Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
Angie
Kaden picked up his seaflute after the third day of Angie trying to ring him. The relief of hearing his voice turned her knees to jelly, and she collapsed stomach-first onto her bed.
“Angie?”
“Kaden! Oh tiān, I heard what happened to you, are you okay?” She rolled over so she was on her back, gazing at her overhead lights, leaving the seaflute on her comforter. “I’ve been trying to get you for the last few days. I was worried sick.”
“I am now. I’m so sorry, my love. I was in Cyrus and Adrielle’s quarters without my seaflute.
Had a council meeting before and I didn’t bring it out of respect, and Adrielle just got it for me.
But—” Silence on the other end, and Angie shifted herself, so she was now on her side.
“I want to apologize to you. Truly. I should have told you about my health issues earlier, and it was wrong of me to hide it from you. And stupid of me to think you would never find out. I mean, I saw myself in Cyrus and Adrielle’s mirror.
I do look paler, skinnier, and I still get more tired doing the things I usually do. ”
“Yeah, I wish you had,” she said softly.
“But I understand you not wanting to burden me with it. My parents hid a lot from Mia and me for the same reason.” She took in a wavering breath.
“Both of us wished we knew what was going on with Māma. Especially as we got older and started to understand she wasn’t well.
It made me feel like you didn’t trust me enough to tell me. ”
“That’s never the case!” A clinking noise came from wherever Kaden was now.
“I was scared. Scared I would take you away from the things you love doing—school, your career. I was scared if I told you, you wouldn’t let me bring you undersea anymore, the place you love the most. And scared you might decide this was too much for you, because you went through it once, and you would not want to be with me anymore. ”
The last admission caught her off guard.
“No, I would help you find a cure. I wish I was there with my Māma in her last days. Spent more time with her in the years before that.” The guilt wedged in her throat and she cleared it.
“But you’re right. I would have asked you not to take me undersea anymore.
We would have figured something else out, even if it meant hanging out at the beach every day or buying you a nice new knee scooter so you could come to my apartment. ”
“I regret hiding it from you. I’ll do whatever you need me to win back your trust.”
Angie nodded to herself, knowing he couldn’t see her, though she wished she could look into his jewel-like eyes while they spoke.
She sat so her legs dangled off the edge of the bed.
Lulu sat at her feet, her eyes tracking the seaflute as Angie moved it to her lips.
“I would wait as long as I needed to for you.”
“And I would wait a lifetime for you. But I want to see you. Some way, somehow,” Kaden said, voice thick with emotion. “I would move the largest of seamounts if it meant I could hold you again.”
As much as it pained her to do so, Angie’s jaw tightened as she rebuffed him.
“I want to, too. But do you think that’s a good idea?
You’re all the way by Alaska, and I’m still here.
You can’t come on land safely anymore; our governor closed down our shorelines.
And I can’t go to you in either queendom.
” She wet her dry throat. “I’m going to keep doing what I can to prevent more damage to the mer on our end.
And I have to keep looking for who killed your mom. ”
“I understand,” Kaden said, his tone low and defeated. “Then I’ll use the time to plan how to get the throne from my uncle.”
“You decided to go for it?” Angie’s heart swelled with pride for him.
“Yes. It’s the only way. My aunt and uncle are planning war, but I don’t know when, or what exactly they’re doing. My uncle is not the merman I thought he was and it devastates me.”
“That’s awful—to realize you were wrong about someone for so long. I hate that you’re hurting like this, and I can’t be there to comfort you.” Angie folded her arms across her chest, leaving the seaflute on her lap. Lulu wasted no time leaping onto the bed and swiping at it. “Lulu, hang on.”
“Hi Lulu,” Kaden said.
The cat’s ears perked up as she looked toward the seaflute, then back at Angie. She appeared to lose interest as she settled onto her stomach and laid down with her back to Angie’s leg.
“I think with you being King and if I can find your mother’s killers, we could stop another war.
” Her spirits lifted and collapsed again when she remembered why she hadn’t been able to contact Kaden until now.
“So, what happened with the divers? You think it could be the same ones that killed your mom and are coming after you too?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Kaden grunted.
“They probably came back to take out the rest of us. I still don’t know who they were, neither do Cyrus or Adrielle, or even my uncle.
I–I had to kill one of them.” Sadness notched his voice.
