by Lyra Evans
He handed the scroll to Banyan and the badge to Baobab. Each took what was offered to them as though in a haze. Banyan unfurled the scroll, which might have been made of some kind of plant-life, though Niko couldn’t identify it. As she read, her face steadily lost colour.
“This—this is an ordinance…from the King of the Selkies?” Banyan asked, half-way between disbelief and exhaustion. Cobalt nodded. She nodded along slowly, because of course it was. “King Azure has, apparently, instilled royal authority into the Captain of the Royal Guard, one Cobalt Sincloud, to act as an intermediary and investigator on the matter of his son’s, Prince Indigo of the Vast Reefs, disappearance. Cobalt is to represent the interests and rights of Selkie law while on land and for the duration of any investigations regarding Indigo or his associates.” Banyan stared at the scroll for several moments before shaking her head and saying to no one, “This case is a jurisdictional nightmare.”
“Not at all,” Cobalt reassured. “As whatever happened occurred within the borders of your Court, you are rightly the lead investigators on the matter.”
Niko did not like the direction this was taking. Cobalt’s presence next to him was increasingly unsettling, the flashes of inappropriate imagery in his head growing more erratic and apparently uncontrollable. He did not know why Cobalt had this effect on him, but it certainly wouldn’t do to have to—
“And your involvement in the case will be?” Baobab asked.
“I shall partner with your lead investigator,” Cobalt answered.
That. That was what Niko was afraid of. He’d been working alone for years now, and it served him well. Since his last major case—well, Niko just operated better on his own. Alone, he didn’t have to worry about someone else’s limits and decision-making. He could do what needed doing without needing to explain himself or justify his actions. It’s why he worked so well undercover.
Baobab turned his attention to Niko. Niko fought the urge to grimace. His jaw tight, Niko waited for Baobab to make his decision. With a steady look, Baobab considered both of them.
“The scroll seems genuine,” Banyan said. “I’ll have to confer with our regional Councilman to work out the logistics of how to proceed in terms of legality and what this might mean for the Three Courts Treaty, but as it stands now, he is an official representing a separate Court…”
Baobab sighed. “I guess that settles it,” he said, offering Niko what might have been an apologetic look. Niko cracked his neck to one side. “You best get yourselves down to the station to make it official.”
Cobalt nodded. “Who is to be my partner, then?”
Baobab nodded toward Niko, who maintained his stony expression for his official introduction. “This is Detective Niko Spruce. Probably the best detective we’ve got, if lacking in some other regards.”
Unruffled by the prod, Niko merely nodded at Cobalt. His crystal-grey eyes drawing a long, slow line up and down Niko’s frame, Cobalt’s expression quivered with something. Another flash of Cobalt on top of him, pushing into Niko and biting his neck, and Niko tensed. “Nice to meet you,” Cobalt said, offering his hand.
Niko stared at the Selkie’s outstretched palm and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. He nodded once more, with something like a grunt, and made to leave the crime scene.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got work to do.” Barely surprised, Cobalt took one longing look back at the victim before following Niko along the beach. His unshod feet moved much more easily over the sand than Niko’s boots, which annoyed Niko. “But first,” Niko said, “you’re going to need to put on some clothes.”
Chapter 4
His car sat right where he left it in the beach parking lot in one of the prime parking spots. As the sun edged its way toward its zenith in the sky and the warmth of the morning broiled up toward a cooking heat, the lot should have filled up with vehicles and tourists looking for some real estate on the sand to soak in the rays. Most citizens of Maeve’s Court would be heading in from the beach at this point, looking for a shady spot to get a drink and some lunch and to wait out the peak of midday heat. But thanks to the crime scene, Sickle Beach’s car park was completely empty save for police vehicles.
A temperature controlled truck marked Coroner pulled up on the opposite side of the lot. The man behind the wheel hopped out the side closest to Niko and Cobalt, waving distantly as he spotted Niko. His partner was already around the back of the truck, opening the rear doors and pulling out a stretcher and cover. Niko half-waved back at the pair, realizing that a nod probably wasn’t terribly visible from this distance. In another life, he’d been on friendly terms with the Coroner’s assistants and lab techs. But after his last case, after the examinations they’d put him through, he couldn’t quite help but pull back. There were some things you just didn’t want your coworkers knowing about you.
