Chapter 11
Eleven
Kaden
Kaden’s focus was singular as he holed up in his bedchambers, clutching a sharp rock piece, a carving tool. With precise movements, he curved it around the piece of seaglass he was working on. Smoothing the edges with his finger, he held the finished sculpture at eye level, proud of his handiwork.
It was a sculpture for Angie when he saw her again.
He refused to believe he wouldn’t, even if his planned talk with Saeryn went well and he swam aside for Kaden.
As monarch, Kaden could promote peace within the queendom, negotiate with the humans and ask for answers, and when all was well again, he could relax the order to keep humans out.
While he carved the haixiang–what Angie named a walrus–, he thought to the tidesday when he told her about his nostrils sealing shut underwater and she compared him to the formidable mammal.
He spent the past tidesdays thinking over his talks with Angie, Varin, Adrielle and Cyrus, and addressing his own fears.
After flipping his tail and overworking his mind deep in thought, he concluded he might be a capable leader.
He had Cyrus at his side, and if he dared to hope, Saeryn could help him as well, and he could even give his uncle the highest station under the monarch: high advisor.
He still hadn’t prepared a ‘greetings, Uncle, perhaps I could persuade you to step down from the throne’ speech, but Saeryn was easy to talk to.
He was the one who sat and listened, who reassured Kaden in his youth when he had conflicts with his parents, or with Cyrus, or any other mer.
He released his tail from his slanted rock seat and gave it a shake. His chest pains and fatigue appeared to have subsided, at least for now, and he clung onto a shred of hope that his condition was improving.
Kaden pulled open his heavy, rocky drawer, slid the sculpture inside, and gathered his resolve before he left his chambers.
He took another gulp of seawater to clear his mind before he entered the throne room.
There were two sentinels he didn’t recognize stationed outside and neither acknowledged Kaden.
Each day Kaden carried through the palace, he found less staff he recognized, from sentinels to sentries, to their cooks. Saeryn had even brought in cleaners.
No big deal, he assured himself. Saeryn would see his point of view.
When he entered the room, Saeryn stopped short, his tail straightening in tandem with his upper body.
He was in the top corner of the rectangular room moving one of Serapha and Aqilus’ tapestries to the furthest corner, away from view, hanging from a frayed coral tack.
The tapestries were ominously still, even with the sea’s sway caressing them.
Where the tapestries once were, was an unfinished bust of Saeryn protruding from the wall, held in place with carefully constructed, sturdy rock.
Saeryn’s face split into a too-wide smile when he saw Kaden. “I was about to send a sentinel for you.”
The tips of Kaden’s caudal fins scraped the eelgrass and sea moss-covered sandy floor. “You were? Why?”
“I wished to offer you a proposition.” Saeryn glided to his throne, curling a tail around it. “I assume you’re not just here to say hello.” He held out a hand, urging Kaden to speak.
The gentle way Saeryn looked at him disarmed him, but Kaden forced the words out before he lost his nerve again.
“I had a proposition for you, as well. I know you’ve been working hard on restoring the queendom, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to be relieved of the throne, and all the stress that I’m sure comes with it.
” Thank the Goddess, the words came out smoothly, burying his inner panic.
What if Saeryn said yes? Was he ready to serve at his queendom’s highest station?
“And you could spend the time with your daughter.”
Saeryn put a finger on his chin and looked off into the distance, parting his lips. “And I presume, turn the throne over to you?”
“Yes. But if you wished, you could serve as my high advisor.” Kaden’s heart rammed his ribcage as he searched Saeryn’s face for a reaction, any reaction. He found none except for a twitch feathering along his jaw.
Enough time passed for a slow-moving, giant haichong to crawl across the throne room, bump their flat white body into the wall, and follow said wall to crawl underneath the throne room doors before Saeryn responded.
He cooked an eyebrow. “That is kind of you to relieve me of my station. If the time comes that I wish to abdicate, I will let you know.”
“You will not consider?”
“No.” Saeryn straightened his torso, folding his arms loosely across his chest.
“But what about—”
“I said no.”
Kaden’s eye twitched at Saeryn interrupting twice in a row. It was a reminder of his parents, in particular his mother, and their habit of interrupting him and Cyrus as a show of dominance, when they were younger.
One of the sentinels from outside entered the throne room and Saeryn turned his attention to her.
“Your Majesty, we have been getting reports from citizens asking when you would be holding court again and meeting with them about their grievances.”
Saeryn waved a dismissive hand at the mermaid. “I do not have any court dates planned. We have other things to worry about for now. The coronation at the turn of the tide being one of them.”
The mermaid bowed her head. “Noted. I will let the people know.”
“Kaden,” Saeryn said as soon as the sentinel left them alone. “Speaking of the high advisor position—that is my proposition to you. Would you consider being my high advisor? I’ve been thinking about this, and in my mind, there is no better fit than you, and I value your input.”
Saeryn’s offer was an incoming current tossing Kaden off-balance.
He wanted Kaden to be his high advisor after he had asked him to remove himself from the throne?
Still, he wouldn’t squander this opportunity, and this could be his chance to have his opinions and thoughts heard by both Saeryn and the council.
He could make a difference without having the stress of being the monarch.
The answer came easily. “Yes, I would be honored.”
“Fantastic! We will confirm your new role with the council immediately after the coronation. You and I will make a cohesive team.” Saeryn released his tail from the throne and swam to Kaden, giving him a firm pat on his shoulder. “Just like when we were younger.”
This might be better than being king. His voice would be heard and he would still have his freedom.
His own mother and father gave serious thought and consideration to their high advisor’s suggestions.
And he could journey back to Haiping to see Angie.
While Saeryn had banned all but their military from the surface, he had said nothing about forbidding them from traveling outside the queendom if they remained beneath seventy fathomspans.
“I think we will.” Kaden heartily agreed.
“Ah good. You were taught well to be a good spare.”
Kaden blinked. “What?”
Saeryn was looking at something over Kaden’s head as he spoke, and Kaden turned to look at what Saeryn was looking at.
Nothing but a passing shayu outside the left window, ambling side to side with the currents.
“Not everyone knows their place, and I’m glad you do, is all.
Now, are you ready to head to the coronation?
I wish to present you in your new role.”
Before they took their leave, the doors flung open again, and Aiereka swam in, flanked by two sentinels. “Father,” she said. “Greetings, Kaden.”
“Are you done with your studies already?” Saeryn asked after giving the mermaid a brief hug.
“Not yet, but I need a break. I’ve been studying nearly the entirety of the tidesday and will continue after your coronation.” She adjusted the two braids wrapped around her head. “I wanted to accompany you there.”
“What are you studying now?” Kaden asked.
“Oceanography.” Aiereka wrinkled her nose. “The topic is enjoyable, but not when you’ve been reading and practicing for two turns of the tides straight. I feel like I’ve seen too much of our seafloor and seamounts this tidesday.”
“You can join Kaden and myself, but make sure you get back to your studies afterward.” Saeryn smiled at his daughter when he spoke, though the smile didn’t entirely reach his eyes.
Aiereka’s gills flared. “Yes, Father.”
So, she didn’t call Saeryn by his title, the way his own parents had demanded. Kaden raised an eyebrow. The mermaid appeared tired, her posture drooped and her eyelids heavy. “It’s okay to take a longer rest if you need, you know.”
“I’ll be okay. I have a lot to do,” Aiereka said dully.
Saeryn raised his voice. “If you two are ready, we should call for the sentinels and get going.”
Before Kaden could say another word to his cousin, Saeryn wedged himself in between them and rushed them out the doors.