Chapter 5
“Mother?” Soulara whispered the word, though she didn’t have to. The telepathic link between the two of them had always been strong.
“Over here.” Milan radiated the beauty Soulara had always known and had mostly inherited. She sat by the edge of a grotto. Her hands pressed flat behind her while she leaned back with her head tilted to the bright sky that dappled through the treetops. Trees fascinated Soulara, and she had no idea why.
Light sparkled from the pool where her mother’s tail lazily moved back and forth in the water. Soulara hadn’t learned how to control her magic with such precision yet. To be able to keep her fluke while still being partly out of the water would have been unbelievable. But she had seen her mother in this state on several occasions now. She had been assured that she too would be able to master this state of control, but her doubts lingered and her fear of never quite measuring up to both her father’s and her mother’s expectations gnawed constantly at the back of her thoughts.
“Hello, Soulara.” Milan smiled as she turned her head toward her daughter and opened her eyes.
“I heard your call.” Soulara drew closer, suspicious of the pool that held no other life but for her mother’s dark blue fluke.
“Sit, sit, child.” Milan stroked the earth at the edge of the pool and sighed. Something weighed on her. Soulara could sense it under the surface of every movement and word, a slow easing into the problem like she always used when she worried about Soulara’s reaction. “Are you well?”
“Yes.” Soulara looked down at the sparkle of her own legs as they moved back and forth in the water. This was the game she had to play, the tug and pull of their relationship as they each relearned who the other was. They had missed so many years together when Soulara was young. “I’m well.”
The silence settled over them, and after a few minutes of staring intently at her legs, Soulara gave up. She had never struggled with much in her life. Well, truth be told, this was the only thing she had ever failed to master. It irritated her and made her mother give those small tsking noises.
“Relax, Soulara. Magic must be seduced slowly, not forced into behaving.”
“Why can’t I do it?” Soulara’s fingers clenched hard into a fist, her chest constricting with pent up anger.
“You’re still young. You have plenty of time left.”
Soulara swallowed the lump in her throat. Not if what Autumn Walton—no, Autumn, just Autumn—told them was true. And Soulara knew Autumn wasn’t lying. She didn’t need to question it, it radiated from Autumn’s eyes as clearly as if she had opened her heart and let Soulara look inside.
“What’s wrong?” Milan’s smooth and calming tones wrapped around Soulara in a warm embrace. Her father had denied her this relationship for too long, and Soulara had longed for it.
Soulara looked up and met her mother’s worried gaze.
“What troubles you?” Milan reached out, brushing her fingers along the top of Soulara’s hand.
Soulara forced down the lump in her throat. She didn’t know Autumn, not really. And she didn’t owe Autumn anything, especially when the lives of her tribe and all those that lived under the sea were at risk. But Soulara hesitated, forming and discarding words on her tongue before she spoke them. “I’ve met a strange creature. She lives on the land, and she says she and her soldiers are responsible for taking the water.”
“Ah.” Her mother nodded.
“Ah?” Soulara blinked wildly in surprise. This wasn’t the reaction she expected, even with her mother’s normal serenity. She expected some kind of panic or annoyance or mind-blowing realization. But this? This wasn’t normal. “That’s it?”
“That’s why I am up here.” Milan’s lips curled upward into a smile, her tail flicking water across Soulara’s thighs. “I’ve been looking into these humans.” Her mother spat the last word as though it were a foul taste in her mouth. “And you’re correct. They are the reason our water’s disappearing.”
“So she’s the enemy.” Finally an answer. If Autumn was the enemy, then Soulara would know what to do next.
“Who’s the human who has you so tangled up?” Milan’s eyes glittered, as if she knew a secret Soulara wasn’t privy to.
“I’m not tangled up.” Soulara closed her eyes and bit back the groan. “I mean, I’m shocked that these humans could do this without caring about the lives they endanger.” That’s it. Focus on the anger and then she wouldn’t have to think about the soft looks Autumn had given her.
“What’s your human’s name?” Was that a tease in her mother’s voice?
Warmth spread up Soulara’s cheeks, but she hoped if she ignored it, perhaps her mother would too. “Autumn Walton. But she told me to call her Autumn.” Her name still felt foreign on Soulara’s tongue.
“Have you used magic on her?” Milan’s easy tone sharpened, and the prick of the words caught Soulara by surprise.
“Yes. To speak to her and understand her language.” The urge to protect rose up in Soulara’s chest, clawing its way into her throat. She didn’t elaborate any more than that. She wanted to race back to Autumn, make sure she was safe, see her again.
“Okay, but you could use other magic on her.” Milan’s voice took on a turn that slithered beneath Soulara’s skin.
“What do you mean?” She’d been taught from the moment she knew about magic that it couldn’t be used without permission. There were rules to follow, and Soulara, though normally a rule breaker, had vowed to keep all magic sacred.
“We need more information. And I can only get so far into their fortress of concrete and sharp wire before I must retreat.”
Into their what? Soulara was about to ask, but she knew better. Her mother wouldn’t answer the question. She’d have to find out from Autumn. Besides, her mother was always a bit of an exaggerator. “I can ask her.”
“Be careful. These humans aren’t the first who have come here and threatened our people and our world.”
That made Soulara’s thoughts come to a crashing stop. What the hell was her mother going on about now? Dropping information in like this instead of just telling her everything at once?
“It is a sad story, and I’ll tell you about it another time. Right now I think you need to speak to your father, and help your people.”
