Chapter 22
As the kraken elders filed into High Court Cave, Kai steeled his features into a blank mask. He must not show any emotion. To do so would be a sign of weakness. Gritting his teeth, he turned his gaze to the domed ceiling, the rocky walls with their honeycombed patterning, the glimpses of blue sea lapping above them. While this cave was completely submerged by water, it was the closest to the surface of the complex, and as such, the light here was brighter.
After the Great War, kraken had held court here over legal issues regarding the sea between Motham and Thedaka. Not that Kai remembered many such meetings in his lifetime. The last one had been with a billionaire orc, who had purchased Orc Island from the Tween Council of Towns. Two years ago, the orc had made a deal with the kraken to allow the passing of human boats between Motham and the island. Other than that, there had been little call for court hearings since the Treaty.
Until now.
As the kraken elders took their seats, none of them looked his way. Hardly surprising. He was still in a state of shame. Losing the games for the second year in a row, that was not something easily forgiven.
But… he’d done it for Luna. Because his pull toward her was stronger than the tide. His body ached with longing to see her, to touch her, make love to her.
He believed that she hadn’t sold those photos.
But would the elders?
As he surveyed the assembled group, his father gave him a glance, and Kai relaxed a little. There was no hostility in his father’s gaze, at least. Maybe after this there would be a way forward. But a way forward for what, exactly?
Gods. What was he hoping? That a kraken and a human could mate again like they had many centuries ago? Those were different times, when the magic of shifting abounded and anything was possible. A time, it was said, of harmony and goodwill.
Nothing more than a fairy tale.
But fuck it, right now Kai was prepared to believe in fairy tales.
There was the blast of a trumpet shell, then Razad entered carrying a sparkling staff. The glowing orb on top was lit up by sea creatures that twinkled around its head. He took his seat amid ancient incantations spoken by the elders.
And then… behind him, Hana entered, followed by Luna. She swam with grace through the entrance, even though her face was covered in the ugly breathing contraption. Just seeing her made Kai’s breath stutter.
The impact she’d had on his heart had only got stronger, he realized. Kai felt water flowing faster through his gills, little bubbles ebbing from his lips.
He knew that body so intimately now.
He watched as Hana showed her to the Rock of Truth. Luna sat, Hana to her right. Later in the proceedings he would be called to tell his version of events on that rock. The same rock where, in the centuries after the Great War, kraken would put human pirates on trial before dragging them out to sea with rocks on their feet and drowning them. Or so the legend went.
His hearts pounded as Luna sat, adjusting her headset. Hana helped her, tentacles and hands working together.
Then Luna glanced his way. If only he could see more of her face, her reactions through the glass of her helmet. He didn’t smile. Didn’t dare. But when her hand fluttered up briefly, one of his tentacles twitched, a tiny answering acknowledgement. She had to know he supported her.
Gods of the deep, how he wanted to swim over to her, wind his tentacles around her, rip that mask off and kiss her.
Then she’d drown, you idiot.
Which made him feel suddenly hopeless as all hell. Look at her, rigged up like a deep-sea diver, all so she could communicate with them for an hour or so. How could she ever live in his world?
“Human, can you hear and comprehend me?” Razad’s deep voice rumbled.
Through the speakers, her words, soft but clear, carried through the water. “Yes, sir.”
“We speak the language of kraken here, so that all the elders and clan members can hear your story. Your words will be instantly translated to our language, and vice versa. So tell us the story in any way you wish. It will be comprehended.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“I do.”
“Word has come to our elders, carried by those we have great trust in, that you were the victim of a kraken attack.”
“I was, sir.”
“When?”
“Fifteen years ago.”
Kai stiffened. Surely Razad would refute this. Inform her that she must have the dates wrong, or the species wrong. That the Treaty had put a stop to all such sinkings by kraken. But instead, Razad bowed his head. Kai noticed his gnarly hand tightening on his staff.
“Whereabouts, human?”
“In the waters out northeast of what is now Orc Island, I believe.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I do not know for sure. I was with my parents. And my baby brother, Tomas.”
“Do you have any idea why your parents were in these waters?”
“I do not, sir. Except to say we lived on the water. All my early memories are of the sea stretching forever, of being on our small boat. All I know about my family is that my father had books he’d record things in, things about the sea life, the plants and fish. My mother would draw pictures of the things we found.”
“Were your people humans of the valley?”
“You mean from the towns of Tween or Twill?” Kai watched her shake her head. “No sir, not according to what my parents told me. I remember my mother saying we came from the northern seas, up past the mountains, and that our family had been seafarers for generations.”
“Tell us what happened on the day in question?”
Kai saw her hands twist in her lap, her knuckles whiten.
“It was early in the morning. We had risen, my father telling me that we were close to finding something very special. A place he and Mom had hoped to find for many years. He said we needed to take care, that it was unpredictable, maybe a little dangerous being here, and that I had to do what they told me. I didn’t know what he meant.
