Mervidia (9 page)

Chapter
Nine

The silence of the room made Marin want to scream; she hated waiting for someone else to make what should be her decisions. Although, deep down in her gut, she knew that the devious machinations of Mervidia were beyond her existing wiles.
Yet, how will I learn, unless given the opportunity to be tested?
Marin thought angrily. She sat back in her small fishbone chair, next to her half-brother, who was reclining in an identical seat to her own. Marin scowled at the rows of books upon the carved stone shelves that lined all four of the square office’s walls. It was an impressive collection, considering each volume and its interior were made from flayed merwin skin, its text tattooed with enchanted octopus ink onto the magically preserved pages.

The room tangibly throbbed with power.
It always caused Marin to pause upon entering, until she could center herself, acclimating to the thrum of mystical energies that constantly bombarded her body. Sadly, such sensations were lost on her inane ungifted brother, who as usual had just swum right on in and was wholly unaffected. Marin focused on breathing in that power as she sat in her chair, feeling its little tendrils as they moved in through her hands and down into her chest, loving the way they filled her with warmth. If she closed her eyes, Marin could see the lines of the otherworldly mystic coils, light purple and black braiding and unbraiding, churning especially around the books, raw power begging to be tapped.

The archive belonged to her father Uchenna, who was the Domo of House Chimaera.
He allowed her to peruse the kalku spell books and historical chronicles on rare occasions, but only under his direct supervision. He had only shown her
the tiniest portion of the extensive library, and Marin’s constant requests to see more had become a sore topic between the young kalku and her parents.

Marin dismissed the room’s mystical current, her thoughts turning angry
; she could accidently hurt someone, her rage maliciously manifesting when engaged in simple conversation. Unlike her father, she thought it was best not to channel magic when she was angry. She was just so tired of being treated like a defenseless fry. One day, her father’s book collection would be passed on to her, his only blood heir and the sole child with any magical ability. She had a right to their contents, to the untapped knowledge that should be shared, at least amongst close kin.
I am an adult,
she thought, tightening her lower tentacles around the chair’s legs, subconsciously wringing the piece of furniture in her frustration.
I should be allowed to do as I please and make my own choices.

Uchenna sat behind his
murky coral desk in a matching chair. Both were created by his great grandsire’s spell-shaping and further ensorcelled to halt the anthozoans’ development and reproduction. The coral had been grown in place, an ancient bioherm that was bonded to the stone floor and was nearly as old as House Chimaera. Additionally, the furniture was infused with octolaide blood, giving it its dark ruddy color. Other than being shaped for functionality, it had been left mostly to its natural branching state. The chair’s back spread out behind her father’s shoulders, like an octolaide spreading its tentacles, and snaked ominously about him, resembling a massive vertical collar. It made Uchenna look every bit the part of a Merwin domo; regal, sagacious, and deadly.

Uchenna’s tentacles were relaxed and lightly undulated in the room’s subtle currents, genera
ted from the narrow vents that dotted the floor of every room in the house, circulating the water and keeping it fresh. Deep in thought, he made no direct movement, just sat with his elbows on the desk holding his chin in his clasped hands. Marin’s mother Odette floated quietly and impassively by her husband’s side, conceding to his right as domo to make the final decisions for House Chimaera.

Marin could tell that the silence was taking its toll on her brother as well; his fidgeting was getting worse.
Ebon even looked pale, an impressive feat considering his skin was already bone white. Upon a closer glance, Ebon actually looked like he was about to pass out, as nervous as he seemed. Finally, their father spoke.

“Marin will marry Iago,” Uchenna stated in an even-toned voice.
Marin had been afraid he would say that. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, and the fish she had eaten on her way to her father’s office was suddenly not sitting well in her stomach.

“Father, please, I don’t want to marry Iago,” Marin said, instantly regretting the words as soon as she
had said them.
Stupid girl!
She scolded herself.
Keep your pitiful heartache to yourself!
Uchenna turned on her like a hungry shark, his white eyes widening in anger. Odette’s eyes, on the other hand, narrowed disapprovingly.

“Daughter,” Uchenna said, calmly at first, “I don’t
want
you to marry Iago either. I
wanted
Ebon to be crowned with the Fangs!” he finished with a malicious snarl, some of his anger seeping into his words. Odette put a hand on his shoulder though, and Uchenna checked his rage. House Chimaera’s domo calmed himself by sucking water slowly into the gills in his neck and expelling it out his rib slits before speaking again. “However, Iago has impressed the Coral Assembly. He took initiative after the Queen’s death by immediately sending out an investigator, before any of us council members thought to do so. We were still too shocked by the news of her assassination to act before the meeting. I, for one, also waited in an effort to garner more of the details before I took action. Sadly, very little of what transpired was revealed to us at the meeting.

“If Iago can identify the Queen’s murderer and put the culprit to death by his own hand, he will prove himself in the eyes of Mervidia,” Uchenna continued, getting back to the heart of the situation.
“Iago will be crowned, and you must be made consort, Marin.” The young female crossed her arms across her chest and pursed her lips, withholding any further foolish words.

“My love,” Odette said to Uchenna, her voice smooth as eel
skin, “what if the Coral Assembly chooses Ghita or one of her twins instead, for sovereign or royal consort? They are the last of House Lumen and the Divine Family.”

Before Uchenna could reply, Ebon couldn’t contain himself any longer.
“Along those lines, why wouldn’t Damaris be crowned? She is the Queen Mother after all,” Ebon interjected.

Uchenna took another deep inhalation, obviously trying not to lose his temper with his favored child, despite the lack-witted question.
Why father treasures Ebon so much is beyond me,
Marin wondered inwardly.
He is an idiot and wouldn’t last a day on Mervidia’s throne.
Her brother’s contemplations were far off course. Odette just looked annoyed, crossing her arms across her chest.
So that is where I get that,
Marin grinned, glancing down at her own similarly placed limbs.

