The new king appeared tired, his eyes far from rested, but his gaze was on Zale. The warrior took in the drawings and outlines without a sound, but I could tell he was engrossed. After a long moment of silence, he shifted some of the papers to the side, only to pull new ones in front of him. His eyes grazed over them voraciously and I found myself wondering what he was thinking.
“How many command this?” he pointed to the Outpost. Elik stepped forward, his normally green eyes looked almost blue in the afternoon sunlight.
“That used to be my main command. I have roughly fifty trained soldiers in charge of it.”
Zale nodded at his response and placed a finger on the sheet, before pulling it aside to reveal a document beneath. It was another sketch of the Outpost, but taken as if the artist had drawn it in the water. Each rock and crevice was perfectly referenced and I shivered remembering how steep the cliff face had been when standing upon the edge.
“Do the Hyven know of this?” the warrior asked, and I was surprised by the curiosity in his voice.
“Yes,” Tunder replied. “They have tried to scale the wall before and never made it to the top. We were able to keep them back.” Thinking of the lead balls I had carried up with Calmric, I now understood why.
The warrior nodded again and then raised his eyes to Tunder’s. “They only attack from the front side of the island.” He said it as a statement rather than a question, but the king replied anyway.
“Yes, they mainly come in here,” he pointed to the caves at the front of the island, “and here.” His finger traced the low cliffs where Zale and I had sat.
“Our plan,” Elik stepped up beside Zale, “when they attack, is to have three groups ready. One will draw the Hyven into the valley, while the other two will sweep in from the back, preventing escape. Voon’s command rests along the edge,” he pointed to the opposite side of the palace hill we had just climbed. “And Gendra has her scouts and command in the water. They will close in the rest of the valley.”
“A trap,” was all Zale said, and Elik nodded beside him. “You will need to push them through more training in order to be ready.”
Tunder’s back straightened, “Ready for what?”
“You know the date they’re coming,” Zale gestured in my direction and I stood transfixed.
“Of course, but we’re only guessing,” Tunder conceded.
“There is no need to guess, they will come for her.” Zale spoke as though the event had already happened and I suddenly realized what he meant. There were only six days left until my birthday, six days and Morven would be ready to change me into his siren. I swallowed heavily and glanced Kryssa’s way. She had her arms crossed over her chest, but gave me a small smile before turning back to the mermen’s discussion.
“You must train your soldiers as best you can in the limited amount of time you have left. They need to be prepared for anything. Morven will do whatever he can to get to her.”
“My soldiers are trained,” Tunder rebutted, but his voice was not unkind. “I already have them running extra scouting shifts and attacks. We’ve raided the outskirts of Hyvar twice, in the last five days.”
“I’m well aware of that,” the warrior said, stretching to his full height. “And Morven is too. He knows you’re waiting for him to attack, and you can count on him knowing she’s here too.”
Tunder sighed and looked away for a moment. His chest rose and fell beneath the black shirt he wore. “Then what do you suggest?”
“Be prepared for anything he might throw your way. That’s why you need to make sure your soldiers are in the best shape they can be. I will help Elik to train them. One new move can be the difference between victory and defeat.” My mouth hung agape, astonished by his offer to help.
“Agreed,” the king said and pursed his lips. “You and Elik will work together to train the soldiers who aren’t on duty. When they are relieved of their stations, they will report to me before training.” His eyes flicked to his new captain, “It may put them on edge, but I would rather have them angry, than all dead.”
“Yes, sir,” Elik said in agreement.
“One more thing,” the king held up his hand, “actually two. The first, I want her trained by you.” He pointed to Zale. “I’m not unaware of how skilled a fighter you are. You were able to keep up with us when you were human and now you’ve surpassed us.”
Zale’s gaze hardened when the king mentioned his human past. I bit my lip, knowing it brought the issue of our conversation to the forefront, but didn’t make a sound as I waited for his reply. One of his hands twitched, but he remained silent.
“I want her trained,” the king continued as though nothing had happened, “in and out of the water.”
“She did some work today,” Kryssa said softly, offering the information as though it would ease a little of the tension.
He nodded, “Good. See to it her training continues. Kryssa, I would like you to help as well.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“I don’t want you going far off Lathmor to train in the ocean. It will be tougher in the surf, but don’t go past the first guard line.”
Again, Kryssa nodded and I was thankful she was there. It was as if the king was speaking a different language.
“Secondly,” Tunder turned his gaze back on Zale, “I want to know how I can trust you.”
Zale met the king’s eyes, the mask of the warrior in place. “She’s all I care about. If you can help keep her safe, then I will fight with your soldiers.”
“Good enough,” the king replied, his jaw tight. There had obviously been more spoken on this subject beforehand. I had never seen Tunder give up on pressing an issue, and this was one he was certain to know to its full extent, before risking anything. “You are dismissed.”
Without another word, we left the room and proceeded down the spiral stairs to the hallway below. It was only when we reached the bottom, I realized Kryssa and Elik weren’t following us. I almost stopped in my tracks to wait for them, but Zale continued to walk forward and I hurried to keep up with him.
