“If the High King were in the room, listening to your drivel, you can be sure either he would adjust your thinking for you or he would let Queen Aileene do it for him. I can’t imagine what my mother promised you, but I am getting married to a man who loves me, and you don’t factor into my life at all.” I finished and took another sip of my coffee.
Tetraodon stood and threw his napkin on the table with such force he knocked over his wine glass, spilling the contents. “I’ve heard rumors that you were going to marry someone who isn’t a natural born merman, but I couldn’t believe that was possible since you were promised to me. You’re tainted and I can only believe the years you’ve spent on Earth have somehow twisted your mind. I wouldn’t marry you if you begged me to.” He nodded curtly to my mother and stalked out of the room, slamming the door as he left.
“Cynthia,” my mother began but I stopped her with an icy stare.
“How dare you,” I seethed. “You invited me to dinner under false pretense telling me we had important family matters to discuss. I should have known this was just another one of your pathetic attempts to manipulate me into doing what you want.”
“But it is important to this family that you marry well. I only want what’s best for you and I believed that Tetraodon would be a good match. I can see that he isn’t the person I thought he was, so we’ll just need to try again,” she finished lamely as I glared at her.
“You don’t want what’s best for me, you only want what you think is best for you. I don’t want or need your help to find someone to marry. I have already found my true mate in Jason and he makes me happy.”
“You can’t mean that. What could he possibly give you that one of the mermen in my kingdom cannot?” she asked in dismay.
I sighed wearily and looked at my mother for who she really was. She had spent so many years consumed with herself that she was incapable of seeing me for anything but the failure she thought I was. I hoped we could repair the damage to our relationship but realized that was never going to happen because she was unwilling to meet me halfway; she wasn’t even willing to take a step in my direction.
“You know, Mother, I have made excuses for you my whole life. When I was younger, I would excuse your criticism because I knew I would be the heir one day and you wanted me to be the best ruler I could be. After Dad died and we assumed Nestor was dead as well, I excused your coldness towards me because you were grieving and didn’t know how to deal with the only member of your family who still survived. Even last year when you had me brought to the palace after almost eighty years of being away, I hoped you would be happy to know I was alive and had made the most out of a difficult situation while I’d been trapped on Earth. But once again you had to tell me where I was deficient and what I needed to do to become the ruler you wanted me to be.
“But what you did today is beyond belief and I can no longer excuse your behavior. You asked what Jason could possibly give me that no one else can? It’s unconditional love. He loves me so much he was willing to give up everything for me. He gave up his sasquatch heritage to be with me even though I offered to give up being a mermaid for him.”
“But you love the water and the freedom of being a mermaid,” she gasped with a shocked expression on her face.
“You’re right, but I love Jason even more. Maybe you had unconditional love for Dad, but I don’t really know if that’s possible for you. I give up. You’ll never be the mother I wanted and needed you to be, but I’m done holding that against you. You’ve shown me today that you don’t really care about anyone but yourself and I feel sorry for you.”
I turned to leave but stopped at the door and spoke over my shoulder. “Goodbye, Mother. You are invited to our wedding and I hope you make the effort to be there. But if you choose not to, that will be your loss.”
I’d never have the relationship with my mother that I wanted to have, but I had someone who chose me, and I was looking forward to creating a new life with him. I closed the door behind me and left without looking back. Amphi stepped in my way, his arms outstretched, and I fell into his embrace.
He kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, “I’d be proud if you were my daughter.”
I leaned back and looked at him, his image wavering with unshed tears filling my eyes.
Thank you, I sent, not trusting my voice at that moment.
He nodded and released me, and I continued down the corridor, my head held high. All I wanted to do was get out of this dress, gather our gear and head back to Earth. Muttering to myself I stomped towards my suite. The more I thought about the last two hours the angrier I became. As I neared my suite in the family section of the palace, I was replaying the final confrontation with my mother on a continuous loop in my head.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention and ran into a wall of flesh and bounced off. Before my butt could hit the ground I was enveloped from behind in a loving embrace and set back on my feet.
“I’d ask how your meeting went with your mom, but I can tell by the look on your face it went exactly like every private conversation you’ve had with her for the past hundred years,” Brian laughed as he grinned down at me. He was my oldest friend and had been a huge support when I was growing up in the palace. In his human form he was six-foot-five and a solid wall of muscle. Working as an Elvis impersonator on Earth, his black hair was always carefully styled in the classic pompadour with bushy sideburns that went halfway down his dimpled cheeks.
Jason moved to my side and I leaned my head on his shoulder as he kept his left arm around my waist. Jason was a couple of inches shorter than Brian but was just as muscular. His dirty-blond hair just brushed his shoulders and his blue eyes regarded me with concern. He reminded me of the actor who played Thor in the movies, except Jason was much better looking.
“Are you okay?” he asked, softly.
