Descendant of the Deep (Siren Song: Book One)

Chapter Eighteen: Sister, Sister

     I stayed on the smooth black floor, my heartbeat the only sound in my ears. The mother I had fantasized since childhood was in front of me, sitting on a throne of lies and manipulations. The mother I had dreamed of for years killed people for pleasure and power, not a shred of remorse in her body. My mother was the most evil person in all of the oceans, and I was helpless to do anything about it.
     Iara stood next to me, her hands resting on my shoulders as if to comfort me. The touch of her cold hands on my back set shivers up my spine.
     "I didn't want you to figure it out this way. But when I received news of your arrival, I couldn't give up that chance."
     I said nothing, my lips pinched in anger.
     "Melusine is seen as a hero to so many people. But she is the larger of our two evils. She takes, and gives nothing back. She hands her daughters to nannies for them to raise." Iara paused. "She steals people I care about."
      I glowered up at her. "What did you do that made you deserve that punishment? Oh wait... That's right, you kill innocent humans. She saw you unfit to be a mother, and she was right."
     Iara clenched her teeth. "It wasn't her choice to make."
     "But it was a good one."
     Iara looked at me, hurt. "Everything I've done was for you and your father. My sisters took him too."
I stayed silent until a low yell rang through the water. I whipped around to see Aiden rushing towards me, a Batailion of guards at his tail. He crashed into me, sending me flying.
"Oh my Gods, Britta! Are you okay, what she do to you?"
I was too shocked to reply, my mouth hanging open helplessly.
"What did you do to her, Iara?" Aiden shouted, his rage vibrating all around us.
Iara chuckled. "I didn't do anything. She has merely discovered her destiny."
"Get this through your head:" I said slowly, dangerously, "I don't care who you are, but I will never join you. That's what you want, right? For us to rule the galaxy together, or whatever you want to call it?"
Iara's gaze darkened, her silence speaking volumes.
Aiden looked at me. "What are you talking about?" His eyes were narrowed in suspicion.
Iara swam closer. She smirked a triumphant smile. "Aiden, is it? Well you see, Britta has a little secret that you need to know."
My stomach tightened. I swallowed hard.
"Well?"
I looked at Aiden apologetically, as if I could be sorry for the blood that ran in my veins. If I could, I would rip out my DNA just so I could be free of Iara's taint, but it wasn't possible.
I lowered my eyes. "I'm her daughter."
Aiden leaned in closer. "What?"
"She's my daughter." Iara said, swimming gracefully back to her throne. I looked down, unable to meet his gaze.
Aiden swam away from me. "No. No, she's lying. This is what she does, she manipulates and..."
I looked up at his horrified expression. My insides squirmed around like vile snakes. "I don't want it to be true, either." I reached out for his hand. He didn't take it.
Iara sighed. "The truth at last. Now that everyone's caught up... Guards! Escort this boy back to the dungeons."
I was about to scream when there was a loud knocking on the jagged cave wall next to the throne. Cracks splintered across it, sending rocks tumbling to the floor. Blue light illuminated the cracks until a loud band came,
sending charcoal-colored dust into the water. Aiden and I were blown back, coughing and squinting to see what was happening. A dark silhouette approached us, a trident raised to strike.
     Melusine stepped out of the shadows, her blonde hair sprinkled with dark dust and her eyes livid. She approached Iara with her trident raised. "Where is my daughter, you bitch?" She looked at us, and ordered us to get behind her. Aiden followed obediently, but I stayed planted where I was. What if what Iara had said was true?
     The longest point of the trident was at Iara's neck. A bead of blood appeared where the wickedly sharp point had punctured her skin. She narrowed her eyes in disgust. "Melusine, how dare-"
     Melusine laughed bitterly, a short staccato laugh. "I dare. You kidnapped my daughter and  two innocents. There is no excuse for that."
     Iara lowered the trident with her hand. "Oh, that's what you think? I swear, sometimes you can't see the truth even when it's right in front of you. Sophia came to me. She joined me, because she saw right through you."
     Melusine's aura of steel shattered. She recoiled in horror. "No. That's not true. She'd never do that."
     Iara had found a weakness. "Well, you wouldn't know her that well. You didn't raise her. A nanny did. All she ever wanted was for you to notice-"
     I'd had enough. "Shut up! Just shut up! Haven't you hurt enough people-" I was cut off my a wave off Iara's hand, sending me across the room. But I wasn't done. Anger bubbled up inside of me, a feeling of intense hatred that overcame me like a wave. So this was what it was like to truly loath someone. My fingers burned with an unfamiliar feeling, but I couldn't pay attention to it. My eyes were trained on Iara and Melusine. I needed to get Melusine and Aiden away from Iara.
Iara was conversing venomously with the Queen, her lips curled into a sneer. She hid her left hand behind her tail conspicuously. The tips of one of her fingers was visible from my angle, glowing a dark purple with what could only be magic. I dived towards her in a panic, the burning in my hands intensifying. I drove myself in between the warring sisters, that feeling releasing in a blinding blast that sent Iara slamming into a wall. I looked at my hand, not sure whether to be amazed or terrified.
Melusine grabbed me by the arm and pulled me closer. "I don't know how you did that, but you need to use this chance to flee. The guards will escort you back. I can take it from here. Iara is weakened, and Sophia..." Her voice trailed off, agony displayed behind her eyes. I nodded and took Aiden through the hole in the cave wall. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. My hands shook. Whatever I did, it was powerful. I didn't know when it would burst out again. Sophia had said there was magic in this world, but I'd never learned anything about it.
I flicked my fins in a hurry as Aiden and I escaped with the guards. My tail ached from miles of swimming, but my body wasn't the only thing hurting. Betrayal and horror still plagued my mind. Sophia, my mother, Aiden discovering something I never wanted him to know... My life had been forever altered in just one night, conflict on the horizon. This wasn't just one battle. Iara wanted me at her side, and she wouldn't give up after one try. There was a war coming, and it was entirely my fault.