by Bailey Dark
I stood up, dropping my hands from my ears, assailed by the shrieking, but standing strong, forcing deep breaths, and beckoned the firefins to listen to me telepathically. I sent an open call to all willing to listen, but called particularly to Rensi, though I knew he was young and therefore likely wouldn’t hold much sway.
“Rensi… We come peacefully to you… We want to help… I know a different way to help you… I am your friend… We are your friends…”
“Enemies… evil… pain-causers… captors…” The overwhelming response from all sides by the firefins was shocking. I looked at Axis with alarm. How had he allowed them to feel such pain? How had he allowed his ocean animals to be hurt so badly?
“We are your friends… We are good… We will make you feel better… Please… You must trust me… Trust… Good… Love… Hope… Help…” I pushed back the best impressions of emotion I could feel into them, showing them images of me helping other firefins, healing them from the blue flu on Serpul.
The shrieking quieted as they listened to my emotions, as they watched my images come through to them, as they looked at these turquoise waters and their brethren trusting me to give them shots that cured them.
“Please… My name is Ceritha… I am here to help you… Trust me…”
The huge Queen swam forward toward us again. The shrieking had ceased, but there was the occasional hissing chitter from this side or the other, firefin speaking to firefin, discussing whether or not they should trust us.
“I am Queen Yolasi. How will you help us against the blue?”
I staggered to the side, stunned by how clear her thought was to me. She must be a very old queen, with great telepathic power. Power that had been untouched, untarnished by ages of speaking to other Curans. It was brand new to access in this way, and it was as if she were flooding all her Will into me, no restraint.
“I need to do tests—”
She spun backward so quickly that wake erupted around the boat and we rocked to the side. Shrieking went through the ranks again. “No tests! Guns! Needles! Pain! Poison! No tests!”
“Say something different, Ceritha!” Axis yelled. I held up my hands.
“Different tests! Different tests. Gentler tests. With your permission. With your help, I can help you. With your help… Only with your help, can I save firefins… We can save firefins… We can do it together…” I reached my hand out to her, gesturing gently, my head down, turned slightly sideways, looking at her from the sides of my eyes. A gesture of respect and supplication on Serpul, I didn’t know if it would be the same here on Farian. It seemed to work. The Queen approached again, and came closer, slinking through the water, her heavy fin wings slicing a ripple current. She lifted her huge dragon head and sniffed my hand, then gently nuzzled me.
“Trust is a necessity. We need to heal.”
“Trust is worthy. You can trust me. You can trust the Prince.”
Queen Yolasi turned her eyes to Axis where he sat in the rear of the sailboat. She slunk closer to him and moved her big head over the boat so she was just inches from his face.
“Hold your hand up, Axis. Let her touch your hand. This is Queen Yolasi. Open yourself up telepathically. Tell her you will help her people heal,” I said.
Axis took a deep breath and held up his hand. The Queen moved into him so he was touching her. I could feel the reverberations of their telepathic connection, rippling through the air around us.
“I will help you heal, Queen. You can trust me. You can trust Ceritha. We will help you heal. You are important to me.”
“I will trust you, Prince.”
The Queen stared down Cartari, whose green eyes were as big as saucers, but when he looked at me, asking if he should offer his hand, the Queen slunk back into the water, deeming it not necessary to receive trust from him. Then she slid back into the deep waters and disappeared into the cove.
Three smaller firefins were soon beside our boat, asking me questions about the new test. They had been assigned to help us by the Queen.
“They are going to let us do the tests!” I looked at Axis and Cartari excitedly. I reached to the med kit. I held up one of the needles. The firefins slinked back and hissing rose. “It’s okay. I will only stick you if you give me permission. Please, bring me some of your sick firefins and some of your strongest. I need to get comparisons. I need to know some of those who have been sick longest and some of those that have gotten sick most recently. Does that make sense?”
