by Maira Dawn
Ian shook his head. He wasn't sure why he’d gone along with the old man’s request. Perhaps because he knew there might be a stir in Atlantis with the news and didn't want Sunny caught up in it. Or maybe he sensed that what Blake said was true.
Before Sunny had made her way back to her grandfather's house this afternoon, Blake had made sure Ian knew what was on his mind. He handed him a mug of coffee and changed the subject from the upcoming heist to Ian and Sunny's relationship.
"I have something to ask of you," Blake said as he sat stiffly in the chair opposite of Ian.
Ian raised an eyebrow and sipped at the bitter brew. He had never developed a taste for it.
"I assumed you want Sunny to leave with you when you go back tonight, but don't ask her. At least, not yet. She's not ready."
Ian was shocked at Blake's intrusion. "I know what she needs more than you, old man. It is the Atlantian way. Something you seem to have forgotten. You should not be acting as if you have a say between two Jata Ara."
Blake blinked and continued, "I know what she means to you, I really do. But I had a human wife, as well as an Atlantian one. It isn't the same. There's no connection there, not like there should be. Sunny's grandmother knew something wasn't right between us. We both mourned over what could've been. I may have lived here, but emotionally I often turned away from her. I don't want that for Sunny."
Ian sat up and stared at Blake. "She is starting to sense me. Sunny has Atlantian in her. There is more hope for a normal relationship than you had."
"Perhaps. Still, I ask you to think of Sunny, and what is good for her."
"I only ever think of my Jata Ara!" Ian stood and shook his head. “You would ask this of me? Knowing what kind of monster a life without your Intended made you?"
Blake winced, but said, "Go back to Atlantis and leave her. Leave her here with her family. I beg you."
"You do not mean for a little while. You mean forever!" Ian punched his finger at Blake. "I say again, you do not know what goes on with me and my Intended. It is not up to you to decide anything for us."
Blake bolted out of his chair. "You are right. But talking to you is the only resource I have. After all, she doesn't have a powerful clan behind her name as you do, only an infamously wicked grandfather!" He turned to the window, looking out over the ocean. His voice broke as he went on, "She is all I have left. I love all my family. They mean the oceans to me. But Sonora, she is special. Something about her reminds me of my carefree youth."
Ian scrubbed his hands against his face at seeing Blake's distress. He could hardly fault his friend for loving his granddaughter so deeply. Didn't he also feel she was special? Extraordinary even? "Blake, I will not break with her."
"No, not forever. Though, to be honest, I wish it could be so. Just give her more time. If you force her to return with you—"
"If I would force her, she would be in Atlantis still. Everything I do is for Sunny's welfare. I sense that she would willingly come with me. But I will admit her grief over leaving would be great. I will give her the time you ask, but I disagree with one thing. She and I need more time together to strengthen our bond, not more time apart." Ian returned to his seat. "I'll come back with an escort for you, depending on what the council decides. You can go back with them, and I will stay with Sunny until she wishes to go to Atlantis."
Blake agreed. "It's all I can ask."
Ian threw him a stern look. "Ask nothing else of me."
Blake nodded.
"You should know that I offered to live here with her. But she refused, saying she would go to Atlantis."
"I see. That was a great sacrifice you offered."
"I would gladly have done it. If she had refused me on every level, I would have found somewhere on land to live where I could sense her even if I never saw her face. To feel her presence would have been enough after those months of nothing."
Blake studied Ian. "Perhaps everything will be fine between Sunny and you."
"It will."
"Ian, I don't want anything about me to cause our people to have bad feelings for Sunny. Remind the council I was a different person. Someone with a shredded heart and out of my mind with grief and anger. Say whatever you need so that she will have a happy, joyful life—full of love. Let me at least give her that."
"I will make them understand— feel what you suffered. I will tell them you have been living out your life in peace."
Blake put a hand to Ian's shoulder. "If they decide a penance should be given, I will willingly give it."
Ian nodded. "These murders must be addressed. The humans cannot be allowed to continue or remain unpunished. I will need your help with that."
"Of course, whatever I can do."
It had been good for Ian and Blake to speak their thoughts. Blake seemed less hesitant about Sunny's move to Atlantis now.
Sunny. His heart. How hard it was to leave her behind, each mile seemed to hurt more. His fingers gripped the bike's steering device until his fingers pulsed with his slow heartbeat.
Why was courtship so hard for him? Most Atlantians fairly threw themselves into each other's arms, never to part again. Nice and simple. But not him. Not only had Ian worried for years he wouldn't find his Intended, but when he did, he had to fight Sunny and now her family for the right to be with her. He might be First Son of Jorah, eventual Head of the Council, a position offering privileges both now, and in the future, but sometimes he felt like some sort of bottom feeder.
Ian scoffed at himself. It was the pain of leaving her making him feel this way. Yes, this relationship had caused him much emotional distress, and with that, some genuine physical pain, but Sunny was worth anything he went through. The worsening pain would soon be over. As happy as he was to be bringing the Artifact home and to see his family, he would take no longer than necessary to get back to her.