I turned toward him and reached my hand up to touch his face. He bent down and placed a soft kiss on my lips, and I couldn’t help smiling as he did so.
“I am now,” I whispered and kissed him again.
“Well, this is awkward,” Brian teased, and Jason and I broke apart laughing.
Jason pulled me to his side again and we began walking. “We already grabbed our stuff; we’re ready to go,” Jason said as we walked hand-in-hand down the corridor. We chatted and laughed about our encounter with the nekahi, and I filled them in on dinner with my mother. I stopped when they told me Chef Louis had sent them the same food prepared for me..
“You mean to tell me I could have eaten the meal with you instead of my mother and that piece of flotsam?” I grumped.
Brian gently patted me on the shoulder, “You needed to give your mom one more chance. You know you would’ve felt guilty if you hadn’t.”
I nodded in response to his comment and we stepped through the doorway to the grotto that would lead us to the ocean. The room was circular and there were pink, blue and green tinted stalactites hanging from the ceiling. There was a pool of blue-green water in the middle of the room and white sand leading up to the water’s edge. There were sentries stationed around the room guarding against any possible enemy intrusion through the pool or the tunnel which led out to the open ocean. There were also soldiers stationed on the ocean side of the tunnel to prevent entrance that way. We had discovered the hard way that this was a vulnerable part of the palace when enemies gained entrance through this peaceful pool.
Jason, Brian and I made our way to an alcove where our bags were waiting. We didn’t really have too much with us since we’d been traveling for so long underwater as we searched for the nekahi, but I would have to carry what we did have. Fortunately, I had a wonderful bit of magic around my neck that Alister had given me to make my life easier, which until recently, only members of his Inner Circle received.
The thought medallion allowed the wearer to project thought-speak farther than normal but also to shift into their natural form without having to undress first. While shifters aren't concerne
d about nudity the way humans are, it was convenient to shift back to human and be fully clothed.
The addition of the pocket dimension is what really made the difference to the magical gift. Somehow, Alister had affixed a storage area in another dimension to the necklace which I could access whenever I needed. I learned the hard way that it wasn’t a good idea to open this pocket dimension underwater, but I could open it on land without problem. I accessed the dimension, added our bags, my shoes and the clothes Jason and Brian were wearing. Since the bags were stored in another dimension, they didn’t add any weight to the necklace. We rarely shifted with our clothes on because we typically shifted into our mere forms after we're in the water; none of us wanted to shift into soaking wet clothes when we arrived where we were going.
“Hey Cyndi, I left you something on the rock,” Brian called over his shoulder as he entered the pool. He wouldn’t shift into his kraken form until he was through the tunnel and in the open ocean since he was so large.
“Ha-ha, very funny,” I laughed as I held up a bikini top made from shells. “You know this would get ripped off my chest the moment we start swimming at normal speed, jerk.”
Brian and Jason laughed as I added the bikini top to the pocket dimension. I started to leave the dress hanging on a hook but I loved the way I looked and felt in the dress. I didn’t want to associate the dress with the horrible memory of the dinner I just left and decided I’d ask Jason to take me out when we got home, while I wore the dress, creating a beautiful memory for the two of us. Smiling to myself, I carefully packed the dress then walked to the water to join the other two.
Brian disappeared under the water first then Jason transformed into his merman form. His arms and chest grew to accommodate his larger size as he was now over ten feet tip to tail. He turned towards the tunnel opening and dove underwater, his red and purple scales glittering off his tail as he waved it at me to follow.
Laughing, I waded into the water but turned to take one last look at the place I’d called my home when I was younger. Sighing for the loss of what could have been, I let go of the past and dove underwater to follow Jason, excited about the future we would create together.
Chapter 2
July 10
Indian Ocean
Tasmania
Jason’s arms wrapped around me as we greeted the rising sun ready to face a new day together. The cloudless sky was bathed with oranges, reds and purples where the splendid golden light chased the darkness from the sky. The sunrise matched my mood and between Jason’s arms, his love and the lightening sky, I felt the darkness from yesterday fleeing my mind. I laughed at the sound of a snore and looked to see Brian still lying on the sand where we’d spent the night on this secluded beach in Tasmania. We were up early because we wanted to get back in the water before anyone saw us.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason asked as he nuzzled aside my hair and kissed me behind the right ear.
“Mmmm, only if you stop doing that—in ten to fifteen minutes,” I breathed.
Jason laughed as he gave me one last squeeze and moved in front of me so I could see his face.
“Hey,” I protested, “did you miss the part where I really wanted you to continue?”
Jason smiled, his eyes dancing with mischief, “I know I’m irresistible, but you’ve only got three months left to wait then you can have all of me. Besides, I really think you should talk about your conversation with your mom; you haven’t said anything about it since we left Cetacea.”
After we dove into the pool in the grotto yesterday, we left the palace and made our way through the ocean in Theria to the location of the dimensional portal. I half expected my mother to send a contingent of guards to stop us from leaving so she could have the last word, but I didn’t hear anything. Once we got to the portal we were met by Muir, the Captain of the Palace Guard and my mother’s consort.