While the words were not exact, the impressions were able to be understood and the firefins disappeared, returning in a few moments supporting the bodies of several sickly firefins, their scarlet sheen tinged blue.
I took blood samples quickly and efficiently from fifteen different firefins and spoke telepathically with many of them. None of them had ever communicated with Curans before, so they were all pouring their every emotion into the meld. It was dizzying, exhilarating, and nauseating.
Rensi swam close to the boat as we were getting ready to leave. I laughed aloud and shoved Cartari. “He just asked me if you were my lover.”
Cartari grinned and shook his head at the firefin. “She would be so lucky.”
Rensi looked at me for an explanation. Poor Cartari had tried but been unable to bond with the firefins. He just didn't believe it was possible enough, wasn't open enough. Axis, on the other hand… I looked over at my Prince and was so thrilled to see him leaning over the side, hand on one of the small firefins, chuckling to himself as he spoke with it. He was doing so well! He really, truly, cared!
“The Prince is your lover? Why didn’t you say you were a Princess? I will tell the Queen!” Rensi said. I laughed.
"I am a scientist first, Rensi. I have always been a Princess but on another planet. Now I am a Princess on this planet, too."
Rensi had hung around our boat the entire time we had been taking samples, trying to get an impression of Will in at any moment of silence. He was like a twelve-year-old child.
“Where is your family, Rensi?” Axis asked, walking closer to us. Rensi's swim slowed, and the images he showed us made my heart break. They were images of the first wave of the blue flu on Farian. Firefins washed up on shore, before they realized that feeding in certain areas was extremely toxic to them. He had lost both parents and two siblings. Bodies of these huge, elegant beasts, just torn apart by carrion birds on the shores. Rensi had watched, distraught, from the waters beyond.
“I’m so sorry, Rensi…” I said, laying my hand on his head, so I could pour my sorrow into him. I gulped, and tears rushed from my eyes immediately as a wealth of sadness I didn't know could be summoned came into me. I realized it had happened when Axis laid his hand on Rensi, too, pouring his ungainly, untempered emotions into the telepathic hold.
“I promise, I promise, Rensi… I will do everything I can to fix this. I will cure this flu. My Princess Ceritha and I will. We will work to heal and restore you. We will give you hope again.”
Rensi nuzzled into us with sad eyes, then snorted bubbles from his dragon nose and rushed away into the depths as a siren’s call reached us from the coves, calling all the firefins back in and away from the Curans.
Axis turned away from me, his shoulders caved in, breathing heavily, hand gripping the side rail. When he turned back to me, his eyes were solemn.
“We have to keep that promise, Ceritha.”
“We will, Axis… I will make sure.” I wiped my eyes on my sleeves and nodded to him.
Cartari had to sail us back to the boat. Axis and I were close to puking from the dizzying nature of the telepathic pull of the communication with the firefins. We sat next to each other at the bow of the little sailboat, our legs touching. At one point, Axis took my hand and held it, not looking at me, just looking far off behind us at the firefin nesting grounds and squeezing my hand with his.
I kept track of the medical kits once they were loaded on board and then we cast off the anchor and headed back to Bristola. Axis looked at me
once more, winking, then disappeared into the cockpit. More news had come from the King.
I took a deep breath and waved good-bye to my new firefin friends. It was time to finish setting up the lab. I was eager to keep the promise we had made them.
Ten
Gorgin
I crept along the dock, careful to keep out of any rare flash of light. All these boats, just ripe for the stealing. Just wait till my men got here…
Most important was nabbin’ the girl right now.
Pretty little Prince had given pretty little Princess a sailboat. Would be just a matter of time afore she took it out. Princess was said to be headstrong and willful. Was certain she would take it out before long, on her own. Prolly without even telling anyone she was going anywhere. I was counting on it.
Thirty ships were headed toward Bristola ports. The Prince had to know by now. Made sense why his Navy was so up in arms and why there were extra lights in the training grounds; extra soldiers on duty and more mouths to be fed and bedded down, most likely.