Pressing the automatic unlock button on his keyring, Niko paused at the edge of the sand and considered the black asphalt ahead of them. With a glance at Cobalt’s shoeless feet, he looked up at the Selkie. Cobalt was studying the Coroner’s truck and the men as they made their way over the barrier and toward the crime scene along the beach. When he drew his eyes away from them and found Niko staring at him, he raised his eyebrows in question.
“Have you been to Maeve’s Court before?” Niko asked, though he was relatively certain of the answer.
Cobalt met his gaze without hesitation or discomfort. It unsettled Niko. Most people not law enforcement themselves had difficulty doing so. Perhaps the Royal Guard in—what would they call it? Azure’s Court?—were similar to police.
“I have not had the pleasure,” he said, “though I have travelled Nimueh’s Court rather extensively.”
That, Niko had not expected. He considered this information carefully. The fact that Prince Indigo of no last name, apparently heir to the Selkie Court, was found on Maeve’s Court land indicated that he had been travelling Maeve’s Court for some reason or another. The fact that the authorities only found out about this via his death and probable murder indicated he was doing so secretly. That Cobalt had travelled Nimueh’s Court, but no Wizard or Witch Niko knew of had ever mentioned the existence of Selkies being a reality, suggested that Nimueh’s people did not know of Cobalt’s travels any more than Maeve knew of Indigo’s. Which begged the question of why? Why was a foreign kingdom sending people to travel their lands without official announcement? Why were the Selkies so secretive in the first place? And why would they come forward with their existence now specifically? Was Indigo’s death a situation remarkable enough for them to break their centuries of silence?
Putting all those unanswered questions aside, Niko brought himself back to the matter at hand.
“I imagine in order to do that you needed access to clothing,” Niko said, hoping Cobalt would come to the appropriate conclusion on his own.
“For the most part,” he said, which gave Niko pause. But as he did not elaborate, Niko was forced to ask.
“So, do you have clothes?”
An expression of subtle amusement played around Cobalt’s lips. Again, a flash of explicit images flooded Niko’s mind. He looked away abruptly.
When Cobalt spoke, there was a tinkle of mischief in his words which told Niko he knew, at least to some degree, the effect he was having. “I was under the impression Maeve’s Court was rather liberated in terms of clothing restrictions.”
Niko’s jaw tightened. His fingers pressed into the grooves of his keys. “Suit yourself,” he said, turning determinately away from Cobalt and walking toward his car. Heat radiated in waves off the surface of the roof and hood. “You want to stay half-naked, stay half-naked. But I’d put shoes on if I were you. The white sand might not be painful, but the asphalt will probably burn your feet at this time of day.”
Swinging open the doors to his side of the car to air out the intense heat built up inside, Niko walked around to the passenger side to do the same. When he looked back at Cobalt, he found him looki
ng only mildly put out as he rummaged in his iridescent bag. Eventually he pulled out a pair of pristine, dark blue, flat-soled sneakers, light-wear brown khaki pants, and a blue button-down shirt. He set them carefully atop the bag on the ground, then proceeded to peel off the iridescent swim trunks he was wearing.
Niko froze, staring in disbelief as Cobalt got fully naked in the middle of a public parking lot. Again, Niko’s mind supplied a wealth of images, now helpfully adjusted with new information. Cobalt was toned and muscular everywhere, and just as Niko felt himself tracing the length and outline of Cobalt’s cock with his eyes, he snapped himself back to reality.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked, almost as alarmed by his own reaction as he was by Cobalt’s decision.
Cobalt looked up, having stepped into a pair of soft-looking boxer briefs he only half-managed to pull up his legs. Completely unbothered by the display he was making of himself, he cocked a silver eyebrow at Niko.
