Chapter 21 #2
“Yeah, let’s g-get going.” Her tongue was no longer tangled with his, but she found herself tongue-tied all the same. He methodically unwound his tail from her legs.
A Dungeness crab skittered by, its large claw narrowly missing her face, and she twisted her torso to the side. She clung to his hand as they descended deeper, deeper, deeper.
A new sensation emerged. She smelled everything around her: whiffs of the salty tang of the sea and the earthy aroma of sediment. The scents were a welcome change from her rubber scuba mask.
The uneven edges of emerald and crimson seaweed blades brushed against her, soft whispers tickling her bare hands and feet. The sensation was acute and so close on her skin, and a thrill raced through her limbs.
The seafloor became sparser, her surroundings ever darker as they plunged further into the midnight zone.
Thank goodness she trusted Kaden, and didn’t use her equipment.
And then from the suffocating darkness, golden light emerged.
She tightened her grip on Kaden’s hand, and she observed and soaked in the sight before her.
The light brightened, spotlighting a magnificent, gold and silver multi-tiered pagoda-like structure on the seafloor, its height and width rivaling a sea knoll.
The ground level hugged an open archway, and each level above it had rocky balconies protruding from the sides.
Stone pillars lined the eaves, wrapping around the structure’s outer walls.
A grand courtyard, with a floor of smooth sea glass stretching for days, lay sprawled before the palace’s sweeping entrance, elaborate coral in the shape of a tree adorning its center.
The building was flanked on two sides by carved coral and stone.
She had seen pagodas when she was younger, but to see one of this scale, and underwater, no less, stunned her into awe and reverent silence.
Smooth coral puzzles climbed the rock walls at her side, and she flinched as it snagged a lock of hair.
She was definitely tying it back next time.
“What is this place?” She glided over it alongside Kaden. “It’s beautiful!”
“My family’s queendom and towns. And that is our palace.
Once they were visible to all, welcoming sea animals to live among us.
But as landwalker exploration became more widespread, threatening sea life and us and our home, we made the decision to shroud our lands from the human eye.
You are the first to see it in over three centuries. ”
Angie went completely still. “That’s why the mer seemed to disappear.”
“Yes, we have lived among you all this time.”
She turned her attention back to the palace. “How did you shroud it?”
“There is an invisible barrier that surrounds it. Magic maintains it.” He pointed above her head. “Like that mermaid is doing. She’s one of the five oracles who protect the palace.”
Angie looked up. A single mermaid with a metallic blue tail swam high, and stopped. She put one hand to her lips and reached upward, a golden flicker of light bursting from her palm, and disappearing in a second. Then she darted off.
“How often do they maintain it? If it surrounds all this.” She motioned to the palace with her hand. “It must be huge.”
“There are ten oracles per tidesday for this region, and they rotate daily.” Kaden made a noise, as if he were going to say more. He didn’t.
Angie looked back to the palace. Mer swam in and out of the structure, their tails a rainbow in the dark. Splotches of green moss decorated the structure’s sides, and curious, vibrant fish and a stray octopus zipped about.
“I’ve thought about what you said. About being the change you want to see in the world,” Kaden admitted. “I agree. I would rule if I had to. But I still don’t desire it.”
“Not everyone wants to lead. That’s okay.” She put a reassuring hand on his forearm.
Another pod of mermen and mermaids came into view on the palace’s side, their tail-ends pointed to Angie and Kaden.
They swam around a stone formation reminiscent of undersea mountain ranges, decorated with lively corals and emerald-hued sea moss, and partially shadowed in the deep sea’s gloom.
One by one, the pod swam into a grotto and disappeared.
“Will anyone see us?” She bit her lip, hesitant to draw closer.
“No. We will not go into the palace proper, and I know where we will not be spotted. Or, where there are mer I can trust not to utter a peep. Your mother’s resting place is not far from here.
” He gave her hand a gentle tug when she stopped to gawk at an oblong, sandy brown fish with a scaleless, limp body, slithering by without a care in the world.
A ragfish. Angie counted her lucky stars. If only she had a camera to capture this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
“We have towns and villages scattered throughout the region, and our territory stretches from north of here to three thousand nautical miles south.”
“That’s a lot of land. Or water? It looks like Atlantis,” she said once they were out of earshot of the mer. “Or maybe, Pacifica?” She angled her head and caught the teasing grin tugging at Kaden’s full lips.
“It could be the Pacific Ocean’s version of it.” They circled around the back of the palace.
“Does Atlantis exist?” His comment piqued Angie’s interest.
“I’ve heard stories, but I haven’t been there yet, myself,” he replied. “These.” He turned his body around so they faced each other, his long tail circling her. “Are the burial grounds. Your mother is this way. Come, look down.”
Beneath were rows upon rows of long coffins, each brushed with golds and silvers and embellished with characters she didn’t recognize. A tombstone and coffin in the same structure, packed together with an inch of space between them.
Of course, the mer didn’t need to walk between coffins.
Kaden slowed down once they hovered above the burial grounds, and Angie followed, slowing her steady kicking.
