by M. E. Rhines
“You’re mocking me.”
“You’re sharper than you look.”
“Children!” Myrtle smacked her hand on the table, causing us to startle. “You have my permission to continue this squabble after our meeting. In the meantime, could we move forward?”
“Absolutely,” Lennox responded.
At the same time, I rushed to say, “Yes ma’am.”
He spared me a glare before taking his seat.
“Very good. Lennox, is it? I understand you’ve met Angelique already.”
“I have.”
“She is my closest friend and dearest confidant. Anything that is decided will not proceed without her approval.”
A jolt of glee ran through me at the way he hissed his disappointment. “I require the approval of a handmaid? Degrading.”
“Angelique is much more than a handmaid to me, and you would do well to remember that. Consider yourself, for a moment. What else are you besides an extension of your king? He acts by your guidance as I act by hers.”
“And the others.” He waved his hand across the table toward our tablemates. “They are your advisors as well?”
“That is correct. They managed to build Atlantis into one of the wealthiest and most stable kingdoms in all the oceans. It is my hope that their expertise will help me do the same for Atargatis.”
“I see. It would appear you have all the assistance you require. Why send for King Odom?”
“Finfolkaheem is one of the most esteemed clans of the northern waters,” Ronald offered. “Including your kingdom among our list of allies would obviously be of great benefit to us.”
Lennox addressed the queen, as if the words came from her and not Ronald. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. Finfolkaheem is the single greatest nation of the north, second to none.”
Myrtle straightened her posture and arched a brow at him. “I suppose that would depend on what factors one considers.”
“We have the largest military, the highest collection of wealth, and our census indicates our numbers far surpass any of the neighboring clans. Any kingdom within five hundred miles pales in comparison.”
Eileen made a show of flipping through a book. Even from where I sat, I could see the notes inside, hand scribbled with fresh ink. “Yes, your population count is impressive. Too high, perhaps. It is our belief your numbers grow too quickly to be sustained. Our sources tell us you find yourself short on several resources. Food, namely.”
Lennox shifted in his seat. “As I said, we are a wealthy nation. We can buy food.”
“From whom?” Eileen asked, genuine concern gleaming on her face. “You said yourself your neighboring clans are… primitive at best. They hardly have the means to support you.”
“Silver means a great deal. They will trade.”
Bridgette leaned forward, placing her tiny hand atop Lennox’s scarred knuckles. “They will not barter themselves into starvation. We realize this shortcoming is no fault of King Odom. The temperatures of your waters prohibit much growth. Your neighbors face a similar dilemma. It isn’t as if they can simply grow more in exchange for silver.”
Lennox observed her kind gesture with disdain before pulling his hand away. A part of me understood his reaction. Despite her best intentions, he had to feel her words were condescending. He would take them as an insult to his people and his leader.
“And what, pray tell, are you suggesting we do about it?”
Eileen continued, “You will find our tropical waters are very conducive to significant plant growth. We would be more than capable of aiding Finfolkaheem and would be happy to do so.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Friendship,” Myrtle said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Lennox scoffed. “Friendship? You offer your precious resources for a friendly hand?”
“That’s right.”
“It seems to me you would do better to ask for military support. Or perhaps a hand building your people proper housing so they don’t have to live in caves like eels.”
Ronald’s hand, resting atop the table, curled into an unsettled fist. “In Atlantis, we found that merfolk held a greater appreciation for things they built themselves. Myrtle and her clan would prefer to undertake those tasks on their own.”
“All we are proposing,” Myrtle started, “is a unification of our nations. We do not wish to merge with or burden you, only to join forces.”
Lennox rubbed at the sneer on his face with his palm, no doubt trying to whisk it away. “I will relay your message to King Odom, though I think he will find the offer as useless and offensive as I do.”
Queen Myrtle steadied her breath before speaking. “It is my hope, Mr. Lennox, that your king will be wise enough to see through the sting of our suggestion. We can help each other in many ways.”
“I think that is true, yes,” the Fin-man agreed. “In fact, King Odom has sent me with a proposal of his own.”
Myrtle’s advisors darted their eyes about the room, no doubt surprised by his reveal.
“I would be happy to consider it,” Myrtle announced with hesitation etched in her voice.
“It’s more of a demand, actually.”
At those words, I whipped around, throwing my most irksome look at the intruder. How dare he come into my kingdom with a demand?
Queen Myrtle closed her eyes, processing his words. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t bother you too much. You see, my king had a disagreement with your sister some time ago. A rather bloody one, as I understand.”
“That sounds like Calypso,” Myrtle acknowledged with a sigh.
“It is our understanding she remains alive?”
“Calypso has been contained,” Eileen hurried to add. “She poses no threat to anyone.”
I bit my tongue, chasing away any concern at the accuracy of her claim. Though Eileen’s words brimmed with confidence, she hadn’t just witnessed the short resurrection. She believed it to be true; now wasn’t the time to interject doubt.
“You evade my question. Again, I ask, with my patience wearing dangerously thin, is she alive?”
“Yes,” I offered. “Queen Calypso has been spared.”
“And who among you would be so daft as to allow such a treacherous woman to go unpunished?”