“You suggested I dress,” he said simply, and Niko shut his eyes in frustration.
“I meant for you to do it privately,” Niko gritted out.
Cobalt glanced around. “There is no one around,” he said.
Niko was going to have an embolism before the day was out, he was sure. “There are laws against public nudity,” he responded, as Cobalt pulled his boxers up the rest of the way, flattening the band against his lower stomach. Niko’s mouth felt thick.
“Do you wish to issue me a citation?” Cobalt asked, the note of mischief back in his voice and on his features. Niko felt the muscles in his back tighten, every motion an effort of will. “Or is this a crime worthy of arrest?” He offered up his hands before him, pretending to submit, and Niko had another flash. He saw himself in Cobalt’s position, only on his knees instead of standing, and Niko’s mouth watered. He fought the surge of blood through him as best he could.
“Just get your fucking clothes on,” Niko snapped, walking back around the car, slamming the back door, and dropping into the driver’s seat without checking to see if the interior of the vehicle had cooled sufficiently. He yanked his door shut and seethed momentarily, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. The heat of the car caused him to start perspiring almost immediately, but he tried to ignore it, flicking the A/C on to maximum. He waited as it blew warm air directly into his face, and finally, Cobalt sauntered over and slid into the passenger side.
Niko took off out of the parking lot without another word the moment the door closed, ignoring the self-satisfied expression on Cobalt’s face. For a short while, the ride to the station passed in silence. Taking the chance to regain his composure and sift through the information he’d so far gathered, Niko let his mind work while he drove. It was too much to hope they’d make it to the station without interruption, though, as Cobalt was staring with increasing intensity out the windows, as though he thought everyone on the street might be a suspect. In fairness, he was technically correct, but it still seemed dramatic to Niko.
“Why are we not travelling with the coroner?” Cobalt asked eventually.
“Because we’re separate departments,” Niko answered, trying to keep the sigh out of his voice. “The medical examiner has her own analysis to produce, her own exam to perform on the bo—” Stopping himself, Niko glanced at Cobalt’s face. Referring to a victim as a ‘body’ wasn’t uncommon during cases, but it was never done when in the presence of people who knew the victim while alive. Realizing Niko would have to adjust for this new territory as he went, he added that frustration to his growing list. “I mean, the victim. When she’s done or has something relevant, she’ll let us know. In the meantime, we have our own investigative leads to run down.”
A moment of silence followed in which Cobalt’s mischievous energy dipped into different territory. “I should like to be present for the examination,” he said.
Niko weighed this out. “That’s not protocol,” he said, unsure what special permissions Cobalt might be afforded as a representative of his Court with royal authority. “I assure you, Dr. Aspen will be both thorough and respectful.”
Cobalt’s gaze never left the window. “I don’t doubt it,” he said, “but as your medical examiner is unfamiliar with Selkies and their biology, perhaps it would be beneficial to have a living Selkie present with answers.”
It was a fair point, but Niko was sure it was still a bad idea. People connected to a victim were never allowed to be involved in the post-mortem exam in any way. It was too difficult, too painful, too excessive. There was no telling what Cobalt’s reaction to seeing his Prince lying out, cut open and exposed to the harsh light of the morgue, might be. Even if Indigo’s only relationship to Cobalt was of a Prince to his subject. But Niko had the impression there was much more to it.
“Are you a doctor or expert on Selkie biology in some other respect?” Niko asked.
Cobalt hesitated. “No, but—”
“Then I’m afraid having you present for the exam might only hinder Dr. Aspen’s ability to remain objective and unbiased.” Niko turned more abruptly than he needed to in order to make a light, and Cobalt jostled against the door of the car, knocking his head slightly against the grab handle. Niko bit back the laugh that bubbled up. “In the meantime, there is another way you can be far more helpful.”
Cobalt’s silvery eyes narrowed slightly at this, perhaps suspecting that Niko was intent on distracting him. “And that is?”
“Filling me in on everything there is to know about Prince Indigo and what exactly he was doing in Maeve’s Court in the first place.”
