Authors: Katherine Irons

Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fantasy, #Chick-Lit, #Mythology

Seaborne (20 page)

BOOK: Seaborne

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“Richard?” She blinked. Not again. Sorrow welled up inside her. No, this couldn’t be happening to her again. She must be losing her mind.

“We’ve called for an ambulance,” Justin said. “Lie still. Don’t try to talk. You’ve had some sort of seizure.”

“No, I’m fine. I was asleep,” she managed. What time was it? Sunlight streamed through the windows. Morning? Afternoon?

“We couldn’t wake you,” Mrs. Godwin said, patting Claire’s hand. “We called the doctor, and he suggested an ambulance.”

“No ambulance. I’m not sick,” Claire protested, pulling her hand free.

“Not this time,” her father said. “You could have an embolism in your brain. We’re taking you to a hospital, and if I have my way, we’re transferring you back to the city, to your own physicians, not these quacks who—”

“There’s nothing wrong with me. You can’t force me to go… .” The wail of a siren cut through the windowpanes.

“Maybe you should listen to her,” Justin said. “I’m not certain that you can simply ignore her wishes.”

“I can and I will.” Her father stroked her hair. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, but you’re no longer in any condition to make decisions about your health. We’re going to take good care of you. Whether you like it or not.”

Knowing that arguing with him was useless, Claire lay back on the pillow and closed her eyes.
I want to go back
, she thought in desperation.
Back down the rabbit hole to Morgan and Alex and my own personal funhouse of pagan drums and serpent-people and flying mantarays. I don’t want to be here anymore.

“Please,” she begged. “I don’t need a doctor. Richard … Don’t do this to me.”

“You know how much he loves you,” Justin said. “Just trust him to do what’s best.”

“Whatever it takes, we’ll find the finest doctors for you,” her father said. “And when you’re better, you’ll realize it was for the best.”

The piercing sound of the ambulance grew louder.

“We won’t leave you,” Justin said. “I won’t leave you. I’ll stay with you every step of the way.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Claire whispered. And once again, she began to weep.

Four days into Claire’s hospital imprisonment, Morgan, Alex, and Orion stood side by side, their hands bound in silver chains, awaiting the verdict of the High Council. The twins’ fate was irrevocably linked with Morgan’s. Whatever his penalty was, their sentence would be the same. Their stepmother, Queen Korinna, at the palace off Crete was beyond the reach of the court and no charges were brought against her. Poseidon had forbidden her to return to Atlantis until the case was settled.

The child, Danu, was held innocent of any crime. She was an Atlantean, and as such, every citizen of the kingdom was pledged to her welfare. If Morgan and the twins were entombed in coral, as the king expected, someone would take the child into their family. She wouldn’t suffer for the crimes committed in her name, and she wouldn’t suffer for being born a human, despite Halimeda’s ire.

When Morgan and Alex had joined Orion in prison, they’d been questioned at length by representatives of the court and by high priestesses and priests. Morgan had bargained in vain for his brothers’ release, admitting that he was responsible for Danu’s transformation from human to Atlantean and confessed his attachment to a human woman. His sacrifice was useless. Additional charges were placed against all of them, and no leniency was offered to Orion and Alex because they had been aware of Morgan’s crime and not reported him.

Poseidon had wept and raged, then refused to see any of his three accused sons. He was here today to hear the verdict, but Morgan knew that he could expect no mercy this time. His father was adamant. Morgan would be found guilty and sentenced, and once he was declared beyond the law, he would lose his position as heir to the throne of Atlantis.

The first member of the court stood and the hall grew silent, all but Orion, who leaned close to Morgan and whispered, “I hope she was worth the loss of the throne, Brother. It will be a long time before you hold another woman in your arms.”

“I never wanted to be king.” Morgan knew that he should be thinking of his brothers, of what he’d brought them to and how they would suffer for his sins. But it was Claire that he regretted. She would never know why he’d abandoned her. She’d grow old and die on her small stretch of beach waiting for him. The pain of his betrayal was almost more than he could stand.”

“Yes, but you’re the best of us,” Orion said.

“Silence!” a chamberlain ordered. “Silence before the High Council.”

