Chapter 13
“There was an attack.” Honour said the words in a rush as she swam into Soulara’s lab.
“What?” Soulara’s heart stuttered, her chest so tight, she wasn’t sure she could breathe.
Autumn.
She was supposed to be in one of those vessels. Which meant she had lied. It hadn’t even been more than a day. Soulara had just returned from Zendalia’s. She hadn’t had a moment to catch herself after falling so hard into her best friend’s arms.
“I just received word. It wasn’t on our people, but on the Talon tribe. My contacts there were slim on information, but they wanted us to know.” Honour’s face was hard, no compassion, as she moved closer to Soulara and leaned against the table.
“It’s shocking that we even know about it, being in the upper-most soundings. I imagine those in the deeper soundings found the enemy sooner.” Soulara wasn’t even sure she heard herself speaking clearly. The words were there, but her entire brain was stuck on the fact that Autumn had lied.
She’d said days. Not today.
She’d said there was time, and she would get back to her with more information.
Instinctively, Soulara reached up to the necklace and brushed her fingers across it lightly. Nylah appeared next to her, a glowing blue form of a ray, but they were so still, and there were no emotions wafting off them. Nothing but cold and icy.
That could only mean one thing, right?
Autumn had been in one of those machines. Soulara closed her eyes, centering herself. She had a war to fight, and she couldn’t be distracted by Autumn and what-ifs right now.
“Princess…” Honour trailed off. “I don’t have any more information.”
“I understand.” Soulara clenched her fingers around a sharp piece of metal, using the cold and bite of it into her skin to center herself. “How many krakens were there?”
Honour shook her head, and she hesitated to speak. Soulara saw it instantly. “The initial word was three.”
If Honour was too worried about her mental state to share information, how was she going to lead her people in a war? She had to get a grip on herself. She was the future Queen of Reine and that meant she had to get her shit together.
“How many were taken down?” There, her voice was stronger this time.
“One.”
Soulara raised her eyebrows. “Fully? It never resurfaced?”
Honour shook her head again.
“A-and the humans?”
“Princess, I don’t think—”
“How many humans were there?”
“Two in each vessel.” Honour’s shoulders were rigid.
Soulara clenched her jaw, cursing her inability to keep herself together. She had to do better than this. “I know Talon’s traditions. They were torn apart, weren’t there? There’s nothing left of them.”
“The humans are considered the enemy, as are the krakens.”
“Fuck.” Soulara pounded her fist against the table, disturbing the little pieces of tech that she’d been working on, some of them tumbling to the floor below as they rattled. “I could have used those to find a better way to fight them.”
“We can negotiate with Talon for whatever pieces they have left.”
Soulara let out a snort. She knew they wouldn’t agree to that. The Talons were ruthless in their violence. They had been one of the first tribes to split in the great divide millennia ago, and it was only through small connections that the two tribes ever interacted anymore.
But Talon’s traditions in battle were well known, and they likely wouldn’t agree to giving up any part of their prize as they would see it. Still, it couldn’t hurt to try.
“Set up a meeting,” Soulara ordered.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Honour flicked her gaze over Soulara’s body. “And I’ll keep attuned to see if your Autumn was one of the humans in the vessel.”
Soulara pressed her lips together hard, thinning them until they almost disappeared. She stared at her table, gathering what little strength she had left, but she didn’t acknowledge what Honour had said. This was her fate. And it was about damn time that she accepted it.
“I expect a report within the hour.” Soulara didn’t drop her gaze. Her shoulders were perfectly in place, her entire body calm even though her heart was in utter turmoil. This was exactly what she had trained for. Honour couldn’t be her friend anymore. Honour could only be her general.
“Yes, Princess.” Honour bowed her head slightly, backing away. She clearly felt the shift in Soulara’s mood, in the power that she’d accepted within her. This was her birthright.
Honour slipped from the lab.
Once alone, Soulara crumbled. She fell to the ground and pushed back against the leg of the table, clutching the soul stone her mother had given her. She closed her eyes as the water in front of her face warmed. Why was everything hitting at once?
