Son of a Mermaid (21 page)

Her mouth fell open. “Are you accusing me?”

“Should I be?”

The High Chancellor had started swimming back in the direction of his chambers. “I need to find my formal robes, and the wedding tablets to make it all official. I shall meet you in the large courtyard, where the parade took place at sunset.”

Demyan nodded to the larger guard, the one Shea now knew was named Clive. “Stay with the old merman. Make sure he comes to the courtyard as fast as possible. You heard him, this wedding must take place tonight.”

The Adluo guard bowed low from the waist. “Whatever you command of me, Sire,” he said before turning to follow the High Chancellor.

Shea followed Kae through the winding corridors of the castle, back to the entrance of the courtyard gardens. They’d left Lybio and Kira waiting with King Koios as he regained his strength, but Shea didn’t want to take the chance that the marriage of his mother to the Prince would be over before the King could make an appearance. Not when he could stop it.

They emerged through a doorway and saw a large crowd already gathering in the courtyard. Elevated above the crowd, he saw his mother hovering next to Demyan under an arch of billowing white silk, held on either end by a dark-haired mermaid. As they watched, the merman Demyan had called High Chancellor swam up to join them, resplendent in flowing white robes.

“That’s the High Chancellor of Atlantis,” Kae told Shea as they wiggled their way through the crowded courtyard. “He’s head of the Supreme Council, and also head of the University. He doesn’t usually leave Atlantis, but your grandfather invited him to witness the peace accords.”

As they drew closer they heard the High Chancellor as he began to pontificate on and on about the virtues of leading the Atlantic away from the ways of war, and binding the oceans’ clans in peace. Kae stopped swimming and grabbed Shea’s arm. “What exactly are
we
supposed to do to stop this ceremony?”

“I don’t know yet,” he said quietly. “We need to stall things until the King can get here.”

The Chancellor’s long white beard flowed with the current as his high bushy eyebrows bounced up and down to emphasize his words. “This marriage will form the perfect center to a new and lasting peace,” he proclaimed, his voice thin and reedy. “I can see no reason to wait until the Winter Solstice to perform the ceremony to join your two clans.” A feeble cheer went up from the crowd. The deaths of King Theo and Prince Azul, as well as the uncertain fate of the Atlantic king, had dampened the crowd’s enthusiasm for a wedding, if not for the idea of peace.

“But my father planned…” Princess Brynn said, but her words were cut off as Demyan put an arm around her waist and yanked her tightly against his body..

“My bride-to-be seems to forget her father lies unconscious,” Demyan said smoothly. With his free hand he reached up and pushed a stray hair behind her ear. “And let’s not forget, it was the King himself who arranged this marriage between our clans in the first place.”

“At the point of your sword,” hissed Brynn. “Where my son is now.” The crowd gasped collectively, and a low murmur started along the edges of the crowd.

Kae whispered, “There have been rumors about your existence, Shea. It seems that many have heard the tales.”

Demyan raised his voice above the rumbling of the onlookers. “I think my poor darling Princess is confused and distraught from the attempt on her father’s life,” Demyan said, looking back to smile at the High Chancellor.

“All the more reason to reassure the crowds, as you pointed out before,” the High Chancellor agreed with a nod.

“My soldiers will keep the peace,” Demyan said. He glanced over his shoulder at the Adluos in the crowded courtyard. “They’ll do whatever I tell them. They know the consequences for disobedience.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t control the ones who held my son…?” Brynn’s eyes narrowed as she stared defiantly into his face.

From deep within one of the many folds of his robes, the High Chancellor withdrew a thin marble tablet and chuckled, waggling his bushy eyebrows as he looked at Brynn. “I must have had a premonition to have brought the marriage tablet along on my journey. We need the proper words to mark this auspicious occasion.”

“Yes, yes, that’s all well and good,” Demyan said, suddenly in a rush. Shea wondered if the Prince had spotted him in the crowd. “Let’s get this over with.”