Looking back toward the window, Cobalt fell silent, pensive. Niko turned into the underground parking garage that serviced the MCPD’s central station. The car fell into abrupt darkness as he drove down the ramp, the garage’s sparse lighting barely holding back the shadow. Niko shivered slightly and realized that the AC was still blasting directly in his face, now effectively cooled. Cobalt seemed unbothered by the steady drop in temperature, his button-down shirt sleeves casually rolled up to his elbows.
“I’m not sure there’s much to tell,” Cobalt said eventually, as Niko pulled up his badge for the parking attendant to see and wave him through. “Indy wasn’t unlike other Selkies his age. He enjoyed the usual things—parties and socializing, exploring the limits of our Court and the depths of the Reef, laughing and having fun. He was always responsible though. He took his position as Prince and Heir Apparent very seriously. He—” Cobalt paused, and Niko tried not to interrupt his thoughts in any way, filing away details he’d noticed for later. “He wanted to experience as much as he could before he took over for his father. Not because he was worried being King would shackle him in any way, but because he believed every experience would inform his understanding of life and the Court he was meant to lead.” The car went quiet as Niko pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine. They both sat there a long moment, Cobalt perhaps reliving memories of the Prince, and Niko wondering how far those memories went.
When it became clear Cobalt was done speaking, Niko pulled off his sunglasses, set them into the cup holder in his centre console, and chewed the side of his cheek. “That doesn’t answer the question of what he was doing in Maeve’s Court.”
Niko made no move to exit the car, waiting instead to see what Cobalt would do. Would he try to physically run from the question, would he merely dodge it, or would he try to cover for Indigo? Try to cover for his King?
“That’s not unusual either,” Cobalt said, surprising Niko. “Every Selkie, when they come of age, goes on a Land Walk for a period of time. That he chose Maeve’s Court over Nimueh’s Court or—” He paused, as though thinking. “Connor’s Court. It’s Connor’s Court now, isn’t it? Yes.” He shrugged. “Well, that he chose Maeve’s Court is of no particular meaning. His friends seemed more inclined to the warmth of the Southern Court, I suppose, so he agreed.”
There was so much information to unpack in so few sentences Niko could almost feel the gears of h
is mind spinning wildly to keep up. He tried to appear nonchalant, to seem mildly disinterested, but Cobalt wasn’t buying it. He gave Niko a side-long look that suggested he was waiting for more questions. There was a smugness about him, something playing around the edges of his lips and the slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes that made Niko set his jaw. He did not like being played with. Not like this, anyway.
Niko got out of the car, frustrated he needed the space to think more than Cobalt seemed to. He stood on his side of the car, looking over the roof at Cobalt as he got out. Cobalt shut the door as he emerged and caught Niko’s gaze over the roof. He waited there, probably knowing what was coming.
“There are other Selkies in Maeve’s Court,” Niko said more than asked.
Cobalt’s eyes glinted in the low light. “Yes.”
“How many?” Niko asked.
Cobalt seemed to think for a moment. “Today? I’d say nine or so.”
Breathing in slowly, a count of five, then exhaling another count, Niko sought to steady himself. He couldn’t decide if Cobalt was just like this naturally or if Niko was somehow special. Ignoring the ‘today’ comment, Niko pushed forward with other inquiries.
“What exactly is involved in a Land Walk?” he asked instead.
Cobalt shrugged. He’d left his bag in the car, Niko realized. As though he was certain they would be back for it. “Like I said, it’s a rite of passage, I suppose, for Selkies. They pick a region on land to visit, take their Landwalking form and enter the chosen Court for an undetermined period of time. It can be anywhere from a week to a couple months. There is no specific rule.” He spoke as though it was no big deal, foreign bodies entering sovereign territory without permission for undetermined lengths of time. Niko thought the various Councils of the Three Courts would go positively apoplectic at this information, though. “The goal is to experience a culture different from ours, to live free of our customs and expectations for a time and learn what you can. When Selkies return to Azure’s Court, it is with renewed love for home and innovative ideas on how to improve our society.”