Chapter Twelve #2
She pointed to a sheer cliff only a short distance away.
The inlet was like nothing Jaykun had ever seen before.
It was a city constructed of fossilized coral, honeycombs and caves leading from surface to surface, level to level, from high at the top of the cliff to down at the water.
Even from a distance he could see people climbing up the cliff walls in order to go from one level to the next or, in some cases, simply leaping off and diving with hurtling speed into the water below.
Jileana began to swim toward the coral city, her streamlined body moving fast. It was clear she was happy and eager to get home.
The trunk was floating in the water, the servant clinging to it desperately, as if his life depended on it.
Jaykun had to give him credit for his bravery.
There weren’t many men who would jump into a situation like this unprepared and unarmed.
He still couldn’t believe he had done so himself.
But if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be seeing all he was seeing, experiencing all he was experiencing …
and he wouldn’t have traded this moment away for anything.
He had never felt so alive, so brave and daring, so strong in the face of his fear of the unknown.
“Come along, little fellow. We best be following her,” he called to the servant. “Can you manage with that?”
“Y-y-yes, my lord!”
“Very good! Our adventure awaits!”
Jaykun took off after Jileana. She was like a fish, darting from one place to the next, until they reached the clear blue-green waters of the inlet and were only a few feet away from the place where the coral cliffs met the water.
That was when he saw that the caves and cubbies continued below the water’s surface and the water was teaming with people deep down, beyond where he could see.
The coral beneath the water was not fossilized, dead and dry; it became a living, breathing jungle of life that teemed from its every pore.
And every last one of the population was either naked or wearing the briefest bit of clothing to cover their sex. The women were all bare breasted, the men bare chested.
Jileana swam to the nearest cave and led the men inside. There were shelves immediately to the left and right, and Jileana hauled herself out of the water and onto a shelf. Jaykun followed suit. Then he looked around to see about half a dozen eyes staring at him in surprise.
“Jaykun, these are my people.” She introduced them with a wave of her hand.
“This is Kino,” she said, pointing to a darkly tanned, leathery looking older woman.
“Kino has been serving my family for generations. Dremu, you will stay here with her and she will help you get our belongings to the upper level where I live.”
“Oh, mistress,” Kino said, tsking hard. “Your fadder be sorely mad wid you. You know he don’t like da idea of you goin’ to da Overworld. No, mistress, not at all. He told you no go, but you go anyway. He be hoppin’ mad.”
“I figured as much,” Jileana said with a sigh. “But I will deal with that later. First we must see my mother.”
“She no much happier wid you dan your fadder is,” Kino said with a raspy little chuckle. “You done steamed quite a lotta people, you done.”
“I know, Kino. I know.” Jileana leaned forward and kissed one of those leathery cheeks before looking at Jaykun and winking. “Come on. There isn’t much time. We have to get you somewhere … safe.”
That was when he realized, with no little surprise, that for the first time in as long as he could remember, he had forgotten the time of day, lost track of it, been completely free of the knowledge of his curse.
It astounded him. Ever since the curse had begun he had spent every waking moment fully cognizant of it, always aware of it and aware of the time of day.
Always plotting exactly where to go that would be safest and farthest away from everybody else.
For these past minutes he had been free of that weight.
But now it came crashing back into him and he felt a rising sense of panic. He didn’t know where he was, didn’t see any kind of beach that would be a safe distance from everyone else. His curse would begin and all of these people would see him burn. It was the last thing he wanted.
Jileana dived back into the water and slipped away from him, going down deeper this time.
He took a breath and followed her even though a visceral part of him was saying they were going in the wrong direction.
He needed to be isolated on land … else he would have to burn in the water in the middle of the ocean.
Burn and drown at the same time. Burning was bad enough, but to drown on top of it?
It was more than he thought he could bear.
True, that was exactly what he would have been forced to do as they crossed the oceans in his armada—swimming safely away from the big wooden ships—but he had not come to terms with it in his mind, had not yet prepared himself for it.
He followed the woman who darted and danced through the water as if she had been born for it, and he supposed she had been.
She swam almost as fast as she had in her seal form, or so it seemed to him as he tried to keep up with her.
He was a strong swimmer, but she was stronger.
She had to stop and wait for him on more than one occasion.
Finally, she brought them into one of the coral caves, and taking his arm, she pulled him up into a pocket of air.
He gasped for breath and she smiled at him.
“Only a little farther in,” she said, beginning to swim toward the back of the cave.
Then, after a moment, he began to see a glowing light.
Not that there were fires, he realized as they drew into what looked like grand private living quarters, but the walls themselves were phosphorescent.
Jileana pulled herself out of the water and onto a shelf, then she reached out a hand to him and helped him to do the same.
He was beginning to realize why she was so strong.
If the people of Serenity swam and climbed constantly in order to get from one place to the next, it only made sense that they were fit creatures.