A commotion on the far side of the courtyard interrupted the proceedings. The High Chancellor lowered the tablet and looked toward the sound. The noises grew, and cheers erupted.

As he emerged from the shadows, the gathered crowd caught sight of King Koios entering the courtyard at the opposite end of the cobblestone area. A cry went up, starting with the merfolk closest to the entryway and spreading through the assembly like wildfire. Everyone turned to stare. The garden’s glowing lanterns illuminated the King’s face from below, making him look stern and regal and larger than life.

“Father! Praise Neptune!” Brynn cried out in happy relief, trying to rush forward to him. Demyan kept her pinned by his side, tightening his grip so that her next words were barely audible. “He lives!”

“Perhaps not for long,” Demyan hissed back at her. “Hold your tongue and do as you’re told, Princess, or your son and his grandfather will suffer the same consequences as the Adluo royal family.”

Brynn gasped, her head snapping to stare at the Prince. “You really killed them, didn’t you? My Aunt Jessamine and the King? And what of my cousin, Theo?”

“I told you before,” he snarled, his mouth twisting into half a smile. “If I want someone dead, they die. Even if I have to do it myself as they plead for their useless lives.” He glared at the trembling mermaids who still held the silk awning, but who had started to inch backward away from their places on either side of the couple. “You two! Don’t you move away. This ceremony will take place tonight!” He turned to the Chancellor. “Get on with it. Say the words!”

Shea saw his mother wince with pain as Demyan gripped her to him, and decided he could wait no longer. He swam forward, over the heads of the watching crowd. “Let go of my mother!” he shouted angrily. “You’re hurting her!”

“You!” Demyan’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “You insolent jellyfish! What are you doing here?”

“Putting an end to your cruelty.” Shea’s jaw jutting forward defiantly. “You can’t bully your way through life and get away with it forever.”

“Murderer!” Brynn cried, finally twisting free of his grasp. She swam toward her father. “Demyan has confessed to killing the Adluo royal family! And if he is behind Theo’s death, he is guilty of poisoning you as well!”

Demyan was still consumed by the appearance of Shea. He sneered at the boy, raising one eyebrow. “You may have escaped my soldiers, boy, but you won’t escape from me. Who do you think you are, you squid-brained little eel?”

“He’s my grandson,” bellowed King Koios as he swam forward, moving so quickly he was a blur through the water. Shea’s mouth dropped open as he marveled at the King’s lightning speed. He certainly didn’t look like someone who’d been in a coma earlier that night. The King came to an abrupt halt directly in front of the Adluo Prince, putting one hand on Shea’s shoulder. Only then could the boy feel the trembling running through the King’s still weakened body.

“Grandson?” Demyan sneered again. His hand gripped the jeweled hilt on his belt, but he didn’t pull the sword from its holder. “You presume to claim the Princess’s drylander whelp? To what purpose? He’s a human-born bastard. A
mongrel
at best.”

“He bears the Mark of Poseidon,” the King proclaimed, ripping the torn vest from Shea’s back, revealing the trident birthmark for all to see. The crowd gasped in unison and slowly began to cheer. Demyan’s eyes narrowed to slits once more as he stared at the Mark.

“Mother and son who both bear the Mark?” exclaimed the High Chancellor, waving his hands in circles. “But what can this mean? It’s unprecedented!”

“It means that my grandson is the heir to my throne,” the King declared. “He will rule the Atlantic someday when I am gone.” The King’s booming voice carried throughout the courtyard, silencing the crowds. “And it means that my daughter, Princess Brynneliana – half Adluo by birth – shall take her rightful place on the throne in the Southern Ocean.”

The soldiers grumbled loudly, and one shouted out above the din, “What of Prince Demyan?” All Adluo eyes were on the Atlantic King, as if awaiting the announcement of their own fates.

