RIPPLE

{Thirteen}

Lucien's threat rang clearly through the air and hung around me like his death sentence. Lucien was being hung following a statement from Mikhail, whenever the firstborn son would be well enough to get out of the Infirm bed.

       I should tell the King and Queen about Lucien's threat. But what good was he behind bars? He failed. I lived a hero.

        Lachlan still wasn't present tonight at dinner and neither is Darcy and Margo. Could they have had something to do with Mikhail's attempted murder? I try not to focus on his empty seat too much, even Waverly and Tate weren't fighting tonight, feeling their brother's absence as well. Tate is mesmerized by my sisters, and Waverly can't stop staring.

        My sisters all talk at once excitedly to one another in a tone only they could understand. But I poke at my salad, finally working up the courage to ask: “where's Lachlan and Darcy? What happened to Margo?”

        The King doesn't look as though he's in the mood to eat either. But he does seem entertained by my sisters. “Darcy and Margo returned immediately to their Kingdoms following the incident. Lachlan went to complete one of Mikhail's chores this morning, and is out on a shrimping boat. If all goes well, he should return tomorrow morning.”

        “He left without saying goodbye... ” I murmur, fear beginning to cloud my thoughts.

       “He had no choice, Nerissa. We didn't want the press getting ahold of this mess. The guards had to escort him out very early in the morning. He wanted to speak with you, but the guards wouldn't allow it. He'll return in the morning tomorrow.”

       But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Lachlan is out on a shrimping boat today with only the sailor's word to protect him. How well do they know the sailors they're working with? An underlying fear made me lose my appetite, and my thoughts wander to Poseidon.

        What if Poseidon takes him? What if Poseidon realizes the love of my life is out on a shrimping boat? Then it's all over. I excuse myself early.

          Even though we're not telepathically connected anymore, it doesn't take a genius to realize that something is wrong. Glimmer later finds me out in the gardens, coming to sit beside me near the spot where Mikhail and I almost died, the spot where his blood stained the dewy green grass.

        The ocean's song is calling a strange, similar tune like it had the evening Mikhail was near death and a bad feeling builds and echoes in my stomach, and I wonder if Lachlan is on any of the boats in the harbor right now. Despite my aching sides, something strange is calling me back into the ocean and this time I know it won't release me.

       “No wonder why you wanted to leave Atlantis,” Glimmer says as she comes around the bend and into the garden. “Everything is so beautiful here. The people, the food . . . ” she doesn't wait for an answer, but comes to sit beside me and takes my hand. “You're worried about your Prince Charming, aren't you?”

       Is it that obvious? I gaze out towards the ocean, knowing and feeling that we will eventually have to go back. “If Poseidon really is angry with us, he'll find Lachlan. He'll drag him right to the depths to get me to marry Merrick.”

       “We won't let that happen, Ner — ”

        “I have no choice,” I snap. “Aquamarine did and she chose to love a servant. That's why she's going to now be either put to death or a show girl in a mermaid sanctuary like our mother.” I know I should have told her in a better way, but the words poured out on impulse before I could stop them and the tears threaten my eyes. I know that Glimmer and the others wanted to save me, but they should have let me die for Mikhail to live. They have no idea the secrets I hold in my head — ready to burst from my lips and bones. They have no idea what lies are entangled in its beauty. “Our mother, Glim, she left us and she is very much alive. I met her.”