“You know, I didn’t realise I wasn’t answering your questions properly. You should have said.” He says, a crease in the middle of his forehead.
“Shh. I don’t want to fight. You’re fine, don’t listen to Atlas. We are exploring our thing together. It’s hard, but I think it’s going to get better.” I smile at him and he gives me a gigantic boyish grin back, squeezing my hand.
“We do have our own thing, don’t we?!” He says it like the phrase has lit a firework in his mind. He yanks me straight and pulls me close, kissing me deeply as I groan into his mouth, hovering inside the royal box. He releases me and I breathe into him.
“Thank you for bringing me here today. I loved it.” I admit and he smiles.
“No thanks needed, it’s my pleasure. Come on, we better find my father.” Orion kisses my forehead. As we head after the crowned ruler and his beautifully Caribbean other half, I am glad for the first time I can remember, that I, Callie Pierce, am a mermaid.
It doesn’t take long before I’m staring up once again at the Alcazar Oceania, its jaded hues glinting mythically from the sun above.
“Come on, let’s get inside.” Atlas encourages me forward, and I glance back over my shoulder, there are a large number of mer-folk looking in our direction, still roaming the city after the exhilarating game.
“Why are they looking at us?” I ask, thinking aloud abruptly.
“They are nosy, please ignore it. They’re just curious about you.” Atlas says it to me and I shrink, a violet among the seaweed gardens that line the front of the palace.
“Why?”
“Don’t you know about the bloodline of our people? Please tell me Orion hasn’t omitted everything about our culture?” He looks surprised.
“Orion told me not to worry about it.” I say and Orion shoots me a warning look from beside me, I worry I’m overstepping my bounds.
“Well, of course my son would say such things. Having been rogue for the last few centuries.”
“I haven’t been rogue!” Orion argues and I can’t help but feel slightly amused. I am so used to seeing Orion being alpha male, right now he was being smacked down, treated like a child. I probably shouldn’t find it so funny, but I smile to myself anyway.
“You call scouring the shores for girls to …” Atlas trails off as Orion exhales and my heart drops through my stomach to hit the floor.
“I’m sorry, Callie. That was crude of me. I just, I need you both to understand, I may not always be here. The fate of our people, and more importantly the world, may one day rest in your hands.” He looks sternly as we approach the guarded front doors and I nod in agreement. I feel seriousness taking hold of me, I wonder how Orion can be so blasé with the responsibility of it all.
“I think maybe we all need to calm down a little. You’re scaring her honey.” Shaniqua purrs the letters in her thick caramel voice.
“I know. I’m sorry. But we will discuss this, when you’re ready.” He turns away from me and waves to Cole, who does not smile at me but rather has a stony expression. I wonder if it’s part of the role and I assume so as I see a slight twinkle of kindness behind his eyes. The doors are huge, but he and Ghazi hop up and push them apart, propping their streamlined spears against the walls. The inside is cavernous and unlike any structure I have ever seen. The floor looks like a giant stained glass mural of a mermaid, with deep jewelled multi hues filling each segment, and creating a mind-blowing macrocosm of colour and warmth. The inside is not what I expect of a palace. The main body of the room is a doughnut shape, with the centre being home to gardens I observed once from above. Columns of glass keep the structure standing strong.
“This level is the ball room, for our functions, such as the masked-ball, which we hold here sometimes if we cannot decide on another venue.” Atlas explains. “The upper levels are more segmented: we have a personal armoury, an alchemy lab, the viewing room, a large library, and of course sleeping and living quarters for myself, Shaniqua, and Starlet. There is room for many more, but for now it’s just me and my family who reside here. Except Orion of course.” Atlas says this large comment with contempt and I remember Orion telling me about why he didn’t want to live in the Alcazar Oceania with his other blood relations.
“Okay, what’s that?” I ask, peering upwards as we drift across the stained glass floor and toward the central garden. Above it, I see a high round room, central to the front of the structure, jading the flowers below.