She felt far more for Autumn than she should. But that had to be just because Autumn was new, and Soulara always had a slight obsession with new love interests. Then again, if Autumn had been a mermaid, Soulara would already have fucked her several times over. The fact that she’d held herself back was a testament that perhaps something was different this time.
Assuming Autumn was even alive still.
“Go find her,” Soulara whispered, staring directly at Nylah. “I need to know.”
Nylah flopped down hard, as if bowing, and then disappeared. Soulara had no idea where the ray was off to other than the simple command that Soulara had given. The lack of their presence made no difference, and it was nothing like what Zendalia had talked about with her companion Neyon.
Soulara knew she didn’t have much time. She had to get herself up and working. She needed to speak with her father about the most recent attack, and victory. Soulara paused at that. She had barely even registered that this was a victory. Thus far, no mermaid tribe had managed to take down one of the krakens, but if the Talons had then there was hope it could be done again.
Dragging her sorry tail off the floor, Soulara stared at her lab. She shouldn’t even be here right now. Yes, it was her place of refuge, but she wasn’t the same Soulara she had been last season. She’d accepted her birthright, which meant she should be closer to the throne room, closer to her father.
But the call to leave and swim to the shore to find Autumn was so strong. If she could just see that Autumn was well, then she could continue her work. Soulara cringed. She didn’t like this new person she’d become.
“Princess,” Honour said, immediately coming back in.
Soulara said nothing as she put her full concentration on Honour’s presence. She waited, expecting some sort of explanation.
“We have news.” Honour stopped just inside the entry way. “Two humans were killed, one kraken is dismantled and being moved to the Talon’s main city, Korgen.”
This wasn’t news. Though Soulara wasn’t about to point that out, because Honour still had something to say.
“We’re to meet with the Talons in two hours.”
Two hours? Soulara clenched her fist tightly. That would give her enough time to briefly speak with her father and update him on what was happening and then leave for the meeting place. Because there was no way the Talons were going to be permitted into Reine. Not without a conversation to establish behavior first.
Soulara had never done something like this before. She’d witnessed her father having diplomatic conversations when she was forced to be there, but she’d never initiated or controlled them herself. Honour was expecting a response now, and Soulara realized belatedly that she hadn’t managed to tell Honour what to do.
“Where?”
“Half-moon rock.”
Soulara nodded sharply. “I’ll apprise the King.”
Honour took a left out the door while Soulara took a right and immediately swam toward her father. The conversation was brief and to the point, and he had no tips or tricks for her dealings with the Talons. He hadn’t spoken to them in his time on the throne.
Honour gave Soulara a rundown of Talon history and structure the entire time they swam there, a consort of troops following. Soulara wished Zendalia were there, but she was still on leave and recovering from her last run-in with a kraken. Her presence was sorely missed, but perhaps Soulara would be able to concentrate better without Zendalia there as a reminder.
Reaching up for the stone, Soulara focused on Nylah. A few images flashed through her mind, mostly water, dark and dirty, but nothing beyond that. There was no sign of Autumn yet. Honour slapped Soulara’s tail hard.
“What?” Soulara wrinkled her nose and glared.
“Pay attention, Princess. We’re coming to the meeting place.” Honour’s look was full of judgment.
Soulara hated that. But Honour was right. She needed her full focus for this meeting, and she couldn’t be thinking about or worried for Autumn.
They stopped suddenly. The light was dimmer down here, and the sense of foreboding in the water wasn’t putting Soulara at ease. She gulped and then relaxed as much as she could. She had her troops nearby in case anything happened, not that she was incapable of defending herself. And Honour was right next to her, advisor, general, and friend all in one.
“Princess Soulara, this is my contact, Nepham.”
Soulara bowed slightly as was tradition in Reine, realizing fully that wasn’t the case for the Talons. She kept silent as Honour continued.
“Nepham holds a position similar to mine.”
Soulara straightened. All those there were mermen. They were completely surrounded. For some reason it had slipped Soulara’s mind that Talon was patriarchal in ways Reine was definitely not.
“Greetings,” Soulara stated. “My General tells me that you have information for us.”
