Chapter 52
Fifty-Two
Angie
Angie stepped onto the entrance of the docks the day after meeting Celia, a shiver coursing down her spine. The winds whistled as they twirled and danced around her. When they slowed, they left deathly silence in their wake.
The docks had never been so empty, a ghost town sprawled before her. Quiet and foreboding, it was not the bustling place she knew and loved.
A heaviness weighed on her shoulders when she peeked at the flurry of texts from the past twenty-four hours, since she broke the news Celia was responsible for Serapha’s death.
She informed Kaden earlier today after unsuccessfully trying to contact him yesterday, her heart sinking to her shoes when he told her of the carnage in the palace, but he and his family were safe. Mostly.
Varin was dead, speared through the heart after helping Kaden defend his queendom. The sorrow in his voice was palpable, and it struck Angie’s nerves, spreading through her limbs.
He asked her to call him back when everyone gathered at the docks.
Now she waited and scrolled.
Bàba: Governor Taylor and Admiral Zhang are on their way to meet you. Governor Vester is on his way with his team.
Admiral Ruxin Zhang, Chief Officer for the MDRT.
Mia was staying home with Bàba today. Despite taking his medication, he was in too much pain to move. Angie clutched at the inside of her pockets and released the fabric, over and over.
Mia: I can’t believe Celia was involved and pretty much incited another war. I didn’t know her well, but still.
Angie echoed the sentiment, thinking back to when she saw Celia at the docks, months ago. She seemed so normal, so peaceful, and Angie would never have guessed she had committed such a heinous crime.
She peered at her phone. Still no word from Celia, despite Angie texting and calling her earlier. She stiffened at the thought of Celia changing her mind and not showing.
Angie scuffled the tip of one boot on the concrete. The two governors arrived, along with a team of bodyguards and MDRT soldiers, and Angie stepped up to greet them with a handshake. “Governor Vester, Governor Taylor, Admiral Zhang. Angie Song.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Admiral Zhang said, adjusting her uniform, and the governors echoed her sentiment.
“Where are we meeting the Mer-King?” Governor Taylor spoke up, reaching up to pin a flyway strand of auburn hair out of her forehead.
Jitters spread through Angie’s limbs when she looked at her phone again. Still no reply from Celia. “We can’t go yet. I’m waiting for one more person, the one who took the queen’s life.” She tapped a nervous foot on the concrete ground.
Her phone pinged.
Celia: I’m here. Where do you want to meet?
Angie’s body became as cold as the ten-degree day.
Despite her immense relief that Celia hadn’t changed her mind, today was her last day alive.
Angie’s thumb quivered as she entered her reply, and Celia came around her left side.
She was more well-put together than Angie had seen her, a light dusting of makeup on her already-pretty face, her lips painted a light rose color, and her black hair swept back into a neat ponytail.
Baby blue earmuffs covered her ears, and she gave Angie a small, sad smile.
“Before we go, thank you for everything. Let’s end this.
” She gave the governors and admirals a nod and a shy ‘hello’.
“Are we ready now?” Governor Taylor asked.
“I’ll contact him.” Angie was vaguely aware of Governor Vester signaling to someone behind him, and she pulled her seaflute out.
Kaden answered quickly. “Angie? Are you there?” His tone was soft and full of hope.
“We’re ready, where do you want us to meet you?”
“Come to the shoreline. I’ll have sentinels meet you at the surface and bring you to the palace.”
She put her seaflute away. After being separated for months, she was finally going to see him again. If only it were in more positive circumstances. Where the last time they met, it was for a date, now it was to determine a young woman’s fate. A sour tang coated her mouth.
“One minute.” Governor Vester craned his neck to look behind him, his ‘come here’ arm motions quickening.
“What are you doing?” Governor Taylor narrowed her eyes.
Behind Governor Vester, a separate group of uniformed soldiers arrived, transporting two large horizontal tanks on their sides atop rolling caddies, movements slow and methodical.
“Who’s in there?” Celia hissed.
“I don’t know,” Angie couldn’t see the mer inside.
At least, until they were some feet away from the governors.
Cassia was held horizontal in one tank, and the other held Calora.
The queen and princess both appeared lethargic and pale, but the steady opening and closing of their gills told Angie they lived.
“Y-you took them from the Central Queendom?” It was a dumb question, of course they did, but she had no other words as she gaped at them.
“Prisoners, and we were told this was the queen and princess of the queendom,” Admiral Zhang replied.
“I asked for them to be brought here with us,” Governor Vester added. “They decimated part of a city in my state. They need to face justice, too.”
Angie swallowed hard. “I understand. Let’s go.”
They made their way to the shore, with Angie and Celia leading the way. Behind her, the crunching of caster wheels against concrete turned to a smooth rolling noise as they moved across wooden planks.
