Chapter 32 Malec
Malec
"Istill can't believe The Depthborne kept his word," I hear Onyx whisper behind me. I’ve heard them gossiping the whole way to Kolox City, even under the roaring current I created to bring us here faster.
Bay is busy befriending everyone around me lately, and I can’t decide if I should be concerned or grateful she’s finally stopped nagging me.
It took us less than a day to reach Kolox. It isn’t as far as Sur-El, still in our ocean, but on the complete opposite side of Mal-El city.
We passed a few smaller cities on the way—ones so under-guarded we could see their entire city life through their half-finished gates.
Not everyone is born under strong leadership. Some royal lines only care about preserving their own blood and their powers, never mind their people. It pisses me off.
Those pods probably have to defend themselves every damn night from predators. A good mersnitcher could clear out those small homes in a single sweep while they slept.
Cities like that all pile their guards at the front of their fancy castle—usually the only luxurious building they own. The last one we passed was Sheel-Or, if I remember the name right. Their mark even glowed at the tip of my tail when we slipped by.
“They look pissed. I don’t think they welcome us,” Alessio growls beside me as Bay and Onyx swim closer.
At the grand gates of Kolox, guards point their spears toward us.
Above them, archers crouch on the black-and-silver, round, armor-shaped gate, notching their waterbows—bows that could only be crafted with powers like my mother’s.
Arrows drawn, aimed, waiting for any excuse to fly.
Their pod crest is carved like a threat across the entire structure—arrow-shaped, gleaming.
"It’s because they saw Onyx. She’s banished." I don’t bother lowering my voice.
"Do you need me?" Myko growls in the back of my head. He hates being challenged. I can’t blame him—these gate games get old fast.
I tell Myko to hold for now and meet Bay’s gaze; she nods in understanding. I wonder if this is what she felt all the time when she was banished.
If it weren’t for me taking this role, my mother and my aunt would never have entered our city again. The thought pisses me off even more.
I raise my hand, forcing civility before violence, and swim forward, watching the archers like a cuttlefish watches prey.
"Lower your weapons," I command, my voice flat, irritation hidden behind a mask of calm.
"The Great Depthborne," the front three guards lower their spears immediately, bowing deeply.
I wave them up. That nickname again…
"Onyx, youngest daughter of King Volar and Queen Cortier, is banished and cannot enter," the lead guard announces.
My gills flare wide before snapping shut again. The three guards flinch, the nearest one swallowing so hard I hear it in the water. Good.
I’m tired of this bullshit.
"She’s entering—unless you don’t want your missing merfolk back." My voice is low, a warning buried under a razor edge of boredom.
"You came here for the missing merfolk?" one guard at the back blurts. Then he flicks a nervous glance at the lead guard before dropping his gaze to the ocean floor.
By the desperate look on his face, one of the missing merfolk must be important to him.
Should I start with him instead?
"Please, let us get permission from the royal house," the lead guard stammers, bowing again.
I nod once. He glares at the guard to his right, and without another word, he swims inside through a narrow crack in the gate. The archers hold their bows even tighter on Onyx.
"Tell them to drop their arrows. Now." My gills twitch as I narrow my eyes at the lead guard.
"Merchers, retreat!" he barks, after a long, tense moment.
Finally. He knows his damn place.
The archers back off, and I hear Onyx curse under her breath behind me. She’s pissed. Good. We all are.
"Commander, requesting permission to speak!" The young guard from before darts forward, posture stiff, spear pressed to his chest with both hands, chin up.
"For ocean’s sake, Mon. What are you doing?" the commander grits out, teeth bared. That look—I know it. That one soldier you can never quite control.
I fight the smirk creeping at my lips.
"You’re granted permission. From me." I arch an eyebrow at the commander before turning to Mon.
He flicks a glance at his commander, who reluctantly nods. The commander’s gills flare, and the tips of his fins vibrate with rage. I might as well enjoy this—he hates every second of my authority.
The commander’s following eye roll is sharp enough to cut kelp. And suddenly, I’m thinking of her.
Roran. Her balls to roll her eyes at me.
What is she doing right now?
I have questions—so many—about what Kayla saw. I shouldn’t have lost my composure back then. I should've asked more.
"We have two merfolk missing from our city," Mon blurts, voice shaking. His orange tail’s glow matches the sudden spark in his orange gem eyes. "One of them is my boyfriend. Please… please find him."
He bows so deep he almost rolls forward over his own tail.
His boyfriend—
"Odin’s missing?!"
A sharp gasp erupts behind me. Onyx, no longer silenced in fear, rushes forward and seizes Mon by the shoulders, her gaze drilling into him.
"Tell me my brother is okay. Tell me this is a joke."
Mon drops his eyes to the sand, gills trembling. Is he… crying?
"I wish it were," he chokes.
"No—"
Onyx’s sob cracks open the water around us. She sinks toward the ocean floor, eyes locked on the gate ahead, lost.
"The only warm, caring soul this royal house had… my Odin…" she murmurs.
Bay swims forward fast, wrapping Onyx in a hug before she can completely fall apart.
They didn't let us know a royal was missing here, too… why?
I shift awkwardly as Onyx sobs get louder. What the hell am I supposed to do?
"If it makes you feel any better, I don’t feel any loss in Kolox city yet. So he’s alive," I say finally.
Mon and Onyx gills flare in unison—like they’d been holding the ocean itself in their chests.
Gods. I’m terrible at comforting. Why do I even try?
Onyx surges forward, breaking from Bay’s grip, and grabs my arm.
"Please. Save him!" she begs.
And then her soul hits me again. Black. Screaming.
Wait.
It feels… familiar.
It feels like the same—
"King Volar approved Onyx’s entrance, on condition that she stays by The Great Depthborne’s side as his responsibility," the guard returns, voice cutting into my thoughts.
I shake my head sharply. "Let’s understand what happened first."
Onyx nods frantically, still clinging to my arm as I push forward.
"You can keep close," I say, glancing back at her, "but let go of my arm." I can't deal with her loud soul right now.
She releases me so quickly it’s like she didn’t even realize she was holding on.
She feels somehow like… her.