In Deeper Waters F.T. Lukens (acx book reading txt) 📖

over themselves, and while he left out the wonder of Athlen’s reveal, and the kisses they’d shared, and the despair he’d felt sending messages in blood and tar, they were all there in the telling, in the hitch of his breath, the stutter of his tongue, and the moisture on his cheeks, which he wiped away with his sleeve.

“Tally,” Isa breathed when he’d finished, tears glistening in her eyes. “You are so brave.”

“I’m not,” Tal said quickly. “I merely did what was needed to survive, to see you all again, to ensure our family would not come to harm.”

“You did well, Tally,” Garrett said, grasping his shoulder and squeezing. “You did well.”

Tal studied the table. “I was ashamed for what I did to Zeph’s ship and for my lack of control. I still am.” His voice cracked. “But I know that if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you now. And we’d be in a war that would hurt our kingdom, orchestrated by someone who doesn’t care about our people.”

“You did nothing wrong,” his mother said sharply. “They tortured you and you survived. That is what is important.”

Tal wilted under his mother’s scrutiny and nodded.

Kest tapped his fingers on the table. “How did Athlen save you from drowning? Garrett and I…” His words went quiet, his jaw worked, and his next words sounded thick with grief. “We searched and searched and almost drowned ourselves trying to find you.”

Tal shot a look to Athlen.

Athlen bit his lip, appearing small and intimidated in the presence of the royal house. He cleared his throat. “I’m a… I’m…” He licked his lips. “Well, I’ll show you.” He disentangled from Tal and lifted his hand, his long knobby fingers spread apart, and slowly they transformed, scales rippled over his skin, and webbing grew between the digits.

“Oh,” his mother said, fingertips at her throat, her expression one of delighted surprise. “A merman.”

Stunned silence followed, broken only by the sound of a shutter on the high windows shifting in the ocean wind. They stared, and Athlen dropped his hand and tucked it under the table, while a high blush spread into his cheeks.

“Yes,” Athlen said, voice wobbling high into a question.

Tal’s siblings erupted with questions. Tal ignored them, instead staring at the way his mother glanced wistfully at the tapestries in the room, settling on the one with the mermaids on the beach. Mind whirring, he took in the cadre of fantastic creatures—unicorns, mermaids, a manticore, a howler—and experienced his own epiphany.

“You knew,” he said.

The chaos died down at his words, and his mother smiled softly.

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand,” Isa said.

Corrie squinted. “Knew what?”

His mother waved her hand toward the tapestries. “King Lon did damage to more than just the other kingdoms. He attacked all magic not his own, either killing it or driving it into hiding. The merfolk dove to the deep, where my grandfather could not follow, and remained.”

Poppy hadn’t been lying. She’d known. King Lon had killed the creatures, which meant he did drive the mage into the sea. The water mage and the sea witch were one and the same.

“The myths,” Kest said, leaning forward, Corrie’s hand on his arm to keep him from toppling. “The ones you made us read as children. They’re real?”

“In more ways than you can imagine.”

“How could you not tell me?”

“Ever the scholar,” Garrett said on a sigh. “If you’d spent more time at sea, you’d have heard the stories.”

Athlen’s eyes grew wide. “You know about merfolk?”

“Very little,” the queen said, “and only what my grandmother told me before she died. Unfortunately, the creatures were the first of Lon’s conquests, completed when he was a young man, before my mother was born. I’m afraid all their history is lost here on the continent. He saw to that.” Her words sat heavy over the group—a reminder of the ruthlessness and cruelty of their ancestor. “But I wonder,” she said, tapping her lips. “How are you able to traverse land? I wasn’t aware the merfolk could change at will like the shifters. It’s a different kind of magic, isn’t it?”

“We can’t. I made a bargain with a sea witch for legs. I was lonely after my family disappeared. That was several years ago.”

“And what was this bargain?”

“That’s not for discussion.” Athlen’s voice was clipped and strained, the little composure he’d gathered stripped away.

The queen frowned, and a tense silence settled in the room.

Athlen’s chin lifted in defiance.

“Athlen is the last,” Tal blurted.

Athlen startled, head whipping around to stare at Tal, then he hunched in his seat and confirmed Tal’s statement with a sharp nod. “It’s true.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Athlen,” his mother said. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Well,” Isa said, hands clasped tightly on the table. “This has been enlightening, but it does not address the fact that we are on the brink of war with Mysten and that Tally has shown the world that he is capable of carrying on Lon’s legacy.”

“What do you wish to do, my daughter? We can annul the marriage with Emerick. The alliance will stand, since they will be indebted to us after Vanessa’s treachery.”

“No, it’s stronger with the marriage ties. I don’t believe Emerick had anything to do with the plots against us.” She rubbed her brow, the first sign of her fatigue, her composure cracking slightly. “I don’t believe he’s capable.”

“We’ll need to be certain.”

“I’ll question the captives,” Garrett said. “I’ll wring the truth from them. Tally will accompany me. They’ve seen what he can do; they may provide more information under threat.”

Tal swallowed. “I’ll not hurt them.”

“You won’t have to,” Garrett said.

Isa straightened her posture. “And I’ll have Emerick send a letter to his brother, King Rodrick, and demand an apology and recompense for what their sister has done to my brothers.”

“And Tally?” Kest asked. “His magic?”

“Tally can stay behind the castle walls, right?” Corrie asked. She clutched Kest’s arm. “It was a mistake. We’ll say it was a mistake.”

“I’ll not hide,” Tal said, frowning. He studied the grain of the table,