“T
he Assembly would not choose a barren heirless crone, when there is so much potential in the younger, more fertile generation,” Uchenna patiently answered. He turned to his wife, replying to her original question. “Ghita, for the same reasons, would not be chosen. Her egg laying cycles are over.” Ebon sat back in his chair, looking defeated.

And probably feeling pretty
foolish
, Marin thought, casting him a pitying sidelong glance.

“And her twins, Cassondra and Flinn?” Odette asked, her eyes cast downward at her husband.
Uchenna opened his mouth to reply, but Marin interjected this time, seeing an opportunity to prove herself a clever daughter and worthy of her parents’ favor.

“The twins can be eliminated,” Marin said, grinning at her grizzly solution.
Uchenna raised an eyebrow at her, but it was Odette who replied, not with words but by crossing over to her daughter’s chair with a quick flick of her tentacles, and slapping Marin viciously across the face.

“Foolish child, you never say such things aloud,” Odette scolded.
“Privacy is only an illusion. Mervidia’s ears hear all!” Marin held her cheek, which stung horribly like she had accidently brushed up against fire coral. Odette did not return to Marin’s father’s side; she remained, hovering over her daughter with a scornful look creasing the flawless skin of her brow. Ebon had instinctively edged to the side of his chair and farther away from his mother’s wrath.

“Enough!” Uchenna barked sharply.
His wife’s and children’s eyes returned to their domo. “If Iago is to be crowned, I will offer Marin’s name as consort. Quag will second my suggestion, which will validate it for a full Assembly vote.” Uchenna rose and removed his purple kelp coat, as if he felt stifled by its voluminous folds, letting it float to the floor in his disdain. He flushed water in through his gills and out through the vents on the sides of his chest again. Marin knew this was how her father soothed himself, as did most merwin. No one spoke until he was done, though Marin and Odette glanced at each other, feeling Uchenna begin to draw magic into his body. Uchenna closed his eyes, and he drew more power. The water became colder and soiled by some unseen waste. The room’s current ceased and the seawater grew stale. The other octolaides swayed, feeling Uchenna drawing on their life forces. Marin felt as if she would vomit up the fish that was already churning in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself, but to her sorcerous senses the room was too awash with the bright searing purple of active kalku magic being drained from the library’s waters and sucked into the kalku. Marin’s head pulsated painfully, but she managed to glance up.

Uchenna opened his eyes.
White a moment before, they now glowed an ominous inky shade of purple.

“I will deal with any
complications
,” Uchenna stated, his voice resonating throughout the room, amplified by his magically charged body. The weight of his voice pushed his kin to the floor, and Marin felt the chill of the stones through her palms as she bowed with her hands on the ground, fingers splayed out before her father. “You three
will
obey my wishes. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, father,” Ebon and Marin said together, as their foreheads were pushed to the floor.
The young kalku female thought her head would be crushed against the stone; the pressure was rapidly approaching lethal force. Marin inwardly growled, as she clenched her teeth against the pain.
I… will… not scream … I will prove… myself… a worthy… daughter.

“As you wish, my love,” Odette said more slowly, her body
pushed to the floor but her head was still raised. Her eyes were boldly focused on Uchenna and held a palpable amount of derision.

Marin felt
immense pride, as she rotated her head slightly to look upon her mother.
She does not bow easily,
Marin thought, trying to divert her attention from the physical pain that was being inflicted upon her.
One day, I will be her.
Marin knew that her mother was strong enough in her own kalku magic that she was most likely only lowering herself in a display of respect, not because Uchenna’s spell had forced her as it had his young, still-pliant progenies.

A knock at the door broke the tension in the room, and Uchenna released the spell with a si
mple exhalation through his rib gills. The room’s current resumed, as refreshing as it had been before. Odette and her children rose. The octolaide matron was closest to the door, so she opened it.

For the
domo to be disturbed in such a delicate meeting with his family, it must be important,
Marin thought, trying her best to compose herself after her father’s disturbing display of dominance.

A House Chimaera guard stood just outside the door.
He held a bone spear in one hand, and two more of the weapons in his tentacles. His other arm was extended, causing his conch shell pauldron to tilt backwards, as he held out a scroll to Odette. She took it, nodded curtly, and closed the door.

Odette broke the mucus seal, unrolled the parchment, made from an expired
seifeira, judging by the swirling tattoos on its outside, and read its contents. Marin could not tell what it said; her mother’s stone-like face betrayed nothing. When Odette was done, she rolled up the scroll and swam across the room, handing it to Uchenna.

“Flinn of House Lumen is dead,”
Odette stated. Uchenna took the scroll from her, reopened it, and began eagerly reading it himself. “He was found just outside the palace, mutilated
almost beyond recognition by House Lumen’s own shiver of frilled sharks,” Odette supplied to her children. Uchenna finished reading the news for himself and set the scroll down on his desk.

“At least we won’t have to worry about Flinn now,” Uchenna said with a small smirk, but h
is enthusiastic expression rapidly sobered. “This means that someone else is working and working fast. We must quickly put our plan into motion or we’ll be beaten in the race for the Fangs.” Uchenna’s face grew thoughtful. “Come, Ebon,” he said, swimming across the room to his stepson’s side and placing a guiding hand upon his back. “I need to prepare you for the Queen’s funeral tomorrow and the next Coral Assembly meeting. If you are called inside and asked to speak, you must look the part of a king, and more importantly your words must be chosen carefully.” Without so much as a glance at the females, Uchenna departed with Ebon, placing his hand onto his stepson’s shoulder as he escorted him out of the room. Ebon had probably already forgiven their father for his angry magical outburst.