Portal: A Nina Decker Novel Part 11

"What is it?" I asked.

"Never swim with a merman," she muttered.

She let out a shriek and was suddenly yanked beneath the surface. She didn't come up for a good ten seconds and I thought I heard a man's voice, very m.u.f.fled coming from underwater. Then her hand shot back up and grasped the pool's edge. When she surfaced, she spat out a mouthful of water.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

She pulled herself out of the pool and coughed some more.

"I'm so sorry," said Dashrael, with a small smile, which only made him look even more sinister.

He floated right next to me and I hadn't heard or felt anything.

Dani backed away from the pool's edge. She looked at me guiltily as she grabbed her towel and headed into the garden.

"I forget how fragile you air breathers are," said Dashrael. He swam around me. His body was as sinewy and as graceful as I had imagined it. Comparing him to an Olympian was a disservice. A professional athlete could only dream of attaining a body like his.

"I'm sure she'll get over it," I said to him. Despite Dani's warning I swam next to him. I'm a good swimmer but I felt like a clumsy, dog paddling child next to the merman. His swift, graceful movements through the water made my insides a little warm.

He said, "I must confess I wanted to talk to you in private."

"We're alone now," I said.

He dove down. I treaded water in the center of the deep end. The place became deathly quiet and I grew a little nervous. Dashrael came back up.

"You have a fine form," he said. "And strong muscles. I would almost believe you had some merfolk in you."

"I'm having enough trouble being high fae," I said.

This close I could see that his skin was made of perfect tiny scales. I hadn't noticed when he was dry. Despite this he looked as ravis.h.i.+ng as ever.

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" I asked him. "My form?"

"Not at all. I was hoping I could be a friend to you the way Lady D'Aniela has been," he told me. "You need many friends here."

"That's kind of you."

"As a friend I should tell you what you did yesterday wasn't smart."

"Oh?"

"Severin Saint Morgan is hated here. You didn't win yourself many allies."

"I didn't come here to play politics," I said.

"Neither did I," Dashrael confessed. "But I ended up playing the game anyway. No task is ever pure or simple. There's always politics."

He seemed genuinely tired and sad and regretful. A rare difference to the rest of the political players of court.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

He reached out to brush away a damp strand of hair from my face. I let him. I expected his touch to be rough from the scales but it was smooth. His hand lingered on my cheek and moved down my neck.

But then I remembered the attack at my pond back in Vancouver. Something had reached out of the water, grabbed me by the neck and tried to drown me. I recognized that hand and that touch.

I backed away from Dashrael. I was still a several strokes away from the pool's edge.

"You," I said. "It was you!"

I tried to swim for the shallow end. But Dashrael cut me off without any effort.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You tried to kill me back in Vancouver."

"Princess N'Lina, you are mistaken."

His hand shot out towards me. He gripped my shoulder and pushed me under, then quickly let go and I popped back up.

"I'm trying to help you."

He grabbed my upper arm and yanked me down again. I was underwater less than a second and came up.

"I'm trying to keep you from meddling in court affairs."

Down I went again. The constant ducking was worse than being held under. When I popped back to the surface I tried to take a breath only to be yanked back under.

"And I don't try to kill people," he hissed.

"Stop it!" I yelled before he pulled me back under. Water rushed down my throat. I surfaced and spat it out. My arms flailed about as I panicked in the deep water.

"Those whom I target, die," said Dashrael.

I went under again before I could take a breath. The world began to spin and I fell into blackness.

Chapter 15.

I was drowning, the slow painful demise as air escaped my lungs not to be replaced by anything but water. Dashrael kept pus.h.i.+ng and pulling me under, letting go then then pulling me down again. I tried to steal a breath of air and sucked down more water.

Then he let go and I scrambled for the pool edge. As I took a long ragged gasp, I looked up and there was J'Tara with a group of armored guards. Dani was next to them with her towel wrapped around her body.

"Is there something wrong here?" asked the captain of the guard.

"Perhaps I played a little too roughly with the princess," said Dashrael, with a smug look on his face.

Dani pulled me out and threw a towel over me. Even though my legs wobbled I wanted to get away as fast as possible. We left J'Tara and Dashrael. As we wound our way back through the gardens I felt a little better.

"Are you all right?" Dani asked. "When he held me underwater he told me to get out of there. I didn't know what else to do so I got the nearest help I could find. I'm sorry for leaving with him."

"He's kind of scary." I wondered what if anything would happen to him. "Think he'll end up in a cage in the town square?"

"Unlikely. He's down a lot of dirty work for Lord Wolfstriker in the past. You weren't hurt or least not that bad."

And I'm not exactly the favored grandchild, I silently added.

Just then J'Tara caught up to us with long strides. She was the last person I wanted to see.

"I hope you're all right," she said. There wasn't a gram of sincerity in her tone. I got the feeling she would have been happier to find me floating face down.

"Lord Dashrael explained to me it was all a misunderstanding," she went on.

"That was some misunderstanding," I sputtered. "I could have drowned."

"Oh if Dashrael wanted to kill you he would have succeeded, especially in water. That was just how merfolk play. Besides, why should he want to kill you, who will decide all our fates?"

Dani was holding my wrist. She squeezed it extra hard when J'Tara brought up the little prophecy. I gathered that bit of information was supposed to be on the QT.