On her way, she passed by parts of broken submarines and ships littered along the coastline. A snapped off ship’s hull donned the proud lettering MV Castaway, and a melancholy chord struck her heartstrings.
A vivid memory came, of Luke stepping off the ship and telling her about the dead merman. The first one she would ever see, before shit hit the fan with their war.
She let herself wallow in the memory for a passing moment, and Admiral Zhang put a hand on Angie’s arm, stopping her from stepping straight into the ocean.
“This is where they’ll meet us?” Governor Vester asked.
“Yes.” Angie kneeled. This was one of the spots where she would meet Kaden, when they first met over two years ago. She watched the crashing waves, watching for signs of mer skimming the surface.
A glint of a blue tail appeared in a flash, and a head poked out of the water.
Five more followed, until six sentinels floated in a row, moving toward the sandy ground. They were speaking quickly to each other in Renyuhua. She listened to the way their tones rose and fell, a symphonic melody, a lilting song.
“They’ll give us breath,” Angie said. To show the others, she leaned into the first sentinel. His lips met hers, and warm breath trickled down her throat and filled her lungs. She stood and beckoned the admiral and governors to go next.
The soldiers and bodyguards followed suit, but a sentinel held up her hand. “You stay behind.” She wrinkled her nose. “Giving breath to all these landwalkers will kill us.”
Until now, Angie had only thought constantly giving breath would debilitate the mer but not kill them. This new knowledge saddened her, that Kaden could have eventually killed himself to bring her undersea.
Another horrific thought struck. With all the divers in the joint attacks on the Northern and Central Queendoms, how many mer had they debilitated or killed to take their magic?
“Sorry, what did she say?” The bodyguards and soldiers stared at each other, shrugging.
“They want you to stay behind.” Governor Taylor stood.
“Then who’s going to bring the queen and princess down? We can’t throw the tanks into the water,” Governor Vester protested. “What, are we going to let them go, in their own home and hope they don’t escape or try to kill us?”
“Look at them.” Angie pointed to Cassia and Calora. “They look drained. And the sentinels are here to keep guard.”
Governor Vester twitched his upper lip. “I need assurance that they won’t try anything. That the sentinels will prevent her from going rogue or hurting us. I’ve seen the damage she can do, and I’m not eager to see that again.”
“His Majesty ordered us to bring her to him. We’re not going to defy him,” one sentinel said.
The title rang in Angie’s mind. His Majesty, King Kaden had a nice ring to it.
Vester crossed his arms over his chest, and his fingers drummed against his biceps. and shrugged. “Fine. Let them out.”
The soldiers obeyed, and they moved as a collective unit to lower and overturn the tanks, tank water rushing and mingling with seawater, and Cassia and Calora slid out.
Two sentinels clutched their wrists to keep them close.
Not for the first time, Angie let her mind wander. Did Cassia know of Varin’s death?
Celia was trembling when she moved to a sentinel to receive breath.
Their collective gazes reflected anger, sadness, and shock when Celia approached, and the sentinel giving her breath did it quickly and jerked his head and shoulders back as if she burned him.
Angie took her hand as they followed the sentinels undersea.
They moved until they reached the inky depths, not a sliver of light to be seen.
Another group of sentinels rose from the dark to meet them.
Angie’s heart thumped as they neared the queendom and shriveled into a tiny ball when they drew closer.
The palace was fractured. Is this what the humans did when they attacked?
Only half still stood atop a barren seafloor, and Angie assumed the sea had taken away the rest of the broken palace pieces and the structures around it.
A deep heaviness overtook her, though she was still floating.
They moved into the palace amongst a throng of other sentinels and their sentinels, and into the throne room, where both thrones sat empty. On either side of them were the five members of the mer council.
The sentinel holding Angie took her place in the empty space before the thrones, all forming a neat row with the sentinels, governors, Celia, and the admiral.
There was one mer captive, who she assumed to be Kaden’s uncle, by the color of his tail. He didn’t look at them, didn’t acknowledge their entry.
“I will inform His Majesty that everyone has arrived.” One sentinel bowed her head, and left.
Angie looked around her, still holding Celia’s hand.
The sentinel who retrieved Kaden returned from the back entrance.
Her heart skipped a beat when she laid eyes on her lover.
He swept his gaze over the room, jaw dropping an inch when he spotted Cassia and Calora.
When he locked eyes with Angie, he gave her a tight smile and a brief nod. Angie’s heart swelled at how kingly, how composed he was.
But it was his appearance that took Angie aback. He looked so tired. His skin had lost its lustrous sheen, his hair seemed flat and lifeless even as currents combed through them and lifted locks from his head. He’d lost some of his usual muscle tone and dark circles marred his under eyes.
Two mer Generals took their places beside Kaden, and he moved to his throne, remaining at eye level with them.
“We’re all here,” he started. His gaze lingered on Angie again, and he tore it away. “Let’s begin.”