Maybe even some of King Kajo’s troops. No matter. Beast King didn’t scare me none.
Even if all my ships did was cause damage in this attack, that’s all we needed to do this time. Cuz I was gonna get the girl. This Princess was the key to everything. If she could talk to animals, and could teach us how to talk to animals, then we could make every fight our own. We had one of her little friends, but he was weak. He had given in real quick right. Didn’t seem to be working, though. Animals didn’t like me none. I needed the Princess. Her little friend said she had the magic touch. I needed the magic touch. Needed the Princess touch to make her make the beasts my friends, too. And I wasn’t thinking just on the seas. There were other animals on land and in the mountains, we could train, too.
Maybe.
But first we needed to take out these port cities, maybe secure some of these ships for our ownself. Rally more pirates to our side. It had disappointed me that only six of the Captains wanted to come with me. Everyone’s peoples were dying. The blue was ruining the oceans. We had to find other sources of food and raiding the land people was the only way to do that.
I was just thinking of the bigger game at play.
I spotted the StarChaser and slid over the side lifeline and crouched down into the bow. It wasn’t a big boat, no real place to hide. Luckily there was a canvas tarp I could lay out under, just peeking from underneath. Hopefully she came down here tonight for some reason, even tho’ twas gettin’ late. Would certainly make my job easier. There’d be other stuff happenin’ tonight that would be distractin’ the Prince, that was for damn sure, especially if I caught the Princess. But, even if it weren’t till tomorrow, I would be fine. I had waited in worst places for longer.
Hofer thought I should send someone else to do this job, but I thought, naw. I wanted to do this job my ownself. This would be the first precious thing I stole from the Prince.
Then I would take this throne.
Eleven
Axis
I tapped on the door and waited. There was bustling on the other side and loud electronica music playing, but no response to my knock. I doubted she had heard me. It was nearly midnight, but I wasn’t surprised she was up so late, still working in the lab. I could spy Ceritha through the laboratory’s small window, setting up centrifuges and refrigerators, microscopes and testing tubes, all the while sashaying around the room with a little wiggle in her hips and a smile on her lips. She had changed into a sleeveless turquoise blue dress, practically see-through, just wisping around her thighs and hanging down to her heels in the back. It clung to her curves in all the right places and flowed out in a flourish as she spun.
I smiled and pushed the door open. She saw the movement and stopped dancing, holding the blood samples, her mouth dropping open and her face flushing a little. She hurriedly set the samples in their rightful spots and turned to me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the knocking.” She moved to turn down the music.
“You can leave the music on. It’s nice. Interesting work choice. Fires you up?”
"It's a friend of mine who spins on Serpul. She's brilliant. Melds electronica with natural wood and ocean element instruments. If you listen, you can hear the occasional conch shell blaring."
Ceritha’s eyes were bright and playful, her smile genuine and inviting. She did a twist, turn, twirl, and fancy little movement wave with her hands playing together in a symbiotic movement that was mesmerizing, like holding a flame between her hands and unleashing it to the world, in sync with the music.
I chuckled and clapped lightly. “I like it.”
She bowed and twirled once more, then turned back to the blood samples we had collected earlier in the day, though she did not cease moving her hips and shoulders and head to the beat. It was a gorgeous shimmying movement that shook her breasts slightly, which was hard to tear my gaze from.
"I'm glad we got so many samples from the firefins today. I'm just transferring them from the chillers we have had them into the refrigerators here in the lab. I want to get the lab completely set up tonight, so I can truly dig in with the analyzing tomorrow."
“Great. How can I help?”
She stopped and looked at me, no accusation, just an earnest curiosity. “Don’t you have bigger concerns at the moment? I don’t really know what is going on, but it seems there is something serious happening.”
