Chapter 16
· YEMI ·
Yemi stuck to the rocky edge of the sleeping city until she found an outcropping of rock near the surface that offered her a decent vantage point overlooking Helene’s palace.
Guards were positioned at openings along the tall coral stalks that made up the vertical hallways.
But none of them had the tools to carve new entrances. And none of them were this high up.
She exhaled slowly and tightened her grip on her spear, carefully descending to drift along what constituted the palace rooftops, peeking down into each stalk from the grated holes that functioned as windows to get her bearings.
Her hackles raised. The endless dark parade of bottomless corridor after bottomless corridor grated on her.
Time was limited, as were the shadows that could hide her.
Her hope was that they thought she’d either left the city or met her end warring with the Hollow.
She worked her way inward to where soft gold light emanated from slits on the roofs of grander rooms. Royals were always housed in the innermost this or that, never far from the throne.
At last she found it, following tiny gold fish like fireflies darting in and out of the grating above a thicker hollow.
Peering through the swarms, she found a room with a mesh hammock strung from three anchor points at its center, and towering, faceless merpeople carved in relief into pale blue walls.
The room was lit by these shimmering fish feasting on clusters of thick green algae that lined the ceiling.
Their light bounced off round mirrors that descended the walls, giving the room the illusion of warm, electric light.
Helene hunched over a vanity adorned with strings of pearls, her exposed back bowed so deeply the vertebrae were visible beneath the dark tattoos that trailed from her head.
She picked lazily at glass bottles of potions and products, gazing hollowly at her reflection.
Her massive antlered crown rested atop a golden orb anchored by rusting chains to a shrine-like section of the wall.
Yemi activated the spear and cut out a rectangular section of the coral grate large enough to fit herself through.
She placed herself on the other side of it before putting it back to hide her entry from anyone who might wander overhead.
She dove quickly, her form obscuring light from the mirrors for the span of a blink, long enough for Helene’s curiosity to force an upward glance as Yemi landed behind her.
“A word, if you would,” Yemi said quietly. The queen spun in horror and confusion. She made as if to scream, but Yemi thrust her spear forward to within an inch of Helene’s throat, and the sound gurgled there but made it no further.
“You may be louder but I promise I am quicker,” Yemi said coolly.
Helene hesitated, moving herself backward away from the spear until she was pressed against her vanity’s mirror.
“What is the meaning of this?” she hissed.
“You have my ships. Why?” Yemi demanded.
“I have no—”
“Six Ixian ships,” Yemi clarified testily.
She had no time for lies. “Three merchant vessels and three from my naval fleet lie in a trench beneath your city, guarded by your Hollow and some behemoth. A man who until recently had been human—and one of my commanders—was murdered and devoured in these waters. I will have justice.”
Helene scowled, the royal rigidity returning to her spine. “Have you lost your mind? Struck your little head on a rock somepla—”
“So a thief first and now a liar?” Yemi scoffed.
“How dare—”
“Her Majesty requires tribute in exchange for honesty, too, I take it? So be it.” She ripped the medallion from her neck and tossed it on its broken string into the space between them.
In the instant Helene snatched it away, the room pulsed.
Just once, like the concussive aftermath of a distant explosion.
Yemi frowned, startled, and observed the sway of objects around them as if to confirm she hadn’t just imagined it.
Helene appeared to recoil as she inspected the medallion, her lips tight, lashes batting in confusion until her eyes drew wide and in some way… soft. She was different.
She sank to the floor, gazing longingly at the token as if it were some recovered treasure.
Yemi began again, only vaguely interested in why the queen looked so small now.
“Now I’ve seen enough of the city to know you barely have anyone left to rule,” Yemi mused.
“The Hollow have devoured them, too, or they’ve left you for better.
The Hollow seem likely—if feral—replacements in your desperation.
Your military’s left to legend. There’s no force even here for you to offer, which would have been an acceptable reason to dismiss me before, even if it’s embarrassing.