My hands started to tremble as the realization of his direction became clear. “I assure you, Lennox, the fate our former ruler suffers is far worse than death.”
He cocked his head at me, running his gaze over my face. His eyes stopped at the fresh burn, and the arrogance on his face faded just enough to be noticed. “You didn’t have that mark this morning, did you?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Where did you get it?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
Lennox leaned forward, examining me closer. “That’s a nasty burn.”
“It’ll heal. Now can we—”
“Without a doubt, it will disappear. Mermaids hold a remarkable talent in that regard, or so I’m told.”
I swallowed hard. “You have been informed correctly. I expect it will dissolve by the end of the day.”
He ran a gentle finger along the raised flesh, eyeing it with concern. His jaw flexed as he leaned forward. As though he couldn’t help himself, he whispered, “Was it Myrtle who branded you?”
Myrtle gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “I would never!”
I pulled away as I tried to ignore the way his touch made me shiver. “Queen Myrtle is a gentle ruler. She would never hurt me. Or any other mermaid, for that matter. At least not unprovoked.”
“My apologies,” he said with a sharp nod. “I only ask because the clean mark and distinct edges make it clear the cause was magic.”
“Do not concern yourself with me, Lennox. I ask again with as much patience as you have afforded us—what is it your king feels he has the right to command of Atargatis?”
“King Odom would like to see the sea witch executed.
”
The room fell silent as Myrtle, Ronald, and Eileen turned their attention to me, awaiting a reaction. Though sickness swirled in my stomach, I employed the stone face bestowed on me by my mother. Having anticipated the words, I didn’t so much as flinch when he spoke them.
Instead of indulging in the hysteria building in my chest, I spoke in a calm, reserved tone that gave nothing away. “And what authority does King Odom feel he holds to make such a request?”
His lips spread wide, revealing pearly white, though slightly crooked, teeth. “Why, the power of the ocean, of course.”
“That’s blasphemy!” I slammed a fist onto the table, and the delicate crystal splintered from the force. He had gone too far. “The ocean is her own entity. Complete with desire and a will of her very own. Poseidon made it so. You have no business claiming—”
“Quiet, Angelique.” I blanched at Aunt Myrtle’s protest. She should be defending the sea and her glory, not chastising me. “There is a great deal about our ocean you have yet to learn.”
“You can’t be suggesting… I refuse to believe this creature is capable of controlling the seas.”
Lennox chuckled, shaking his head at my ignorance. In that moment, there was little I would’ve liked more than to slice him with his own dagger. “I can’t control it,” he explained. “But Finfolk are able to bend the waters to our will on occasion.”
“What in Poseidon’s name does that mean?”
“It means we can conjure a wave large enough to bring down one of the human’s ships. Their cities, if we choose.”
“We are not humans, and we live beneath the surface. You could bring about a tsunami, but it would do little but rattle our surroundings.”
“If I can summon a wave, Angelique, does it not occur to you that I could also redirect the currents?”
“So you can make it a tad unpleasant. A gust of water here and there might liven things up a bit.”
He lifted his index finger in the air and twirled it. After a second of motion, the water formed around his directed path, molding a tiny whirlpool around his fingertip. When he was sure his point was made, he released the conjuring with a swift brush of his hand. “Care to explain it to her, Your Majesty?”
Aunt Myrtle shifted her crown before leaning forward. “I believe she understands perfectly. You’ll find Angelique can be a smidge stubborn.”
I did understand. The implication was clear as a full moon in the horizon; even from the bottom of the ocean, it couldn’t be missed. If the king’s patsy could call on the ocean’s power, King Odom could surely crash a current into us with such force it would decimate everything we’d been working to rebuild. Then, if he so chose, he could use the weight of the water as a hammer, pummeling into us again and again until red poured from our veins and into the briny liquid.
The blood drained from my face as I pictured the scene. Lifeless bodies of the mermaids I had known since birth littering the seafloor. Merlings screaming for a savior as they thrashed about in unbridled chaos. Even in my imagination, the sight was enough to fill my mouth with acrid bile.
“There must be an alternative,” I suggested with a squeaky voice.
My heart sank as Lennox shook his head. “My king has asked that I return with your consent to Calypso’s death. Only then will he be open to any discussions with your clan.”
Myrtle clicked her tongue. “Am I to understand that is why he sent you instead of gracing us with his presence? To test the water, as it were?”
“That is correct. I’m sure you would’ve done the same.”
“May I ask,” Bridgett started, “why your king has such animosity toward Atargatis’s former ruler?”
Ronald offered, “I imagine it has to do with her crimes against the humans. Most of the ocean, many Atlantians included, would love to see her aired out for the atrocities she committed.”
“I don’t know why he takes issue with her, but I can say with some confidence it has nothing at all to do with the humans.”
“How can you be sure?” Eileen asked.
“Because we used them as servants at one point. It would be hypocritical to attack on such grounds. Sure, we didn’t murder them when we lost interest, the way this clan did, but I assure you they are still considered a lower species and are treated as such.”
Ronald tapped his chin. “Coming here to threaten war is a serious offense.”
