, are the wanderers. Even Jozef cannot relate to them.”

  “Jozef,” she echoed, gazing at me. “The way you say his name…” She halted that line of thinking and set her shoulders. Her chin tilted up. “I’m happy you’ve made a friend, but I don’t think you should trust him.”

  “If you knew him, you wouldn’t say that.” I trusted Jozef entirely, and I had almost from the beginning. It wasn’t something I could explain, but I could feel his innate goodness. I had nothing to fear from Jozef and I believed that with all of my being.

  “Maybe so,” Nike said, “but until we figure out why our sirens are not returning, I still think you should be cautious. And don’t go giving away our secrets.”

  Nike quickly closed her mouth and colored. Perhaps she’d realized just how admonishing she sounded, and to her Sovereign at that.

  I smiled at her. I liked that she didn’t treat me any differently from how she had before I’d taken the throne.

  “Well, do you have any magic that can help us determine why the sirens are spending so much time away?” I asked.

  Her face went thoughtful, but after a few moments, she shook her head.

  “I don’t think so.” Her gaze sharpened on me. “You are the one who should have the capabilities of finding out more about this problem, not me.”

  “I am?”

  “Of course, you’re Sovereign. We’re all attached to you, and you to us. It’s why no one can overthrow you unless the Salt deems them worthy. You have the power of the Sovereign. It’s Salt-given, and it comes with great benefits.”

  I thought about the ability I had to go back into the memories of any Sovereign before me. Apollyona had lost that ability the moment I had become Sovereign. And what Nike had said about being tethered to my sirens was true. When a siren was coming home, I could feel her, somehow. It wasn’t an overt feeling, but there was a sensitivity in me to sirens coming home. I was never surprised by their appearance. I was never out swimming when they arrived in the caves of Califas, because I needed to give them their gem immediately.

  I must have somehow known not to expect any sirens home for two full years, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken on the swimming of our borders. I would never knowingly make a siren wait. But these things were not conscious; I did them without realizing that I was tuning in to some network between me and my people. If I was gone for too long from Okeanos, my anxiety levels began to eke upward and could be assuaged only by going home.

  I thought about this carefully over the next few days. I sat in quiet places in Okeanos, both within the caves and underwater. I noted a few of the names Lia had listed as having left over a decade ago. I held their names in my mind, closed my eyes, and tried to consciously tune in to them. To call them to me.

  I received no response, felt no connection to these sirens. Whether it meant they were too far away, or were on land, or were dead, I didn’t know. But it troubled me increasingly as time passed.

  Jozef taught me much about the creatures and cycles of the ocean over the next couple of years. He taught me about sea animals that I’d seen but had no name for. Sirens hadn’t much use for academia. Our interactions with humans were solely centered around finding a mate, and we didn’t generally need to prove intelligence of the scholastic kind in order to do that. Even if we wanted a human male who happened to be more cerebral, if he wasn’t attracted to a siren’s personality, she could force the issue using her voice.

  The attraction between Jozef and me was different from any I’d experienced before and I assumed that was thanks to the gem that sat at my neck. I was falling in love with him, and he with me, but our love had none of the urgency or desperation that I’d felt with previous mates. I enjoyed spending time with Jozef without thinking about an ‘end game.’ There was no active cycle within me, urging me to mate with him and produce a siren. We became friends first, then later, lovers.

  I could have lived this way forever. I was happy. My only nagging concern—which Nike now increasingly brought up––was our decreasing population. I understood more intimately now how the sirens of centuries past felt when they realized that their numbers of tritons were dwindling. At a loss for what to do about it, I used my time with Jozef to escape the daily life of the Sovereign, although I never told Jozef who I was to the citizens of Okeanos. I was, for the majority, at peace.

  Then I met his father.

  Jozef and I were poring over his discoveries of life in the deepest parts of the ocean. We knew less, he said, about the depths of the world’s oceans than we did about the surface of the moon. He took out folders full of sketches of the creatures he’d seen, but explained that he’d seen the deep-sea species from a submersible.

  “You haven’t swum with these creatures yourself?” I asked him, surprised because every other specimen he’d drawn had been produced as a result of an in-the-flesh encounter with the subject.

  He turned his head to gaze at me, shaking his head.

  We were sitting side by side in front of the largest coffee table in his library with a large leather portfolio open in front of us. The drawings were not much more than sketches—Jozef had yet to render them into full scientific drawings. These were the latest in his collection of sea art.

  “Atlanteans are well suited to a life underwater,” he explained, “given our gills, our webbing, and the fact that we repel sharks.”

  “You do?”

  “As do you, Bel. You didn’t know?”

  “They don’t attack us, but I never thought it was because we actually repel them. How do we do that?”