Fifteen
Home
Chapter Fifteen
After arriving home, Ian immediately gathered his family together. He was in such a good mood, he even enjoyed Cascadia and Talise's company when his usual response was to jet away from them as fast as a shark from an unwanted pilot fish. Still, he smiled when his mother dragged his sisters into the kitchen to make a meal after his stomach growled loudly.
Ian and Jorah sat at the dining room table. The Artifact lay before them, the jewels in the woodgrain brightened by the light hanging above them.=.
Jorah ran his hand over the top of the box's smooth surface. "It looks just as it did the last time I saw it. At least the humans treated it well."
"It would seem so, Father. It was in a museum. I am sure that contributed to its safekeeping." Ian changed the subject. "Thank you for keeping my arrival with the Artifact secret tonight. There is no doubt our people will greatly rejoice over its return, as they should. But a quiet evening with all of you, celebrating the end of a long mission, is what I needed."
"Of course it is, my son," said Aleena as she breezed in carrying the first of the many dishes she and her daughters prepared. "Family is everything to Atlantians. It is only fitting our personal celebration come first. We rejoice not only over the Artifact but also our son's safe return."
Aleena placed the plate on the table and wrapped her arms around Ian. She looked down at him and pushed his hair back. "Now you can stay down here in the safe, warm waves, and out of that harsh poisonous sun. You know, your Aunt Coral was just telling me the sun kills people! Can you believe that? I am glad you can now stay out of its scorching rays." She pushed at his forehead. "I hope that is not a wrinkle I see forming there."
Ian scoffed and gently pushed her away. "Mother, stop. It would hardly be the case."
His parents laughed when he ran a hand over his forehead and pulled his hair back over it.
Once everyone loaded the table with colorful salads, steaming fish, and a dessert of strawberries, they sat down at the table. After thanking the Creator of All Things for the safe return of Ian and the bounty covering the table, the
family began to eat.
After a bite of salad, Ian turned to the others. "Thank you, Mother and Sisters, for providing tonight's delicious meal. I will be sure to offer one in return tomorrow night."
"We prepared all of your favorites," Talise said. "So, you must do the same." She then proceeded to list her preferences, which included a problematic meal of pufferfish, scallops, and a salted cod needing soaked for one to three days before cooking.
Ian laughed. "Of course, those are your favorites. As you know, I can cook a perfect scallop, and if a pufferfish is available, that will also be on your plate. But your cod will have to be another day."
Cascadia leaned toward Ian. "And I want—"
He held up his hand. "It seems, sisters, that my hospitality will take more than one evening to repay. We will start with Talise, and Cascadia, you will be next."
After the young ladies eagerly nodded, Jorah said, "If you think those dishes are difficult, I am eager to tell you what I have chosen."
Ian groaned, which caused everyone at the table to erupt into laughter.
Brown eyes still shining, Cascadia set her elbows to the table and laid her chin on her hands. "Did you see her? Sunny?"
Aleena gasped. In an instant, everyone stilled until Jorah barked at his daughter, "Did I not say the subject was forbidden? Your brother has been through enough. There will be no mention of it—her!"
Cascadia dropped her hands to her lap and lowered her head. "I am sorry, Father."
"Don't pretend contriteness to me. We have spoiled the two of you overmuch." Jorah flashed a look at Aleena as her hand crept to smooth her daughter's hair.
Aleena jerked her hand back and sighed. "Yes, we have. You girls must do better by us."
After seeing his sisters suffering under the harsh glare of their father, Ian decided to put an end to their misery. Not that the two couldn't remind him of a couple of brazen eels at times, but somehow Talise had gotten pulled into the scolding, and she hadn't done anything—this time.
"It is fine. I did see her." Ian looked at each of them.
Aleena and Jorah held their breath, and Cascadia and Talise both held their hands to their mouths in excited anticipation. It all seemed horribly romantic to them, and to all of their friends with whom, Ian knew, they discussed every detail.
"We talked. We laughed. We danced." Ian's words were cut short by his sisters' loud excited gasp. He chuckled and said, "Yes, it sort of felt like that."
Unable to hold back his excited news, Ian said, "She had decided she wants—to use a human word—date." At his family's puzzled looks, he continued, "It is when a couple gets to know each other on a deeper level."
Still confused, Jorah looked Ian over and said, "Well, you are happy, so it seems to be a good thing."
"How odd!" Talise said just before the girls fell into a massive giggle.
Aleena lightly slapped the table. "See," she said. "I told you just to keep her here."
Ian scoffed, "No, Mother, I believe you told me to take her back before it was too late."
"Oh, did I? I think I meant for you to keep her. If that is what you truly wanted."
Ian couldn't help his laughter. "Really? We must do better by the humans."
"I know, dear," Aleena said, "They cannot help what they are, poor things."
"No! No," Ian said. "That is precisely what I am talking about. They are not ours to decide if they come or go. And they are not lesser."
Ian's mother huffed, "They are! Everyone knows that."
"No. They are different, not lesser. Mother, you must see it."
"What I see, son, is the garbage floating through our waves, our gardens, our homes from a people who are voluntarily ignorant to what is happening to the very world they live in."