I sighed and clenched my fists. Her eyes dropped to my involuntary movement and her brow furrowed, lips pursing. I wanted to bite them…
"I have wanted to find the moment to tell you, and I am sorry it hasn't been until now, but I have been receiving orders from King Kajo. There are some pirates off the coast. They have been making movements to challenge Bristola and the Farian realm at large. There are some thirty ships headed toward three of my ports. They are not far off. We expect the attack to happen tomorrow."
Ceritha nodded, her face surprisingly still. I had expected more of a reaction, perhaps alarm, or fear, or anger. I didn’t know her very well at all, yet. As far as I knew, Serpul had not faced any military conflict during her lifetime. How would she hold up under what Farian had been through my entire life?
“What would you like my role to be during this time?”
I was startled by the brevity and matter-of-factness of the question. I cleared my throat, having not truly contemplated what I needed from my new Queen…
“Well, I am certain I can handle the pirates. King Kajo has sent reinforcements, but my Navy is already quite strong. I would like you to concentrate your efforts on the blue flu. That is a problem that will not go away quickly, and we are suffering from it every day. If you can continue your work here, that is what is best. The main thing that I ask is that you stay safe, I suppose… I mean, during the attack, I would like you to remain under guard and take the orders of the soldiers assigned to protect you.”
“All right. I can do that.” She said the words, but there was something of a bite to them, and I knew I needed to assign a guard to watch her right away. Spirited was one thing, escape artist was another… I needed to make sure I kept her safe… I cursed myself for not having set a guard already. That would be the first thing I did when I left the lab. One of my Spec Ops spies would be a brilliant tail. One that she knew about and was visible beside her and one that was watching from hiding, just in case.
“Other than that, I will not pressure you to any Queenly duties at this time. I know this is a big transition—upheaval… for you right now. I am just so honored you are here with me, Princess. Truly.”
Ceritha spun an empty flask and then set it securely in its little setting on a bigger table of chemistry tools. She turned to me, biting her lip, smiling sideways through it, irresistibly cute. She has to know how irresistibly cute that is. “You know, I am well trained in hand-to-hand and telekinetic combat.”
“Is that so?” I said, a smile pulled out of me as I stepped closer to her. I put my fists up near my face. “Wa
nt to prove it?”
She laughed and backed away. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare hit the Prince of Bristola. I wouldn’t want the rumors to get out that you were bested by your Queen. Might be tough to explain that type of black eye.”
"Give it a go, Princess. You even touch me, I'll give you a bigger sailboat." I dashed in at her quickly as she put up her hands, signaling acceptance of the sparring match. She batted away my first quick, but gentle, jab toward her, then she ducked low and dove at my legs, wiping them out from under me, making me tumble backward, my breath knocked out of me as I landed on my back, and she was on top of me in an instant, forearm at my throat, other hand holding my right hand above my head. I gripped her waist with my left hand, ready to toss her from me, but she wrapped her legs around my thighs, pressing them down, and leveled down harder with her forearm, to where I had to grab at it. She bowed her head in low, close to my lips and I froze, trying hard not to laugh, almost able not to laugh. She was applying so much pressure to my throat. I could have forced my right hand loose from hers easily, but I was loving the way she was gripping it so tightly. Her breasts brushed against my chest. Her lips were right above mine.
“I don’t want a bigger sailboat,” she whispered to me as I froze, my eyes laughing at her, letting her have me pinned. “I want a spacejet. I want to learn to fly above the oceans, too. That’s what I want for our wedding present, my Commander, my Prince.”
I smiled at her, coughing a little, and she eased the pressure her forearm was applying and sat up on me. I sat up with her, rubbing her arms as she straddled me, wrapping her legs around my back. She put her hands in my hair, massaging her fingertips into my scalp and I closed my eyes, breathing out the stress and turmoil of my day. I bowed my head into her and she laid a ribbon of kisses on my forehead. I gripped her back hard as she rubbed down my head, down my neck, into my back. I could feel the cortisol fleeing, could feel the tension leaving my nervous system, built up for fear of the pirates, of the blue flu, even the stress Ceritha brought to my life… Here she was to relieve it…