Page 69 of Midnightsong
“Kaden.”
The door slid open. “What brings you by? Is everything okay?” Saeryn sat atop his hammock, curling his tail to keep himself in place. He motioned for Kaden to sit next to him and he did.
“Can I talk to you about something? A few things.” Kaden rested his hands on the proximal part of his tail.
“Sure, anything you need.”
He didn’t want to bring Adrielle into it, and he turned a quarter way around so he could face his uncle when he answered. “I’ve had some concerns that you’ve dismissed almost all of my parents’ staff.”
Saeryn blinked. “I am King, you know. I can have the staff I want. But!” He held up a hand when Kaden’s eyes widened. “I know the queendom is in turmoil, and our relations with landwalkers are in question. I will put a hold on this. Does that make you feel better?”
“Yes.” Kaden sat upright. What Saeryn said made sense. “And why are you not seeking answers from the humans instead of planning to attack them?” Before Saeryn could shoot him down, Kaden spoke his next point. “I know you’ve been mobilizing our sentries and are in talks with the sentinels.”
“Kaden, Kaden, Kaden.” Saeryntsked and put his fist under his chin, and Kaden caught the slightest shake of his uncle’s head. “I know you want peace. It’s no surprise, given your affiliation with them. But the mer do not want answers; they want vengeance. You must understand this. I only seek to give them what they want. And might I remind you, their opinion of you is quite low, as well? Hmm?” Saeryn folded his arms. “Clearly, the humans do not want peace, either, given they started all this.”
Kaden clenched his jaw. Again, his reasoning was not uncalled for. He didn’t have to make that jab at the end though. “You’re not wrong, but why have you not said a word in my defense to their accusations against me?”
He thought Saeryn answered far too easily. “Who am I to question their free will? I’m not here to tell them what or how to think. I cannot perform mind-control. Do you have any further concerns I can address? I only want to ease your mind.”
“You didn’t talk to the council before banning mer from seventy fathomspans, or ordering human divers to be killed on sight. And the citizens are unhappy you hardly meet with them.”
Saeryn’s face fell, and he slumped forward. “I am sorry. I have not learned the protocol here, but I will make more of an effort. I mean, I’ve never been King before.”
Kaden kept quiet, searching for signs of deceit in his words, but Saeryn’s expression was unreadable. “I see.”
“I must say. Your boldness to approach me on this is impressive. As is the way you care for your people, despite their opinions of you.” Saeryn moved away from the hammock and swam in front of Kaden. “We have a council meeting next tidesweek. Please attend.”
“I will.” Kaden followed him to the door.
“I only wish to prove to you that you made the right choice turning the throne to me,” Saeryn replied. “You trust me, right?”
Kaden gave a weak nod, and Saeryn shut the door, leaving him outside.
The next council meeting he vowed to speak up against Saeryn’s defensiveness, and soon, offensiveness against humans.
His uncle had been so accommodating. Kaden would be able to talk sense into him now, or so he convinced himself.
Thirty
Angie
“What is a cure for theailment merfolk get when they’ve giving their magic away too fast?” Angie murmured to herself as she typed into her web browser’s search box.
A slew of results came up, none of them addressing her question. Yet, she was not surprised. Her hopes there might be more information on Kaden’s condition, now that the mer were being researched, died like a flickering candlelight that had been burning much too long.
A message to Dr. Williams with the same question yielded her the answer of“I’m sorry, Angie, but I have no idea. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
She sat back in her chair, kicking her legs out in front of her and stretching her arms overhead. She rubbed at her strained eyes before burying her face in her hands.
Her phone went off with an incoming video call from Mia, and Angie answered, resting her phone against her monitor so she could see her sister clearly.
“Hey, mèimei!” Mia waved. She was at home, her cozy house brightly lit and a fireplace roaring in the corner of the screen. Jack and Rosie bound by, waving too before running off again. “I wanted to check on you. You know, after that conversation we had about you and Kaden a couple weeks ago.”
“Oh, that.” Angie fought her emotions in the days after taking Kaden back to sea. When she could no longer hold in her frustrations, she vented to Mia. Though she and her sister had talked every other day since then, Mia hadn’t brought up Kaden. Until now. “I don’t know. I’m still not happy with him.”
“I don’t blame you.” Mia sat on her living room couch, sipping a cup of hot tea. “I mean, he hid something major from you.” She set the teacup down, rattling as it tapped the floral-decorated saucer.
“I’m more hurt he couldn’t trust me enough to talk to me about it,” Angie grumbled. “That little fact speaks volumes about how he sees me.”