“
Prince
Demyan shall be tried for his crimes,” the King announced. “Tried for the murder of your King, his wife and his son, my nephew, who was the rightful heir to the Adluo throne. And tried for the murder of Prince Azul, heir to the Pacific throne.” A loud murmuring ran through the crowd. The King continued, raising his arms high, toward the surface. “If you will be steadfast, and support your new Queen, we can work together to make the Southern Ocean strong once again. Not with bloodshed, but through peace will we restore prosperity to your waters.”

The crowd erupted in wild cheers all around the platform. Behind the King, Demyan shouted, “Never!”

Shea turned toward the shout as Demyan pulled his weapon from its sheath and thrust it toward the King’s back. “Watch out!” he yelled, swimming forward with fists extended to deflect Demyan’s sword. His knuckles hit into the golden tip and pushed it away from the King, sending Demyan off balance. The mermaids who were holding the silk awning swam away screaming, letting go of the fabric, which billowed wildly in the current. The dark Prince snarled, and drew his weapon back for a second thrust at Shea.

“Enough fighting!” shouted the High Chancellor, moving just as Demyan’s thrust shot forward. The golden sword sliced through the thousand-year-old merman, thick red blood oozing as the stunned crowd watched in horror. Demyan tried to pull his sword free from the dead merman, a look of genuine shock in his dark eyes.

“Seize him!” King Koios shouted as he pointed down at Demyan. “He is no prince, but a pretender who chooses war over peace!” Adluo soldiers were scattered throughout the gathered crowd of merfolk. They hesitated at the King’s command, glancing from the solid presence of the Aequorean King to their own Prince Demyan, spattered with the Chancellor’s blood. Almost as one they let out a battle cry, and charged forward.

Toward the Prince.

“No,” cried Demyan, the fear in his voice obvious. “I am in command! You must obey! This is treason!” The soldiers paid him no heed, chasing him with swords drawn as he fled into the darkness, beyond the glow of the courtyard lanterns.

“Follow him! Catch him!” cried the soldiers as they swam off in pursuit.

Princess Brynn began to cry, wrapping her arms around Shea’s neck before he could react, showering his cheeks with kisses as useless tears filled her eyes. “You are safe, my son! And alive!”

Shea squirmed awkwardly in her embrace. “It’s good to finally meet you, Mom.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Princess Brynn said, laughing. “I’m so relieved to see you unharmed that I’d forgotten!” She moved backward a bit and held out her right hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, too, Mr. MacNamara. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you!”

He started to put his hand out to shake hers, and then broke into laughter. “Who am I kidding?” He threw his arms around his mother’s waist. “I’ve missed you so much,” he said, his voice cracking. “How could you leave me?”

“You were safer with your father,” Brynn said softly. When he didn’t reply, she added, “I’ll never leave you again.”

“Ahem,” the King’s low voice interrupted. “That may not be your promise to make, my dear.” The pair looked up at King Koios. He still hovered in the water slightly higher than the rest of the crowd.

Shea turned back to face his mother. “I guess you’re going to the Southern Ocean to be in charge. The King says I’ll need to begin my studies right away if I’m to someday rule here in the Atlantic.”

“But you can come south with me…” Princess Brynn started.

“There will be time to discuss and plan later,” the King declared. “For now, let us enjoy the rest of the Solstice, and each other’s company.” He smiled down at his daughter and added, “You have a remarkable boy here, Brynneliana. I am honored to call him my grandson, even if he’s part human.”

“Thanks, Father,” she said quietly. Shea smiled.

The King raised his voice once again to address the gathered crowd. “Come now, let us all return to the feast! We have much to rejoice over. The Adluos and Aequoreans begin a new era of peace. Together. Starting today.”

A loud cheer rippled through the throng of mermaids and mermen who filled the courtyard. The King led the way through the crowd, his daughter smiling at his side. Lybio and Kira followed after them, with Kae and Shea bringing up the rear of the small procession.