“But I escaped the other. Last I heard, my uncle sent out sentries to recover the body, but they haven’t found it yet. ”
Angie stood to pour a glass of water from the kitchenette. “You did what you had to survive.”
“How did you find out, anyway? About the divers?”
Angie sat down on her dining room chair, taking a long sip of water, relishing the coolness as it slid down her throat.
“I got a letter from my governor asking to meet with me. So, I wanted to tell your aunt, set up a meeting, and ended up having to dive there. But she exiled me from the queendom.” Her lips pressed tight into a grimace.
“So, that’s not happening. I’m supposed to meet the governor in two hours, and I have nothing. ”
After a moment of silence, Kaden said, “I’ll talk to him. Go and I’ll await your call. Now, get ready, beautiful, and I’ll talk to you soon.” A pause. “I blew you a kiss, but I realized it doesn’t make a sound in the sea.”
Despite herself, Angie laughed, her spirits soaring to the heavens.
“How are we getting in touch with this–this queen?” Kevin Vester leaned in from across Angie, resting his elbows on his lap, his hazel-eyed gaze boring into her.
She had arrived five minutes early for their meeting, and now it was the two of them in his spacious office.
They sat facing each other on velvety couches, a round table in between them with a small flowerpot atop it, and beside them was an empty fireplace.
A large Washington State seal decorated the simple, navy-blue carpet beneath their feet.
On top of the fireplace was a framed photo of him and the two governors who served before him.
His neatly kept desk was some feet behind him and elaborate chandeliers hung overhead from beige and chestnut circular and square designs on the ceiling.
The governor was shorter than he appeared on television, with a head full of silver hair and a welcoming, soft expression.
Angie reached into her purse and pulled out the seaflute. “We can communicate with them through this. But, um, we’re not talking to the queen, she no longer wanted to meet with us.”
“Did something happen that will affect what we’re discussing today?” Governor Vester leaned back in his chair, his legs in a figure-four position, sliding his arms onto his chair’s padded armrests.
Angie worried her bottom lip. “She changed her mind. There’s a lot of turmoil in her queendom.”
“That is truly unfortunate. Is there another mer we can speak with?”
“Yes, her nephew, the Mer-Prince,” Angie replied, fidgeting with the seaflute.
“We use the flute?” He leaned forward again, eyeing the seaflute with interest—not unlike how Lulu’s gaze would zero in on the shiny object.
“Yeah. I write his name in their language there.” Angie traced Kaden’s Renyuhua name and called for him. There was no response from his end, and Angie pinched the skin at her throat. Where was he?
The seconds crawled by, but to Angie, it might as well have been hours.
“Did he change his mind about meeting with us?” Vester asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“N-no. He said he was–” She cut herself off. “Something must have happened.” Her hands grew clammy. “Kaden?” she tried again, speaking into the flute.
Another stretch of hair-raising silence followed.
Then, to her relief, his voice filtered through. “I’m so sorry, my uncle caught me the moment I heard your voice. Wanted to talk to me about honoring my mother’s memory at her favorite Sanyue altar.”
“Oh, thank the ancestors; I thought something happened.” Angie’s breathing returned to an even rate.
The governor’s eyes went wide, a wondrous smile breaking his previously straight-faced visage. “Hi Kaden. I’m Governor Vester.”
“Hello!” Kaden sounded cheery. “A pleasure to meet you, Governor. I’m Mer-Prince Kaden of the Northern Pacific Queendom. Pleased to meet you.”
“And you as well. You are–you are underwater now? And we can hear you so clearly?” The governor hadn’t stopped staring at the seaflute.
“I am.” Kaden chuckled.
The governor reached a out a hand, and Angie handed him the seaflute. “I’m sorry your queen didn’t want to meet with us. I was told there was turmoil in her queendom and she changed her mind.”
“There was an attempt on my life by human divers, here in the Northern Queendom. My uncle is king here, and she heard the news from him.” Kaden paused.
“When I met with her, she had just heard,” Angie added. “After that, she sent me away.”
Governor Vester looked aghast. “That is awful news. I am glad you are okay, Mer-Prince. But this is no way to rebuild an alliance if there are people out there going rogue.” He craned his neck to look behind him.
“Give me a moment? Let me get Jena on a video call. I’m not sure if she knew about this. ”