Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Take him to the chains as your empress commanded you,” Jaykun said to the guards he handed Horgon over to. “Chain him well.” He turned to the empress. “And what of the son?”
“He made no threats to me. He can go as long as he promises not to raise arms against me.”
“I do so promise,” Barban said through his teeth.
It was clear he had no intention of keeping that promise, but that was a matter Jalaya was going to have to handle when it presented itself.
She knew the repercussions slapping Horgon in chains might have, and an uprising was one of them.
The. families that supported Horgon might easily come to his aid, fight to depose her of her crown, and start a civil war amongst the selkie people.
It would be the worst possible outcome. But the fact was, Jalaya could not let Horgon’s threats and insults slide a moment longer.
His behavior was just as damaging to her crown as a war might be.
People watching her sit idly by as a man disrespected her would lose all faith in her ability to control those around her.
If she could not rule a single man, then how would she be able to rule them all?
The guards dragged Horgon off and Barban stood seething in a corner of the room before turning to the empress. “You may come to regret taking the advice of this … this Overworld creature over the advice of my father!”
“Is that a threat?” Jaykun asked mildly. “Because that too would be treason.”
Barban blanched. No one liked to be threatened with the chains. And if Barban ended up in chains as well, then all would most certainly be lost for his family. Jaykun knew it and so did Barban. It was clear by the contempt and rage simmering in his eyes.
“You see, Jaykun? You cannot possibly leave me,” the empress said with a tremulous smile. “Your council means far too much to me.”
“I am sorry, Majesty, but my world has awaited me far too long already.”
“Of course I know this,” she said with a shake of her head, “but I do not have to like it. You are ready to go, then?”
“I am,” he said.
“Then come with me for a while,” she said, swimming to the nearest door, which led into the farther reaches of the castle.
Jaykun and Jileana obliged her and followed her out of the room, leaving Barban and the council behind.
After several long minutes of swimming in silence, they came to Jalaya’s private chambers and the three of them swam inside, with guards left posted at the door.
Jalaya settled into a pacing swim that crossed and recrossed the room.
“Jaykun, how do I begin to tell you how valuable you have been to me?” she said.
“You do not need to,” he said.
“Oh, but I do,” she argued in earnest. “This council has changed everything. It will mean an entirely new era of peaceful coexistence for my people. The people will be well represented and the highest influential families are now working with me rather than against me. This has been a priceless gift.”
“You have done all the work, Jalaya. If not for your strong leadership, a council would make no difference. A good ruler knows when to listen and when to rule; you know how to do both and that is why, contrary to Horgon’s claims, you very much deserve your crown.”
“And for the first time in a long time I feel that is the truth. I owe you for that.” She came up to Jaykun and took his hands in hers.
“Promise me you will return one day, that you will come visit. There are other portals that lead to us. All you need do is look for a place where large amounts of seals are congregating. Odds are that is a portal.”
“I will remember that,” he said with a smile.
“See that you do.” She leaned in and kissed his mouth.
It was a friendly gesture, an affectionate one.
He realized then how much he had grown to value his friendship with the empress.
She was a strong and intelligent woman with a great heart and an unbelievable amount of courage.
It was hard not to like her. She had grown close to him, sharing much of herself with him these past few weeks.
He believed he was the closest thing to a true friend she had experienced in a long while and he felt badly to be abandoning her.
But like his relationship with Jileana, he had no choice but to end it.
He would never forget it, but it must end.
“Farewell, my friend,” she said to him, giving his hands a tight squeeze.
“Farewell,” he returned to her. Then he kissed her cheek one last time and he and Jileana swam away from her.
Jaykun and Jileana headed toward the portal. About halfway there, Silan swam up to them, interrupting their progress.
“So you are going with him?” Silan demanded of his sister. “Just like that? With no thought to your own safety? With no thought to your father and mother and those who worry about you?”
“I can take care of myself,” Jileana said defiantly with a lift of her chin.