The respected elder, an Egyptian by birth, cleared his throat. “It is with great sorrow that I cast my vote against Morgan, crown prince of Atlantis. Guilty.”

Orion grimaced. “One down.”

This was a waste of time, Morgan thought. Nothing more than a spectacle to appease the masses. They would sentence him and his brothers to a hundred years entombed in coral. By the time he was free, Claire would be dust and his heart and soul with her.

And Claire would not be the only one he’d let down. Danu would grow up an orphan without father or mother. Maybe they were right. Maybe it would have been better to let her die. Who was he to go against thousands of years of law and civilization?

“You’ll love it, Brother,” Alex joked. “They say coral is good for the bones. It adds centuries to your life.”

Lord Pelagias, Lady Halimeda’s brother was next to pronounce judgment. “Guilty.”

“Guilty.”

“Guilty as charged.”

Morgan forced himself to give the High Council the respect due them. He was guilty. He deserved to be punished, but Claire didn’t, and little Danu didn’t, and his brothers’ only crime was in keeping faith with him. He felt his father’s gaze on him and looked up to meet the king’s stubborn glare. Morgan raised his head higher and stiffened his shoulders. He wasn’t sorry, and if he had it to do over again, he’d do exactly the same.

“Prince Morgan.”

Lady Athena’s soft voice broke through his thoughts and he saw that she was standing and addressing him. He fixed his attention on her and nodded slightly in salute. “My lady.”

“I found this case to be a most difficult one,” she said. “You aren’t the first to secretly romance a human. In searching through the Akashi Records, I find that there have been more than a few.”

A rumble of dissent rippled around the vast chamber.

“No!”

“Blasphemy,” Lord Pelagias muttered.

“Lady Athena,” Poseidon said. “Is this a delaying—”

“Not only has this crime occurred before,” she continued, boldly interrupting the king, “but it was repeated so many times that a statute was enacted to deal with it, a statute that has never been repealed and stands as law today.

“ ‘From the
Scrolls of the Silver Tide, Volume Sixty-six
,” she said, unrolling a seaweed parchment. “ ‘Law eighty-seven: If a subject of Atlantis commits the crime of love with a human, he or she can plead guilty, accept the sentence and be entombed in coral without light or sound for one hundred years, or he or she may risk all for the chance to continue the union.’ ”

“Rubbish!” Prince Caddoc leaped to his feet and shook a fist. “What jest is this? Sentence the criminals.”

“Quiet,” hissed his mother. “Do you forget where you are?”

Morgan glanced at her. Lady Halimeda as the voice of reason was a new occurrence. Today, she was garbed all in scarlet with a diamond-studded crystal coronet gleaming against her night-black hair. She met his gaze, inclined her head, and smiled.

A nobleman cried out, “This is a trick to evade the law!”

A dozen of Lady Halimeda’s supporters rose to echo the sentiments, but she urged them to quiet. “Hush, please, hush. Let us hear the Lady Athena.”

Poseidon stood and slammed his fist down on the arm of his throne. “Silence! Unless you wish Prince Caddoc to suffer the same fate. I’ve had enough of disobedient sons.”

Caddoc sank into his seat and scowled at his mother.

“ ‘… He or she may risk all for the chance to continue the union,’ ” Lady Athena repeated.

Morgan was struck by how much authority Lady Athena radiated in her robes of state. The king bellowed and roared, but she commanded respect without theatrics. Morgan preferred her method of leadership. Had he ever become Poseidon, he would have … He smiled at his own foolishness. Since he was a boy, he’d protested that he didn’t want to inherit the crown. Now, he was getting his wish, so there was no need to consider how he might or might not have ruled.

“ ‘The accused has the right to see their human lover one final time,” the lady continued. “ ‘The accused may ask the human to join him or her in the sea forever. If the human chooses to become one of us, he or she will never breathe air or walk on land again. The two may marry with the court’s blessing, a transformation will be granted by the High Council, and all charges will be dropped.’ ”

Morgan swallowed, not certain that he’d heard what he’d thought he’d heard. Was it possible? Was there a chance he could be with Claire? That he and his brothers would be set free? That he could act as as father to Danu? A tiny flame of hope sparked in his chest.