Lennox shrugged. “We are a warring clan. Atargatis has a small population and is clearly underdeveloped. We’ve gone to war with much more sophisticated and better prepared merfolk.”
“But you had no way of knowing the status of Atargatis when you started your voyage,” the merman retorted. “Consider, for a moment, you came to these gates and found our people armed to the teeth. What would you have done?”
“Proceeded as ordered,” the Fin-man said without hesitation.
“I would invite you to make such an outlandish statement at the entrance to Atlantis. You’ll find the conditions much different there.”
“The advancement of Atlantis is known far and wide,” Lennox acknowledged. “But the order would still stand.”
Eileen added, “You’re aware Atlantis would fight beside Atargatis ‘til death?”
“I will relay that message to my king, but I promise it will make no difference to him.”
“Unbelievable,” I murmured. “We should behead him right here and now.”
“Angelique,” Myrtle shouted. “Calm yourself. This is not the time for your temper to interfere.”
“Forgive me, Queen Myrtle, but I will not bite my tongue while this cretin threatens and insults us.”
Lennox stood slowly, then bent over the table until his torso rested firmly on it. He reached for his dagger, pulled it from its sheath, then held it out for the taking. “You want my head, here. Take it. As a messenger of my king, I come prepared to die. Just make sure you are prepared for the consequences that will come from taking the life of an ambassador of King Odom.”
I stared at the glistening metal. The temptation to spring forward and seize the weapon from his hand, just to bring it down into his skull, itched in my soul. How easy it would be to release all my pent-up hatred with just a couple of blows to this simpleton’s head.
A jolt ran up my spine, shaking me free from the dark place my mind drifted to. A place my mother’s training introduced me to long ago. Mother’s nature ran through me. If I wasn’t careful, her evil could manifest again through my hands.
I licked my full lips and steadied my heart. “Stop being dramatic. No one is going to kill you.”
“Indeed,” Myrtle agreed. “You’re making quite the spectacle over nothing. Straighten yourself at once.”
Lennox sneered, as if sparing his life was the same as surrendering to his outlandish mandate. “I would expect none of you to be so foolish,” he murmured as he rose. “The power of Odom is well known.”
“It is,” Ronald conceded. “We are aware of the authority your king holds.”
“Then I should tell him you’ll surrender the queen in exchange for his allegiance.” The way the Fin-man announced it as a decided fact made my blood rush through my ear canals with a deafening roar.
The rushing fluid gave way to an eerie silence. I looked around, stunned at the resolved faces of my fellow merfolk.
“You can’t seriously be considering this,” I demanded, short of breath.
Queen Myrtle coughed into her fist, a habit I had come to know meant she was nervous. “Lennox, may we take a moment to discuss this proposal?”
“What?” My shout elicited no explanation.
Lennox nodded. “Of course. I’m in no hurry. Should I excuse myself?”
“No need,” Myrtle said, shaking her head. “We will deliberate amongst ourselves.”
I took the implication to mean we would be communicating telepathically, so I tuned in to their thoughts. Where I should have heard chatter inside my mind, I instead felt a psychic wall, blocking me fro
m their conversation.
The hair on my arms stood as I realized what this meant. I was an outsider here—nothing more than a prop used to make the transition easier. My presence was an offer of familiarity to our kingdom, one to be flaunted for false comfort whenever the occasion called for it. The day I removed my mother from the throne, I also took the reigning crown from my own head.
In one sweep, I cast my arm across the table to send their notes and papers floating into the water. If I had paid half as much attention in sorcery class as I should have, I would’ve removed the magical endowment from the parchment entirely. Without the spells cloaking them, they would disintegrate from the harshness of the saltwater. Then where would these scholarly bookworms find themselves? All records and information lost.
“This is ludicrous!”
Ronald and Eileen jumped back, staring at me as if they watched Queen Calypso’s reincarnate before them. Perhaps they were right, in a way. Mother’s darkness did taint my blood. I had a way of striking fear into others in the same fashion she did. Perhaps it was time I used that to my advantage.
Myrtle opened her mouth, but I cut her off. “This will not happen. Do I make myself clear? This terrible King Odom is nothing more than a male version of the same woman he seeks. Queen Calypso made everyone cower. She trained them to give in to her demands without question, the way Lennox does for his king. Why would we remove such a dictator from the throne if only to bow down to another?”
“No one is bending a tail to King Odom,” Myrtle assured me. “But if Calypso is to remain a prisoner, should it matter if it is with us or with him? We can negotiate away from the death penalty. The location of her cell is hardly something to start a war over.”
“This goes far deeper than where the mermaid is kept locked away, and you know it. She is our prisoner—our burden to keep. If you pass her off to this king, then you give him all the magic Calypso is capable of wielding. He could reawaken her abilities and use them for his own benefit.”
Eileen’s brows shot up, and I knew my point had resonated. “I hadn’t considered that before.”
“Let me be clear,” Lennox intervened before the thought could be fleshed out further. “King Odom has no wish to use the sea witch’s black magic. Nor does he care to use any of Finfolkaheem’s precious resources to keep her alive. All he cares to have returned to him is her head to ensure she has met her end.”