The Kiss That Saved Me (The Tidal Kiss Trilogy Book 2) (56 page)

“What?! What happened?” He looks horrified.

“She attacked me, we fought and I beheaded her with a trident,” I whisper the answer again, like I’m a tiny child being scolded.

“What! Why wasn’t Orion protecting you?!” My head rises and suddenly I meet my father’s gaze, blasting him with intensity. He wasn’t worried about the death of Alyssa at all; he was concerned about my safety. How utterly ridiculous.

“Orion doesn’t protect me, I protect myself. Why aren’t you sad about Alyssa. She’s your soulmate!” I look at him, angry now.

“Whoa… okay. Sorry. I can see how this appears untoward. You have to understand, Callie, I never loved Alyssa. I was told she was my soulmate, by Saturnus, so I did my duty by her. I thought I was in love, but I discovered this was not the case. I never knew love until I met Patience.”

“How can that be?” I ask him and he shrugs.

“I don’t know. I’ve had years to look back, to try to figure it out. The only thing I can think of is that Alyssa was the soulmate of one of the Banished, who turned to the darkness before she became a mer. Who knows with Saturnus,” he shrugs and I’m unsatisfied with the answer, but I know he is too. He gets a crease in his forehead just like mine. I frown. “Callie, please don’t look so sad. It’s okay. I’m just catching up. I want to know about you, everything. Everything I’ve missed. Is there anything important I should know?” I think about this hard, as I stare out at the pristinely white and twinkling buildings that lie beyond the palace.

“Orion is Crowned Ruler now. I was Queen. But…” I begin, but I don’t know how to finish that sentence.

“But?” Gideon leans forward, enraptured.

“I don’t think I’m Queen anymore. I left him. He wanted me to marry him… and well…” I begin, Gideon chuckles.

“Nice of him to ask for your father’s permission!”
 

“He didn’t even know you were my father until a few months ago.” I laugh back at his overprotectiveness. When it comes to Orion I’ve always hated how he’s so guarded of me. How he doesn’t believe in me and my ability to take care of myself. With my dad it’s different… it’s probably awfully hypocritical of me, but I like the displays of aggression about my safety. I like that he cares so much. It proves to me that every time I thought I wasn’t wanted, wasn’t good enough to be someone’s daughter, that I was wrong. I have a father, and he loves me and in this moment, I’m soaking up all the affection I can get.

“I didn’t say yes. So it’s not like it matters,” I shrug and he looks perplexed.

“You don’t love him?” I’m blown back by the personal nature of this question. I blink a few times. “It’s okay if you don’t want to answer. I know you don’t know me that well. I’m just… trying to get to know you.” He runs his hand back through his thick white hair and I can tell he’s nervous. We’re both teetering between pure joy and fear. I decide to try, knowing that a relationship with him isn’t going to spring up out of nowhere. I need to make an effort.

“I do love him. More than anything. I know now what we have is real… I just can’t get away from this pedestal he’s put me on. He doesn’t listen to what I’m really saying… he just hears what he wants to. He waited so long, he was alone so long… I’ve got an impossible fantasy to live up to,” I feel weary at the explanation, sick after having gone over and over the issues in my head.
 

“I don’t know Orion that well, mainly because for the time I lived in the Occulta Mirum he wasn’t around that much. He was a lone wolf… so to speak.” Gideon looks at me and angles his head slightly to the left, examining me.

“That’s part of the problem. He isn’t used to sharing. Then Atlas died, he got all this responsibility thrown at him. It screwed everything up,” I admit. Gideon nods his head, looking grim.

“I am sorry to hear about Atlas. He was a wise man, an excellent and well respected ruler too.”

“Titus killed him. It was the night I died.”

“When you turned?” He’s truly caught up in the conversation. I feel probed, but I don’t want to hold anything back. I’ve waited too long. I have too many questions to be picky about which one’s I answer.

“No, the other time,” I reply quickly, my dad begins to nod again, clearly a habit of his, but then stops and raises an eyebrow.

