Diomere's Exile

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

Nadia stepped into the gate cave, dressed once again in her usual male attire, her hair braided tightly down her back. She handed Reis’ pack to Jon, who turned and headed toward the underground lake. Her nephew stood facing the gate, his hands slightly lifted into the air. Nadia tilted her head. He seemed taller, less frail.

“You feel it,” she said, and stepped up beside him.

He glanced over at her. “So this is what a’mi feels like? I’ve always felt hungry, but food never satisfied. I’ve always been sickly, weak. And since the fishing incident, I’ve felt as though I were growing slowly weaker. That feeling is gone. I’m invigorated. For the first time, I feel strong.”

“Yes, but this gate isn’t fully open. The feeling may not last.” She felt a pang in her chest, and halted her thoughts before they could turn to Gregor. “Your father is linked to the one in Diomere as you will be when you become king.”

Reis turned fully toward her, his brows raised. “My father is the Gate Keeper?”

Nadia shook her head. “Only a temporary Guardian until the Gate Keepers return. He takes those that choose a’mi to Mondami.”

“And you? Are you A’mi, as well?”

Nadia smiled, and turned toward the golden doors that lead to the lake. “Come.”

As they walked, Reis ran his hands over the images of A’mi creatures on the tunnel walls. “These creatures really exist?”

“So I’ve been told. I’ve never actually been to Mondami, nor have I seen them for myself. However, since we exist, I have no doubt that so, too, do they.”

Reis nodded. Nadia waved him along and soon the sound of the waterfall crashing into the lake echoed around them. She touched her family’s crest as she turned the corner. Reis gasped behind her. Jon and Geeta smiled at their prince’s reaction, both happy to have the Diomerean heir in their safekeeping, at last.

She smiled at Reis over her shoulder. “Amazing isn’t it?” She pointed at the two Mer, waiting with smiles on their faces. “Prince Areisteo, this is our cousin and healer, Geeta, and her heartbonded, Jon. They’ve been helping me search for you the last twelve years.”

Geeta and Jon both placed their hands over their hearts and knelt to one knee.

Reis placed his own hand over his heart and nodded at each. “I am honored to have such loyal subjects. Thank you both for your sacrifices.”

Geeta smiled up at the prince. “The honor is ours, your highness. We’re so happy to finally have you safely with us.”

“De celebration in Diomere will be loud enough to cross de Saimond Sea in all directions when you once again set foot on Diomere’s shores,” Jon said, a big smile on his face.

Both rose to their feet. Geeta glanced at Nadia. “We’ve prepared one of the chambers of the gate palace to make his highness’ stay here comfortable. We’ll go fetch the evening meal as well as something to darken your hair back to its original color.”

Nadia smiled her thanks, then turned her attention back to her wide-eyed nephew.

“I can’t believe an entire hidden palace has been here and neither Stefan nor Dieuroi Mavros know anything of it.”

Nadia shrugged. “I think Thuno’s last gate keeper probably had something to do with that. Diomere’s royal family has a collection of histories passed down from past gate keepers. I asked your mother to research this gate in my last report. Hopefully, she can tell us more when she arrives for you.” She turned back to the pool. “But first we need to teach you to call your true form at will.”

“I’m not going to join my parents now?”

“No. I knew we needed to get you out of that palace before one of the attempts on your life was successful. You’ll stay hidden in these caves until your parents arrive with your sister for the betrothal ceremony. There is an underwater river which connects this lake to the Saimond Sea. It’s the safest way to get you aboard the royal vessel when it arrives.”

Reis’ stared at the lake. “We can breathe underwater for long periods of time?”

Nadia smiled softly. “I forget that you’ve only spent a few terrifying moments in your true form.” She lifted her finger to his neck. “You’ll have gills on either side of your neck, like a fish. They pull air from the water as it flows out, allowing you to breathe while submerged.”

“And if I change back to my Sa’i form while I’m stuck down there?”

“Unless you’re cut off from your a’mi, changing between forms is a conscious choice. The difficult part is making the change, but once made, you’re stuck until you can focus enough to make the change back.” Nadia sat, cross legged, on the cave floor at the water’s edge. “Sit”—she patted the spot in front of her—“here facing me. I’ll walk you through how it’s done, then you can work on it while I let Geeta turn my hair back to its original color.”

