Chapter 3
Soulara sucked in a sharp breath of cold air as she breeched the surface of the water. She shuddered with pleasure as the sun touched her bare shoulders. Focusing on the irregular line of the trees, two hundred flukes from the edge of the water, she dug her hands into the sand. The pull of the muscles in her arms burned with a pleasant feeling she had come to enjoy as her fluke splashed unhelpfully.
Her smile widened as magic trickled down her navy blue tail, which tingled and split into two. Scales, dark and shining with lingering water, dropped into the sea-foam while her hair, silver and reflecting in the sun the way it never did in the kingdom beneath the sea, clung wet and heavy over her shoulders. Drips of water from the tips of the hair shocked sparks of electricity through her body as they landed on her peaked nipples. Such a strange sensation.
Flexing her newly formed toes and ankles, Soulara pulled herself upward to stand on her feet. She was so much better at this now than she used to be. Standing in the sand, Soulara closed her eyes and took several deep breaths through her mouth to acclimate to the world that surrounded her. Air slid down into her lungs instead of water, and it was cold, shockingly so. The first time she had breathed this way had been filled with screams and the fear of death. Now the sensation balanced on that line between pleasure and pain.
She opened her eyes and took her first step. It moved her entirely out of the water.
She looked down, confusion pulling together her eyebrows.
“This isn’t right,” she muttered to herself as she looked left and right and then scanned the scene in front of her.
The line of trees was too far away for her to be out of the water already. For a moment her head whirled around—right, left, straight ahead. None of this made sense.
Her shoulders tensed, taking away whatever calm coming here might have brought.
It didn’t make sense, unless…
Turning back into the water, Soulara couldn’t get submerged fast enough. The magic danced and trickled over her legs, stitching them back together. She didn’t wait for her fluke to return to its former glory. She thrashed around, legs proving ineffective in torpedoing her through the foam and into the open water. She had to get home.
They had to know.
They had to do something.
She’d never swum faster in between the land and Reine. And when she arrived, she didn’t stop until she reached the King.
“Father,” Soulara said as she pushed her way into his chambers. She swam directly to him, tail perfectly re-formed with no hint of the legs it had been earlier.
“Soulara!” Pregtox’s eyes snapped to her, his face hard and jaw pulsing from clenching and releasing his teeth over again. She knew the look well. Every time she had done something he didn’t approve of but couldn’t yell because others were near.
She flicked her head around to see Miarchi, one of her father’s advisors. He was in charge of keeping the King apprised about their defense forces. Now the words that were being spoken when she entered rocked through her brain, and it clicked.
Attack? When had there been another attack? Why hadn’t she been told? Had Zendalia been involved with this one? She shook her head and focused on why she had barged into her father’s space.
“Miarchi.” She nodded her head and then narrowed her eyes at him.
“Princess. I will get another report on how our kin fare after the last attack.” Miarchi bowed his thin wiry body in half and with a flick of his fluke left the King’s chambers.
The closing door sent out small ripples that tickled over Soulara’s arms.
“What are you doing?” Her father, now alone in her presence, asked loudly enough for the ripples to return to the closed door and back again.
“It’s true.”
“What’s true?” His face remained tight, colored like an angry coral.
“Zen. Zen was right. The water is receding.”
Her father shook his head, his lips sneered up in disgust. “I don’t have time for more of your attention-seeking tantrums.”
“This isn’t a tantrum!” Though it certain sounded like one with the way her voice rose.
“Could have fooled me.” Her brother, Makryn, drawled as he lounged against the door, now opened enough for his lithe form to swim through. She glared at her brother. If it were just her father, she might have been able to pull back her own anger and help him see her concerns in a way he would believe and take action on. Maybe. But with Makryn around, the chances were minimal. But she couldn’t deny what she had just seen.
“Shut up.” Soulara snapped and turned back to their father. “We need to do something. We need to look into it. The water levels are lowering, and swiftly. There’s something wrong and…” Autumn Walton’s name danced on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t do that. She didn’t know if Autumn Walton had anything to do with it, and she didn’t want her father finding that beautiful land creature until she knew who Autumn Walton actually was.
“Enough.” Her father said, voice quieter now but tinged with a disgust Soulara despised more than his yelling. He lounged against the rocks of his casual throne, returning his attention to work and summarily dismissing his daughter.