“Don’t get happy yet,” Orion whispered. “There’s got to be a
but
in there somewhere.”

Alex remained as motionless as if he had been carved of stone.

“ ‘The accused may ask the human to become one of us,’ ” the lady continued. “ ‘But if the question is asked and the love is not strong enough, if the human refuses, the sentence will be carried out.’ ”

Muscles twitched along Orion’s square jaw. “I told you so.”

Morgan’s fists clenched.

“ ‘Under no circumstance may the human be told about the consequences,’ ” Lady Athena pronounced. “That section of the law is clear. Any infraction and the supreme penalty shall be enforced.”

“Here comes the punch line,” Alex hissed.

“ ‘Imprisonment in coral will be not a hundred years,’ ” Lady Athena continued. “ ‘Either the human joins her or his lover under the sea or the accused suffers the extreme penalty. The Atlantean will not be put to death, but will be entombed in coral in darkness, forever.’ ”

CHAPTER 20

M
organ felt a rush of shame as he looked at his brothers. How could he do this to them? No matter how much he wanted to take the chance, risking his life was one thing, but placing their lives in the balance was an entirely different matter. It was bad enough that they’d have to suffer a hundred years imprisonment for him, but if Claire refused him, Orion and Alex would be equally condemned for what amounted to an eternity. How could he think of sentencing the twins to a living death for a human woman?

But he wanted her … wanted her more than life.

More than his brothers’ lives?

“What are the odds?” Orion asked cheerfully. “We’ve survived worse.”

Alex shrugged. “He’s in, I’m in.”

Morgan felt his gut twist. He needed time to think. Too much was at stake here. Claire had kept asking him if she was dreaming. It was what he’d wanted, and what was easier, but if Claire knew the truth, could she give up everything for him? Was what they had more than intense sexual attraction?

As if reading his mind, Zale, the vizier spoke. “I would ask a boon of the court.”

Halimeda gasped, snapping her head around to glare at him.

The vizier rose and rapped his staff of office. “If I may have leave to address the council?” he asked.

Lady Athena nodded. “I yield to Zale, our esteemed vizier.”

The man cleared his throat and waited until it was so quiet in the Hall of Justice that you could have heard a conch shell open. “We have much at stake here, Your Highness and respected council. The lives of our three greatest princes may be lost, including that of Crown Prince Morgan.” He waited while the audience had time to let that statement sink in.

“Morgan’s stubborn,” Poseidon interjected. “He doesn’t deserve your pity. He’s shown willful disregard for my orders and the laws of the kingdom.”

Zale nodded. “As His Majesty says, our crown prince is headstrong. But, isn’t that a trait of all kings? Your Highness is the exception, of course.”

The king scowled.

Zale went on. “Prince Morgan is still young. He may not fully realize the ramifications of this sentence. I ask the court to seal Prince Morgan, Prince Orion, and Prince Alexandros in coral until the moon comes full again, twenty-one days as the humans figure time. Allow our royal princes a taste of what awaits them. Then when they fully understand the penalty, allow them to decide.”

Lady Athena glanced at her fellow council members. “Your thoughts?”

“I object,” Lord Pelagias protested. “Prince Morgan is his father’s favorite. Too long have we forgiven his transgressions. This nonsense about giving the human a chance to trade the earth for love of an Atlantean is an old law, one that hasn’t been invoked in a thousand years, perhaps longer. It’s nothing but romantic nonsense. I say there’s no need for the council to waste more time on this affair. Sentence the princes and be done with it.”

“I disagree, Lord Pelagias.” Lady Jalini, clothed elegantly in cloth-of-gold in the Egyptian style, raised a palm to be heard. She was one of the youngest members of the High Council and one who rarely spoke out. “This plan sounds most sensible to me,” she said in a gentle voice. “I believe the vizier’s suggestion is a good one.”

Pelagias frowned at her. In theory, all members of the High Council were equal, but length of service and age added to a justice’s prestige. By custom, the newer judges were there to listen and learn, and few challenged Pelagias’s decisions.

One by one the others nodded. “It’s fair,” Lady Athena said, “but our decision must be unanimous. Lord Pelagias, would you reconsider your position?”