Reis sat facing her, his brow wrinkled. “You weren’t afraid someone would recognize you despite your disguise?”

Nadia dipped her head. “Thankfully, Gregor wasn’t there,” she muttered.

“Lord Cyrene? What’s he have to do with anything?”

Nadia inhaled loudly through her nose, her eyes closed. “I could murder Jasara for keeping you in such ignorance of your heritage.” She looked up at her nephew. “Did you ever have your nursemaid come looking for you, wish that she wouldn’t see you, and have her seemingly look right past you?”

“I was playing seek and find with the seamstress’s children during one of my mo”—Reis blushed—“I mean, during one of Jasara’s fittings. I willed the other children not to see me and they looked right at me under the table without seeing me. I jumped out of my hiding spot, nearly giving them a heart attack.” Her nephew frowned. “I hadn’t thought about that in ages.”

“This is an ability that all Mer possess. We call it glamour. It’s a survival tactic that keeps us from being prey to larger sea predators. And has helped us hide our secrets from non-Mer since our creation. Only those that share our blood or our heartbonded can see through the glamour.”

Her nephew’s intelligent gaze sharpened. “Gregor is your heartbonded?”

Nadia nodded.

“What is a heartbond, exactly?” Reis asked.

“It’s a bond created when one’s a’mi recognizes our soul’s other half. It’s rare and much desired.”

Reis tilted his head to the side. “Does one without a’mi recognize the bond?”

“Even those without a’mi feel it, though they feel it as an irresistible pull toward the one whose power has recognized them. They understand that the person is very important to them, though they don’t realize why.”

“Does Lord Cyrene know?”

Nadia looked away. “We aren’t here to discuss that.” She took each of Reis’ hand in her own, ignoring her nephew’s frown. “Making the change the first time is difficult because you have to figure out your version of focusing your a’mi. And that depends on the element in which your strength lies. Most picture it as a pool of light which they draw from, others see it as a shield of water, light, or stone that surrounds them. And then there are those who see it as a weapon or tool to which they hold an affinity. It is unique to the individual. Once you figure out the form your a’mi takes in your own mind, you will then be able to use it to figure out your specific gifts.”

“Gifts?” he asked,

“While there are certain uses of a’mi which are universal among a people, like the Mer ability to shift forms and use glamour, each individual has a’mi unique to them depending on the element to which they have an affinity. Some, like Geeta and your Tia Arri, are healers, though within different elements. Because of this, Geeta’s a’mi only affects the physical body, while Arri’s ability affects the spirit and the physical body. Others are able to manipulate fire, water, air, earth, the mind, the body, and dreams to name a few.”

“What is the form your a’mi takes? What are your unique abilities?”

Nadia smiled at the eager curiosity lighting up her nephew’s face. “I, along with my sisters, am able to draw from all five elements, though my strongest is water. I see my a’mi as two whirlpools on either side of a scale that shift size according to whether I’m using my a’mi to hurt or help. It helps me keep the dark and light sides of myself balanced. My specific abilities lean toward stealth and espionage, allowing me to spy using the water from the very air to see and hear.”

“So the form my a’mi takes will represent something important to me?” Nadia nodded and the prince continued. “This sounds like it might take a while.”

“Close your eyes.”

Reis inhaled a deep breath and released it slowly as he reluctantly obeyed her command. Nadia smile.

“Inhale. Exhale. And again. Inhale. Exhale.” Reis’ shoulders relaxed.

“You’re standing in a vast black landscape. You look around and notice darker shapes within the blackness. Focus on the shapes one at a time. How many do you see?”

Reis’ eyes moved from side to side under his closed eyelids. “Four.”

Nadia’s brows lifted. Most Mer saw only one to two of the shapes which represented the five major elements with water being the predominant element. She and each of her sisters had seen all five, making them the strongest Mer born on either side of the gates since they were closed. It couldn’t be a coincidence that her nephew, the next ruler of Diomere, would be nearly as strong. Was it a sign that the gates between the two worlds would once again all be open? Were the gods making sure that Saimond had protectors in place to keep the past from potentially repeating itself?

