A Thousand Salt Kisses Later (Book 2 of Salt Kiss series)

Three Moons

We swam back to Evergreen in a sombre silence. I was too depressed to speak, and Jasper too seemed to be in a state of quiet disturbance.

Aisling had said that the reason Ri and Llyr had still appeared in character previously was that the spell needed to be subtle, so as not to invoke suspicion of its existence. But today they had both seemed like totally different mers. While Llyr had appeared completely catatonic; Ri had been a goofy fool, dishing out precious secrets as though they were peanuts.

We reached the palace, and I looked up at Jasper as we waited for the wall open for us.

His shoulder was emblazoned with a tattoo depicting a wild, pink sea-flower, and he returned my gaze from above. "Are you okay?"

"Sort of," I replied. "But that was really quite horrific."

He nodded in agreement, "I also feel quite unsettled."

There was the now familiar sound of groaning as the great wall rolled to the side, and Tairise's luscious meeting room came into view.

Above the uncultivated flowers and weeds hovered a most welcome site; Aisling, Tairise, Nephys, and Bright. They all looked pale and exhausted, but they were here; safe and sound.

"You're back!" cried Jasper, as we sailed into the room. "Thank Nodens!"

After a brief round of greetings, it was straight down to business. Jasper and I told them everything we had just witnessed in the pink gardens, including Ri's great revelation to King Timsah.

Tairise let out a bellow of rage, and his cheeks flushed crimson, "Blistering barnacles!" he shouted. "He's a fool!"

Aisling frowned. "So this is what they seek," he said. "Quintessence; the fifth element; the stone of heavenly bliss; the stone of enlightenment."

Well, well - in the words of the hideous King Timsah - this is starting to sound like quite a rock.

"And does Quintessence not also have the properties to turn all basic rock into gold?" Nephys chipped in, her eyes wide as saucers.

"Yes, this must be the purpose they seek it for," said Tairise. "They were always causing trouble in the Red Seas, making off with gold that was not theirs to take."

"They are clearly fond of gold, but there may be even more to it than that," said Aisling, his face painting a grave expression. "For those well versed in magic, the substance can also be used in extremely powerful sorcery; it can gift immortality. If the Timsah's were to gift themselves such a thing, then they would be indestructible, and we would all be..."

There was a bleak silence, as we each completed Aisling's sentence in our heads.

"Well, Ri and the King of Timsah seemed to be making some sort of prenuptial agreement," I said quickly. "The Quintessence is theirs to share after the wedding, so I guess we need to break whatever spell they have over Llyr and Ri before then."

"Yes," said Jasper. "Did you have any luck in the forests?"

"After days of searching, we finally met with the Lords of the Forest," said Aisling solemnly.

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's good," he said.

"They will help us," said Aisling. "They will meet us just on the fringes of the forests, by Mount Glas tomorrow sundown. There is a ritual that can be performed but even if it works then it may take a few days to effect Ri and Llyr."

"And when is the wedding?" I asked.

"Three moons, child," replied Tairise. "The day after the ball here at Evergreen."

"But the spell is getting stronger," I despaired. "You should have seen them today - you would not have recognized them."

"It may not mean it is stronger," said Aisling, pensively. "It may actually be getting lazier; it doesn't have to work so hard now that Ri and Llyr are isolated from all that care for them."

"Hmmm," said Tairise, clutching his beard and staring ahead. I caught a glimmer of sorrow in his eyes, "T'is sad days."

"Oh, I just wish there was something I could do to help," I said. My heart ached for my friends. Their world was collapsing.

"Actually girl, you may be of more use to us than we initially thought," said Tairise.

My heart skipped a beat. "Great," I said. I was so tired of being such an inept lump. "What do I need to do? I'll do it."

Everyone was silent for a while, and Nephys swam to my side and took my hand. "How would you feel about leading our little ritual?"

***

Nephys was sat on top of a huge topaz colored rock trying on all her old jewelry. We had decided to stay in that evening, as we had such a big day tomorrow.

"I can't believe we actually have Quintessence," Bright was saying.

"Not a word to anyone, Bright," said Nephys, looking at him sternly. "It's the kingdom's best-kept secret... or it was, anyway."

I was only half-listening, more focused on the tasks ahead. "You know, guys, I'm really not much of a performer," I said.

"Oh, Crystal, we know that," giggled Nephys. "But it's not an art form; it's spiritual. The lords felt you could be a highly powerful instrument in spell-breaking, given our human ancestry."

"Well, will you all tell me what I have to say?" I asked, hugging my tail to my chest.

There was a silence, and I noticed Bright glancing at Nephys.

"Um, it's more of a doing thing, actually," she mumbled, examining a necklace up close.

"Did Spirit give you that?" Bright intercepted quickly, as Nephys tried on the frosty green piece.

"Yes," sighed Nephys. "He's so very talented isn't he?"

"So that's what he makes?" I said, now distracted myself.

"Oh, he makes all kinds of things. He made many of the buildings and statues in The Jewel, you know," said Nephys.

"Really?" I said, impressed.

"And Llyr gave me this one," said Nephys pulling out a beautiful sandy striped stone. It looked like a mini Saturn and was bound to a little rope. "It's a rare stone, it is meant to bring you courage and strength," Nephys continued. "He gave it to me when Georgie was born a human, and the whole world collapsed around me. I will never forget that day... the day I gave birth..." she trailed off.

I looked down; I didn't want to force her to speak about it unless she wanted to.

"I had been in labour for two moons, and he wasn't coming out," Nephys began. "We were beneath the seas, and I had pushed and pushed and pushed - but nothing! I should have known; he was probably trying to tell me something. The witch, he gave me some rare berry to help the baby along and before you know it, he came shooting out. At first, all I felt was absolute ecstasy when he was placed in my arms; I had a child... a beautiful, precious babe. But then... then he just turned blue... it was horrifying. Llyr and I were the only ones who knew the truth, that Georgie was half-human, and Llyr instantly knew what had happened. He grabbed the babe from my arms and within minutes he had rushed him to the surface. Oh, he got there just in time and Georgie was safe and healthy... but Father and Ri knew what I had done."

Bright swam over to Nephys and put an arm around her shoulders, and I couldn't help but feel that all too familiar yearning for Llyr.

"We have to help him," said Nephys tearfully. "We have to save him like he saved George and like he saved me."