Page 116 of Midnightsong
Saeryn approached next, with Aiereka behind him. “Congratulations, nephew. You’ve succeeded in taking the throne from me, and I wish you nothing but good fortune, moving forward.” His words were eerily measured and sent another swarm of invisible critters skittering down Kaden’s arms. “I hope you are ready for what is coming.” He pointed at him. “The people will want me back on the throne. I look forward to watching the landwalker filth who killed my sister and pollute our home die the death they deserve.”
Kaden’s blood ran cold. “Enough. You’ve made your point, and I will hear no more of it. Next!” He craned his neck over Saeryn’s shoulder, ushering Aiereka to approach next.
The councilors followed. The palace staff were last, and Kaden’s tail, neck and shoulders had grown sore from clinging to the throne with more tension than he felt he should have.
All the mer, save for the Shangjiangs Narea and Marron, took their leave from the hall. They beckoned Kaden to follow for the last and final portion of the crowning ceremony: giving his edict that would be taken to the top of the palace and read out for the queendom to hear.
“My edict.” Kaden took the clay slate with a jagged piece of rock to carve on that Narea handed him. He pressed the tip of the pen into the clay, writing the words in Renyuhua. “I will stop this war for our sake, and for our sister queendom south of us. I vow to bring Queen Serapha’s killers to justice so we can have peace once more.”
“An honorable edict, Your Majesty.” Marron took the clay slate from him, and Kaden followed them to the top of the palace. Once he exited the palace proper, the mer surrounding its perimeters made his stomach flip.
Or rather, the lack of mer. The crowds were thinner than they had ever been, from what he had expected. Where had they gone? Had Saeryn displaced so many mer they were unable to attend the coronation? Did they still harbor resentment or hatred toward him, and that was why they hadn’t shown today? Or was there another, more sinister reason?
The questions wouldn’t stop piling in his mind.
They reached the top of the palace, swimming in from the outside, in between the statues of their three deities.
Something was wrong, even as the Shangjiangs spoke his words with broad chests and loud voices, rippling through the currents.
After this, they would be off to heat and harden the clay at the nearby thermal vents, and he could take a short rest before starting to undo the damage Saeryn had done.
No such luck.
“Your Majesty! Shangjiangs!” A harried voice came from behind them, and Kaden whipped his head around. A lone sentinel approached, her eyes frenzied.
“What’s wrong?” Kaden asked.
The sentinel sucked in a large swallow of seawater before continuing. “King Varin from Haiping has arrived to meet with you. Emergency meeting.”
Kaden didn’t know he was coming. So much for taking a short rest. But if Varin had come all the way here without prior word, something was amiss.
“Then let’s go.” Marron led them back to the palace. He swam over a longxia that had found their way inside, skittering along the floors, and picked them up.
The longxia waved their claws and antenna, and Marron released them into the open sea as soon as they had an opening.
Narea swam ahead of them to open the door to their war room, on the opposite side of the palace.
Inside the sparsely furnished room, three combat advisors awaited, positioned on their pillars in a rectangle shape. Across from Kaden was Varin, flanked by his high advisor and two sentinels.
Kaden gave each of them a nod of acknowledgement, and they returned it.
Several crudely drawn maps on hardened clay rested in their hands, of the Pacific Ocean’s queendoms: Haiping, Haibei, and Nanhai.
“King Varin brings further news from Haiping,” a combat advisor said.
“I’m all ears.” Kaden swam to the pillar beside the advisor.
“Your seat is at the head.” She pointed to the single stone chair at one end of the table.
Flustered, he moved to his designated pillar and swept his tail sideways to position and settled himself around it. There, he was in charge, but he felt so far from his advisors and his Shàngjiàngs.
“Forgive me for the sudden visit. I was on my way to your coronation, but it appears I missed it.” Varin’s viridian eyes looked haunted, shaded by dark shadows. “Nanhai is lending their aid to us, and Cassia, thank the Goddess, is holding down the fort. Our queendom is on lockdown. We are constantly receiving reports of landwalker ships in our area, but they don’t appear to have located us yet.” He rolled his lips between his teeth. “The death toll for the landwalkers and ours is up to nearly a hundred combined, but some landwalkers have offered their help and have assisted us in returning our abducted mer. The news had gotten out about our magic, and they were able to speak to our sentinels at the front lines. We believe it’s only a matter of time before they locate the queendom.”
Kaden’s heart skipped a beat. Perhaps this was what Saeryn meant by his sardonic good luck wishes. This worked out in Saeryn’s favor, now that humans were fighting back after Saeryn attacked the surface. The realization hit him like he’d smashed into a rock wall. A cunning manipulator until the bitter end.
About to say something else, Varin closed his lips as a panicked voice came through his pack.
“Varin? Varin!”