“If I went to mother with the same information, she would at least care about her people, and our entire ocean. She always cared more about life than saving her own place of power.” Soulara spat the words, venom in each one. She threw them like daggers, hoping each and every one of them landed in vital places in his body.
“Your mother…” Her father growled, fingers clenching around the seaweed scroll he had been reading, tearing the words into shreds. “She cared more about herself than any of our people. It’s why I’m here and she’s not.”
They locked eyes and for a moment, a pressure built between them like an air bubble pushed to its limit.
The snigger behind her broke the tension and the bubble burst.
“Go fuck your cousin.” Soulara threw over her shoulder as she swam past Makryn. It was a low dig, but one he had no words for. At least, none that she heard follow her out.
Soulara turned the corner of the corridor and stopped sharply.
“Miarchi.” Soulara breathed out the advisor’s name, her anger chasing her sudden fear which was followed up with annoyance.
“Excuse me, Princess.” Miarchi bowed low, his eyes dropping to the coral floor below. “Have you seen Zendalia?”
“Why?” Soulara’s brow pulled together sharply. Fear etched its way back into her stomach. This was such an odd interaction. Miarchi barely spoke to her on a good day. But now he was directly conversing with her about another soldier, of all people. Her best friend.
“She—” He stopped suddenly, his gaze lighting on another mer passing by them. “She’s with the healer.”
Soulara’s spine straightened immediately. “What?”
“The attack…”
Wincing, Soulara thanked the man and immediately swam off. She didn’t stop as she wound her way through the halls and out into the courtyard. Zendalia would be with the main medics for soldiers. Her heart raced as she reached the small shelter in the seaweed.
“Zendalia.” Soulara demanded of the first person she saw.
“This way, Princess.”
Soulara was taken immediately to a small clearing. The light from the sun dazzled through the water, reflecting off of Zendalia’s bright red hair, her orange fiery tail, a tail that had been sewn together roughly, and her fins —which were shredded.
“Oh, Z.”
“She will recover,” the healer answered, nodding toward Zendalia’s prone form.
“Where’s Kaelin?”
The healer shook his head in confusion.
“Kaelin. She’s Zendalia’s bonded.”
“We weren’t aware.”
Like hell they weren’t. Soulara pursed her lips together hard. “Send someone. Now.”
“Soulara.” She heard her name called, but the rage continued to boil. This wasn’t right. Her father was letting this spin out of control. “Soulara.”
Swimming over to where Zendalia lay on a bed of moss, her once orange skin turning a sickly dark purple and blue from bruises, Soulara’s heart broke. This needed to stop. This war, battle, this massacre. They needed to fight back and win.
“What is going on?” Zendalia’s chest rose and fell too quickly, as if she was struggling.
“You were injured in the last attack. Do you remember?” Soulara slid her fingers gently over Zendalia’s cheek.
“No. Where’s Kaelin?”
“I sent someone to get her.”
“You should have gone.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you alone.” Soulara was nearly in tears. “It was the Kraken, Z. We have to find an end to this. I have to go get irrefutable proof.”
“Soulara.” Zendalia’s fingers wrapped around her biceps. “We are fighting.”
“But we don’t know who we’re fighting or why.” The words caught in Soulara’s throat. But she had to say them. Zendalia had to know that the past few seasons weren’t in vain. “I don’t know how to convince him that the water levels are dropping.”
And to tell her father how she knew would also force her to admit that she’d been to the surface.
Which was forbidden.
She was left with the same conundrum now as she was with her father. How could she explain everything without telling them anything. She knew her friend had been through far too much. The deaths of her parents and the kidnapping, and now this? Sure, the kidnapping ended up being one of the best things that had ever happened to her in the end. She had Kaelin now, and the calm that had come over her was transformative. But Soulara didn’t believe in that kind of thing. She would never have someone care for her the way Kaelin cared for Zendalia, and she didn’t think she would even want to. She wouldn’t be a kept mer.
“I’ve seen it, Z.” Soulara’s face crumpled in apology mixed with a hope of being believed. “I went to the surface. It’s dropping. In two weeks it’s dropped considerably. I didn’t have a chance or the equipment to measure it.”
“You’ve been to the surface? Why?” Zendalia’s shoulders relaxed slightly, but there was tension in her face as if the pain was too much. Soulara shouldn’t be worrying her with this. “How did you breathe above the water?”
