Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Kaden
With the sentries lending their magic, Kaden made it back to the Northern Queendom in half the time than it usually took.
His first order of business was to look for Saeryn and get an update from him, but he wasn’t in the throne room or in his private quarters.
So, he moved to Cyrus and Adrielle’s chambers instead, finding Raina exiting from it. She acknowledged him when they crossed paths.
“Is my brother well enough for a visit?” Kaden asked before Raina left the quarters.
She nodded. “He is sitting up and he ate a little bit. I also administered him his medicine, which has been helping with his pain.”
Frustrations and manic thoughts threatened to burst forth, and Cyrus and Adrielle were the only two mer he trusted to speak his thoughts aloud.
Kaden entered their chambers, and Libbi, who had been floating around Adrielle, bolted to him like a tiny, what Angie would call, darter fish.
“Susu!” She greeted him, her bright eyes alight. Kaden laughed for the first time since he left Angie, and he gathered his niece in his arms, bringing the little mermaid into a comforting hug. She pulled his hand and led him to where Adrielle and Cyrus were, and Kaden searched the room for Hadrien.
His nephew was at Cyrus’ side and gave Kaden a tentative wave before turning his attention back to his father.
“Smooth seas to you, brother. Glad you’re home,” Cyrus started as soon as Kaden was beside him. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Though he sat upright, Cyrus was still pale, his breathing labored, if the movement of his gills was any indication of the latter.
He flicked his tail, the motion appearing lethargic.
Kaden wasn’t feeling like the pinnacle of health himself, given his residual chest aches and shaking muscles in his arms from using even some of his magic to return home.
“I’ll give you two a moment.” Adrielle unraveled her tail from the sea stalactite she was holding onto and called her merlings.
Kaden noted the dark circles beneath her eyes, circles he hadn’t seen until now, her shoulders tensed even as she was surrounded by family. Even her usually clear, lilting voice sounded fatigued and low. “Libbi, Hadrien, come with me. Let’s go to the play area.”
“Do you want me to take them?” Kaden piped up.
“No. Cyrus wishes to speak with you. We’re not going far.”
Hadrien said goodbye to Cyrus, and he and Libbi followed Adrielle out the door. Alone with his brother, Kaden moved to the stalactite across from him, the one Adrielle was on, and anchored himself around it. When the door slid shut, Cyrus spoke again.
“Adrielle overheard some of our uncle’s plans,” Cyrus began.
“What did she find out?” His tail stiffened.
Cyrus spoke fast and softly. “He’s planning a massive attack on the humans. He’s been in talks with our sentinels as to when and where to deploy them.”
Of course, Saeryn lied when he told him the sentries were on the docks to warn the humans and search the area. “I know he mobilized the sentries. They’re targeting the docks.”
“And he won’t stop there.” His elder brother shook his head, eyebrows knitted together.
“But the queendom isn't all in agreement with his plans. He’s stirring up dissent among the people. Which could work for your benefit. I know you’re his high advisor, but you should seriously consider taking the throne. ”
“Angie said the same thing,” Kaden replied, morose. “She hasn’t said it in so many words, but I feel like she wants me to do more. We didn’t leave on good terms.”
“Because she thinks you’re not doing enough?” Cyrus spoke through colorless lips.
“I didn’t tell her how using my magic is deteriorating my health,” Kaden mumbled. “I didn’t want her to worry or burden her.”
“Do you think you could do more though?” Cyrus shifted in his seat, using the tip of his tail to slide himself back in his chair and straighten up. “Going back to what I was saying earlier about you taking the throne.”
“It’s all I’ve been thinking about the entire trip down here! But how can I go up against Uncle? He’s got most of the queendom on his side and our citizens despise me. I’m not trained to lead and I never was.” Kaden swept his arms out in protest.
“Do you think you would be the first monarch to have that problem? You must get them to trust you, especially as the queendom knows you’re allied with humans. And again, you could learn the ways of being monarch. I’m happy to teach you.”
“Perhaps,” Kaden said with a listless shrug.
“For the second part of your concerns, I understand why Angie is upset with you. It might have boded you well to confide in her of your symptoms and condition.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the rock platform in front of him.
“I tell Adrielle everything, even from before we were bonded. She would not forgive me if a lie passed my lips. I’m sorry, I agree with Angie in this case. What you did was wrong.”
Taken aback, Kaden gawped at his brother. “That’s all you have to say? I know that; you didn’t have to jab a piece of coral in my wounds.”
“It is the truth, no?” Cyrus’ unsympathetic gaze turned to him.
His harsh tone caught Kaden off guard, and his facial muscles went slack, followed by his muscles freezing up inside. “She won’t talk to me. But thank you, brother. For nothing.”
Cyrus said no more as Kaden loosened his tail from the stalactite and took his leave. A quick glance behind him, prior to departing, revealed Cyrus had his eyes shut, head leaned against the rock wall behind him.
He confided in Cyrus, and all his brother had done was make him feel worse. In many ways, Cyrus’ austerity and matter-of-fact mannerisms and tones mirrored their mother. He didn’t need to be emotionally beaten down more than he already had.
