Chapter 107: Aella’s Journey
Aella could not bring herself to relax as Nereida talked to her old friend about all they had been through. It helped that she had their daughter to coo to, so that she did not have to sit nearby and listen to the two old friends catch up. When the fiery-haired knight had offered her a biscuit, she had been tempted. She had not eaten since early morning. But something in her gut twisted, told her not to. She listened to the feeling, unsure if it was the Moon or simple jealousy.
And then Nereida had started slurring her words. Torn between protecting their daughter and helping her wife, Aella hesitated a fraction of a second too long, and it was Caleb that caught Nereida as she slumped down. Aella scooped her daughter out of the basket with one hand, drawing her sword with the other.
Caleb gently lowered Nereida to the floor, moving slowly, gently, as if the traitor cared for her.
“I’m sorry,” he started to say.
“Not as sorry as you will be,” she hissed.
“Orders from His Majesty," he spit the words out, anger in his posture. “You two must come quietly. We will hold a large celebration for Basi when he disembarks, but you two, and your family, will come quietly in the night.”
“We will do no such thing,” she growled. Damara began to cry, frightened.
“You must. Please.” He was still kneeling over Nereida, and she saw tears on his cheeks. She wanted, very badly, to end his sorry, miserable life. But he was a prince and she could not risk her family, her crew. “If.. If I don’t return with you both, Admiral, we have been ordered… to take your ship. My crew is nearly all fire-touched. The loss of life… please. Don’t make me give the order.” The man had the audacity to weep.
“What, boy, were the orders?” she demanded, looking down at him. Nevermind that he was a captain, her age, and a prince. He’d be “boy” until she got answers. “Exact words, if your lice-infected brain can manage it.”
“The King demands that the Princess and her…” he swallowed, trailing off. She took a step forward, and he flinched. Fire wreathed his hands as he held it out to defend himself. “And her “worthless concubine” are to be brought to the palace under cover of darkness. Then I am to tell his highness the Crown Prince that she wanted to rush to see her mother, that she would not wait.”
She glared at him, but sheathed her blade. She couldn’t risk her wife getting burned, her baby getting hurt. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and calling on the Moon for guidance. Before she could connect with the magic, however, she felt her daughter start draining her, and the images faded before she could see. Worse, the traitor had not yet put out his fire, and it was at that very moment the door burst open.
An enraged Basiano burst in, his own hands wreathed in fire. His eyes fell on the traitor who was perched above Nerieda, hands aflame. Caleb panicked, dropping his fire, and it fell onto Nereida. She did not react, even as the scent of burning flesh filled the cabin. Basiano bellowed, loud enough to rival thunder, and Damara began to scream and cry again. Outside she heard a whistle, the chaos of the ship focusing onto a threat. Aella could not think, as the sounds and sudden firelight and terrible smell assaulted her senses, and her connection to magic reasserted itself as Damara cried.
“Fire will wake the fourth sleeper, burned by brother’s hand.” The words crashed into her, stealing her breath as she tried to focus her mind on the now and not the future. But the future was the now.
Caleb batted away the fire that flew at his face, and it struck Nereida. This woke her, and she screamed in pain. Both men stopped abruptly as if their actions were finally catching up to them. Aella grabbed her blanket and threw it over her wife, desperately trying to smother the fire before her wife was hurt worse. The room filled with sailors, all with swords drawn.
“Out!” Aella ordered. “Withdraw the plank! Let no one else board!!” They rushed to obey, except Epelda, who took in her step-mother on the floor weeping in pain, and the two men breathing heavily as they eyed each other.
“I’m getting Jules,” she signed. “Give me sis.” Aella placed her baby into her heir’s arms, and watched as she fled.
Neither man moved as Aella rushed to Nereida’s side. The fire was out, the heavy wool blanket had robbed it of life, but her arm and chest were badly burned. Basiano gasped, and the traitor began to sob that he was sorry, over and over until the words lost meaning. Aella held Nereida’s hand as she whimpered. She wished she could take her wife’s pain, her fear, but all she could do was watch as the woman she loved was hurt again.