He tightened his mouth into a thin line. “All right,” he said grudgingly. “It’s against my better judgment, but I will agree with the majority.”

“Thank you, Lord Pelagias. Your generosity is noted and most appreciated.” Lady Athena clapped her hands twice. “Lord Zale’s request is granted. Sentence to be carried out immediately.”

Guards stepped forward to escort the prisoners to the coral prison many leagues from Atlantis off the island of Cyprus. Poseidon rose and strode away without looking back at his sons. Quickly, the court followed. The members of the High Council remained until the hall was nearly empty before filing out.

Morgan paid them little heed. All he could think of was Claire. She wouldn’t know what had happened to him, and she’d believe he’d abandoned her. “Lady Athena,” he called after her. “Am I permitted to send a message?”

Athena paused on the stairs, one hand on a marble railing, and shook her head. “When this time is past, if you still want her, then you may go to her. Until then, I’m sorry. No contact.”

“I’ll make an attempt to tell her,” Alex said quietly.

The nearest guard shook his head and frowned. “No talking.”

Morgan nodded. Alex possessed unusual powers for telepathy and intuition, but humans had forgotten the gift. He doubted that Claire, for all her intellect, could interpret his brother’s mental communication. He gritted his teeth as a padded hood was drawn over his head, making him effectively blind and deaf.

If it were not for his worry for Claire, the monthlong sentence would not be impossible to serve. He’d survived in total isolation before. But he didn’t need a month to make up his mind. There had been only one decision he could make and thirty days or thirty years would make no difference.

No matter what it cost him, no matter what it cost his brothers, he had to try. And if Claire could accept him as he was … accept his world … then they would share centuries of love and companionship. And if she couldn’t … if she couldn’t give up the earth for him, then he would accept his fate. The bitter dose would be the sacrifice of his brothers’ lives for his forbidden love.

A week passed and then a second. Despite her tears, her anger, and her pleading, Claire was subjected to endless medical tests, interviews by social workers, psychologists, physicians and, finally, lawyers. She was poked, prodded, scanned, and studied. She spent hours discussing her emotional state with strangers and hours on the phone with her lawyers.

“Do whatever’s necessary,” she said to Mitchell Cole, her lead attorney. “I’m being held here against my will. It’s little better than kidnapping, and I intend to bring suit against the hospital if I’m not released.”

“I understand your frustration,” Cole said. “But your medical condition complicates things. We’re bringing in our own specialists to challenge your father’s. We’ll win this, but you can’t hurry the system.”

“You’d better try,” she insisted. “Or I’ll find someone who will.”

On the fifteenth day, her legal team prevailed over the best her father could hire, and a Portland judge declared her competent to manage her own affairs, including her medical and financial decisions. Finally, after an emotional roller coaster and a huge fight with her father, Claire was able to secure her release from the hospital to return to Seaborne without Richard.

Her father approached her outside the hospital entranceway where nurses prepared to assist her into her specially equipped van. “Claire. Wait, please listen to me, baby,” he called. “You have to realize that we had only your best interests at heart. Don’t hold this against me.”

Nathaniel moved to her side. “Miss Claire—” he began.

“No.” She waved him away. “I’ll speak to him.” She took a deep breath. “The truth is I do hold it against you,” she said to her father.

“Claire, try to understand my position.”

“If you love me as you claim, you’ll let me go,” she said. “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”

“Will you?” He took hold of her hand. “Will you call me?”

“In a week or two. I promise.” She pulled free of his grip.

“No hard feelings.” He’d followed her to the van, and watched as Nathaniel helped her into the front seat. “You’re all I’ve got, Claire.”

She closed the door and rolled down the window. “I know that. It’s why I will call. I can’t say when.”

“You’re angry with me.”

“I am, but I’ll get over it in time. Just make sure this never happens again, or …” Breaking her ties with her father would be the most difficult thing she’d ever have to do in her life, maybe worse than waking up after the accident and finding that she was a basket case. But Richard had to understand that she was an adult. If he couldn’t respect that, she’d have to learn to go on without him.

“Take me home, Nathaniel,” she said.

