Diomere's Exile

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“Someding happen to de boy in dat water. De guard die because he didn’t want to touch whatever it is he saw,” Jon told Nadia as she balanced on a crate and hammered a steel spike into the stone wall above her divan.

She glanced at Geeta’s heartbonded. His dark skin absorbed the dim lantern light so that he appeared a towering shadow in the cramped space. She met his hooded gaze and saw the unspoken plea. Turning back to the only section of wall not covered by overstuffed bookshelves, she checked that the stake was secure, then handed the hammer to Pell, who stood holding a tapestry depicting merfolk frolicking in the wake of a ship while the sailors watched from the decks. She pulled the crate to a spot she’d marked earlier and set another spike on it. Smiling her thanks at Pell, she gestured for him to place the hammer and tapestry on the crate.

“If you two don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Jon alone,” Nadia said, ignoring Pell’s sharp glance.

Sarna pushed away from the wall where she’d been leaning and exited through the custom door Jon had built. Made of uneven and mismatched planks arranged into a contrasting pattern of light-and-dark stained squares, the door was a beautiful art piece the local carpentry guild would have been hard pressed to replicate. The small cave held several messily stuffed bookshelves, a wide divan she also used as a bed layered with pillows in bright, cobalt blue, a low table made from the same planks as the door, and a desk and wardrobe which would have looked more at home in a noble’s home with their high-gloss, wood finish and ornately carved drawers. Thick carpets in various shades of blue cushioned her feet as she crossed to the door and waited for Pell to follow Sarna out.

As soon as she’d pushed the door closed behind a clench-jawed Pell, she turned and moved closer to the gentle giant. “What did you see, Jon?”

His eyes, so dark brown as to almost be black, bore into hers as his voice rumbled out of his thick chest. “When Prince Stefan and Dieuroi Mavros pull Prince Reis from de water, de skin on his arms was blue-gray and his fingers were web.”

“Did you see his tail?”

Jon shook his head. “As soon as his head broke de water, he turned back to de familiar pale skin and de webbing disappear.”

She closed her eyes. She had no doubt that if Jon had seen his tail it would have been the sapphire blue of Mer royalty. She’d found him. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She could finally return to her sisters and give up the charade of her exile. Shoving the rising hope to the back of her mind, she inhaled deeply and opened her eyes.

“We need to find out more about Prince Reis’ mother. I want to know who she was, where she came from, and when she and Dieuroi Mavros became involved. Find this information for me. Tell no one, save Geeta, about what you saw.” He nodded and she waved toward the door, giving him permission to leave.

Pell entered, took a look at what was no doubt a stunned expression on her face, and closed the door behind him.

She shoved aside her mound of pillows and sat back on her divan. “We may have found him.”

Pell raised an eyebrow and gave her a condescending look, his skepticism clear in his voice. “You’re sure?”

She scowled. “About as sure as I am the Guardian takes the newly turned A’mi to Mondami, I’d wager.” She studied his clenched jaw. “Don’t you want to go home?”

Emotions chased through his eyes faster than she could identify them before they settled into a smirk. “We’re finally reaping the rewards of all the work we’ve put into building up the Shark’s reputation. I must admit I enjoy our position. I’ll do whatever I must to keep it. You can’t seriously want to return to a people who forced you into exile, can you?”

She pictured the faces of her four sisters. So different in looks, having been born of different mothers due to their father’s unfaithfulness, the five sisters had all been born within three years of each other and had been raised together. She rubbed her chest, trying and failing to rub away the pain of being separated from them.

“I’d give up my own life for a chance to return to Diomere,” she said, imagining the reunion with her sisters.

“I doubt very much that this lead will turn out to be any different than the others we’ve wasted our time chasing down. You think it’s Thuno’s bastard prince?”

She hesitated to say more, and then shook her head. She may not want him in her bed, but he’d always proven loyal in helping search for their prince. She wouldn’t let one bad experience ruin that. “Maybe. I’ll have to find out more about him first to be sure.” She stood and moved to the crate she’d been standing on earlier. “It’ll probably turn out to be nothing. Until then, let’s continue as we have been.”