Lady Cynthia, he sent in thought-speak.
Captain Muir, what are you doing here?
Your mother asked me to oversee the portal after you came through yesterday then close it again once you went back to Earth.
Wait a moment, I held up my hand, my mother told you I would be heading back to Earth?
Of course, she knew you wouldn’t be staying in Cetacea, especially after King Alister informed her that you were on a mission for him and needed to be based on Earth to accomplish your task.
When did she speak with King Alister?
Last week, shortly after we received word there was a Therian creature loose on Earth.
I shook my head and stared at Muir. Even though I didn’t ever think anyone could replace my dad, I’m glad he and my mother found each other. If she knew I was going back to Earth, why did she plan that charade with Tetraodon?
He shrugged; I cannot say. Even though I love your mother, she is a very complicated and difficult woman. I’m sure she has her reasons, but most of the time I cannot figure out what they are. He smiled fondly, that’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to her.
Once again, I was baffled by my mother’s behavior and her purposely driving a wedge between us.
This must be your fiancé, Muir sent as he held out his hand for Jason to shake.
It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jason sent as I was still unable to put my thoughts into words.
I’m not sure how you managed it, but Cyndi is speechless for once, Brian remarked, his laughter clear in his sending.
After a few minutes of conversation, we made our way to the portal so Muir could open it for us. I knew once we passed through, we would find ourselves in the ruins of Atlantis. There were many stories of the legendary lost continent on Earth but none of them hinted that Atlantis was once the location of the best Therian research facilities and scientists studying extra-dimensional travel.
Unfortunately, everything was destroyed thousands of years ago when there was an accident with a dimensional rift and the continent on Earth broke apart and sank beneath the waves. The Therian scientists facilitated that destruction because it was the only way to keep the rift from expanding to each dimension and destroying all worlds.
Much later, King Phillip, Alister’s father, limited travel between dimensions and only allowed members of Tionchar to make those journeys. Power to open and close gates was granted to the High King or High Queen and the Atlantean portal was forgotten, except by members of my family and until last year was a closely guarded secret. Once my mother informed King Alister about this portal between Cetacea and Earth he granted permission for the ruler of Cetacea to utilize the portal as she saw fit. Brian and Jason preceded me through the portal, but Muir put a hand on my arm before I swam through. When I looked at him quizzically, he smiled and pulled me into a hug.
Your mother and I will be at your wedding, even if I must drag her there myself. She really is proud of you, even if she never tells you so.
It’s difficult to tell if someone is crying underwater but I think Muir could tell since he wiped his thumb across my cheeks.
Why won’t she tell me these things herself? I sent, sorrow evident in my mental communication.
I don’t know, but I want you to know I’m proud of you and would be honored to call you my daughter.
I hugged him again and waved goodbye as I swam backward through the portal. Of course, I misjudged the direction and hit my back on the side of the portal first, then bounced through. I could hear Muir’s mental laughter as I felt myself transported to another dimension.
“Do you want to talk about it,” Jason asked again, breaking me out of my reverie.
“Not really. I’m tired of giving my mother power over me. I love her, and she drives me crazy.” I turned and hugged Jason, laying my head on his chest. When his arms came around me, I sighed in contentment.
“I’ve never understood why she pushes me away so much. Yesterday was another example of her sabotaging our relationship for no good reason. She knew I would never choose that pompous barnacle over you, but she staged that ent
ire dinner anyway. I’ve made my peace with this. I’ve come to realize that I’ll never have the mother I deserve so I’ll need to learn how to get along with the mother I have.”
Jason kissed my forehead and leaned back to look at me. “Whatever happens with your mother, I’m just glad I get to spend the rest of my life with you. What do you say we head home?”
“I’d like that, but I need to stop by the shipwreck we found yesterday so I can pick up my trident. It’ll give us some time to explore the wreck.”
“As long as I get a chance to get something to eat, I’m willing to do some exploring on our way home,” Brian said as he walked over to where Jason and I were standing. He grinned as he wiped sand off his bare chest and belly.
“Is that The Creature from the Black Lagoon on your trunks?” I asked.
“Yep,” Brian replied and pointed to one of his tattoos, “just like this one here. You know I’m a huge fan of the classic monster movies.”
“Where did you find those anyway?” I laughed.
Brian shrugged, “you should ask Jason, he bought them for me, at the same time he bought you the shell bikini.”
“You,” I narrowed my eyes and started stalking towards Jason.
“Now honey, it was only a joke,” Jason laughed as he held up his hands and backed towards the water.
“I’ll give you a head start,” Brian said and picked me off the ground.
Jason turned and ran into the surf, transforming as he dove under a wave.
Brian let me go and we laughed together as we raced towards the water.
Scales of Justice Page 3