"You're talking about the Great Codex," I said.

"Some scribbles Simeon discovered," said J'Tara with a grin. "I tell you if there's anyone who should want you dead it's me."

"What do mean?"

J'Tara said, "I meant no insult, princess. Just look at it from my perspective. I have trained as a warrior my entire life. I have worked my way up the ranks to become Nightfall's supreme military commander right alongside Lord Wolfstriker. For this coming war, and yes there will be another war because it is inevitable, I have spent countless days and nights planning and preparing. I have drilled my soldiers relentlessly and prepared miles of defenses. Yet according to some all of that is for naught. You see all my skill, talent and several lifetimes' worth of effort don't matter at all. It will come down to one half breed royal to decide who wins and who loses. I might as well have spent the whole time sitting on rump and getting fat eating sweet cakes."

She drew up to her full height. She was nearly a head taller than I was and I was 5' 9''. She glared down at me which clearly meant to scare the p.i.s.s out of me. And she was doing a pretty good job of it.

"Fortunately for you I don't believe in such nonsense as prophecies. I believe we make our own destinies. If I thought otherwise, well, I might have held you under myself."

I realized we were alone with J'Tara. She wore a sword and her hand gripped the pommel. Then it relaxed.

"But I do not believe such things. Come let us get you to your nice dry chambers."

I practically ran the rest of the way with Dani beside me.

I went to my room. The door didn't lock so I moved a chair against it. I didn't take my meals. I didn't even let Dani in.

"I'm sorry about what happened," she said from beyond the closed door.

"It's all right," I a.s.sured her.

Poor Dani, I thought. After all she did to get me out of my room here I am back in it, a scared little mouse.

That was exactly what I wanted her to think. That's what I wanted the rest of the palace to think. I was scared that was for certain. But I was also angry. I was angry at J'Tara, Dashrael, Lord and Lady Wolfstriker and all the other schemers in the castle. But most of all I was angry at myself for wasting a whole day on self-pity. I had been led around far too often since coming to Nightfall. I had been nearly drowned then threatened. They had tried to terrify me so I would be docile and easy to control. They wanted to make me into one of those black steeds that obeyed their rider's commands without question. But they weren't going to break me that easily. From that moment on I was going to decide my own course. And the first thing I wanted to do was see Severin. I had to talk with him.

I waited for it to get dark out. Then I changed into my olive pants and black top. I opened the window and checked for guard patrols. Once I was out of my room I headed back into town.

I reached the bottom of the hill and returned to the th.o.r.n.y ditch. There was no clear path through but I could feel the plants calling to me. They wanted to help. I crouched low, out of sight of the guards on the stone bridge and touched the ground. Like in the forest, I felt the souls of these plants. They weren't old and grumpy. They were young and playful. And they were willing to play "Let's Make a Path for Nina." Instantly the th.o.r.n.y bushes pulled back and I found a path to the other side.

The town was quiet and dark. Everyone had gone to bed. There were a few guardsmen about. They carried lanterns before them so I was able to spot them before they spotted me and I made my way to the town square unseen. The crowds had left him alone by now. The cage was smeared with stains and rubbish was strewn about. Severin sat in the corner wrapped in Coldiron's fraying jacket. The cage was made of both iron and silver. It made me sick just to get close to it but I had to.

"Severin," I said.

When he saw me, his face softened. He thrust his arm forward even though it caused him pain. I grasped it and I kissed it.

"I'm sorry for what I said in the tower," he told me. "I didn't mean any of it."

"You tried to protect me," I said. "Just like you did back in the forest. But what I need now is the truth."

Severin sighed. "The whole truth may not be that comforting. When I originally saw you my first thoughts were about revenge. Revenge on your grandparents and your mother. I was still full of anger and hate over that day. But then I met you."

"What changed?" I asked.

"Everything. I didn't want to hurt you or see you hurt. Soon I realized I'd do anything to keep you safe. Then I started to think about the day of the attack."

"You didn't lead the attack. You came to stop it."

Severin nodded, "Shana and Tristan had grown up together. They were best friends. Where one went the other was sure to follow. Even after I married Shana that didn't change."

"Was the attack their idea?"

"For a long time I thought so. But no. They were tricked. And then they were killed to keep them quiet."

"You wanted to be captured so at the trial you could learn the truth."

He nodded. "I thought if I could champion myself I would at least have the chance. But your grandfather took care of that. There's no escape for me now. Some here would call that justice."

"Don't say that."

"Nina, I never told you about my past here in Nightfall because I was ashamed. "

"Ashamed of being a slave?"

"No, ashamed of what I did before that. You heard the story so you know about the Second Lycan War. My clan was part of that. Linus Coldiron insisted that we free our people and leave. My grandfather wouldn't listen. He convinced the others to stay here and become rulers. I was born here, not as a slave but as a baron. I ruled over some of the fae and I was a bad ruler. After my father and grandfather were killed I and a few others insisted on staying. That's how we became slaves. It was our own fault."

Severin gripped the cage bars. The silver burned his hands. "Nina you have to promise me you'll leave here, regardless what happens. You can't stay. There's this-"

"I know about the Codex and what it says about me."

"It's not just that. Nina, you can't choose a winning side if you're dead. If they think you're not on their side, they're going to kill you."