Pell stood, handed her a tiny glass vial and a rolled parchment, both sealed with wax, then moved to the door as she climbed back up on the crate. “What happens if your sisters like the lives they’ve created away from Diomere?”

Premonition, a chill moving down her spine, formed a tight knot in her stomach. Her sisters missed each other, true, but they also seemed happy with their lives. She knew they’d return when their nephew was found, but would they stay? What would she do if they all wished to return to the lives they’d created outside of Diomere? Would she return here to her place as the Shark? Would she stay in Diomere with Lareina?

Marquess Cyrene’s face appeared in her mind’s eye, reminding her of the troubling dreams and her suspicions about them. Her a’mi buzzed as if to say, stay. She clenched her hand tightly around the hammer’s handle. Could she chance trusting another man only to have her heart broken yet again? Did she have a choice?

The door closed quietly behind her as Pell left her to the mess of thoughts his question had evoked. She looked down at the missives he’d handed her. Her heart lurched as she saw the familiar seal for the queen of Diomere pressed into the wax holding the scroll closed. She slid her finger along the parchment’s edge, breaking the wax seal. She read her sister’s elegant script.

Greetings sister,

I write in hopes this finds you in good health, and I pray your search goes well. I wish I were writing for a simple update, but I’m afraid a knowing necessitates otherwise. Arri leaves in two days time to help you; however, that is not the only reason she comes. With her will be a sketch of a person essential to the future of Saimond. Find this person. His life depends on you both. In this, we must not fail.

With love,

L

Excitement warred with worry inside her. Lareina, Queen of Diomere and youngest of the five Quinones sisters, had experienced visions since her fifth year of life. Nadia shuddered to think what Lareina had seen that was so important she’d mentioned it in the short note. She closed her eyes and held the scroll to her chest. Arriana was coming. She looked wildly around her messy chamber. So much to do.

She set her sister’s scroll down on her writing desk. The clink of glass hitting the desk’s wood surface reminded her of the other missive. She peeled the wax from the glass vial’s opening and retrieved the rolled parchment from inside. Forcing her thoughts away from her soon-to-arrive sister, she focused on decoding the message beneath the senseless arrangement of letters and numbers.

I48O99M69 Q48Y 49L18 W19V77I48R 68V59 G48N48I18L57 M19T29G

ROLAND JOB FOR DIEUROI MEET TOMORROW NIGHT

Her brow furrowed. The Dieuroi sought the services of her rival? Prime Guild, filled only with native Thunoans, and their leader, Roland, had defected from Vromia Guild after the Shark overthrew the old leader. Certain that Pell was the Shark, Roland had quickly established his own guild and taken in any who resented taking orders from a foreigner or who’d been thrown out for breaking her guild’s few rules. He’d have stayed and attempted to gain control if he’d known the Shark was a woman. As it was, Roland grew bolder in his moves against her. He was known for taking any job, especially if the Shark had turned it down.

That the Dieuroi had bypassed her altogether told her the job he wanted done would be against an innocent. She scowled at the piece of paper and threw it on the small brazier standing beside her chaise. This was why the Shark was needed. To keep Volos’ citizens, rich and poor, safe from senseless violence. Pell’s words pushed into her mind. They’d, indeed, built a life here, but was it what she wanted for her future?

Returning to her cave’s remaining bare wall, she lifted the spike to the spot she’d marked earlier and swung the hammer with all her strength. What if her friends didn’t want to return to Diomere with her? Would she leave them behind? She swung the hammer again. But if she stayed, it would mean living permanently without her sisters close by. Amber eyes flashed across her memory. She clenched her teeth and swung again. Would she be happy returning to the life she’d lived before the kidnapping? To being the Captain of her nephew’s personal guard? Would they even want her in that position since she’d already lost him once? She put all of her swirling emotions into her swing.

The hammer hit the spike so hard a chunk of stone broke away from the wall and crashed to the ground. Dust mushroomed into the air. Coughing, she waved her hands before her face. Her eyes widened when the dust cleared, focusing on a hole the size of her head which now marred what had once been the back wall of her chamber.