Abide: An Awakened Fate Novella (8 page)

And meanwhile, I was all alone out here.

I swallowed hard, struggling to push the worries aside. I’d be careful. It’d be alright.

A shape moved into my awareness, racing after me from the direction of Nyciena.

My breath caught. It was fast. Dehaian fast. I couldn’t feel more than one shape in the water at the moment, but that could change.

I took off, scrambling for the veil stone in my bag as I went. The shape faded back to the edge of what I could feel in the water as my hand wrapped around the stone in the bottom of the bag. I dove to the seafloor and spun a tight circle, the stone in my hand tingling with magic.

A curtain of bubbles rose from the sand and pulled together in a small dome only a few inches from the top of my head. I tucked the stone back into my bag and then gripped my tail, holding it against me while I watched the ocean above.

Seconds ticked past.

A dehaian swam out of the murk, looking back and forth like he was searching for someone.

My brow rose. I kicked up from the seafloor, leaving the veil. “Egan?”

He pulled up short, appearing winded. “There you are.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” I checked around, but I couldn’t feel anyone else in the water.

“I saw you in the city with all those guards chasing you.”

I waited. “And?”

“And nothing. You looked like you were in trouble. I thought I could help. What’s going on, princess? Why did you take off like that?”

I stared at him. He must have heard. Tiago was no more well-informed than anyone, as far as I was aware, which meant Egan had to know about Granddad and the arrest warrant.

“Don’t you know?”

He picked up on the edge in my voice, I could tell. “Something to do with your grandfather?” he guessed carefully.

“Yeah. So why are you here?”

“I told you. I thought I could help.”

I blinked at him. “You’re crazy.”

He didn’t respond.

“It’s
treason
,” I pointed out.

“Then what are you doing here?”

I hesitated. “Ren won’t hurt me. He’ll be mad, but that’s it. Anybody else, though. They can’t afford to–”

“Is that what your new lover told you? I notice he’s not here.”

I tried not to bristle at his tone. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Egan’s brow rose coldly. “It has to do with the fact you’re by yourself, out in the middle of the ocean, where Vetorians and who knows what else could find you. You have no guards and no help. You don’t even have a weapon.” Irritation flashed across his face and he struggled to bury it. “I saw the city, princess. I know they wouldn’t have let you leave. But you didn’t have to go on your own. You could have asked me.”

A shiver ran through me at the way he said the last, and against all reason, that damn flutter in my stomach returned. Hating the feeling, I shoved it back down.

“
Treason
,” I repeated.

He just looked at me. The fluttering grew stronger at the expression in his eyes.

I turned away, jabbing mental knives into the quivering sensation. “I can take care of myself. You don’t–”

His hand caught my arm. I looked back, startled.

He let go, still watching me. “I didn’t say you couldn’t.”

I stared at him.

“So you think your grandfather is innocent,” Egan said, a question tingeing the careful statement.

“This will
cost
you, Egan!” I insisted rather than answer. “If Ren finds out–”

“I don’t care.” Irritation returning to his face, he looked away. “Princess, I’ve made a fool of myself over you for
weeks
. I’m the laughingstock of the palace. And quite frankly, given that I raced out here and yes, risked my father’s position when there’s not even the tiniest chance in
hell
that you feel the same way about me as I do about you… I probably deserve to be.” He exhaled. “But it doesn’t matter. Do what you want, order me back to Nyciena,
I
don’t
care
. I’m staying.”

“But–”

“No one saw me leave and no one knows I’m here, alright? I was careful, and everybody was a tad busy with the panic caused by those asshole guards
shooting
at you.” His jaw muscles jumped as he gritted his teeth. “The way I see it, though, if I’m wrong and word
did
get out that I went to help you, your brother will view it equally as treasonous for me to leave you here as anything else. So I’m screwed either way. Least I can do is make sure you don’t get kidnapped or killed.”

I struggled to find a response.

“Come on,” he said. “The guards will be searching for you.”

He started off, leaving me to follow.

