Chapter 16 #2
“And I am very sorry you found yourself in the midst of such horrific times.” Saeryn didn’t sound sorry. “But you must understand that as monarch, I will do what I must to protect our people.”
“We should consider more peaceful means,” Kaden tried again.
Saeryn’s features tightened and he gave the council a hard smile. “Can we move onto the next topic, please?”
What in the trenches happened?
The five council members eyed him first, and then Saeryn.
“Very well.” Oryma picked up her slate, her lavender tail held stiff.
“Our next and last topic for this tidesday is increasing security measures. Sentinels have caught wayward mer coming in seeking refuge for various reasons. They are coming from the North Atlantic and the Queendom of the Southern Seas, and they have been turned away, as per King Saeryn’s decree. ”
Kaden waited for Oryma to finish speaking before he dissented. “My parents’ creed was to take in all who seek shelter and refuge and provide a welcoming environment for all. We cannot turn away everyone that comes to us!”
“And I decreed this because we cannot risk strangers coming in at this fraught time. We don’t know who they are, or their purpose for coming here, whether it be nefarious or innocent.” Saeryn’s tone was sharp as a shayu’s tooth. “But I will reconsider this decree once the queendom is more stable.”
Allie spoke next. “The majority agrees with this decree. We must keep our queendom safe until we have achieved more stability, even if that means we must cloister ourselves for now.”
Kaden’s tailfins curled and he raked a hand through his hair, the muscles in his arms and legs twitching. He might as well be trying to convince an immovable cliff face.
After their meeting was adjourned, Kaden followed Saeryn out the entryway. “Uncle, why did you order that we stop taking in refugees, bar the mer from traveling past seventy fathomspans, and turn around and relocate citizens beyond that?”
“I did no such thing.” Saeryn turned, blinking.
“I saw sentinels taking a family with three young children up to forty fathomspans and directed them to seek refuge there. I took them to another, deeper cavern.”
“Oh!” His uncle flashed him a disarming smile.
“Thank you so much for catching that and showing them to safety. By the Goddess, some of my sentinels do not know what they’re doing.
” He shook his head side to side, lips turning downward.
“Thank you for helping that family. I knew I made the right choice in making you my high advisor.”
“But–”
Saeryn swam off. Kaden rubbed his eyebrows, a flutter traversing his stomach. Saeryn’s last words should have made him feel good. He felt anything but.
Kaden moved his tail up, down, up, down, slow and steady, meandering back to his chambers from outside the palace walls. The bizarre council meeting played over and over in his mind.
His input wasn’t valued at all, contrary to Saeryn’s claims, and he was so much in the dark he might as well be in the black trenches in the depths of the seafloor.
A form torpedoed into him when he entered the palace from the middle level, knocking him onto his side, and he twisted his torso and tail to regain his horizontal position.
“Oh! I’m so sorry!” It was his cousin, Aiereka, clutching a seaflute, eyes wide and mouth open.
“Hold on.” She spoke into her seaflute. “See you later, okay? I wish I could see you soon. Okay, love you too.” The mermaid tucked her seaflute away in the pouch at her waist before Kaden could hear who was on the other end.
“I’m so sorry. I’m late for my dance troupe. ”
Kaden raised a cheeky eyebrow. “Who was that?”
He gave her a playful nudge and she looked at the stained-glass floor.
“Nobody. Just a friend. Sorry can’t stay to talk. I’m going to be late.”
“Aiereka, a moment? Quickly, I promise.” She stopped, her shoulders dropping and chest deflating. “I’ve hardly seen you since you and your father arrived and your quarters are only some tailkicks down the hall.”
“I know. Father keeps me busy,” Aiereka mumbled. “I have a full tidesday worth of classes with my tutor and then I have dance and racing. And when I get back to my quarters, truthfully, I’m exhausted and don’t have the energy to socialize.”
“I understand. Let me know if you need anything.” Kaden patted his cousin’s shoulder. “Take a break every now and then, okay? Let your body rest.”
Her tailfins vanished around a bend at the end of the hall. How much was Saeryn overworking her?
At least she had a purpose.
What was Kaden’s? He could never be helpful, and from the council meeting he attended, that couldn’t have been more obvious than a dislodged bushel of seaweed smacking him in the face.
He continued back to his own chambers, passing through the kitchens, the guest quarters, and a flat, empty chamber connecting one hallway to another.
Memories came like a flood of family gatherings in his youth.
Talking with Saeryn when he asked about his place as the second son.
Where his uncle kindly reminded Kaden to remember his place and let Cyrus take the lead.
That he only wanted to protect him and not subject Kaden to disappointment when he grew up and needed to take a backseat to his older brother.
If he couldn’t get the council, whom he had grown up with, and his uncle, his own family, to spare a moment's thought for his concerns, what hope did he have that his people, who distrusted him, would listen to him?
His own pity drowned him as he pushed his door shut. That was all he was. A useless spare.