“We should run,” Aella whispered to her wife. Nereida’s eyes were half lidded, and Aella was not sure if her wife could hear her through the pain. “This isn’t worth it.”
“There is no time to run,” Basiano said. Aella felt a shiver and looked up. Her brother-in-law’s eyes were no longer dark but oddly yellow, almost golden. She reached out with her senses, and felt as if she, too, were on fire as she made contact with the being inside Basiano. “The ship is too close. We return, all of us, with heads held high.” His voice was cold, and even Caleb picked up on the shift in tone and body language. He opened his mouth to ask what was happening, but Basiano lifted a hand imperiously. “No. You do not get to speak until the path is cleared. Do I have your co-operation and understanding?”
“Yes sir,” she muttered, and the thing inside Basiano rumbled out a laugh.
“Good. Now, to do what no one has been willing to do.” He reached down and pulled the anklet off of Nereida and pocketed it. Her form returned to normal. Caleb cried out, backing up as if he had seen a monster. Aella glared up at the man that she was quickly growing to hate.
“Nerry?” he whimpered. Aella stood, dropping her wife’s hand, and slammed the boy against the wall.
“She was trying to tell you, pour her heart out, and you betrayed her.” She did not yell or scream. She got quieter. “I have half a mind to throw you overboard.”
“Do not be so hasty,” the voice from Basiano continued. Caleb looked up at him, fear in his eyes.
“That’s not Basi,” he whispered, suddenly more afraid of him than her. Aella chuckled darkly.
“No,” she agreed.
“You will not throw any of my people into the water,” the Great Dragon continued, his mouth forming the last word as if it were unholy. “Swear it, Admiral.”
“Fine.” She dropped the boy and he fell to the floor with a grunt. “I swear I won’t throw any of your people into the ocean.”
“Good. Now, brother’s husband, I will be gathering up those that are needed. You will wait here. You will escort us, as you were ordered, to the docks in the quiet of the night, and you will come back to the palace with me, with us. If anyone else harms the…” he paused, considering his next words. “If anyone harms the princess or any member of her family, I will burn you up from the inside out. Do we understand each other?”
“Y-yes, my Prince.”
“Good.” He looked at Aella, his expression cold. “I will give him the reins once the danger is gone. Prepare the children.”
“What!”
“They must attend. I will not let the Droplet shatter because she is denied her children. Her presence is still required, and I will not give Moon or Ocean reason to come for me.” He brushed invisible lint off his tunic. “Dress to impress, Admiral. We shall not go gently. And, recall your station. Your wife’s brother would like you to bring all the relevant paperwork. He felt you would not recall.” She blinked at him, not sure what to reply to that, but the dragon swept out, a force of nature not bothered by petty things like manners or goodbyes.
The traitor finally stood.
“What befell my prince?” he asked, his voice shaking. “What happened to my friend?”
“He stopped being your friend when you poisoned his sister,” she spat. He winced and looked away like a chastised child. “And now I have to figure out how to free Basiano from the thing inside him.”
“What thing?” the boy stressed. She laughed, her helplessness consuming her.
“A Dragon God. I’d imagine, boy, that by your actions, you woke the Stars themselves.” He shivered at her words, and she turned away from the traitorous boy and went back to looking after her wife.
Jules arrived then, out of breath and pale. He knelt at Nereida’s side, singing to her in the siren language, her burns slowly becoming less severe. But they did not disappear from her completely.
“I’m sorry, Admiral. But burns… they are…and poison too….” he looked like he was near tears. “I did what I could.”
“You did well, lad,” she replied. Nereida had slipped back into unconsciousness, but she no longer looked to be in pain. “Now, you must make a choice. Come with us, and risk… risk a king who may order your death.” The traitor, watching, stilled at her words. “Or hide here, stay with Evander, be his voice to your people. He may need it.”
“I… would call me a coward if I stayed?”
“No. Epelda will have enough to worry about, I don’t need her concerned for your life.” She stood. “Get to your fiance. Say… say what you need to.” She floundered, uncomfortable with the rush of feelings. “We leave in an hour.”