Page 8 of Waves
Chuckling unwound the knots inside my belly and helped me move again as we swam slowly over the massive darkness, gazing down at it. “It’s almost like a starless bit of sky,” I murmured.
“Yes but do the dark bits of sky contain monsters?” he asked, drawing my attention back up.
“What?” My query was playful, certain this was another of Keelan’s games.
But he cocked a brow, and his voice was solemn as he explained, “Legend has it that twelve centuries ago, before the curse that befell the eight kingdoms and made women as rare as rubies, there was a dragon that lived in these waters. Tatzel.”
Just the word dragon sent my spine rigid, recalling the awful memories of being plucked from the ground in Evaness, certain I was about to be eaten.
The darkness below us morphed into something even more terrifying than a cliff. Imagination ran amuck and I swore I thought I saw glowing eyes peering up at us. My pulse blared inside my ears and drummed through my veins.
Avia, it’s just a damned legend.
I blinked and the eyes were gone.
Keelan continued on, “Tatzel plagued the land, attacking towns until the first king of Okeanos—yes, we had kings back in that day,verybackwards society—killed it.”
Dead. It’s dead.
I walked my wild mind back from the scenarios I’d pictured and forced myself to take slow, even breaths. “Quite a legend. Glad dragons didn’t keep tormenting you here the way they did the land kingdoms who had the Fire Wars.”
“Agreed. My mother used to love that story though. Or maybe I did. I was a bit bloodthirsty as a kid.”
“No. You?” I teased.
“I used to get furious at the idea of anyone attacking the kingdom. Soldiering must have been in my blood,” he replied with a shrug.
“Must have,” I agreed, leaning closer to him in a half hug as we swam on.
Ahead, a castle tower appeared beyond the edge of the cliff, one that I didn’t recall from all the maps I’d studied with Sahar and the other Okeanos courtiers. “What’s that? Did we swim all the way to another village?” I didn’t see other buildings, but the gleaming white facade of the structure was gorgeous, something out of a dream.
“I don’t know. It looks new. Should we go make friends?” Keelan asked, though the question was rhetorical. The upbeat siren had already started off quickly in that direction before he even finished the question, pulling me once again.
Always one for adventure and of the mind that he had no enemies, only unmet friends…I wished I had a little bit more of Keelan’s attitude. Even if I didn’t, I could pretend for a little while. Hopefully, the sea folk on this side of the forest didn’t hate me quite so much. Hopefully, this remote castle was a refuge from all the political turmoil.
As we got closer, I realized that there was an iridescent sheen to the small palace. The white walls held casts of blue and pink and one lone tower rose up higher than the rest of the structure, sparkling.
“Mother of pearl, that’s fancy.” Keelan gave a whistle.
I was about to agree when I noticed that the castle sat upon what looked like a bed of sea trash, discarded items creating ugly little hills around the structure. “That’s bizarre,” I commented, pointing.
He turned to look, and his brow furrowed. “Yeah, not exactly an ideal location.”
The guards closed in, and I realized one of them was Ugo. I’d been so distracted this morning that I hadn’t even recognized my personal guard. Giving the red-headed merman a nod of greeting, I gestured toward the palace.
“We’ll scout ahead,” he replied, not needing any further instruction.
“Thank you,” I responded.
They congregated and conferred before swimming ahead of us and then reporting back after barely any time at all.
“Abandoned,” Ugo stated. “Though it’s strange. The building itself looks brand new.”
Keelan and I exchanged glances. Who would build a castle and abandon their hard work?
“Do you think it’s safe to look around?” I asked.
“As long as we’re close,” the guard responded. “Let’s stay outside though. Haven’t had time to check out the innards or suss out booby traps.”