The piece I can’t fit is the question of why.
Why any ships at all, really, but especially mine? ”
Helene flicked her eyes in Yemi’s direction as if seeing her for the first time.
“Where did you get this?” she asked in a singular voice, gentle and free of the menace of her divine authority.
“A witch in my family’s employ.”
“Selah.” The name came out low and quiet. Wistful, even.
“Yes. I’ve heard you’re familiar with her.”
“Like the beating of my own heart.” She caressed the embossed surface.
“I lost her. My sister first, both of them to treason. I have only ever loved traitors. The only assurance I’ve had that she still lives is that I haven’t died.
I never thought I’d get to hold her again.
Not with these hands. She promised…” She paused, marveling at her own fingers, seemingly having missed them, too, and the fog flickered over her eyes again.
“She—she promised…” she repeated, her voice rising in panic.
“Who promised?” Yemi asked, concerned now. “Promised what?”
Helene seemed startled to find her there and squinted at her in surprise. “Ari?” she said breathlessly.
“What?” Yemi frowned. Was the Mer Queen in some kind of fugue state? Was the medallion at fault?
Helene shook her head, her brow furrowing and lips going tight again. “No. Who are you?”
“What is this?” Yemi backed away.
The room pulsed again, this time in reverse, pulling Yemi toward the queen instead of pushing her away. Helene screamed and released the medallion to clutch her own head with both hands. Her multitude of voices returned, and Yemi felt like twelve people were shrieking in pain in her ears.
“No! Release me. I’ve paid! Unhand me!”
Another pulse. Yemi looked around nervously. She was sure there were only seconds left to get answers before the guards heard their queen.
“You,” Helene growled, dragging herself upright. “She’s in you, isn’t she? She sent you. You’ve lost your throne and have come for mine.”
Yemi backed away. “What? No, I—”
“Yes. Treacherous little beast. You don’t think I know what you call yourself, Mer Queen of Ixia?
You want to know the state of my military so you know how much of a fight to expect.
I am queen! I will not be baited, no matter how precious the lure—ah!
” The scream descended into a guttural baritone that vibrated in Yemi’s chest.
“Get out!” Helene shrieked.
Without another word, Yemi dashed for the hole in the ceiling.
“OUT!” the queen roared after her.
Yemi burst through the loose panel and hovered near the spire.
“Yemaya?”
She looked up to see Lirik clinging to the dome of Helene’s room as if she’d been watching the entire time.
“What have you done?” she whispered.
“Me?” Yemi hissed. “I didn’t do anything! She’s… mad or bewitched or something. I don’t—”
“Shh!” Lirik clapped a hand over Yemi’s mouth. Below, the guards converged on Helene before she took off for the exit at the city’s edge. Lirik pulled her out of sight, and before Yemi could do anything, Lirik’s lips were pressed fiercely against hers.
I will lead them astray. Lirik’s voice seeped into Yemi’s head in a way, she supposed, that others couldn’t hear. We will see each other again. But you have to go. Now.
Stunned and confused, Yemi pulled herself away with enough force that she almost backed into another tower.
Lirik mouthed Go! just as an alarm horn sounded around them.
Yemi cursed herself for having come here in the first place and took off for the exit. What had just happened? Had Selah known what the medallion would do to Helene? And what exactly had been promised?
The one certainty she had was that if Yemi was anywhere near this place when Helene’s misunderstanding about Yemi was relayed to her protectorate, there was no way she would make it home.
Home.
She dared glance behind her just once before she disappeared into the tunnel that had brought her here in the first place.
It was as good as any place for a final standoff if she was being pursued.
The palace was alight now, awake and furious.
She caught the faintest echoes of warbled screams, but otherwise, no one was pursuing her.
Maybe Lirik was to be trusted after all, but who knew what would happen once the hysterics died down?
She wound her way through the tunnel, chewing her lip so hard it hurt, until she reached the open water beyond the coral wall.
Which way is home? She spun around.
To the north. But Ursla was west.