Aleena's eyes hardened. "What I see is the weeping Atlantian mothers as their children's bodies drift home to them in pieces. I see an uncaring, gluttonous people unwilling to show an ounce of the humanity they call their own. As a people, are they lesser? Yes. They indeed have less strength, resilience, and length of life, but that is not of what I speak."
Her hands gripped the edge of the table. "As a people, they are heartless and brutal. They are destroyers of worlds. And you don't need to look at their cruelty to us to see that, you can simply look at what they have done to one another."
Ian bowed his head. What his mother said was right, many humans were like that, but not all. However, she would feel this way until she met humans who were not selfish and greedy.
"If you cannot take them as a whole, then think of just her," Ian asked. "How would you feel, Mother, to go to land and reveal yourself as an Atlantian? How would the judgment feel? Sunny will live here, and she cannot hide herself. Everywhere she goes, everyone will know her for what she is and judge. I need to be able to reassure her that my people will embrace her as one of their own. That you will show her a mother's love."
The fervor in Aleena's eyes faded. She reached across the table, took Ian's large hand in hers. "I will remember my love for you and extended it to the small human girl. I will give your Jata Ara the love and care she needs, as I do all my children. It is the Atlantian way."
"Thank you, Mother. Others will follow your lead."
Ian gave his family a smile, even as he felt a stone weighing his stomach. He may have won this, but how would they accept the news she had the stain of being Argos' granddaughter? And would the fact she was of mixed heritage aid his people to welcome her or make it harder for them to accept her?
Sixteen
Debate
Chapter Sixteen
As Ian walked into the meeting chamber with his father, his chest swelled with pride. Today, he would stand at his father's side during the council meeting as he announced the return of the Artifact. His eyes brightened as he imagined the great rejoicing that would occur.
Ian received a few side glances from the council members as they shook each other's hands and said their hellos. He casually smiled and greeted the others, but he understood the question in their eyes. Only when testimony was given did someone other than an elected member enter the meeting hall. Ian almost burst with the news each time he caught a questioning look.
As Jorah and the other members took their seats, Ian looked around the spacious room. To the left of where he stood, floor to ceiling embroidered wall tapestries hung on the high walls between four large windows looking over the city. Created through the decades, the tapestries told the tales of their people. Ian remembered the solemn and joyful lessons he learned when he was brought here as a child, both with his parents and his teachers.
Ian stood tall behind his father's chair, straightening his shoulders as his father called the meeting to order.
"Fellow council members," Jorah said as he looked over the men and women who sat around the ancient oval table, "Today is an auspicious day. Today, my son has brought home the Artifact."
The council eagerly watched as Ian pulled the covered box from its hiding place under the table. Gasps erupted when he sat it on the table and removed the cloth.
The unique box blazed with color as if it, too, was delighted to be home. Each jewel lit from within, throwing bits of color onto the golden swirls of the beautiful antique.
Even the gruffest of men dabbed at tears over the sight of their treasure back where it belonged.
Loud applause broke out, and one after another, the council stood in respect for Ian and what he had accomplished. The compliments swirled around him.
"Surely, this great day is due to you, Ian!"
"It is home, the Artifact is home, because of your hard work."
"I knew you could do it, boy!"
When they became silent, Ian gave them all a slight bow. "It was for the honor of my people I hunted it. It was for love of them I continued when all hope was lost. And it is for their heart's ease that I return with it in hand."
After another round of applause, Tiburon of the Great White Clan shouted gruffly, "Have you checked it fo
r the cure yet?"
"No," Jorah said. "I thought it more fitting to do that here, with all of you. But the Artifact is, as you can see, in excellent condition."
Carefully, Jorah picked up the box and turned it over. Everyone became still and quiet. He glanced at the room with a nervous smile, then slid open the secret compartment.
His face drained of color.
Ian stepped to his father's side. Jorah put his fingers to the black lining and threw Ian a stunned look when there was only dark silkiness.
Jorah lifted his wide eyes to the rest of the table as he shook his head.
Ian couldn't look away from the empty case, his body numbing at the sight. How could this be? All the work, all the years, only to find it empty? As grateful as everyone was to have the Artifact back where it belonged, the most important part was still missing!
How would they fulfill their duty and save the humans now? What if the illness came, and Sunny was swept away with all the others? She would need to come to Atlantis now. There would be no other choice. Her life was at stake.
Ian scanned the stunned crowd. Would he be given the chance to bring her? He'd hoped his retrieval of the Artifact would smooth the way for his beloved. There was much for the council and Atlantians, in general, to overcome for Sunny to be welcomed in the manner Ian wished.
She was mostly human, but that didn't worry him as much as the fact she was the granddaughter of the dreaded Argos. While the council would soon know he was innocent of the Atlantian murders, he was guilty of other crimes. The stain would lay on Blake for all his life, and a part of it would shadow her. Ian's stomach weighed with worry.
A roar came from the end of the table. "They have stolen it! The humans have stolen the very thing that will keep them alive!"
Voices layered over each other, arguments ranging from trying to find some way to help the human to letting the disease have its way. Ian ran a hand over his face. One would never guess from the fellowship outside of this room, there was so much discord in the council chamber. What would that mean for Sunny?