Chapter 21
T he afternoon we’d arrived back in Atlantis, our webbed toes had barely dug into the sand at the front gates when Draevyn was called to train in Calichi, the northern Atlantian outpost. “That’s the life of a commander,” he’d told me in between chaste goodbye kisses. He’d left me weak in the knees in the hallway before my quarters with a promise that Mayana would be there shortly to guard me. Unfortunately, Mayana couldn’t take care of my…baser needs.
It had already been a week since the remarkable, incredible, toe-curling memory that played in my mind and dreams on repeat. Upon waking from the tantalizing dreams he’d frequented, I had to take care of the ache between my legs a time or two. It was a dream—I vowed—that was worth repeating in real life. Until then, I was stuck waiting for Draevyn to return.
Thank the goddess for the distraction of my training.
I stood in front of the waterfall in the Guardian training center, my webbed feet in the shallow end of the pool. The training center had been cleared out per Dax’s request. The drapes over the windows had been drawn to deter anyone from witnessing our training. There had been several since the time we’d discovered my ability. It was why I stood in the pool playing with the flow of the waterfall, just because I could.
Pause.
Flow.
Pause.
Flow.
The sound of the door swinging open captured my attention. I swiveled to the entrance just as a broad smile emerged on Dax’s face. His large, muscular legs carried him to stand before me with two tridents in his hands. My brow furrowed while my lips lifted. “Two tridents?”
Dax wagged his bushy blond eyebrows. “It’s time you learned the art of the trident.”
My heart skipped in elation as I stepped out of the pool to meet him. “And I suppose that’s my trident?”
One of his tridents vanished into thin air while he rested the other across his hands, presenting it to me. “Actually, this is your mother’s trident.”
I swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. I brought my finger to the long part of the golden trident. My eyes went wide when it grew brighter at my touch.
“That’s called the stem,” Dax informed me. He turned the trident upright, placing a finger on the tallest pointed end. “This is the tip.” He pointed to the bottom. “That is the base.” Dax held my mother’s trident out, encouraging me to take it. I did, carefully—the golden glow flaring to life. “Your trident is yours alone, Asherah. It will call to you and help you wield its power. Others can use it, surely, but it will not sing the same way for everyone.” He stood back a few paces, his face alight with something akin to pride and perhaps joy. “Go ahead. Give it a little twirl.”
I stared at the trident in my palm. When I was little, probably around nine or ten, Mom bought me the longest twirling baton with a bright white rubber tip on one end and a neon pink ball on the other. For an entire summer, we hung out on the pool deck, my mother relaxing on her favorite lounge chaise with a bright smile as she regarded me. “You’re doing amazing, Sher,” she told me. “Keep practicing.” I must have practiced for hours on end, just twirling and twirling until blisters eventually formed and calluses replaced them months later. It was my favorite thing in the world to do to pass the time, besides hanging out with John, of course.
So, when Dax instructed me to twirl, it was like riding a bike for the first time in a very long time. My fingers slowly danced with the stem as it began swirling in a perfect circle. The progression was a little wobbly, but as my muscle memory roared back, I twirled my mother’s trident faster—bright trails of gold chasing the tips and stem like a sparkler on the fourth of July. I couldn’t help the pure laughter that escaped my lips.
“That’s marvelous, Ash. You’re a natural,” Dax beamed.
I paused my twirling regarding him. “My mother. She…” I swallowed past the rising emotion and continued, “She gave me a baton once. She’d always encouraged me to practice.”
Dax’s face softened, the grief lightly flickering in his cobalt-blue eyes. “Neleah was always the smart one of us. Leave it to her to figure out how to train you without officially training you.” He blew out a long breath, gathering himself. “Now, your trident is an extraordinary weapon. Only the Guardians and those belonging to the Queen’s bloodline may acquire them.” He pointed to the tip. “That sharp point can break through just about anything. And I mean anything. Scales. Bone. It’s strong enough to break through stone. So, it’s vital to handle it delicately.” His cupid-bow lips lifted in a smirk. “Unless, of course, we’re training. In which case, I want you to be very indelicate.”
I returned his smirk. “I wouldn’t want to hurt your pretty little face.”