“Yes.” Nepham bowed slightly. He seemed pleasant enough for now, and that eased Soulara’s immediate discomfort. “The kraken is dead. Two humans were inside. I have it under good authority that you’d like the remnants.”
“Yes,” Soulara answered, not looking at Honour. She had to make sure that Nepham knew he was to talk to her and her alone. “We’d like to study them. See if we can find a way to destroy the krakens with technology.”
Nepham nodded. “You have more experience with technology than we do.”
It was a general assessment. Reine was the most technologically advanced of the tribes. Kaelin’s tribe was probably the least, based on the stories Kaelin had willingly shared.
“We’ll give it to you.”
“In exchange for what?”
Nepham put his hands out to the side. “Call it good will.”
Soulara’s stomach twisted sharply. Nothing like this was ever given out of good will. There was a catch—she just hadn’t found it yet.
“The krakens are a problem for all the tribes,” Nepham continued. “Many things are changing in the waters.”
“We may need to fight together,” Soulara slipped in there, testing the waters to see if the Talons were prepared for that. The divide had been hard on all the tribes, and they hadn’t come together since then. Small tribes here and there had come back and formed larger ones, but most had stayed separated from each other.
“We’ve never fought with the likes of you,” Nepham said.
“Nor us you.”
“Will you lead or your father?” Nepham looked at Soulara directly, his dark brown eyes piercing hers.
This was perhaps a trick question, but Soulara was going to answer honestly. If she gave him that, then perhaps he would give her the same. Ducking her chin, she made sure that he understood she meant business. “This is my war.”
Nepham nodded slowly, his tail swishing back and forth in the water with a heavy flick. “I don’t fight with women.”
“Then you’re doomed to die,” Soulara responded firmly.
Nepham’s voice broke the silence with a loud boisterous laugh. “I like you.”
A shiver ran up Soulara’s spine. This was what she’d expected from the likes of him, and she was glad to have finally found it.
“Your kraken is at the bottom of the ravine three soundings to the west.”
Honour turned to two of the soldiers behind Soulara and signaled them. Soulara immediately felt their presences leave.
“See you around, Princess.” It was the first time her title had been used as a curse instead of a term of respect.
Soulara stood fast as the Talons swam away deeper into the soundings and faded into the dark. Honour moved right next to her and brushed their shoulders together. “He makes my skin crawl.”
Soulara snorted. “Most mermen do that to me.”
“Well, I’m not as picky as you.” Honour laughed lightly. “Come on, they’re gone. Let’s see what they left us.”
“What do they want?” Soulara waited another second, making sure the Talons were completely out of her sight before turning to follow Honour.
“They want our kingdom.”
Soulara sighed. She should have paid closer attention to the politics of Reine in the last few years. It was going to be a steep learning curve to catch up. “Why haven’t they fought us so far?”
“They have an armistice with your father, but once he’s no longer on the throne, it ends.”
“Wonderful.” Soulara pushed her fluke down hard, speeding ahead. She and her father needed to sit down and have a serious conversation about the state of Reine when she returned. She wasn’t going to let him get away with it this time, and she wasn’t going to avoid it herself, either. If Reine was going to be hers, then she needed to know.
“Your Highness!” One of the soldiers swam up to her quickly. “They left the humans.”
“What?” Soulara’s eyes bulged. “Show me.”
They moved swiftly through the waters, as fast as they could into the dark ravine. Under the tech of the kraken were the torn apart bodies, at least parts of them, squished against the metal to hold them to the floor of the ocean. Soulara’s heart clenched hard as she looked at each arm, each leg, each chunk of skin and flesh she found.
It wasn’t Autumn.
She wasn’t there.
Grasping her necklace, Soulara closed her eyes and focused on Nylah. She sent Nylah to the surface to see if Autumn was there.
“Gather everything you can carry. Two of you will stay to guard the rest while we send reinforcements to help bring the rest home. Everyone be on the lookout for sharks.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Soulara held herself strong. Honour came next to her after giving the troops a few more directions and touched Soulara’s shoulder. “She’s not here.”
“No, she’s not.”
“Will you go to her?” Honour raised an eyebrow at her.
Soulara’s face pinched before she relaxed. “Yes.”