“Wait… you died twice?” He looks confused and I laugh.

“Yeah. I’m the vessel, whatever that means.”
 

“What’s that?” He looks slightly worried.
 

“Come here and I’ll show you,” I rise from the icy seat on which I’m perched and Gideon begins to move from his throne. We ebb through the water, rising. “Give me your hand,” I request, he smiles.

“You do so remind me of your mother, she’s bossy too,” he places his giant hand in my smaller one. His palm feels like it’s the size of a saucer.

“Yeah, but mom can’t do this,” I flick my wrist, just like I had seen him do. I feel the chill rush through me, an icy river that runs, unstoppable and rabid down my arm. I watch as the magic moves through the water, crystallising it and turning it to ice. I make an uncontrolled web, unable to stop. I let go of my dad’s hand and feel the warmth of blood begin to thaw my palm. The ice I have created from water sinks to the floor with a thud.

“You… you took my power.”

“Yep,” I say, proud and smiling.

“That’s incredible. Wow, and you’re my daughter,” he looks elated, happy.

“I’ve waited to meet you for so long. I can’t believe you’re actually here,” I admit, shocked that after thinking I was going to be beheaded, I was actually headed to meet my dad. “It’s a good job your… Adaro didn’t behead me.”

“They’re harsh people. Everything is harsh here. This environment, the cold, it changes people.” I can imagine what he’s saying is true. I haven’t been here long, but I’m already finding my mood flattened by the chill.

“I can see that. It’s a shame they’re not for hire. I’m sure we could use people like that against the Psirens,” I speak the thought as though it’s nothing, but then the idea comes to me, fully formed. My father’s expression changes into something like a half-smile. It’s odd because he’s looking down on me, but it’s an approving gaze.

“You’re going to be a great Queen. There was a ruler before you who thought the very same.” I raise my eyebrow and brush my hair back behind my shoulder.

“Oh… who?” I ask, curious.

“Come, there is much that must be explained,” Gideon moves forward and beckons for me to follow him. I swim behind him, exiting the throne room. “Right before you were born, Saturnus learned of what was going on between your mother and I. It was Alyssa who ran to him for comfort when I told her I was leaving, that was how he discovered us.” I nod, as his expression turns grave.

“So, I was exiled from the city, or rather that is what you have been told. I actually left of my own choice to begin with. It was my intention to be with your mother and you for as long as possible. I hung around the local tides, killing time between the night’s when she would sneak down to a local cove, away from prying eyes to meet me. It lasted until Alyssa discovered I was still in the area. She ran to Saturnus, claiming I was risking the exposure of our world by flaunting my mer form with a human. It resulted in an argument, which Orion burst in on momentarily.” I inhale; remembering the half memory Orion had given me as explanation.
 

“He showed me,” I recall the horror I had felt, seeing my father sent away.
 

“Saturnus demanded he get out of the palace, claiming it private business, but Atlas was away at the time and I’m pretty sure it was because he didn’t want Atlas knowing. I had spoken with Atlas at length you see, he knew my feelings for Patience, he knew about you too. He understood, still missing his human wife after all this time. Her name was Katriona,” Gideon gives me this information, which I had not known before, Orion had never talked about his mother and I had never wanted to pry.

“So you left after that fight?”

“Yes. It was for the best. By this time, you were getting older, to the point where your first memories would be forming. I didn’t want to confuse you. Your mother and I agreed it was best, as I explained in my letter.”
 

“You did,” I agree as we turn a corner and begin our journey down another long icy corridor; I have no idea where he’s taking me.
 

“Before I left though, I bumped into Atlas, he was on his way back from a salvaging trip, or so we’d been told. He gave me a few things for my journey and told me where to go,” he gesticulates to the halls of ice.

“He told you to come here. To the Adaro?” I feel the impact of this information. Atlas had never mentioned any other types of mer before.

“Yes. He also gave me a letter. He said I would know what it was for and who to give it to when the time came,” he looks at me.