I watched him, not moving for a moment, and somewhere inside I almost couldn’t decide if I would have rather been out here on my own than have him around. Yes, it’d be good to have someone else to watch for Vetorians and yes, I’d thought about asking him, but it’d been just a
passing
thought. Not like I’d actually have gone through with it. It’d been a relief, in fact, to know there was no way he could help.

It meant I didn’t have to deal with how the damned idiot would probably insist on talking about
us
in the middle of this hell.

“Princess?” he called.

I scowled. There was no us. There never would be. And the sooner we found my grandfather, the sooner I could get on proving that to Egan.

The thought felt uncomfortable for some reason. Shoving it away along with the rest of the problems Egan caused inside me, I swam after him.

~~~~~

“So did your grandfather mention anywhere he might be?” Egan asked.

I didn’t respond. We’d been swimming for a few minutes, keeping up a good pace toward the northeast, and so far the guards hadn’t appeared behind us. I worried it couldn’t last, however. Egan had been right on one thing; they’d be coming, regardless.

“Princess?”

I grimaced. “No.”

He waited.

“Granddad was looking for information about Zeke, and Niall said he thought Zeke headed inland by the Washington coast,” I sighed. “I’m hoping that’s where my grandfather went too.”

Egan nodded. I watched him from the corner of my eye, anticipating the next question. The one where he’d want to know why I hadn’t asked Niall for help, or what I thought Zeke was doing, taking off with a possible spy.

“There are some villages east of here,” he offered. “He might have gone there to find out if they’d seen your brother.”

I hesitated, but he didn’t say anything more. “Okay.”

We kept going.

I continued studying him. He’d maintained his distance, staying a good dozen feet away from me while we swam along, and short of that one question, he hadn’t said a word. It was annoying. I’d expected him to want to talk, and his silence just kept me waiting for the moment he’d finally start pressing his idea that we needed to.

It was probably irrational, but I’d never met someone who frustrated me as much as Egan.

Miles passed, and villages did as well. Small and nestled into the rare hills on the flat terrain, the towns housed fewer people than filled a single wing of the palace. They eyed us warily and offered up little information in return for our questions about my grandfather. He hadn’t been there. No one had seen him.

And we moved on.

I scanned the water while the fifth village for the day fell behind us. We’d gone miles off course from Washington, but that didn’t mean the soldiers might not have followed our trail. Any of the villagers in the towns we’d passed could have pointed them in our direction.

“This isn’t working,” I stated.

Egan glanced to me. He hadn’t said much, beyond a few questions for the villagers.

It still left me on edge. With every passing hour, I hated the fact he was with me more and more.

“What would you like to do?” he asked.

“Head to Washington. See if anyone
there
knows anything.”

My tone was more irritated than I would’ve liked. I couldn’t stop it, though. Meanwhile, Egan didn’t respond, but just altered course and started north again.

Struggling not to scowl, I followed.

Rolling hills started to break up the flat terrain at last. Odd bits of random debris speckled the ground, a shipping crate and a tire and other things I couldn’t identify, all of them fallen from human vessels to be lost down here. A school of fish slid past in the distance overhead and the water showed the slightest hint of lightness compared to the depths where we’d been.

I spotted a marker on the ocean floor, nothing more than an oddly shaped rock that glistened with magic when we came close. But it was pointing to a village somewhere directly ahead of us.

“One more?” Egan asked.

I hesitated and then sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

Minutes passed. More markers did too. A ring of stones appeared from the murk, surrounding a cluster of hills on the seafloor.

We slipped through the veil and the barren hills suddenly sprouted stands of fejeria and streetlights with water-torches on top. A pair of villagers who were obviously meant to be guards were hovering near the magical barrier, while others were stationed at various places around the rest of the veil. In the village itself, people paused what they were doing to look at us in alarm when we passed the border.

Egan slowed and I did the same as the guards pulled in front of us.

