Therin apparently had no such curiosity, or at least wasn’t inclined to inquire.“Your trust and hospitality are most appreciated. We are humbled by your generosity.”
Akamaii only nodded in response.“May I inquire if you plan to have a prolonged stay with our tribe? If so, I will have other accommodations readied.”
After a moment’s hesitation, we saw a vision of Wrell, Therin, and I swimming through the open seas. Clearly Wrell’s way to say we needed to be on our way.
Lelas glanced over at him, her eyes narrowed, but she gave no greater response than that. My excited feeling of being on the verge of something great darkened at the image. The assumption was clear. Lelas would be staying here with the Scarus. With her mate. Somehow, amid all my worries of Lelas’s mating, the possibility of her not coming with us hadn’t been one of them. From the look she gave him, it hadn’t been one of her considerations either.
Therin spoke, either oblivious to the implication or maybe because of it.“Our stay will be limited. I confess I find myself desiring to stay among your tribe. I have many questions and was unaware of how many things I did not know. While I do hope you offer insight to our quest, we must continue on. If there is a chance that we can discover what is harming our species, then it is time to put the threat to an end, should Moheetla see fit.”
Akamaii paused before she responded, choosing her words carefully.“I am not surprised you have questions. To my knowledge, in our existence, you are the only mers to enter the inner-Scarus territory. Indeed, despite my previous meeting of Wrell and the motive of your journey, I do not believe I would have been persuaded to allow such a risk.”She hesitated again, openly staring at Nalu and Lelas.“This mating helped convince me to allow you entrance. If I am to claim faith in Moheetla, then I must trust that such a mating is for a greater purpose. I cannot fathom a greater purpose than an end to our oppression.”
I found her words to be rather self-aggrandized. She hadn’t been the one to let us enter Scarus territory—that had been Laban. It only took me a moment to realize that Laban would have been able to communicate with her through the distance without us hearing.
“Should we take that to mean you have some knowledge that may prove useful in supporting our quest?”Therin’s voice couldn’t hide the hint of excitement.
“Make no mistake, Chromis, take not our welcome to be an action of self-sacrifice.”Her expression hardened, although I couldn’t understand what had offended her.“We owe no debt to any tribe of mer, save the Synchi, and even that may be called into question. The knowledge I impart will be to protect the existence of my tribe and offspring. We have lost too many. Only recently young Punahele was taken from us. If it benefits the Chromis, the Volitan, or any other tribe, it is not because of my own desire. Only the Scarus and Synchi had no part in this befallen fate.”Her eyes hardened even more as they turned on me, and for the first time, I saw the same queenly disdain that I had found in Syleen’s every expression.“Even with the mating, it is ultimately the abilities of the creature that exited your loins that has given me cause to risk the secrets of our tribe. Only he may prove useful.”
I flinched as she mentioned my ability. Being referred to as a creature didn’t even faze me at this point. Syleen had called me much worse. When Akamaii’s hard stare finally passed from me back to Therin, I looked over at Nalu. If the queen knew about my fire, it had to have come from him. I’d forgotten he was to report back to the queen. I knew I didn’t like the guy.
I glanced around the gargantuan space. Real or not, I felt every eye on me, each drilling into me with hate and suspicion. If the Scarus had never had any other mers here, having a demon in their midst had to be on the scale of… well, having a demon in their midst. What’s worse than that?
Being morning, the room was brighter than it had been the previous day. Even the swirling surface of the ceiling was fully illuminated. The room seemed filled with three times as many mers as yesterday. The waves of fear and hate cascading over me were nearly crippling. I would have easily placed the number of mers to be nearing a thousand. Such a thought would have thrilled me before, but at the moment, it was intimidating. Despite the theory of my indescribable immortality, it felt like they could descend and rip me to pieces at any second. Even the countless vivid fish that darted through the water appeared sinister. Everything seemed smothered in a cloak of combustible hostility.
Wrell finally broke the tension. He offered a vision of his own creation. The familiar redheaded Chromis boy being dragged onto a boat and then pulled up a sandy beach was replaced by the small boy curled on Laban’s lap. As soon as his thrashing form disappeared into the foliage at the beach’s edge, I saw myself—naked and running at lightning speed, combusting into flames as I entered the trees.
