Page 124 of Midnightsong
The soldiers and bodyguards followed suit, but a sentinel held up her hand. “You stay behind.” She wrinkled her nose. “Giving breath to all these landwalkers will kill us.”
Until now, Angie had only thought constantly giving breath would debilitate the mer but not kill them. This new knowledge saddened her, that Kaden could have eventually killed himself to bring her undersea.
Another horrific thought struck. With all the divers in the joint attacks on the Northern and Central Queendoms, how many mer had they debilitated or killed to take their magic?
“Sorry, what did she say?” The bodyguards and soldiers stared at each other, shrugging.
“They want you to stay behind.” Governor Taylor stood.
“Then who’s going to bring the queen and princess down? We can’t throw the tanks into the water,” Governor Vester protested. “What, are we going to let them go, in their own home and hope they don’t escape or try to kill us?”
“Look at them.” Angie pointed to Cassia and Calora. “They look drained. And the sentinels are here to keep guard.”
Governor Vester twitched his upper lip. “I need assurance that they won’t try anything. That the sentinels will prevent her from going rogue or hurting us. I’ve seen the damage she can do, and I’m not eager to see that again.”
“His Majesty ordered us to bring her to him. We’re not going to defy him,” one sentinel said.
The title rang in Angie’s mind. His Majesty, King Kaden had a nice ring to it.
Vester crossed his arms over his chest, and his fingers drummed against his biceps. and shrugged. “Fine. Let them out.”
The soldiers obeyed, and they moved as a collective unit to lower and overturn the tanks, tank water rushing and mingling with seawater, and Cassia and Calora slid out. Two sentinels clutched their wrists to keep them close. Not for the first time, Angie let her mind wander. Did Cassia know of Varin’s death?
Celia was trembling when she moved to a sentinel to receive breath. Their collective gazes reflected anger, sadness, and shock when Celia approached, and the sentinel giving her breath did it quickly and jerked his head and shoulders back as if she burned him. Angie took her hand as they followed the sentinels undersea. They moved until they reached the inky depths, not a sliver of light to be seen. Another group of sentinels rose from the dark to meet them.
Angie’s heart thumped as they neared the queendom and shriveled into a tiny ball when they drew closer. The palace was fractured. Is this what the humans did when they attacked? Only half still stood atop a barren seafloor, and Angie assumed the sea had taken away the rest of the broken palace pieces and the structures around it.
A deep heaviness overtook her, though she was still floating.
They moved into the palace amongst a throng of other sentinels and their sentinels, and into the throne room, where both thrones sat empty. On either side of them were the five members of the mer council.
The sentinel holding Angie took her place in the empty space before the thrones, all forming a neat row with the sentinels, governors, Celia, and the admiral.
There was one mer captive, who she assumed to be Kaden’s uncle, by the color of his tail. He didn’t look at them, didn’t acknowledge their entry.
“I will inform His Majesty that everyone has arrived.” One sentinel bowed her head, and left. Angie looked around her, still holding Celia’s hand. The sentinel who retrieved Kaden returned from the back entrance. Her heart skipped a beat when she laid eyes on her lover. He swept his gaze over the room, jaw dropping an inch when he spotted Cassia and Calora.
When he locked eyes with Angie, he gave her a tight smile and a brief nod. Angie’s heart swelled at how kingly, how composed he was.
But it was his appearance that took Angie aback. He looked so tired. His skin had lost its lustrous sheen, his hair seemed flat and lifeless even as currents combed through them and lifted locks from his head. He’d lost some of his usual muscle tone and dark circles marred his under eyes.
Two mer Generals took their places beside Kaden, and he moved to his throne, remaining at eye level with them.
“We’re all here,” he started. His gaze lingered on Angie again, and he tore it away. “Let’s begin.”
Fifty-Three
Kaden
Kaden scanned the room, his stomachtightening, struggling to keep hold on the throne with the shaking muscles in his tail. This was it. Celia, Saeryn, Calora, and Cassia.
As he laid eyes on his aunt, now a prisoner of war with her daughter, being held captive by his sentinels and surrounded by three human leaders, his stomach sank to the seafloor. The usually vibrant Mer-Queen appeared impassive. Still, anger flared in her jeweled eyes, a flush draping from her neck down to her shoulders. Calora’s gaze was wild and frightened, but she didn’t say a word.
And Angie. His love, her gaze unwavering and reassuring.
Then there was the younger woman beside Angie. A deep despair overtook him, knowing he would have to order her execution, entwined with burning anger that she was the one who ended his mother’s life. To his surprise, she snuck glances at Saeryn, her jaw clenched, but the disgraced king refused to meet her eyes.
“We will begin with determining the accused’s fates, one by one. First, our captives, the human woman, and Saeryn.” Kaden darted a gaze to the mer council, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Lastly we will have the human leader, Governor Kevin Vester, determine the punishment for Queen Cassia.” His voice grew thick, but he pushed through. “Then, we will determine how to move forward with stopping the hostility between us.”
