Lucia's Reign

Chapter 4

~Serafina~

Mahdi left at noon today. It was now time for dinner. I just couldn't believe that Mahdi and I were married, but aren't spending time with each other. Instead Lucia ruined it. Now I was sitting at dinner with my brother Des, Neela, and Astrid, but no Mahdi.

Dinner was quiet until Des spoke up. "Sera, are you okay?" he asked.

"Hm?" I looked up at him, and saw everyone looking back at me. "Oh. I'm fine," I said. I couldn't tell if I was lying, or telling the truth.

"Are you sure?"

I sigh, and put down my fork, and put my head in my hands. "I don't know Des. I can't wrap my head around anything that happened today."

"Hey, it'll be okay. We'll find her."

"But what if we don't?"

Astrid spoke up. "Who are you trying to find?" she asked.

I completely forgot to tell Astrid what was going on. I hadn't told anyone but Neela what was going on. I move my hands to look at her. "Luica. She attacked this morning, and we haven't found her yet."

"What? What did she do?"

"She caused one of the merfolk in the lower circle of Cerulea to explode. He killed two people, and we're unsure of injuries. But Mahdi left before lunch to make sure she didn't attack Matali," Des said.

"So is that where he his? Back in Matali?" I nod my head. "I'm sorry that this had to happen."

"There's nothing any of us could do to stop her. She came out of nowhere. She took advantage of our wedding, and used it to strike. We think that she used the explosion as a distraction so she could get out of Miromara and into Matali without anyone knowing what she was doing," I say.

Just then the doors open, and a Miromaran guard, and an Matalian guard swim in. The Matalian guard is leaning against the Miromaran. He lifts his face, and I see that it's Yazeed. Neela swims up to her brother.

"Yazeed!" she yells. We all follow her to Yazeed.

"What happened?" Des asked.

"We were attacked," Yazeed choked out.

"By who? Yazeed by who?"

"Lucia."

I stand straight up. They were attacked on their way to Matali. Yazeed was here, and Mahdi wasn't.

"No," I say under my breath. "Yazeed, where's Mahdi?" Yazeed coughs. "Yaz where is he?"

"Lucia has him. I was the only one that survived the attack. She didn't know I was still alive, and I escaped. But she took Mahdi, he was still alive when she took him."

"We have to go and find him. If he is still alive we need to find him."

"Sera," Des said.

"No. We need to find him. If we don't Matali is without a ruler, and I'm not going to risk it. Take Yazeed to the infirmary."

"Sera. Let Astrid and I go out and find him. You and Neela stay here in case Lucia decides to double back at attack again. We'll come back once we have Mahdi. Sera the realm needs you. If Matali loses Mahdi, Miromara can't lose you."

I sigh. I knew I wasn't going to win this one. Des was right, my realm needed me. But all I could think about was if Mahdi was dead or not. "Fine go. But please bring him home," I said.

"We will. We won't be back until we find him. I promise we will bring him back," Des said.

He kissed the top of my head, then him and Astrid swam out of the room. As the door closed I set my head in my hands and began to cry. It was silent at first, then it turned into loud sobs. Neela swam up to me and held me.

"Oh Neela," I crying into her shoulder.

"Shh. It'll be alright. Mahdi doesn't go down with out a fight. You two are some of the strongest mer I know," Neela said rubbing my back.

"It's just that it's been five years since we've even seen Lucia. There's no telling how much stronger she's gotten. If she can take down Yazeed and Mahdi, she can take down Des and Astrid."

"Sera do you hear yourself? Ever since Lucia attempted to kill you, you've been this way. Where's the fearless leader that held a shipwreck ghost's hand for a necklace? Where's the Sera who spent months in a cave in the most desolate part of goblin territory?"

I pull away from Neela. She was right. I had changed. I rub the scar on my chest. A constant reminder of what happened. "I don't know Neela. I've been so scared to lose everything again. Then I had lost everything already, and I didn't have much to lose. But now I have it all back, and I'm afraid to lose it again."

"Hey. If you lose it, you lose it. We'll fight Lucia again, and again, until you have it back. The throne belongs to you, not her. If she wants it, she'll have to fight you for it."

I wipe my eyes. "And I never go down without a fight."

"There you go. Now I know you're worried for Mahdi, Des, and Astrid, but don't be. If Des and Astrid run into trouble they'll come for help. They are the two most strongest mer I know. You and Mahdi are next."

I laugh. "Des and Astrid are perfect for each other. I wish he would just work up the nerve to propose. They've been dating for five years."

"Maybe he will soon. Now that's a couple I fully support. And to think five years ago you and Astrid wanted nothing to with each other. Unless it includes killing the other."

I laugh. I do remember that. Astrid and I attacked each other when we first arrived at the Iele's caves. Now we were very close. It was as if we were friends the entire time.

"There you go. There's the old Sera. Now let's eat, and just think about good things."

So Neela and I swim to the table to finish our meals.