Maybe breaking the tension wasn’t exactly what transpired. The entire Scarus tribe tensed as one entity, their bodies stiffening, eyes flashing, weapons raised. Even the queen seemed years younger as fury allowed her withered form to sit up straight, her left arm stretching out to cover the young merboy on Laban’s lap. Only the child seemed to have been spared the vision, as he reacted more slowly than the others, flinching back at Akamaii’s gesture.
Akamaii’s stare that drilled into Wrell was so filled with fire I could have easily believed she had some demonic ancestry of her own.“When you leave our territory, regardless of your success or failure, Volitan, should you ever come within a day’s journey of my people, I promise your destruction—no matter how many centuries may pass nor how long my bones have been turned to foam.”
Wrell offered no act of aggression or form of apology. He simply kept his unwavering gaze trained on Akamaii.
Without taking her eyes from Wrell, the queen spoke, her voice fierce and free of the aged waver I’d noticed before.“Ewalani, take Hoku away.”
A young mermaid, nearly a mirror image of the Akamaii I’d seen in Wrell’s vision, angled over and swept the merboy off Laban’s lap. The child reached for her in relief, wrapping his arms around her neck, his tail encircling her back. Before she swam away with him, she glared at Wrell with even more hate than was offered to demon spawn. No doubt, this was mamma.
Nothing moved in the room as Ewalani swam toward the nearest exit, little Hoku nearly strangled in her protective embrace. His huge brown eyes stared at us in a mix of confusion and fear. He might not have been sure why everyone was upset, but he knew we were the reason.
Akamaii glanced over her shoulder, following Ewalani’s path. When the mermaid and her son were gone, the queen turned her anger back upon Wrell.“I am not fool enough to be unaware of your motivation, Volitan. I—”She broke off, her gaze scanning the room.“The Scarus have suffered enough loss that I do not require any more incentive to share the history of our tribes, of which you seem to be neglectfully ignorant. Nor do I have need of seeing the youngest generation of my offspring fall prey to a vampire—it is a fear I see in my own mind every day. Although never as clearly as today.”
“Vampire? Did you say you’re worried about vampires?”I didn’t mean to say anything. The last thing the queen needed was for a demon to enter the conversation, but she’d caught me so off guard that I blurted it out without any forethought.
Her eyes flashed toward me, their dark depths blazing. For a moment, I thought she was going to stare at me in silence, then turn back to the others.“Yes, demon. I did indeed say I am worried about vampires.”Her brows furrowed as she steeled herself to continue speaking to such a low life-form.“It is creatures of darkness that I fear. Creatures not unlike yourself.”
It wasn’t even a temptation to refute her claim. Even if I could, what did it matter?“Why vampires?”
She glared at me, disdain replacing the hate in her gaze. Disdain led to quiet disregard. Hatred led to spewing forth of venom. We needed spewage. I hoped Wrell would give her another vision of her grandson, or whoever he was, being trapped. This time throwing in a vampire or two.
Wrell didn’t seem to have the same instinct as I, and no vision came.
“I’ve had some interactions with a vampire. He… killed my best friend.”Where did that come from?
An eyebrow cocked. Not exactly a sign of compassion or camaraderie, but at least it was something. After a time, the queen’s gaze finally left mine, passed over Wrell, then paused on Therin before settling on Lelas.
“I will tell of the Scarus’s history. Of the betrayal of the tribes. I will do this because I see no other course that may lead to the end of this persecution. I do it to save my people. In so doing, my only regret is that it will aid all other mers—tribes that deserve no such salvation.”Akamaii’s eyes passed over the rest of us, even lingering on me for the briefest of moments.“I will not be interrupted. I will not defend my words. They are yours to accept or reject. When the tale has been told, you are to leave our territory and never return.”At this, she held tight to my gaze.“If you are successful, you are the only one from whom I will allow testimony. Although you need not bother. We will know of your success or failure based on the safety of our people.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Therin and Wrell bow their heads in covenant. I followed their lead.
Akamaii continued to sit straight, unassisted and perched on the coral. She lifted her chin, and in so doing, the light struck her face at just such an angle that for the briefest instant I could see her former beauty, her regal demeanor.“Leave us!”