My heart sank at the sight of them. For one thing, they must not have recognized me – though that wasn’t terribly surprising. None of the other villagers had either. Dad was the only one who traveled to places like this, normally. But their expressions were cold, and spikes already stood out from their arms. It used to be that villages like this barely bothered with guards. The worst they had to worry about were humans, and this far out in the water, run-ins with deep sea trawlers or explorers were rare.

The mercenaries Ren talked about must have changed things.

“State your business,” the nearest guard demanded, adjusting his meaty grip on a spear that probably predated my grandfather.

Egan glanced to me. “We’re looking for someone. Lord Jirral Ociras. Has he been through here?”

The men paused, and if anything, their expressions became even more cautious. Their gazes flicked to me.

“He stopped in a few hours ago,” the skinnier of the two allowed.

My breath caught. “Is he still here?”

They hesitated again.

“What’s your business with Lord Jirral?”

It was my turn to pause. It was no good lying. If soldiers from Nyciena came looking, giving my description would be as easy for them as asking for me by name.

“He’s my grandfather.”

The skinny guard blinked. The bulkier one seemed to suddenly find himself wondering what he was doing with a spear. Quickly, he tried to tuck it behind his back.

“Princess Inasaria,” the large man sputtered. “O-our apologies. We didn’t mean to offend. Your grandfather was a great help to us when an illness spread through here five years ago. He brought medicines from the west. We only wished to protect him now. Things have been dangerous, what with the mercenaries, and we couldn’t be sure who was asking.”

He seemed to realize he was rambling. Swallowing hard, he regrouped. “Lord Jirral was here, like Giorges said. Just a few hours ago. We’re not certain where he went after he left. He spoke to our village elder, though, if you’d like to see her?”

I hesitated. I wanted to take off right now – the soldiers behind us and my grandfather somewhere ahead both urged me on – but we could shoot right past Granddad if we weren’t careful. This elder might know exactly where he’d gone. “Yes, thank you.”

They motioned nervously for us to follow them down into the hills. Wary looks greeted us as we approached the villagers.

“Clear the way for Princess Inasaria!” the bulky guy called.

I didn’t grimace. I wouldn’t. But inside, I was exploring some of the more inventive swear words I knew.

We might as well leave flares for the soldiers who’d follow from Nyciena.

The men led us down toward a cave on one of the hillsides near the center of the village. Fejeria leaves blocked the entrance and around the opening, a few precious stones – the only ones I’d seen in the village thus far – were inlayed in a small symbol vaguely reminiscent of the sun.

“Elder Josinya?” the bulky man tried when we reached the cave opening. “Princess Inasaria to see you?”

“Enter.”

The man pushed aside the fejeria. We followed him into the cave.

An old woman sat on a pile of cushions. Tapestries woven of various shades of plant leaves hung from the walls around her, while the cave stretched away at her back into other rooms that glowed with torchlight. Her scales were crimson, or had been when she was young, though the color was now faded with age. White hair trapped in a tight braid hung to her waist, and from within her wrinkled face, her sharp eyes were a surprising shade of brown that looked almost crimson as well.

“Princess Inasaria,” she said, pushing away from the ground.

I motioned quickly for her to stay where she was. “Thank you for seeing us.”

“Of course.”

“They said you spoke with my grandfather?”

Elder Josinya paused. “I did.” She glanced to the man behind us. “Would you send for some refreshments for the princess?”

I hesitated, wanting to protest. The soldiers would be coming. We needed to get after Granddad as soon as possible.

But I also couldn’t afford to be rude.

The man left. Elder Josinya gestured for us to join her. We sank down onto the cushions.

“Lord Jirral was here two hours ago,” the old woman acknowledged. “He wished to know if we had information regarding your twin brother.”

“Do you?”

Elder Josinya gave a small shrug. “Perhaps. Several days ago, we found a Vetorian in our waters. Our people captured him, and in questioning him, we discovered that he was the survivor of an aborted attack on a young couple not too far from here. His compatriots were killed by the couple, but from his description, the pair may well be your brother and the young lady accompanying him.”

I looked away, keeping my face as blank as possible. A mercenary attack. Ren was so certain Chloe was a spy for them. Zeke had sworn she wasn’t.