Nadia shook her head, unhappy with the trajectory of her thoughts. “Continue to move your focus from shape to shape. Each one will elicit a different emotion. Do any of them draw you more than the others?”

“The first and fourth call to me equally,” Reis said.

“Pull them toward you until the other two fade back into the surrounding darkness. Do the remaining two still call to you equally?”

“Yes.”

Nadia frowned. “Are you sure? Try focusing on each for several seconds.”

Reis yanked his hands from her grasp and reached forward, his eyes still closed. “One is an easel holding a large blank canvas and the other is a paint brush.” His brows lifted. “Now it’s a charcoal stick.”

Nadia remembered the sketchpad she’d seen in his lap the first time she’d visited him. “Focus on the blank canvas. Take the charcoal stick and draw the first thing that comes to mind.”

Reis lifted his hand and moved it through the air. The water of the lake began to swirl and Nadia new the second shape, which had turned into the charcoal stick, represented the water element. Suddenly, the water rose into the air and began to form the image of a woman held between two cowled men. With each stroke of Reis’ hands, the woman became more distinct, until Nadia recognized her own scarred face. She clenched her jaw, afraid she knew exactly what element the second shape had represented. His mother had passed on more than just the shape of her nose and mouth to her son.

The vision didn’t stop there. The water began to form into the image of a man, wearing a cloak. When Reis got to the man’s head, Nadia leaned toward the image, as first the chin then the lips, began to take shape.

In the middle of the upper lip, Reis’ arm froze. The water collapsed. Nadia jerked forward and caught Reis as he slumped to the side. She stood, Reis cradled in her arms, and ran toward the gate cave. She laid Reis on the pillows Geeta kept there for her own comfort. Just as she’d ascertained that her nephew still breathed, Geeta and Jon ducked in from her sleeping cave. Their smiles melted when they noticed the unconscious prince.

Geeta set aside the tray of food she carried and hurried over. “What happened?”

“He used the lake’s water to form his first vision.”

Geeta jerked her gaze up to Nadia. “He can access two elements at once?”

Nadia nodded and sat back on her heals while Geeta returned her attention to the unconscious prince. As they watched, the prince’s pale cheeks filled with color. His eyelids fluttered, then opened.

Dual colored eyes, one blue and the other green, locked on her. “You’re in danger.”

“Don’t worry about me. The most important thing is that you’re returned safely to your parents.”

He pushed himself up to a sitting position, Geeta gently assisting him. “How was I able to see that?”

“You’ve inherited the visions from your mother, though hers don’t manifest outside of her mind. The four shapes that appeared out of the dark landscape represent the four elements you can draw from. The two that called to you equally represent those which you are strongest. Water and Spirit. As you drew the vision in your mind, the water from the lake lifted into the air and formed the image you painted,” she said, glancing at a stunned Geeta.

Reis frowned. “Does this happen with everyone?”

“No. Most Mer only see one shape. And that element is usually the water element. Some see two shapes. You’ve joined my sisters and me as those rare A’mi to have access to more than two of the elements. However, you’re the only one that I know of to have more than one major element.”

“What does it mean?”

Nadia placed her hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be a very powerful monarch.”

“Yet, I still don’t know how to shift to my Mer form.”

A loud knock sounded from her sleeping cave.

Nadia stood, and waved for Jon to follow her. “Geeta will talk you through it and make sure you’re comfortable until I return.” She stopped and looked at her nephew over her shoulder. “You’ll be safe here. Don’t do anything other than calling your true form. And don’t step foot past this tapestry for any reason. Stay safe for your parents and Diomere, my prince.”

Reis nodded, looking older than his twelve years as he reclined back onto the pillows.

“Your hair,” Geeta called as Nadia made to follow Jon out of the cave.

“You can do it when I return.”

She stepped through the opening and made sure the door was completely covered by the tapestry. She sat on her chaise and picked up one of Vromia Guild’s expense reports from a pile on the table, then nodded at Jon.