Soulara’s chest tightened. Her people. That was always the problem, wasn’t it? Milan wasn’t part of the upper sounding tribe. She’d never been fully allowed into the circle, not that she wanted to be embraced by them. She’d purposely put a distance between them until Pregtox had run her out of the city. Soulara bit her tongue. She’d heard both sides of the story—at least parts of it—and she’d never quite known who to fully believe.
“He doesn’t care.” Instead, she clung to the one thing she could say, the one thing that might take the pressing weight of responsibility from her shoulders for just a little longer.
“He doesn’t have to.” Milan sent Soulara a sharp and reprimanding look. “You do.”
Soulara took deep, slow breaths, a strange and thrilling sensation welling up in her as the air rippled inside her body. She didn’t want that job. She’d never wanted to be queen. She’d never wanted to step into the role as leader of her people. She wanted to be the one in the lab, fiddling with her technology, helping her people from behind the lines of any real leadership. Why didn’t everyone understand that already?
“Let’s practice.”
“Practice what?” Soulara’s tone was sharper than she intended it to be, and the second reprimanding look her mother sent shut her right up.
“Telepathy.”
“You want me to read Autumn’s mind?” Soulara gaped.
“Of course.” Her mother looked down at her tail as the fluke split and creamy legs replaced the color that had just been there. “We’ll practice now.”
Soulara didn’t dare argue with her mother when she spoke with such command. She’d only end up right back where she started, in lessons that would seem never-ending. Soulara cringed, but she cleared her mind and prepared herself for a lesson she hadn’t wanted that day.
“Begin.”
Before Soulara had a chance to think, the tendrils of Milan’s magic slid into her mind.
“Wait.”
“You need to be ready to erect your walls at any time.”
“Fine.” Soulara raised one side of her lips, accepting the challenge. She focused and the walls rose in a moment.
Milan smiled, but just as quickly, Soulara sent her own tendrils of thought out in search of her mother’s thoughts.
“Oh.” Mischief glinted in Milan’s eyes. “Two can play at that game.”
Soulara laughed.
The sun had moved across the sky, and Soulara’s body ached. She craved the gentle caress of the water. What had Autumn called it? The embrace. Yes, how she wished for the embrace of home and the warmth of the sea. Two out of three times now she had been able to pierce through her mother’s outer layer of thoughts.
“I need the water’s embrace.” The words spilled before Soulara could stop them.
“I know.” Milan panted, exhaustion showing in her ragged appearance. She plunged into the small pool of water and the dazzling speed of her shift from legs to fluke made even Soulara blink.
“You’ve done incredibly well today. You are much further along than I could have hoped.”
Soulara’s chest warmed at the praise. At least she could make one parent proud, even if only for a short time. Soulara kneeled at the edge of the body of water and her mother rested her arms on the soil beside her child.
“You have more troubling you.” Milan reached up and with the gentleness of a mother’s touch, tucked hair behind Soulara’s ear. “But you needn’t worry. You’re not alone in this, and with proof, we’ll have your kingdom to back us.”
Soulara nodded, the warmth instantly replaced with a knot of dread. The idea of spying on Autumn made Soulara sick to her stomach. And who knew the strength these humans possessed, perhaps magic itself. It would explain how drawn she’d been to Autumn.
But no, that hadn’t been magic. Autumn presented a freedom Soulara had never known. That had been all it was. All it could be. Anything else couldn’t happen. She’d discovered humans were responsible for stealing the water. There was no choice. She wouldn’t choose the enemy over her own people.
Beyond that, her mind picked once again at an old wound she’d never truly allowed to heal. While her mother’s support meant everything, Milan wouldn’t be the one who spoke to Autumn. She wouldn’t be the one to invade and steal the thoughts from her mind. And even more importantly, she wouldn’t come back to the kingdom and present the proof to Soulara’s father.
Three times in her life Soulara had begged her mother to return. She wouldn’t ask again.
“I have a gift for you.” Milan’s words were bright and filled with the pride Soulara ached to hear from her father as well.
“A gift?” Soulara smiled. Her mother didn’t give gifts, at least not often.
“Yes.” Her mother’s grin beamed brighter than the sun, and Soulara didn’t wonder how her father could have fallen under the spell of her beauty.
Soulara felt like a child, excitement at one of these rare moments. The first time she had ever received a gift from her mother, she had been fourteen seasons old and had been given magic for the very first time.
“What is it?” Soulara asked, sounding like she was a child again.
“Hold out your hands.”
Soulara did, and without being asked, she also closed her eyes.
The weight that landed in her palms was a cool balm against her drying skin. A calming lull, like the water’s embrace but not.
“What?” Soulara’s word came out as a soft whisper.
Her eyes landed on the stone in her palm, belief not quite catching up. She looked to her mother. There was a brightness in her mother’s eyes, but it wasn’t all joy.
“This stone is connected to a dear friend.”
“A friend?” Soulara stared at the smooth object.
“Their name is Nylah. They are a ray and will talk to you through the stone.”
“Why?” Soulara’s joy at the gift soured on her tongue.
“They can stay up here and let you know if the human returns during the moon’s presence. Or any other time your father requires you in the city.”
“Oh.” The sour taste turned to bile at the back of her throat. “Thank you.”
She should have told her mother about the meeting she had already planned with Autumn. Guilt warred and crashed inside of her like the tide coming in to slam against the shore.
Soulara didn’t turn back to wave goodbye to her mother. She dove into the water and let the magic wrap around her, stitching her legs into a tail. If only she were able to stitch her confusion together as easily.