21. Allarick
Chapter 21
Allarick
I ’m not keen on leaving Tetria so soon. A week home isn’t enough, but my sister would never meet me in my kingdom. I can’t blame her, especially when she does so much for me. I may not fully understand her fears of being in the ocean, but I can at least respect them.
Erin and I surfaced ten minutes ago to a note left on Atina’s door.
Meet me at Sonny’s.
Sonny’s is a tavern that sits on multiple territories. It’s considered neutral ground. As much as I would rather have met Atina at her house, I’ll oblige her. Erin disappears into my sister’s cabin to get dressed and fix her hair. She’s been quiet since we’ve surfaced, but so have I. There’s a lot on my mind in regards to the Leviathan and safety of my people. The pressure of the disappearing Tetria citizens weighs on me.
As a king, I’ve never had to face an enemy I know little to nothing about. Disputes between kingdoms are rare, though they do happen. But I have advisors who are experts on each kingdom in Mescos. I have nothing but old books and vague prophecies to help me figure out the Leviathan. I had prepared for the Nephilim—to the best of my ability—but the Leviathan are a surprise in more ways than one.
A gentle hand touches my back. I didn’t hear her approach, a testament to my spiraling thoughts. I turn and am greeted by a sweet but shy smile. I return it before my eyes drop down to what she’s wearing. Erin wears a dress that must have been left in the cabin. I love this woman in a dress. This one is yellow and complements her brown skin perfectly. The bodice is a corset, cut low. Her breasts are pushed up, teasing me with their fullness. The skirt of the dress flares out around the hips, stopping just below the knee.
She reminds me of the sun, warm and glowing in her radiance.
“Beautiful.” I make sure she knows just how stunning she is.
Erin doesn’t shy away from me or try to hide her face. It’s a small improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. She reaches for my arm, which I willingly give.
She squeezes my arm before asking, “Ready?”
The tavern is quiet when we arrive. A lone wolf sits at the bar, lost in the bottom of his glass. A pixie flutters by the fire, speaking to a fae male. They share a few laughs. A few other patrons nurse their drinks and look up when the bell above the door rings. Some simply glance at me and then away, back to their drinks. But others do a double take and straighten up in their seats.
These people may have never met me, but they know a king when they see one.
But it’s not me who holds their attention. It’s Erin. The only human in the tavern. My body hardens, and I pull her closer, glaring at any fool who dares to stare at her for too long.
“Allarick,” she whispers, tugging her arm away from me. Disapproval colors her features, but in the next second, it’s gone, and she looks away.
“Yes, sweet girl?” I prompt because I don’t want her to have to hold her tongue around me.
She looks reluctant at first but then says, “You don’t need to growl at everyone who looks at me. It makes me feel like I’m your property.”
Did I growl? I don’t remember growling. I just remember seeing men stare at Erin like they were waiting to eat her up, and something inside of me flipped. I wanted to defend her. Show them that she…
Belongs to me.
Oh.
Damn.
Property belongs to people. People don’t belong to people. I can’t control the way people stare and look at Erin, but I can control my asshole nature. I can’t take her disappointment in me. It cuts worse than any blade.
“Forgive me, sweet girl. That was unacceptable. The last thing I ever want you to feel like is property. ”
Erin blinks in surprise, like she hadn’t ever heard an apology for one’s behavior before. Maybe she hadn’t. Gingerly, she places her hand back on the crook of my arm. “Forgiven. Thank you for keeping me safe. I know you didn’t have any ill intentions; it’s just that James…”
She trails off. I didn’t need to hear what that bastard did to know it wasn’t good. He’d be a dead man walking if he were in Mescos. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from inflicting the greatest amount of pain until he left this world screaming. Erin might be upset, but I would rather get on my knees and beg her forgiveness than have that monster walking around.
“I understand. No more growling.” I smile, trying to lighten the mood.
“Well, I wouldn’t be opposed to some growling.” She smirks. Her voice takes on a new cadence, one that sounds like flirting.
Heat blooms low in my stomach, traveling south. My cock stiffens in my pants. It’s the last thing I need right before meeting my sister.
Oblivious to my growing need, Erin scouts the room before pointing to a table by the window. “Oh, there she is.” She smiles, pulling me along. Seeing my sister hunched over her drink is a douse of cold water over me.
Something is wrong.
My worries are further confirmed when we get closer, and I see the dark circles under her eyes. Her hair is a mess, and her shirt has some questionable stains on it. Atina’s eyes are glossy when she looks at us, and it takes her a moment to realize who we are.
“Ah, Brother.” Her words are slurred. “Come join me in drinking.” My sister has never been a heavy drinker, much preferring to keep her wit. To see her like this is unnerving.
Erin’s smile drops when she takes in Atina’s state. I approach her like one would approach a hungry shark: delicately and alert. I pull out Erin’s chair and wait for her to take a seat before I take mine.
“You two look cozy.” Atina smirks, but her eyes remain dull.
“What happened?” There’s no other reason why my sister would take to drinking other than something terrible happening.
“No pleasantries, Brother? No declarations of brotherly love for a sister who works her ass off for her kingly brother?”
“Atina,” I growl. “This isn’t a time for jokes. Tell me what has you finding the bottom of your bottle.”
Atina, my impossibly larger-than-life sister, slumps forward. For a moment, the meek little girl I grew up with peeks through. I’m reminded, for all my sister’s bravado, she’s not as fearless as she claims to be. She cares too much, and caring begets fear. It’s the price we pay for loved ones.