“Hah, you can try, Princess,” he challenged. Dax called his trident, the stem appearing in his hand in the blink of an eye. “That is how you summon your trident.” It vanished yet again. “And that is how you dispel it.”
My brow furrowed as I concentrated on the stem I held in my hand. “Well, how do I do that?”
“The trident is a part of you now, Asherah. Once your mother passed—may Atabey rest her soul—its power transferred to you. Think of your trident as a sentient being. Command it to dispel.”
My gaze locked on the golden trident. With everything I had, I shot the command down my arm. My hand became weightless as it suddenly vanished.
Dax’s broad laugh reached his eyes. “Excellent, Ash. Now, same thing. I want you to summon your trident. Will it into the palm of your hand.”
I gave him a firm nod, my gaze fixed on my palm once again. I envisioned the bright, golden stem and felt the weight of it in my hand before it appeared in a blink. Dax broke out in applause, and I twirled it once with a bow. “Well done, Princess. Well done.”
I placed the base of the trident on the floor beside me. “What’s next, my valiant mentor?”
Dax motioned to the pool. “Follow me.”
The cool water rose on my scaled legs as we entered the pool until we were waist-deep. “For this next lesson,” Dax began, as we faced each other, “we’ll focus on summoning a wave beneath your feet. This particular trick can be very useful in everyday life, whether you want to lift yourself out of the Shingu or to a higher ground. The more powerful the Water Fae, the higher the wave.”
I lifted a cool eyebrow. “And how tall can you make your wave?”
With a challenging look, he began to rise out of the water, the long locks of his blonde hair flowing around him as a wave lifted him nearly three stories in the air, the water churning beneath his feet. Only a foot remained between his head and the ceiling. Dax lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. “I could go higher.”
I breathed off an impressed laugh. “Well, then. I’m glad you’re on my side.”
He wagged his brows as he summoned his trident, lowering his wave to about six feet above my head. “Our ability to wave carry gives us the perfect advantage against our enemies. It guarantees you’ll always have the high ground.” He dropped into a fighting stance; his trident held back for the strike as the gentle roar of his wave echoed above the splash of the waterfall. “It can also give you a full view of any battlefield.” He flicked his head to the water before me. “Try it.”
My gaze held on my webbed feet below the water’s surface, but I shot Dax a questioning look. “What am I supposed to do?”
He huffed a laugh. “Same as you did with the trident, Princess. Remember, the water is sentient. Will it to do your bidding. Go on. Try it.”
I dropped my gaze to my feet again, focusing on the water surrounding them. A tiny current began drifting between my toes and pushed beneath my feet. I lifted only slightly, and my mouth dropped. “I think something’s happening.”
“Well, make it happen more,” Dax called above me.
“Smart ass,” I murmured, and I thought I heard his faint chuckle. I couldn’t tell for sure, though, because my gaze remained on my feet as I rose another foot in the air. I held my arms out to steady my weight, the water now pushing against me. Only my calves remained below water.
“You’ve got this, Ash. Just a little higher.”
I poured all of my focus on the current beneath my feet until a wave pushed me entirely out of the water. I glanced up at Dax, who was only a few feet above my head now, absolute joy pulling at my lips. “I did it!”
Apparently, my excitement broke my concentration because the wave below my feet suddenly dropped in a flash. I crashed into the water below, the water’s surface smacking into my back as I plunged into the pool. When I resurfaced, I couldn’t help but feel mortified.
I wiped my eyes as Dax’s knowing smile met my gaze. He gracefully lowered himself into the water before me. “It will take time. I can tell by the look on your face that you’re being hard on yourself.”
Yes, I was. Would I admit it, though?
Likely not.
“Give yourself some credit, Ash. You did well for your first time. And summoning and dispelling your trident like that? It takes Guardians several days to achieve that task. That was very well done.” He patted my shoulder. “You should be proud.”
I let loose a breath. “Thanks, Dax.”
“I don’t give compliments lightly. It’s well deserved.” He glanced at the time on the wall. “I need to be going.”
“I think I’ll stay here for a bit, if that’s okay?”
“Of course. Practice makes perfect, as they say,” he said with a wink.
For the rest of the afternoon, I practiced everything I’d learned. And with my mother’s trident swinging through the air, I could’ve sworn I felt her with me.