“Come.” Shaniqua says, lifting my hands with hers gently and ushering me upward. This place has no stairs, but why should it? Nobody here has need of them.
“This is the throne room. It’s where I find my husband on nights where he refuses to sleep.” When we reach the level of the archway entrance, which looks clean cut into the glass, we move forward. Yet another stained glass mural, but this one is not of a mermaid, but rather of Atargatis, with her body moving into the waves, lilac hair flowing behind her under a full moon. At the far end of the room is a large panoramic piece of clear glass, which is barely noticeable from the outside but gives a complete view over the city. Standing before it are two of the most ornate thrones I could have imagined. The two seats are carved from the most beautiful wood that has been lacquered to within an inch of its life to prevent rotting from the water. The thrones look as though they have grown out of the floor, with various strands moving upward to make a kind of cradle in which to sit. They look ancient and they extend upwards to around twice my height, they are tall and are encrusted with sea-life. It is the perfect melding of land and sea, a reminder of the charge to which the mer give their lives and a stunning centrepiece to the room which is flooded with light.
“The thrones, they’re …”
“Made from the wood of the olive trees native to my birthplace.” Orion informs me, coming up behind me and wrapping his arm around my waist. Shaniqua smiles serenely.
“We must hold on to our origins.” Atlas says, his voice reverberating from the glass walls. I turn to him, my mind moving back to my home, sitting on the same quiet street but minus one blonde American teenager. I nod swallowing hard.
“What now?”
“Now we prepare to greet the Knights of Atargatis,” Orion states it simply, as though it’s totally banal.
“Come.” It is not a question, but a resounding authority from Atlas. I do as I’m told, following the couple across the stained glass floor with Orion at my back. I stand acutely straight. Beside the two olive thrones are two smaller chairs, made from a golden hued metal, they are draped with furs and look comfortable. Atlas gestures to one and I sit in it, draping my tail across the stained glass floor beneath me. I am facing the panoramic glass panel and enjoying my view across the city when he speaks.
“Here they come.” Shaniqua says, looking at me with her beautiful face. I can’t hear what I expect of an army, because there are no feet stamping in militant time. However, I sure as hell can see them. Before me are around five hundred individuals, each one encased in metal armour, swimming high above the ground level of the city in a cuboidal formation. Atlas rises as they halt before the Alcazar Oceania. He swims forward, his muscular arms bulging, and pushes outward against the panel of glass. An invisible line down the middle becomes evident in a second and the two halves of the enormous glass split open, swinging on invisible hinges. It’s a wonder to me the entire thing doesn’t shatter, or more likely, hit the side of the building and shatter the whole thing. But in that mystical way I’m coming to expect, nothing smashes and silence falls over the room. I inspect an individual soldier at the front of the cuboid as they move forward, not five hundred individuals, but one solid cube of muscle, perfectly formed. The merman is stacked, probably from the rigorous training I imagine he has endured. His tail is scarlet, the colour of blood, and it is dulled by the sock of heavy looking chainmail that encases each and every scale. His chest is covered by an armoured plate that is silver and looks rigid across his pectorals, the metal doesn’t stop th
ere, a silver cuff lies around each wrist and a helmet of the same shining silver comes around his head and down over his nose. I notice silver is not the only colour which the armour is made in, as every other soldier wears gold. They look like a giant scaled organism when I appreciate the macrocosm of it all. Each soldier holds a shield, glimmering and tear drop shaped, and a long, aerodynamic looking spear. The shape is sleek, and looks sharp enough to plunge into the heart of any beast. Atlas moves through the space, which is now free from the moving glass panes and out into the open water of the city. He rises slightly, his muscular back to all of us and I have to crane my neck to watch him finish his ascent to the centre of the cuboidal formation. He says nothing, he doesn’t need too, but I feel his voice reverberating off the inside of my skull.
Attention! What are you going to present today?