She stood up and walked to the rear of the cave, leaving him with little choice but to follow. He was beginning to feel itchy, though, itchy with the worry of the setting sun. The cave seemed isolated, but then he saw a woman at the back of the cave.
She had hair as red as blood and it was braided down her back in a thick rope that reached the backs of her knees.
There was a circlet of golden wire braided into it around the crown of her head.
She was nude except for a small sarong knotted at her hip.
She was tall and slender, as fit as Jileana was—as everyone seemed to be—and as she turned to look at them, he was instantly struck by the fact that she was nearly Jileana’s twin.
“Mother!” Jileana greeted the woman, her bare feet slapping against the cave floor as she hurried into her mother’s eager embrace.
“Jilly, you naughty child! Your father is beside himself! You know he forbade you to go to the Overworld. When he realized where you had gone he was furious!”
“I’m surprised he didn’t come after me,” Jileana said as she hugged her mother.
“Creasus couldn’t afford to be away. The grots have been grumbling with discontent. He sent Lalo after you, but in the end, it was the clutch that kept an eye on you. After all, you came back every night where they were able to see you.”
“The grots are sea creatures that live in a small settlement nearby. The clutch is the collection of seals and morari sitting on the jetty of the cove,” Jileana explained to Jaykun.
Then she turned back to her mother. “It was one reason why I returned to the cove each night. I knew the clutch would report back to Father that I was well.”
“That was not all they reported,” Jileana’s mother said as her attention turned to Jaykun. “Is this the man who burns?”
“Yes, Mother, it is. His name is Jaykun. Mother, we don’t have much time. He must burn every night from dusk to juquil’s hour. It is a curse. I was hoping that you could help.”
“Oh no, dearest. This is obviously a curse of the gods,” she said as she inspected Jaykun carefully. She shook her head. “I cannot touch it.”
“I didn’t think you could. But I was hoping you could help him stay below the waters.”
“Oh! Yes, of course I can. Come here, young man.”
Jaykun lifted a brow at that. He was not a young man by any stretch of the imagination. True, his immortality had frozen him in the prime of his life and looks, but he was over two centuries old, most of that spent chained to a star in torture. There was nothing young about him.
Still, he moved closer to her.
“My name is Ravi. I do not want you to be afraid.”
“He is a very brave man, Mother.”
“He would have to be to gain my daughter’s respect and trust. Jilly would not bring just anyone into our world. There are strict rules about that, Jaykun.”
“Then I am honored,” he said.
“He is an ambassador, Mother. He wishes to speak with the empress.”
“Ah. Well, that should be very interesting. But first let us make it so you can move freely about amongst us.”
Ravi then placed both hands on Jaykun’s chest and closed her eyes.
“We haven’t much time,” Jaykun said, tension ratcheted up in his voice. “The curse is coming.”
“Yes. I feel it,” she murmured. “You will feel a tingling sensation, Jaykun, in your chest. That only means the spell is working.”
“Spell?” he asked tightly.
Then, as promised, his chest began to tighten and tingle. Suddenly a jolt of energy jumped from Ravi’s hands and into his chest. Startled, he stepped back, away from her.
“There. It is done.”
“What is done?” he demanded to know.
“It is an osmosis spell. From now on your body will draw air from the water. You will no longer need to breathe as you would on land,” Jileana said, reaching out to put a comforting hand on his arm.
“Now you can choose any spot on the ocean floor to burn without drowning as well. You can move freely from land to water like the rest of us do. You can hear and speak beneath the water. You can live in my world.”
Stunned, Jaykun didn’t know what else to do other than to thank her with a murmur of politeness.
“I believe your friend is a bit shocked by all he is seeing and hearing. But you haven’t much time. Take him to the juna cave. There will not be anyone there and that should protect everyone from the burning.”
“How did you know…?”
“Mother is a sea witch. The sea witch. There is no one more powerful. My magic is nothing compared to hers.”
“Your magic?”
“Oh, minor spells,” Jileana said breezily, waving the query off. “Like the one that made the trunk lighter and waterproof. Now follow me. We better swim fast.” She gave her mother a swift kiss on the cheek. “I will be back later!”
She ran away and leapt into the water. Jaykun hastened after her.
The first thing he noticed was that he could draw in a breath as easily as if he were on land …
only he wasn’t breathing through his mouth and nose.
It seemed to enter him from all around him, as if his entire body was breathing.
Then Jileana turned and said to him, “This way!” and he heard her as clear as if she had been speaking to him above the water.
He was stunned and fascinated, but he didn’t have time to enjoy the new experience.
They were just swimming into a large cave some distance away from everyone else when the burn began in the center of his chest. He shouted out in warning to Jileana, and she hurriedly swam away to a safe distance.
Within moments the water around him was boiling with heat and his body was wrenching and burning just as badly as ever.
The pain was extraordinary. Blinding and searing.
And so, once again, the curse was fulfilled.