“The royal sentinels and their family are tucked in this corner.” He gestured with one arm to a blocked off corner to their northeast, boxed in with dense, clear material. His voice cracked. “Some of our sentinels’ bodies were never retrieved after we lost them.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You were not responsible for their deaths.” Kaden slowed to a stop. With quick flicks of his tail, he descended upon a coffin lining the burial ground’s easternmost border. It looked no different than the rest, but Angie’s heart filled to the brim, overwhelmed with emotions.
Her wide-open eyes met with Māma’s closed ones, and she jolted. From the shoulders up, she was visible through clear glass, a window to her peaceful, eternally sleeping face.
“Māma.” She laid a flat palm on the window. The tears she’d been holding back sprang forth, swept away by the sea’s watery grasp.
Kaden tugged on her hand, bringing himself closer to her. “Do you need a moment?”
“Yeah.” Angie sniffled. Kaden bowed his head and let go, leaving her to float alone. She relished the stillness, the silence, the peace. Māma looked exactly as she did when Angie saw her last, and after two years, her lovely face was still intact.
“Māma,” she whispered again. “Why did you let yourself go? What were you thinking?” Angie reached down and laid her hand over Māma’s cheek once more.
“I miss you so much. I’m glad you’re resting where you’re happiest.” With a quick breaststroke of her arms, she moved down head first and grabbed the sides of the coffin to pull herself closer.
She pressed her lips to the glass where Māma’s forehead was.
Her mind leaped to alerting Bàba. He would be glad to have closure.
Then she’d have to tell him how she found Māma, and she wasn’t ready to have that conversation with him.
Still, she’d bring it up at the right time. She hated the thought of disregarding the promise she made to Kaden, but Bàba deserved to know.
She calmed and folded her arms over her chest, her feet paddling in quick, small motions to keep from sinking or ascending.
“Māma, I hope wherever you are, you’re not hurting anymore.
That you reincarnated into something beautiful.
” She bowed her head, mouthing a silent mantra of peace and wishing her well in the afterlife.
Or in her new body, wherever her spirit may be, and wishing for her ancestors to continue taking care of Māma.
When enough time passed, she called for Kaden.
“I’m here.” He reappeared from the dark and stopped beside her, their arms brushing.
Angie wanted to get closer, given the passion of their kiss earlier, but he was busy looking at Māma.
“I can see the resemblance between you two.” His gills opened.
“This row is due for their renewal ceremonies. I have to let my family know.”
“Renewal ceremony? Will my mom get one too?”
“Absolutely. When we entomb those who have passed onto the next realm, their family gathers before the coffin is closed. If they had no family, seers and oracles will come with their acolytes instead, and invite any mer who desire to join. They perform a traditional song and dance to allow the soul to depart into the afterlife.” He reached for her hand again and stroked her palm with his thumb.
The motion sent excited tingles running to her wrist and up her forearm.
“Every few years, the bodies are re-dressed in traditional burial garb, and the song and dance are performed again. Though the body is an empty vessel, they are still respected and honored as they were at the time of their passing.”
“Must be time-consuming. There are like hundreds, if not a thousand tombs.” Her lips thinned, thinking of going through each coffin one by one, performing a ceremony over and over. Her head spun.
“We limit the number of coffins at a single burial ground to ensure adequate participation in our ceremonies and prevent the oracles, seers and acolytes fatiguing. This town is smaller, and larger towns have larger burial grounds, and more seers and oracles.”
“Thank you for showing me. I appreciate it more than you know.” Another surge of emotion brought more tears to her eyes, and she swept her fingertips along his cheek. He placed his sturdy hand over hers.
“You are welcome.” He brushed underneath her eyes, even though the seawater stole her fallen tears. She wanted to go home, sit alone with her thoughts and memories for a time.
“Can we go back to the surface? I want to stay, but I have to get home.”
Kaden nodded. “Follow me.”
When they broke the surface, Angie had no idea what time it was.
She recognized the dock’s main gangway, a blurry speck down the coastline.
Kaden sighed blissfully and touched her face, running his other hand down the length of her back, and then she climbed ashore.
“Angie.” Her name from his lips was a sweet, thrilling sound.
“Same time, same place, tomorrow?” His voice rose with hopefulness.
Kaden leaned in, flashing her what she assumed to be his most winning smile.
It was gorgeous and enticing, but it didn’t sway her.
“Not tomorrow. I’m off, but I have plans with my sister, and she took the day off to spend with me. How about the day after?” She sat on her knees.
“Ah, fine. The day after it is, then.” His chest deflated, and he propped himself up on his forearms. “You asked me once why I kept going to the surface. I didn’t tell you the entire reason why.”
“Because you didn’t want to be engaged to a mermaid you didn’t know?” Angie raised one eyebrow. Where was he going with this?
“Partially. I also hoped to see you. I found you beautiful, if not off-putting from the moment I met you.” He jerked one shoulder back, as if anticipating her reaction.
“What? Off-putting?” Angie folded her arms across her chest, throwing him an I-dare-you-to-keep-talking look. He didn’t take her signal.
“We didn’t start off on the best of terms.” Kaden pointed to his now-healed shoulder, where she’d shot him previously. “But!” He raised his hands as Angie gasped and made a sudden movement toward him. “That feeling has long passed.”
“Two tidesdays.” Before she could say something else, he flashed her a sly, mischievous smile and dove back into the ocean.