Richard was saying something else, but she pushed the button to roll the window up. She’d heard enough of his excuses. Knowing that he had forced her into the hospital because he loved her was the only thing that kept her from making a permanent break here and now. But what kind of love was it? He’d shattered her self-respect, and if she hadn’t had the fortune she did, she had no doubt she’d be sitting in some very expensive psychiatric hospital for the foreseeable future, and she didn’t know if she could ever forgive him.

“And what if this human woman agrees to enter the sea? To become one of us?” Halimeda demanded. “Stranger things have happened.”

She, Caddoc, and her brother Pelagias were closeted in Pelagias’s library with guards outside the door to insure privacy. “What if Morgan brings her to Atlantis, they have a court wedding, and all is forgiven? What are your chances of becoming king then?”

Caddoc shrugged. “What are my chances now? Slim, at best. Who’s to say my esteemed father won’t live to reign for another five or six centuries?” He drained the last drops of wine from the crystal goblet and set it down on a marble sideboard.

He’d rarely been in his uncle’s private rooms and this one made him vaguely uneasy. It was in the old part of the palace and the ceilings were low, the wall carvings ancient and dark. Rows of niches along one wall held scrolls. How many he wouldn’t attempt to guess. The floor was some sort of clear crystal, and it gave him the feeling that he might tumble through it and keep falling forever.

His mother dropped her voice and leaned close to stroke his arm. Caddoc tried not to flinch at her touch. It was bad enough to see her behavior toward her brother. Most Atlanteans were sexual beings, but his mother went beyond normal custom. It was whispered jokingly in some parts of the palace that she would copulate with a white shark if one could be found that didn’t fear her.

“I say that Poseidon won’t make old bones,” Halimeda said. “On the appointed night, I’ll join the king in his bedchamber. We’ll share a late supper. He’s quite fond of Chilean pickled eels and the thin wine of Cyprus. I’ve never cared for either, myself. Later, he will become suddenly ill.”

Caddoc struggled to conceal his surprise. “You would …”

“Poison? Are you too cowardly to say the word, let alone administer the dose?” She folded her arms and raised her chin defiantly. “Poseidon must die if you are to inherit the crown.”

Pelagias arched a shaggy eyebrow. “You are the eldest born. You should be the next king.”

“I should have been named high queen long ago,” Lady Halimeda said. “Not that milksop Korinna. Even the king regrets it now.”

“With the princes imprisoned, now is the time to overthrow the king’s party,” his uncle said. “Three precise strikes, and the throne is yours. Do you have the nerve to claim it?”

“You know I do,” Caddoc said. “But it’s not enough to have Morgan, Alexandros, and Orion under arrest. So long as they’re alive, we’d risk civil war.”

“They will be released at the proper time,” his mother said. “Just days from now Morgan will go to fetch his woman, and the vizier will send the twins to retrieve their mother from banishment. I will deal with Poseidon.”

“We must strike at the same instant,” Pelagias said. “It will be your job to ensure that Morgan and his human lover suffer some accident. He will be weak when he reenters the sea. That will be your opportunity to finish him.”

“But …” Caddoc glanced back at his mother. “If something should happen to Poseidon, wouldn’t Queen Korinna assume—”

“Korinna won’t be an issue,” Pelagias said. “Once Alexandros and Orion reach the old palace, the guards will arrest her, Orion, and Alexandros on charges of treason. Obviously, they were part of the plot to murder Poseidon and place Morgan on his father’s throne.”

“But to merely arrest them—”

His mother slapped his face. “Fool! Would that I had another son. You are so stupid that it’s a wonder you aren’t devoured by the carnivorous flowers outside the palace gates.”

“I’m not stupid! I merely asked—”

Halimeda curled her lip. “Imbecile. How anyone could believe that you are Poseidon’s son is beyond me.”

Caddoc rubbed his cheek. He was trembling with anger. He wanted to strike back at her, to hurt her, but he was afraid. He knew what she could do. He backed away. “What are you saying? Isn’t the king my father?”

Pelagias laughed.

Halimeda shook her head, then glanced slyly at her brother. “Did I tell you he was stupid?”

“You did,” Pelagias agreed with a sigh. “But I didn’t want to believe it.”

BOOK: Seaborne

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