“It’s the Overworld! If they knew what you were, they would destroy you! Hurt you! Is it wrong of me to love you enough to not want that to happen?”
“No,” she said softly, coming up to him and settling a hand on his face. “And I love you too. But this is my life to lead however I see fit and you have to stop trying to lead it for me.”
He frowned deeply, but he took up her hand and laid a kiss in the palm of it. “Be careful, Sister. And come home as soon as you are able.”
“I will,” she said, reaching to hug him to her tightly.
After that, Silan left them and they continued to the portal. They found Dremu swimming at the surface above them and they surfaced next to him.
“Ready?” Jileana asked him. Dremu nodded, and with a deep breath, he followed them as they dived down toward the portal. As they rounded the shelf of coral that led to it, they stumbled right into a cadre of selkie males.
Unarmed and off guard, Jaykun was swarmed by them until they had him seized and helpless.
Though he struggled and fought with everything he had, he was sorely outnumbered.
More selkie males seized Jileana. Then the sea of selkies parted and exposed Barban, who approached them.
Poor Dremu had been captured as well, but unlike Jaykun, he had never been given the gift of being able to breathe underwater.
He had not wanted it or needed it before this.
So he quickly began to look like he was in distress.
“Barban! Please! He will drown!” Jileana cried.
“Then he should not be here amongst creatures who live and breathe in the waters.”
Barban jerked his head and the selkie holding Dremu dragged him through the portal and swam him up to the surface. Jileana nearly melted with relief. But that did not change her situation with Jaykun and she didn’t know what Barban’s endgame was.
“All the trouble in this world began when you arrived,” Barban sneered at Jaykun. “Well, I am going to put a permanent end to your influence over the sickly empress.”
“If she were so sickly, you would not be so scared,” Jaykun shot at him.
Barban came up to Jaykun and punched him hard across the face, the blow snapping his head back.
“What are you going to do?” Jaykun demanded of him. “I am already leaving. What more could you ask for?”
“To make certain of it,” Barban said. “And to make certain you do not take my wife with you.”
“I will never be your wife!” Jileana spat at him. “The empress has said it is my choice!”
“Well, that is only one of the things that will change once Jalaya is deposed and my father is raised up in her place.” He turned to his men. “Take him through the portal.”
Jaykun struggled the entire way as they swam him through the portal and into the much colder water on its other side.
Jaykun fought to free himself as he watched Barban swim up to Jileana and touch a possessive caress down her face and around her throat until her neck was encircled by his hand.
He whispered something to her that Jaykun could not hear, but the revulsion that crossed her features told him everything he needed to know about the remark.
He redoubled his efforts to free himself as Barban turned to his men and said, “Tear it down.”
That was when he realized what they were about to do.
Helplessly he watched as the men on the other side of the portal began to smash at the coral around the portal.
They were going to destroy it with Jaykun on one side and Jileana on the other.
With Jileana under the power of that selfish, evil bastard.
Jaykun fought to free himself and fought valiantly.
He cracked his head into the head of the nearest man, then bit the man on his left.
He was making headway, but not fast enough.
In an explosive fall of coral and rock, the portal between his world and Jileana’s was destroyed.
The minute the portal was demolished the selkies who had held him let him go.
He swam to the surface, gasping for breath—not because he needed it but because he felt as if he were drowning suddenly.
As if the spell Jileana’s mother had cast had suddenly worn off.
But he knew that wasn’t it. The spell was intact.
So why then did he feel as if he were suffocating?
He swam for the beach, then dragged himself out of the water and onto the sand beside where Dremu lay gasping and shaking with fear. The selkie males had turned into seals and disappeared amongst the seal population sitting along the jetty.
Jaykun pulled himself to his feet and the world spun around him.
His heart hurt in his chest and panic infused his every cell.
Jileana was in trouble! She was under the power of that bastard Barban!
And now … now he had no way to get to her.
By the time he found another portal, it would be far too late.
What could he do?
He began to run toward the city of Kriza.