“Is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable?” Erin asks, wearing her beautiful heart on her sleeve. “Clearly this is really hard on you. You don’t have to carry that burden alone.”
A ghost of a smile pulls at my sister’s lips, and something passes between the women I’ll never fully understand. Both are strong warriors in their own right. Not by choice, but by the hands they were dealt .
Atina traces her finger around the rim of her glass before pulling out a map she’s tucked within her pocket. “We’ve located the Leviathan.” She rolls out the map of Mescos, pointing to a coordinate forty-five leagues southwest of the Lycan Forest shore. She’s marked the spot with a small red X.
“Not an easy sea to navigate. Rough waters and high winds. But those bastards are here, locked away in an underwater cave,” Atina says.
“Are you certain this is the location?” I pull the map closer.
My sister is silent for a beat too long before she nods. “Aye. Lost three men. I don’t lose men, Allarick. Not to the sea, at least. Never to the sea.” She whispers the last part to herself, looking off into the distance.
Next to me, Erin lets out a deep breath. “I’m so sorry for your losses, Atina.”
“Families have been told. Never want to see that kind of pain again. I learned one was expecting his first child.” Atina laughs bitterly. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
I don’t want to dredge up painful memories, but there’s no other way around it. “I need you to walk me through exactly what happened.”
“Allarick, we should give her a moment. She’s clearly hurting.”
“It’s okay, lass. Their sacrifice won’t be in vain. We’ll get retribution.” Atina glowers at me, expecting me to make sure that happens. If at all possible, I will.
“It started out mostly the same as last time. We heard the sound off and on. It was low singing. Weak because we were still too far from it. I had the crew plug their ears and stay vigilant still. Just in case. Not even five minutes later, the singing became louder and harder to ignore. Even my seasoned crewmembers were struggling. Hell, I was struggling. It was the three new lads I picked up who didn’t make it.”
“They weren’t our people?” I ask.
“That’s the thing, Allarick. They were. But they jumped into the sea and never resurfaced. We heard them scream and then nothing. Everything, even the singing, went silent. I stayed for as long as I could, but the song was still affecting my other crew members. I had to get out. I had to. I would have lost more crew members if I didn’t.”
“Of course you had to,” Erin assures. “You had to keep your crew safe. That couldn’t have been an easy decision, but you saved the lives of the rest of your crew.”
Atina takes a long swig of her ale until nothing remains but a few drops. “Aye, but no one should have died.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that.” Even as I say the words, I know how hypocritical I sound. Every death that happens during my reign is a death that weighs heavily on my conscience. My people look to me to keep them safe, just as Atina’s crew looks to her. Every death is felt heavily.
Atina flags down a barmaid for another ale, but both Erin and I decline when asked if we want anything to drink.
“What do we do now?” Erin asks after the barmaid places Atina’s mug in front of her. “It sounds like the Leviathan’s song is getting stronger.”
Atina nods at Erin’s assessment. “It is. More powerful than a siren. The pull is strong and only going to get stronger.”
“How do they get more powerful?” Erin reaches out to place her hand on my thigh. I’m not sure she even realizes she’s doing it, but I cover her hand with mine, and she doesn’t pull away.
“According to lore, which is all we have to go by, they steal the energy from other living beings.”
“Like their souls?” Erin asks, horrified.
“Precisely,” Atina sighs. “They steal their souls from their bodies, leaving their victims withered and hollowed. If we allow them to become too powerful, Tetria and the rest of Mescos will fall to them and the Nephilim. My crew and I have noticed ocean creatures acting strange, too, because of the singing. We plan on investigating that. After…” Atina gestures to the drink in front of her.
The harrowing thought sobers the table. Atina’s mouth is set in a grim line, while Erin tries to convey her sympathy. Not for the first time, I question my choice to bring Erin here. To force her into a war she otherwise would have no part in. If anything ever happens to her…
No, I can’t think like that. And I can’t say I forced her when Erin signed a contract. She knew what she was getting into. Without her here, my people would surely suffer.
“May I make a suggestion for your next move?” Atina asks after a while .
I value my sister’s opinions and advice. I may not always heed it, but she’s never steered me wrong before.
“Of course. You know you always can,” I say.
Atina leans forward until both of her elbows are on the table. She looks between Erin and me before meeting my eyes. Her jaw clenches, like she doesn’t want to tell me what she knows. I stay silent, giving her time.
Atina sucks in a deep breath. “I’ve gathered information on these creatures and studied the history books Delmare found. In one of them, they show how the prison keeps the Leviathan in.”
“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Erin looks between us. “If we know how to close it, then we need to do it.”
But nothing is ever that simple. If it were, Atina wouldn’t look as defeated as she does. “In good news, we sometimes find bad,” Atina says. “The prison gates are holding for now, but will weaken as the Leviathan get stronger. The gate to their prison can be sealed off, but only if it is closed by members of the royal family. In every text I’ve read, there’s always been more than one person and always blood relatives.”
I’m the last of my family. The only other person who shares my blood is sitting in front of me, but would her blood status as bastard-born be enough? And even if it were, getting her into the ocean would be near impossible.
“But I think I know what you can do in order to have the strength to close the gate yourself, Brother.” Atina catches my eye, and I know what she’s going to say before she says it. “If you really want to strengthen your kingdom and give your people the best fighting chance, then you two must marry. And soon.”