I can tell all the Knights can hear him, they look stone-faced and serious. A force of nature to be reckoned with.
“Sir! Formational assault Sir!” I hear one voice call out, I know it immediately. Somewhere in the mass of bodies, Cole has spoken.
Very well. Proceed.
The troops bow with synchronised perfection and Atlas returns to his throne. Below in the city, I can see a few mer perched on the outside of their windowsills watching the display of power with interest and pride. I can’t help but wonder if I would feel pride at seeing Orion amongst their numbers or just stomach churning terror. I push the thought aside, not wanting to admit that I can see his point of view regarding the issue of my safety. I can feel Orion’s eyes on me as the soldiers disperse and I choose not to meet his gaze, concentrating instead on the display about to begin before me. The Knights of Atargatis, I cannot deny, are impressive. The display begins with simple formations, like spheres, pyramids, and lines of mer all of them keeping themselves within an inch of the same place within the water, it requires immense control and discipline. I am awed. However, as they progress, the battle formations become more and more complex and full of motion, my favourite, as the shimmering shields close around them, is a formation where they spoke outwards at all angles, looking like a spiked anemone. I wonder why The Banished would ever consider going up against such a tightly knit unit, the thought makes me worry. They must be pretty powerful considering there are so few of them. When the formations have all been executed, the Knights knit back together into a cube quickly. Atlas rises again and nods to them, he is pleased.
Wonderful progress. You are dismissed.
The words may seem distant and cold to anyone else, but I saw his eyes, full of pride, swelling even. I rise with the others and we clap as the cuboid disperses in organised lines and the Knights return to whence they came. I am surprised at their number, and at the level of their organisation. I certainly wouldn’t want to go up against them in a fight. Atlas turns to me, using his words this time, “What did you think?”
“I think that they’re amazing.” I reply, unhindered, speaking my mind.
“I think so too, they’ve come a long way from just a few of us with wooden sticks.” He admits and I laugh slightly.
“Was it really that bad in the beginning?” I ask.
“Oh yes. No race progresses anywhere without struggle and we’ve had our share.”
“Indeed.” Orion agrees and I wonder what it was like all those years ago. I wonder if I could have toughed it out with the rest of them.
“Thank you for letting me see the Knights.” I rise from the seat in which I have been perched.
“You are quite welcome, young lady.” Atlas smiles at me and Shaniqua speaks up from behind him.
“Please visit us any time, Callie.” I thank them both and Orion whisks me from the room, I have a lot to absorb, and the open arms with which I have been welcomed by Orion’s family, his father in particular, make me long for my father even more. I sigh out as we head home and wonder if I will ever fill the void that Gideon has left in my heart.
Later that day when we are both back in the apartment, Orion is sitting at his harp playing and even though we are underwater, everything that once seemed so strange now seems so ordinary. He finishes off the melody he is playing with a flourish of his able hands and opens his eyes that were closed as he became lost to his own song. He rises through the water gracefully and elegantly swims toward me, dropping his height so he lies on his stomach beside me on the couch as I am surrounded once again by old leather bound volumes, reading and absorbing as much of my new world as I can.
“What are you reading about now?” He asks intrigued, all sexiness and muscle beside me, his tail flopping lazily behind him.
“Just about rituals and customs.” I reply, sighing as he leans over and kisses me on the cheek softly. I look over into his icy blue eyes and once again find them full of worry.
“Are you still thinking about your father?” He asks, pressing the matter further.
“Yes. Sorry, I know it’s no use, but I can’t help it.” I admit, placing my chin in my palm, heart heavy. Orion shifts over to the left so he is lying on top of my back, his chin in my back. He reads over my shoulder and lays gentle kisses across the breadth of my shoulder blades.
“Maybe you could use a little distraction.” He mumbles, his lips tracing my spine now.
“You know we can’t, it’s another two weeks before the full moon.” I groan, in that moment hating the fact I no longer have legs.