  He smiled. “It probably seems like a big mystery, but it’s simply a matter of taste. Sharks don’t like the taste of iron-rich blood. Atlanteans, humans, and Mer all have blood high in iron content. We’re not their natural food source. They much prefer the taste of copper-rich blood, which is what fish and other aquatic creatures have. We have all these features, but we cannot withstand the incredible pressures of the depths at which these creatures live.” He paused, finely arched eyebrows up. “Can you?”

  “Yes, sirens have no problem at any depth,” I told him. “We even sometimes hibernate at great depths for years.”

  His lips parted in shock. “Really? You stay down there for years? With these creatures?” He waved a hand over the drawing of the deep-sea angler fish open in front of us.

  The angler fish was a creature of nightmares, with transparent, bulging eyes and teeth so enormous the creature couldn’t even close its own mouth.

  I laughed. “I suppose humans would find these creatures grotesque, but I don’t. I find everything that lives in the ocean beautiful in its own way. Don’t you?”

  Jozef chuckled. “Beautiful is a stretch, but certainly fascinating.” He flipped over the drawing to the next one, a long parasite with dangling tentacles.

  He made a funny gurgle of disgust and I laughed at him.

  “We used to th
ink that life could not survive this far down,” he continued with a grin. “So far from sunlight, photosynthesis wasn’t possible.” He turned the page again, revealing a drawing of a bizarre-looking eel with very small eyes and an absolutely enormous triangular mouth. “It’s exciting. Advancements in technology are allowing us to learn just how wrong our assumptions were.”

  “Perhaps I could help you in some way,” I suggested, “given that I have the ability to go down there. I could bring back samples, or if you have some kind of device that can take photos underwater, I could try and get images of them.”

  I looked up into a pair of shining eyes. He put a knuckle under my chin and tilted my face up to his. “You’re a wonder. You know that?”

  He kissed my lips and then my cheeks and wrapped an arm around my neck to pull me close, burying his nose in my hair. He took a deep breath, inhaling my scent.

  There was the sudden and loud sound of someone coughing to clear his throat. Jozef jumped and stood up, then began to laugh.

  “Father,” he said, putting a hand over his chest. “You startled me.”

  “I can see that,” said the man standing in the doorway.

  Jozef’s father was as tall as Jozef, but much broader in the shoulder than his son, as well as a little rounder in the belly. He wore a navy jacket done up with two rows of brass buttons. His wool trousers were neatly pressed with a perfectly straight crease running down the front. His shoes were perfectly polished black leather. There was something vaguely nautical about his clothing and I wondered if he was a sea captain. An Atlantean as the captain of a human ship? It was another jarring thought which loosened the last of my prejudiced ideas about who and what Atlanteans were. His hair was white and clipped short, and he had a short white beard and brows, also neatly kept.

  “I see you have a visitor,” Jozef’s father said, crossing the room to stand before us within the circle of furniture. His voice was good-natured, almost jovial. “When were you going to introduce us?”

  “I didn’t know you were arriving home today,” Jozef replied, still standing. “Gabriela never told me. Welcome home.”

  I stood as he introduced me, smiling at the father of the man I loved.

  “This is Bel.” Jozef looked down at me and said, “Bel, this is my father, Claudius Drakief.”

  Claudius dropped his chin in a respectful nod and I reached out a hand, recalling that humans greeted one another this way, so perhaps Atlanteans who lived like humans did as well.

  He took my hand in his, his flesh was soft and cool.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Bel…” He raised a gray eyebrow and his gaze darted from me to his son. “Does the young lady not have a last name?”

  “You could use Novak, if you like,” I replied, offering him the last human surname I’d used.

  Claudius looked at me again, quizzically this time. His gaze dropped to the aquamarine at my throat. The pleasant smile on his face slowly dissolved as his eyes lingered there, then rose to scrutinize my features. He made a study of my skin, my bright blue eyes, my hair––currently piled on top of my head in a top-knot to keep my neck cool, but obviously a great amount of hair.

  His gaze found the gem at my throat again and his eyes grew hard. They cut back to my face, now expressing something completely anathema to welcome.

  “Ah…” Claudius said, and let the sound draw long from his throat in a deep rumble that sounded like a realization, one he wasn’t all that happy to have made. He dropped my hand and glanced at Jozef, his brown eyes glittering with anger. His reaction was instantaneous, and I felt the change in his temperament, for it was so swift and visceral that it seemed to suck all the air from the room.

  Jozef however, appeared not to notice; either that or he chose to ignore it.

  “Bel and I will be working together, we’ve just decided,” Jozef went on.

  My guts had begun to slowly curdle as Claudius stepped back from us, his mouth a line of disdain. The tiniest lift at his upper lip made him look like he was suppressing a snarl.

  “Since she can visit places in the ocean that we can’t…” Jozef’s words slowed down as his father continued to back away. “Are you all right, Father?”

  “Might I speak with you alone, Jozef?” Claudius asked, but his glittering eyes were on me. “Now.”

  “Certainly,” Jozef replied, and his tone finally betrayed some level of doubt. With an apologetic smile sent my way, Jozef followed his father out the library doors.