“Where are you going?” I asked, coming up beside him.
“Back to the dungeon.”
“You know, you don’t have to stay there anymore,” I said, almost laughing at how simple he sounded.
“Maybe I like the dark,” he suggested.
“Why don’t we go back outside?” I offered.
He shook his head, his lips turned down at the edges and I reached out for his hand. My cold fingers slid into his warm ones and he came to a stop, even though I barely had a hold on him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, seeing the dark inside his eyes.
He remained silent and instead dipped his head to brush his lips against my own. I inhaled the deep scent of him. It was salty and sweet at the same time, an overpowering musk. He deepened the kiss, crushing me against his body with a roughness I found intoxicating. His hands grazed where he had scratched me during training and I almost pulled back. He held me almost too tight and I felt nearly suffocated against his chest, he had never kissed me this way before.
When our lips broke apart, my fingers were still locked behind his head and I slid one hand through his thick hair to the side of his face, where I touched his cheek. His skin was wonderful beneath my own. I brushed my thumb against his cheek and as I looked into his eyes, I suddenly knew what was bothering him.
“You don’t have to prove who you are to me. I know you aren’t him,” my voice was a soft whisper between our lips and I moved in to press my mouth to his.
A sigh passed through him and he picked me up off the ground as he tilted his chin upward to kiss me. Wrapped in his arms, I clung to him and reveled in the moment and the feeling of him solid and warm before me. Slowly, our kiss became softer, and when he put my feet back on the ground, he pulled away to straighten to his full height.
Curling his fingers beneath my chin, he gave me a crooked smile. “It’s a good thing Tunder didn’t call m
e by his name. I may have had to teach him a lesson, same as the soldier in the valley.” He chuckled, his chest moving up and down. Remembering the Lathmorian soldier with the split lip, I suddenly realized what had happened.
“Don’t go down to the dungeon,” I said, pulling his forehead against mine.
“Not if you don’t want me to,” he said and kissed the skin between my eyes. I smiled.
As though we were of one mind, he turned me, his arm around my back and I led him through some of the halls until we were outside once more. We walked down the sloping hill and he readjusted his arm to simply hold onto my hand. It wasn’t until we reached the water’s edge that I realized what was happening.
“Your king said you should know how to fight in the water, right?” He raised one dark eyebrow, and I bit my lip, a little uncertain. “Shall we?”
15. Altered
There are moments in life when days move with a painstaking slowness, creeping by like stagnant summer air. Each second pressing on your thoughts and nerves, until you feel as though you are going to break; but for the moment, time seemed to be the opposite.
Over the course of the following days I fell into a routine, upon waking I left the palace to begin my training. Zale put me through my courses, pushing me to the point of exhaustion and helping me in any way he could. When we trained, he was short and direct with me, stirring alive some of the anger inside, but I found it helped to drive me onward. With each passing moment I could feel the closeness of my looming birth date and worked tirelessly to develop the skills I knew I needed to protect myself.
The more I fought, the more I realized the training helped me in more ways than one. Not only did it give me confidence in knowing I just might be able to protect myself, but it also gave me a glimpse of how I could be helpful without using my voice. When I realized I could be of use to the Lathmorians in battle, I began to double my efforts in training, pushing myself harder than I ever thought possible. Anything to avoid having to use my voice again.
We were in the middle of another training session, the water swirling around us, as I tried to catch and slice at Zale’s dark fins. He always proved too quick for me, but I was getting better, and he was having to work harder to keep his tail out of the way of the fake blades I had strapped to my hands.
I had learned how to drive my body forward with a powerful kick, while aiming blades toward the tip of the mertail. Zale had told me it was a merperson’s strongest and at the same time weakest point. If I was able to separate the tail from the fins, then I would render my opponent lame and could finish them easily. The tricky part was avoiding the slashing blades from up above while the tail and fins could flicker one direction and in an instant be on the other side.
Throughout the day we worked, sometimes in the water and sometimes out. I knew how to duck faster, slash more precisely, and how to use my tail as a weapon by pounding it against my opponent’s chest. I had learned that one the hard way when Zale’s tail had caught me in the middle of my stomach. For a moment I had been stunned and thought my insides were bruised when his tail collided with my body, and yet, I had carried on, only to get hit again before I dealt him the same blow. He had smiled when my lavender tail caught him against his scarred back, and even as I trained now, I remembered the way he had grabbed my fins and pulled me to him, his lips meeting mine beneath the water.
“Again,” Zale said, his real blades pointing toward me now. He had decided to use them the day before and I had fared well enough with only a small cut along my right shoulder. I used the force of a wave behind me and dashed at him, but he escaped too easily, the fake tips of the blades I wore missing his tail. I was just about to spin in the water and meet him again when his head jerked to the side, his ear cocked, listening to something I couldn’t hear.
“What is it?” I asked, pulling up beside him. Our fins touched one another every now and again in the depths of the constantly pulling water. His black shimmered brighter in the reflection of my lavender.