Some fresh air would do him some good, and though he knew he wasn’t to swim to the surface, he needed a moment to clear his head. Kaden swam ten seamiles west, to an area where he knew humans had never been seen.
He stopped before swimming upward, listening and watching. When he was sure no watercrafts or divers were in the vicinity, he broke the surface.
As he expected, he was alone. No land in sight, save for mountains shrouded in fog and mist surrounding him. He breathed in the icy, brisk air, and floated in place, moving his tail back and forth and side to side beneath the surface to keep himself in place.
The sight of the mountain range brought back memories from a time shortly before he met Angie. One of the first times he and Cyrus were exposed to the human world.
They visited the surface together when they were younger, and before Cyrus bonded with Adrielle and stopped joining him on his trips as frequently.
The first human he ever saw was an elderly man, a former sailor and shipbuilder, who enjoyed painting by the seaside on Alaska’s southwest coast. One of the few humans who had seen a mer before they warred with the humans two tidesyears ago.
He and Cyrus learned tales of the world on land and humankind, and in return, the brothers regaled him with stories of life in the depths, and about mer culture.
When Cyrus returned to the queendom, Kaden would stay, watching the old man’s watercolor painting, marveling at the colors and how such faded hues and seemingly amorphous shapes came together to form a beautiful picture.
The old man taught Cyrus and Kaden how to paint. Each tidesweek for six tidesmonths, they conversed and learned.
Until one day, the man wasn’t there and never returned. Kaden never found out what happened to him.
The mountains reminded him of such a painting, the last one he ever saw the old man do, shadowed grays and whites melding into the smoky sky.
He envisioned the old man sitting at his corner by the sea, hard at work.
He never learned the man’s name and the man never learned theirs. Their camaraderie was enough.
Kaden took a deep breath, filling his lungs, and expelled the air in a loud whoosh. What sort of painting could he do for Angie?
Angie.
Had she found it in her heart to forgive, or at least have a conversation with him?
He swam back past the palace, his destination unknown.
Small towns and villages he passed had pockets of civilians grieving for missing family members and children.
At least, those that hadn’t become military bases.
Ten mer missing or dead that they knew of—many of them sentinels during the occasional small skirmish with divers.
Others were civilians, some of them young and rebellious, defying Saeryn’s orders, who snuck outside the queendom, and were caught by fishermen and divers.
Kaden’s heart constricted. His people were suffering. Time felt like it slowed. He didn’t know what to do, and he tackled this alone. Without Adrielle or Cyrus, and worse, without Angie.
He had never felt so alone.
He looked up at Saeryn calling his name, breaking Kaden out of his ruminating and feeling sorry for himself in the palace’s coral gardens. “Uncle.”
What Cyrus had said about Saeryn’s plans made his skin prickle. Not to mention his uncle’s convenient habit of saying one thing and doing another.
Yet Saeryn’s presence was oddly comforting as he stopped next to him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I heard you returned. Back so soon?”
“Yes, I had a fight with Angie. And I came with my Aunt Cassia and Uncle Varin’s sentries, so the journey back was quicker than normal.”
“I’ve met with his sentries. I’m glad you were smart to preserve your magic and the four of you traveled together. You were always smart, Kaden. Never forget that.” He patted his shoulder before dropping his arm to his side.
It was one of the only positive things anyone had said to Kaden in the past tidesweek, and his spirits lifted. “Thank you.”
“Is Angie well?” Saeryn swam in front of him, but took a coral lower on the sloped seafloor, positioning himself so he was looking up at Kaden. His caudal fins curled around the sand beneath, kicking up small plumes.
“She’s upset with me.” Kaden reached down, his fingers grazing a school of small yu swimming past.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
What was the harm? Maybe Saeryn would lend a listening ear, and he repeated her grievances with him to his uncle.
“I’m sorry to hear of your troubles with your lover.
” Saeryn’s lips formed a slash. “I want you to know you did nothing wrong. I understand why you hid your condition from her. Of course, you didn’t want to put such a burden on her.
And you also didn’t want to stop seeing her, showing her the beauty of our home.
If she doesn’t understand you, doesn’t want to see your point of view, perhaps it will help to take some time away from her. ”
Kaden nodded.
“And I want you to know that you are doing plenty. There are things happening that are out of your control, but never for one minute believe you are not doing enough. Have faith in yourself, my boy. Because I do.”
Something broke in Kaden at his uncle’s empathetic words, a flood washing away the pity he imposed on himself, and he allowed Saeryn to pull him in for a hug. “I appreciate hearing you say that. It means a lot.”
His uncle pulled away, a comforting smile on his face. “Be well. Come see me anytime you need to talk. I’ll always listen.”
Saeryn had returned to the personable, empathetic uncle he’d always known.
Still, disquiet pricked his skin, despite his uncle’s comforting words.
It was only when his uncle was out of sight that it struck him—not once did Saeryn look directly at him during their talk.