“I was thinking more along the lines of taking you out: to this.” He says, stabbing the page I’m reading with his long index finger and raising his eyebrow at my previous comment. I look at where he is pointing on the thick page and read the words aloud in a questionable tone.
“The Half Moon Masked ball,” I ask, looking at him surprised and he nods.
“Yes, I think it would be good for you. Maybe you could get ready with some of the other mermaids?” He suggests and a knot ties in my stomach. I think about the first day of high school and how hard I found making new friends. Having to start my social life from square one has never felt less appealing. I scrunch up my nose.
“Come on Callie, having me as your only social outlet isn’t healthy. Making friends will be good for you.” He rubs my shoulders convincingly and I sway.
“I suppose eternity is a long time with only you for company.” I say snidely and he gets a lopsided grin.
“That’s the spirit!” He nods looking at me, taking little offence to my intended insult and grinning in a way that is just a little too adorable. My nerves dissipate.
Orion knocks on the door and kisses me goodbye outside Marina’s apartment. I feel like a little kid being dropped off at her first sleepover and I cringe internally. She agreed to let me come over to get ready and I feel the knots retying themselves as she pulls open the door swiftly.
“Callie! Darling! Do come in!” She expresses in her fearlessly strong Italian accent.
“Hi, thanks for having me.” I mumble, quickly moving across the threshold.
“No worries, I understand what it’s like being the new girl.” She calls back over her shoulder as she glides through the water filling the apartment space and I follow her into the sitting room.
“Now, I’m assuming you and Orion have been pretty wrapped up in each other?” She asks, her massive brown eyes glittering with the idea of our fresh romance. I feel my cheeks heat as I flush from her directness.
“Well, uh yes.” I answer hesitantly, feeling slightly intruded upon.
“Ah well, we’ve all been there darling. My point is, I was thinking you probably don’t have any formal wear.” She continues on, un-phased, in traditional Italian gusto.
“Formal wear? You mean like a mask?” I ask uncomfortable, wondering why Orion hasn’t provided me with a mask.
“Among other things.” she rolls her eyes and gives me a dazzling white toothed smile. “Don’t worry Callie, when it comes to fashion and interior design, you came to the right place. I decorate for the ball, you know?” She boasts gesticulating wildly, scarlet tail l
ooking more and more vivid as the enthusiasm of her speech grows. I nod politely.
“No, I didn’t. Orion said you decorated our apartment though.” I add quickly, trying to keep the conversation on her.
“Yes, all in a day’s work I’m afraid.” She sighs dramatically and I can’t help but smile at her, she is so warm and full of passion, sort of like how you imagine an Italian mother with a family of seventeen or something crazy like that.
“Shall we get you ready then? I’d usually suggest taking you to a salon but I think we can manage just fine here.” She asks sighing again, giving me a large grin.
“Sure.” I nod again, feeling nervous for a reason I can’t quite put my finger on. At the mention of a salon my ears prick, I can’t help but be curious about what a mer salon would be like. I’m assuming you can’t go for the usual pedicure as you would on land. I laugh at the thought.
“Let’s make sure we have Orion drooling, yes?” She suggests, giving a wink. As we journey through into her bedroom, I cannot help but giggle at the thought of Orion, jaw on the floor, in awe of me and what I have become.
An hour and a half of hair pulling, styling, and modelling some of the most unique garments I have ever seen later and Marina tilts her head at me.
“Oh Callie, you look perfect!” She cries, clapping her hands like a delighted child.
“Really?” I ask, feeling less than confident.
“Would I lie to you?” she asks rhetorically and inside, I can’t think that she ever would lie to me, I feel like we have definitely grown closer over the time she has spent wrapped up in creating my look. I have been worried since arriving that the other mer would find me childish in comparison to the vast expanses of time they have spent on this earth, yet she treats me like a sister.
The Kiss That Killed Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 1) Page 33