“But then the sky darkened, like a storm but different somehow, and so sudden. I remember it had been such a beautiful clear day before that. My father started shouting to my mom to take us below. And then he was calling out from the bow of the boat, ‘we come in peace, we come in peace.’
“I was terrified. My mom screamed at me to take Tomas, secure him in his cot and tether myself to my own bed. I did as I was told. We’d been through storms before, but nothing like this. The boat was like a leaf, tossed around on the sea. And then… I remember this terrible cracking sound. A roaring like thunder, only worse. A hole appeared in our galley, the light and water rushed in, then I recall being buffeted around, tumbled and pummeled by waves.
“My bed was ripped away, all but the plank I’d tied myself to. I held onto it and… And then….” She bowed her head, and Kai heard a muffled sniff. Oh gods, was Luna crying? His proud, fierce human…
“Continue your account please, human,” Razad urged.
“I—I saw many huge blue tentacles rising out of the waves. They seemed to be everywhere, thrashing and pulling apart our boat. I couldn’t see my mom or dad, but I could see Tomas’s cot buffeted by the waves. I knew I had to get to him, but when I tried to swim over it was impossible. I had to hold onto that plank or drown. I called out to my mom, my dad. Nothing. Just that awful roaring sound…
“And then… one of y-your kind was heading for Tomas. It wrapped a tentacle around his cot and pulled it close into its body and disappeared under the waves….
“I think I blacked out because when I came to, I was there alone, still gripping onto that plank of wood. The sea was calm now. Nothing but debris. Except then… then I saw two bodies floating out to sea, face down. Mom and Dad. I called to them, but they just kept floating away, toward the horizon…” She stopped, her head bowed. “Away from me…”
There was silence in the cave for long moments. Razad looked suddenly bowed and tired. He stepped back and motioned to Shen.
Shen stood and spoke, his tone kinder. “Please continue… when you feel able, Luna.”
“I held onto the plank, maybe for hours, I’m not certain. I think I must have become delirious. The next thing I recall was being plucked out of the water by an albatross. One we used to feed from the boat. It carried me to its nest on the cliff. Fed me, kept me alive. And when I was strong enough, it dropped me in the marshes, at the house of an old human woman who lived there alone. She took me in, made me work for her.”
Kai sat stunned. This was a fuller, more horrifying account than the one Luna had told him.
When she spoke again, her voice was composed. “My life has not been a happy one. But I’ve survived, supported myself. And I vowed I would find out what happened to my brother.”
“Is that why you entered the games?”
“Yes. I believed the games were the only way that I could establish any contact with krakens. I thought if I won, it would give me bargaining power.”
“And yet, you shamelessly cheated. Took advantage of our kind. Photographed him without his permission,” Razad growled now, thumping his staff on the rocks.
“I did take photos, yes, but I…”
“Why did you do that?” Shen asked, again more gently. “Remember, you are under oath to tell the truth, Luna.”
“Yes, sir. I—I wanted to study Kai’s body… his tentacles… to share my findings with my trainer so I could… fight him better. But I didn’t show them. Not to my trainer, or to anyone. A selkie stole my phone. Leaked the photos to the media for money.”
“We are awaiting proof of that. Motham Security are investigating what happened,” Shen said.
“I left it on his water taxi. They can trace the time and location of the leaks back to his boat. I wasn’t there when it happened.” She glanced at Kai. “I have a witness?—”
Razad grunted. “Yes, we are aware of how you seduced my grandson on several occasions, held him in some kind of thrall. Was it a drug? A potion? Did you spike his drink?”
“No, no, I would never…” She looked so helpless, so forlorn, her slender body visibly shaking. Kai could stand it no longer. He jumped up. “Sir, she did not seduce me. It was I who sought her out.”
His grandfather stared him down. “We will hear from you later.”
“No sir. Let me speak. I saw her even before I left land to compete, the very day in fact that you told me I was The Chosen. She was swimming near the caves. and I was compelled to seek her out again. On the night of the opening event, I asked her to have a drink with me.”
“When she would have spiked your drink.”
“I bought the drinks; she did not touch mine.”
Razad let out a bitter laugh. “Next, you’ll tell me you agreed to let her photograph you. In that sordid hotel room.”
“No sir, I did not agree to be photographed. But I was there of my own volition.”
Razad waved his staff, staring him down fiercely. “Enough, boy. Do not muddy things with your impetuous words.”
Kai hesitated. It could go against Luna if he kept speaking out of turn. But he refused to sit; he remained upright, staring his grandfather down out of defiant eyes.
Razad hammered his staff and stormed back to his rock in a swirl of sand. “We will adjourn to discuss your account of events, human, and reach a conclusion.”
“Please,” Luna begged, “just tell me what happened to Tomas. What happened to my brother? I beg of you—all I’ve ever wanted was to know the truth.”
Her distress registered in Kai’s hearts, ripping him apart. How dare his grandfather act as if Luna had done something wrong, when it was his own people that had taken everything from her.
He gritted his teeth, pain swirling through his old injuries.
Injuries inflicted by humans, yes, but being perpetuated now by kraken kind.