Page 10 of Midnightsong
From Bàba’s end, his engine rumbled to life. “I assume not. But I’m not sure. The mer have not been coming around as much in the past few months, save for some groups of young ones. They’ve left the fish alone and haven’t acted hostile since Serapha was killed.”
“Something’s brewing.” Angie’s voice dropped to a whisper. Immediately images of the devastating tsunami and maelstrom came to mind. They must be planning something and she shuddered at the possibilities. “We have to find out who did it before things get worse.” Now she remembered. “Kaden’s on his way back to Alaska. Hopefully he can negotiate and avoid a war, rally the merfolk.” Hope, perhaps false, tinged her words. Her legs grew numb from sitting and she stuck her head out her open window to breathe in the fresh, crisp air.
On her end, Mia shook her head, brow furrowed and lips in a straight line.
Bàba spoke again. “It will only be a matter of time before they strike.” His voice lowered. “Because if I were in their place, I would do the same. But hopefully they will not make any moves without a leader. Is Kaden next in line to the throne?”
A melancholy air settled over Angie’s head. “Cyrus would be. But last I heard, he’s still not healthy enough. So yeah, Kaden would be the successor.”
“Hey, we must get going. I hope Kaden can settle them down, but it won’t be easy.” Mia faced Jack when he toddled into her room and she waved to them, leaving the call.
“He’ll handle it.” Angie dropped her gaze to her feet. Bàba appeared satisfied by her answer and said his goodbye.
Angie stepped back into her apartment, plugging her phone into its charger. The conversation with Mia and Bàba had taken a toll on her old phone, the battery having gone from one hundred to fifty percent. She refilled Lulu’s water and kibble and walked back outside, sitting at the stoop at the front entrance of the apartment.
Her own words,‘he’ll handle it’, rang hollow. She didn’t know what Kaden was planning, but she had to say something to comfort herself and her family for now. And she knew he didn’t want the throne, but surely, he would do the right thing and be the strong leader she knew he could be.
Deep in the far corners of her heart, she worried, and though she loved him, she recalled how things were at the docks two years ago. When the workers were in a frenzy, determined to kill the mer and pounce at a moment’s notice.
When the mer were irate against the humans, brutally spearing and strangling and drowning her colleagues and friends.
The scars on her side and abdomen from when Serapha and her sentinel speared her during their stand down reminded her every day. One stretched from the bottom of her ribcage down to her hip and curved around in the shape of a hook ending at her spine. The other, smaller scar was over her abdomen, jutting out in a jagged line from either side of her bellybutton.
A brief bloom of localized achiness sprouted from the area of her scar, as if it heard her thoughts and sought to make its presence known.
As memories of the horror back then threatened to fill her mind, Angie squeezed her eyes shut, tried to push away the memories, and clenched her fists together. It was only a matter of time until the mer fought back.
They could only hope to buy some time and prepare themselves—if it wasn’t too late already.
Four
Kaden
Kaden gave his tail a stretchonce he reached the palace’s front entrance. He’d used his magic to create massive undersea funnels to propel himself to Haibei as quickly as he could. With the constant use of his magic, fatigue was inevitable when he arrived.
Now he was tired and everything hurt: his tail, his abdominal muscles, his arms and shoulders; his muscles fought him when he tried to move them too quickly. Thank the Goddess the strange ache in his chest from when he last gave Angie breath hadn’t returned.
Adrielle awaited him at the palace gates, Libbi and Hadrien close to her side and clutching her hands and waving happily at him. She gave him a somber nod when he approached. Passing waves lifted the wispy bangs from her forehead, revealing her downcast eyes.
Two sentinels floated upright at either side of her, their gazes sliding to Kaden. Not a greeting, or nod of acknowledgement he was there.
Below him, swaying seagrass swept the ventral part of his tail, a slight tickle, and the ends of his tailfins grazed the soft, grainy sand beneath.
Adrielle kept her gaze pointed to the seabed and the sentinels hadn’t taken their eyes off him. Kaden stiffened.
A chill spread like ice cracking beneath his skin at their cold reception.
Grievance over the queen’s passing, perhaps? Why were they so impassive toward him when they normally greeted him with warmth in their eyes and tone of voice?
“Is something wrong? Other than the obvious.” Kaden’s gaze slid from Adrielle to the sentinel, and back to Adrielle.
She motioned her head for him to follow, the bottom of her single braid swirling around her neck. “I’m going to see Cyrus. Want to come?”
“Of course.” Kaden followed her tailfins.
At the palace’s outer exit, Adrielle briefly stopped to give an order to a violet-tailed mermaid. Nodding, the mermaid took Libbi and Hadrien with her. The two children’s eyes pleaded with Adrielle, but she shooed them, and they dutifully followed.
“Who is that?” Kaden watched after the retreating mermaid.