“They’re coming back,” was all he said, and without another word, we returned to Lathmor. Shooting out of a wave, we transformed in midair, tumbling into our clothes and landing on our feet without so much as a hesitation.
By the time we turned back to look at the waves, black garbed soldiers were pouring out of the depths of the water, highlighted in the white foam. They transformed and stepped onto the shores near us, their faces grim but determined. Some had blood oozing from open wounds on their shoulders or legs. I noticed fewer returned than had left.
Beside me, Zale’s hands twitched as he watched them pass us. He had wanted to go along with them, but had remained behind to protect me.
Over the course of the past few days, Tunder had been sending out groups of Lathmorian soldiers to attack the Hyven scouting parties. There had been fifteen deaths, excluding the ones which had happened today, and Gendra had been injured on the first attack. She had been taken to the infirmary, but from what I had heard, she didn’t stay long. She was out in the water somewhere now, protecting her soldiers and giving commands to maintain all three perimeter rings.
My eyes met the gaze of one mermaid as she walked past me, limping on her right leg as blood ran down her smooth skin. Her footprints turned the dirt red. She gave me a small smile and I knew the attack had been successful. But at what cost?
Tunder knew the moment for the Hyven’s attack on Lathmor would soon be upon us. His hope was to weaken the available numbers to attack, and yet sometimes, I wondered if it was really helping. By all accounts each occurrence had ended in the near elimination of a Hyven scouting party, but it also resulted in injuries and weariness of the Lathmorians.
Standing together, we watched the already dry soldiers disappear over the ridge, their shadows stretching across the ground from the setting sun like gaping doorways into the earth itself. Their sudden arrival and departure left me frozen in my spot, uncertain of what to do.
“Come on,” Zale said and wrapped my hand in his, leading me along the grass-padded ground where the hill began to climb toward the palace. Instead of taking the pathway up, he led me around the side and down into the valley. It was only when we reached the hill ascending to the Outpost, I knew where we were headed. We climbed the steep ground without pausing and reached the top where I worked to catch my breath. Beside me, Zale stood strong, his chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. He held his jaw tight and his eyes peered out over the water, as though he expected something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, after a moment of silence, squeezing his hand to get his attention.
He shook his head but didn’t answer. His eyes flickered back and forth, searching the horizon.
“They came back too soon,” he mumbled. I couldn’t tell if he was talking to himself.
Calmric suddenly appeared from out of the rock coverings along the cliff’s edge. “I thought I heard someone,” he said in greeting and started to walk our way. Glancing at Zale, he stopped in his tracks and looked out over the ocean as though expecting to see something there.
“What is it?” he asked, all the muscles in his body held still.
“The soldiers the king sent out this afternoon,” Zale spoke calmly, though something stirred beneath the surface, “they’re already back.”
“So soon? They must be close. Do you think they’ll attack tonight?” Calmric asked, his eyes matching Zale’s, as they searched the horizon.
“Most likely,” Zale nodded.
My mouth fell open and the knots in my stomach tightened. I thought I had one more day to be safe before everything fell apart, but it appeared I was wrong. It was certain Morven knew my birthdate, I had told him the night he changed me, but it wasn’t until tomorrow.
“What should we do?” Calmric asked, glancing toward Zale.
“Send one of your men down to the palace and let the king and Elik know we’re staying here for the night. I won’t have her anywhere near the valley.”
“Jonco!” Calmric
called out, and a thin merman emerged from the rock cave; his lanky limbs seemed almost too long for him. “Report to the king, tell him Lissie and Zale will remain here.”
“And tell him to be ready. They’re coming tonight.” The certainty with which Zale spoke sent a shiver down my spine. When I looked back at the young merman, Jonco, he was already taking off down the hill. He ran with a long gliding gait, his movement reminding me of a giraffe as his limbs stretched and recounted with every surge. I followed his long stride with my eyes until he disappeared beneath the cover of the trees.
“How many men do you have?” Zale asked.
“Twenty, including myself and you,” the Lathmorian soldier responded, his brow growing more creased by the second.
Zale only nodded in response, and when he turned to me, his expression was guarded “Keep your men on high alert. I want to know when they arrive.” Calmric nodded and returned to his station.
Time seemed to stand still, as the sun dipped in the sky faster than I thought possible. This can’t be happening, I thought, worrying my lip.
Zale led me to the cliff’s edge where we sat, our feet dangling high above the crashing waves pounding the wall, with a ferocity I could scarcely comprehend. As it grew darker, stars began to appear in little patches of visible sky through the clouds. A chill hung in the air and every now and again a shiver ran down my spine. I tried desperately not to think what was surely coming for me, but my mind could think of nothing else.
“You’re going to be fine,” Zale said after another shiver passed through me. I leaned toward him, my left shoulder brushing against his right.
“Okay,” was all I could think to say. I didn’t know how to tell him how vulnerable I felt. Maybe it was because we were sitting beneath the open sky on top of a cliff, or maybe it was because I knew the power Morven withheld, but I couldn’t help but feel as though something was going to go wrong.
Torrents (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 3) Page 22