Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 6

Cold, white fingers ran down the length of my arms as I heard a snicker escaping the man pressing my body to his.

I tried to scream, but I felt my shriek catching in my throat like bile, and my body flinching as he reached for my neck, bringing my lips to his as he snickered.

When he kissed me, I was able to glimpse his icy eyes, eyeing me like prey. He grinned, before he spoke against my mouth.

"Your move, Ailith," Goridian growled.

I awoke in a sea of sweat, tears running down my cheeks as I gasped for air, trying to stop myself from shaking. I felt my stomach slowly stop its churning and my arms stop shuddering every time I breathed.

Standing, I made my way over to the window in my chambers and rubbed my eyes, looking over the sliver of sun just beginning to peak over the sea. I noticed the water dancing and roaring; creating waves that climbed up tall and then crashed down relentlessly. Goridian was angry, and he wasn't going down without a fight.

He knew Triton had always planned for me to escape the Sea Kingdom, and he'd thought he would be able to control me by marrying me. He was just a few minutes too late.  If he had married me, I wouldn't have ever gotten out of his sight, and the Sea Kingdom's fate would have been sealed.

I realized, that night, that I might have removed myself from Goridian's realm, but I couldn't manage to remove him from my nightmares.

I couldn't fall back asleep, so instead I dressed myself, pulling on my stowed away leather slacks and boots, and apologetically sliced one of the simpler gowns Cleo and Nela had left in my closet. I cut it right below the hips, creating a more comfortable tunic that I tied around the waist with some silver string. I looked at myself in the mirror, and smiled.

I didn't look particularly pretty. I was horridly pale, dark-haired and smaller than a typical-sized human. My gills hid discreetly behind my ears, the lines only noticeably appearing when I got close to water, as if in preparation.  I snickered, realizing that I could probably pass for a human, if Soren and the rest of his court didn't already know my true origin.

I left my chambers, quietly letting my body float down the stone-lined spiral staircase, all the way into the deserted corridors of the palace.

I knew nobody was probably awake at this time of day, so I wandered through the stony castle, admiring all of the glass decor and the broad, gold-framed windows facing the sea that lay just a half-mile in front of the palace.

As I awoke to the sunrise that morning, something I hadn't really seen before in my life, I remembered Triton's words in my head.

"Go, find the Heir of Gaea, find the trident and come back to reclaim the Sea Kingdom."

It appeared I had successfully accomplished the first part. However, Lazarus didn't really seem like the type to fight the battle against Goridian that I knew would be monstrous.

"I heard my name being thought?"

I turned around, and was immediately shocked to realize Lazarus was standing right behind me, a fresh morning smirk plastered onto his face.

I nodded. "I was just thinking about...you know."

Laughing, he responded, "I don't know, actually. All I heard was my name being thought a few times, and after that nightmare of yours, I don't think I want to know how I'm related to...that."