  My mind whirled. Why such a strong negative reaction to me?

  Seconds ticked by and I sat on the couch again, too concerned to go back to the drawings. Seconds turned into minutes: ten, then fifteen. Still Jozef did not return. Unable to stand waiting any longer, I got off the couch and went to the door, straining my siren ears for some clue as to where the two men had gone and what they were discussing.

  Distantly, I heard the drone of male voices having an argument they were making an attempt to keep hushed. Words hissed out on sharp breaths and high-pressured whispers.

  “… made a mistake,” the deeper, more guttural voice which belonged to Claudius was saying, “protecting you all these years from the knowledge our people have. I was trying to give you a good life, allow you to pursue the things you had a passion for. I never forced you to join us, and in fact sent you away so you could be free to live like the human you so obviously prefer to be.”

  “What are you saying…” Jozef’s whispered reply began, only to be cut off.

  “It’s not your fault,” his father said, with a tone that said he believed otherwise. “But I never thought I’d come home to this, to you…” there was a pregnant pause where Claudius searched for the right word, “fraternizing with a… a… one of them.”

  There was a long pause before Claudius continued, “It’s time I give you a proper Atlantean education, the one you should have had when you were just a boy, the one I so foolishly thought to protect you from…”

  I didn’t wait to hear any more. The problem was clear enough. Claudius might walk on land and dress like a sea captain, but in his heart, he was all Atlantean. He had the prejudice that I expected most Atlanteans to have, and could I blame him? My mother had killed his people, no one would fully know how many perhaps, except for the Foniádes who’d executed her will.

  It was clear I was not welcome in this house anymore, and my heart began to bleed with sadness. With the loving of Jozef, a hope had taken root in my heart, one I had nurtured in my quiet moments. The intensity of that hope was not fully known even to me until Claudius had come in and dashed it.

  What if––my heart had asked––an Atlantean and a siren could make a life together? What if they could have a family? What if they could share the precious resources of Okeanos, and Atlanteans who wanted to live a life underwater could do so if they wished, and sirens who wanted to mate for life could do so as well? No more broken-hearted human males left in our wake, no more human boys abandoned by mothers who were simply unable to stay on land?

  With the appearance of Claudius, a cold, dark shadow drained the color from this dream that I had just begun to lovingly nurture.

  Unsure of what to do and not wanting to cause more difficulty for Jozef, I slipped out of the library, down the path to the ocean, and beneath the waves.

  Eighteen

  My mind buzzed with concern as I entered the halls of Califas. I went straight to the freshwater pools, craving clearer thinking. But my muddled thoughts and emotions were not due to salt, and pulling sweet water through my gills did not help.

  Claudius had displayed an obvious prejudice against me and my kind. I couldn’t blame him for this, given what Apollyona had done during her reign. But it was surprising because Jozef, his own son, displayed such a marked lack of that same prejudice. Jozef spent time in the water for his work, but otherwise he lived as any human would enjoy living––with plenty of comfort, personal property, wealth, and enjoyable social relationships. Jozef had reaped the benefits o
f a generous education from his father. I knew that he was part of an extensive network of scientists, historians, and a multiplicity of other experts. He was respected, ahead of his time (naturally, given his abilities), and well established in his chosen career. How could a man with attitudes like Claudius have raised a man like Jozef?

  I lay in the freshwater pool for a long time, gazing up at the ceiling, completely unseeing and unappreciative of the multitude of glowworms and bioluminescent algae on the cave walls and ceilings. I was distraught for personal reasons, as well.

  It was likely Claudius had already forbidden his son to see me again. I played the details of the scene and the snippets I’d heard of their conversation over and over in my mind, torturing myself with it.

  By the time Nike found me, I had tears pouring down my face, leeching the salt from my system and sending it into the freshwater pool.

  “You’re back! I’ve been looking for you every…” She didn’t finish when she saw my face. “Sybellen?”

  When I didn’t respond, she sat on the edge of the pool, her forehead wrinkling with concern.

  “What’s the matter?” Her tone hardened as her imagination fed her some guess. “What’s happened? What did he do?”

  I laughed in spite of the tears flowing freely down my face. “Jozef is not to blame, Nike.” Sitting up straighter, I brushed my palms across my face. “You’ve been looking for me?”

  “Yes, I hope you noticed just how empty and hollow our caves and valleys are as you made your way home.” Nike lowered her chin and pinned me with a meaningful gaze. She was very concerned, to say the least.

  In truth, I’d been too lost in my own thoughts to have noticed, but now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen many sirens swimming about Okeanos as I might have expected.

  “I noticed,” I lied.

  “Well?” Nike put a hand on her hip in an amusing display of ire.

  “I am not sure what you want me to say, Nike. What would you have me do? Send our remaining sirens out to look for the ones who have not yet returned? I tried calling them, I told you that. I got nothing but dead water.”