Soulara’s cheeks heated uncontrollably. She rarely blushed and never in front of Zendalia. They were best friends, they had been through so much together, and even after their ill-fated relationship that simply added sex to their friendship, they each remained a rock and a resting place for the other. “I’ve been seeing someone.”
“You?” Zendalia’s spluttered a cough. “I find that impossible to believe.”
“Oh.” Soulara’s cheeks grew hotter, and she shook her head. “Oh, not like that.”
“Really?” Zendalia’s smirk, even through the pain, told Soulara how much she didn’t believe a word of it.
“Really.”
“Then why the blush?” Zendalia nudged Soulara’s hand with her own.
“It’s nothing like that. She’s—she’s from a different tribe, and she seems nice. But as a friend. Nothing more.” Soulara had seen Autumn Walton just a handful of times, and only spoken to her once. But that had been why Soulara had gone to the shore that day, to see if she could catch another glimpse of the odd land creature. Whenever Soulara saw Autumn Walton, a peace came over her. A sense of being able to focus on just the two of them, who they were in those moments. Which was ridiculous because they had only said all of ten words together, and Autumn Walton had never relaxed.
“And who is she?” Zendalia’s tone no longer held the teasing quality of earlier.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this. You’re injured.” Soulara raked her gaze over Zendalia’s broken body.
“Don’t hide now. Besides, it’s a good distraction.” Zendalia gave a half-assed wink. “Who is she?”
“Just someone to talk to.”
“And you can’t talk to me?” The hurt was evident in Zendalia’s big eyes. “I know I’ve been busy with Kaelin, but I’m still here for you.”
“It’s not that.” Soulara placed gentle fingers on Zendalia’s arm, trying not to injure her more in the process. “Sometimes it’s just nice to talk to someone who doesn’t know everything about me.”
“All right.” Zendalia didn’t look convinced.
“We have bigger issues at hand, though.” Soulara grabbed both of Zendalia’s hands, looking directly into her eyes. “The water is disappearing. Your dad was right.”
They’d been there time and time again, trying to convince the king. Zendalia and Kaelin with Soulara by their sides, and he’d only been convinced of the threat of the krakens. Yet, no one knew what they were doing or where they had come from. No one was looking into the cause, only the effect.
“I don’t know what to do.” Soulara rolled her eyes. She let go of Zendalia’s hands.
“We need proof. Something that he can’t deny.”
“But what?” Fear cascaded across Soulara’s face. She couldn’t drag Autumn under the water with her.
“I don’t know,” Zendalia whispered. “That’s a problem for another day.”
Soulara shook her head, hair swirling around her, rising and falling right along with her frustration. She loved Zendalia, but even though her shoulders no longer bunched as tightly, Soulara wanted to breathe that freezing air and find out exactly what threatened her home and her people.
And to see Autumn Walton again. Maybe this time they’d have an actual conversation. Maybe Autumn Walton had the answers to Soulara’s questions. Maybe Autumn Walton wasn’t an enemy but an answer.
Soulara frowned at that thought. Her mind wasn’t helping the situation.
“You’ll figure it out,” Zendalia murmured, her eyelids drooping. “You always do.”
“You’re the one who’s a mess, and here I am telling you all about my problems.” Soulara bent down and kissed Zendalia’s cheek. “You should rest. I’ll wait until Kaelin gets here and make sure that she has everything she needs.”
“Just trust yourself.” Zendalia’s eyes widened and her hands found Soulara’s, squeezing tightly. “Please, Soulara.”
“It’s not like I’m going down into the deep soundings alone and with ill-fitting equipment on a quest for vengeance.” Soulara smirked with a small chuckle.
“Low blow.” Zendalia coughed again, and it sounded so painful. “Just know, if you get hurt, I’ll help fix you up so I can kill you properly.”
“Deal.” Soulara brushed her lips along Zendalia’s cheek. “Get some rest, Z.”
Soulara held vigil until Kaelin arrived, and then stayed even longer. Eventually the pull of the surface called to her, and she had to leave. Zendalia had given her permission. She’d told her to find the answers they were looking for. With a final prayer said with Kaelin, Soulara swam away and tried her damnedest not to look back. She had a mission to complete.
She had to go back to the surface.
She had to find Autumn Walton.