“You think it’s for me?” I raise my eyebrows.

“No dear one, Atlas could not have known you were to become a mer this long ago. If Starlet had foreseen such a thing, Orion would have known too. At this time, he was still hopelessly angry at being alone, at waiting.” We reach the end of the corridor and ascend up a spiral ramp, carved from sharp ice. It leads into one of the cylindrical frozen bubbles I had seen on my way in. The views are spectacular.

“But my mom said she knew I was destined for this. You must have known too.” I say, looking at him.

“We knew, both of us, it’s true. But we didn’t want to risk your safety. Especially with the way Psirens seem to enjoy turning new mer. You were only a child; we had to protect you as well as the secret of the existence of the mer world. We kept Atlas and Orion in the dark. Our intention was to tell them about you once you had reached maturity, but you were my daughter, my family and my responsibility.” He gazes across me, his eyes feral. I can tell how much he cares by this one look. It’s clear he had my best interests at heart. I wonder for a moment what life would have been like growing up with a merman for a father. Now I think about it, about the risks that come with this life, the demons and the Psirens, I’m glad I never had to find out. I think about Kayla for a moment, I know I would never want to put her at risk; it was why I had left too.

“So who do you think the letter is for?” I ask him, pressing my fingers to the ice of the bubble and reverting the subject back to business. The ice becomes sticky against my cold skin. I look out, through the blurring of the frozen liquid and onto the whiteness, perfect and untouched below.

“I think the letter is for Orion,” Gideon replies, no falter in his response.

“That would make sense, but why wouldn’t he just give it to Orion himself?” I turn my back on the city below and look into the study. All the furniture flows from the ice of the floor, as though the entire place has been carved from one solid piece. There’s a large desk, a globe, chairs, and bookshelves all made from the cold, slick substance. The real things out of place here aren’t the furniture though; it’s the objects that aren’t made from ice at all that stand out. There’s a large wooden trunk in the corner, which my father is now rummaging through, his white and ice blue scales moving incrementally to keep him stationary.
 

“Atlas said he needed me to keep it safe from Saturnus,” Gideon says, pulling it out and holding it up to the light.

“So did you know Saturnus was evil?” I enquire. Gideon puts down the letter, letting it rest on the ice of his desk. He moves over to me, meeting my gaze with intensity.

“I didn’t know he was a Psiren, but Atlas gave me the impression when he gave me this letter that he had been corrupted. He said he was only trusting me with the truth because I was leaving. He didn’t want anyone else in on Saturnus’ little charade, in case someone made a mistake and let slip they knew his true intent. Not everyone was as careful with their words as Atlas. He was also worried about mutiny, as you can imagine.” I nod.

“You can say that again. Did you know he could glimmer himself? The mer worshipped him, like they do Atargatis in some ways, because he looks like he’s been blessed. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they’d have sided with Saturnus over Atlas because of that fact alone.” I’m curious now; I have a window into the past, someone who had seen things from the beginning. Orion was so withholding, my father on the other hand is not.

“Like he glimmers the city? That’s a useful little skill.”
 

“Tell me about it,” I roll my eyes and he laughs. Suddenly I’m curious.

“How did you die? When were you born?” I ask the two questions in a tumult of curiosity that springs from nowhere.

“I died of old age. I was born in 1525. In Norway.”

“Oh… I thought all of the mer came from an island off the coast of Cyprus…” I begin.

“Some, not all. I was buried at sea, and as you can imagine was quite surprised when I awoke in a wooden box at the bottom of the ocean, very much alive. A young woman, Azure, had a vision of my transformation and sent Atlas to find me.” I shudder at the thought of such tight quarters. He looks at my face and places his large fingers under my chin.

“Do not shudder. It will be alright.” Suddenly something within me that I didn’t know had wound itself tightly unravels. I know he’s not talking about the past any longer.

“How do you know that? Everyone is dead. Everything is gone,” I feel a tear fall slowly, oily against my cheek.