The Waters Read online

  Contents

  Copyrights

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  A note from the Author

  About the Author

  COPYRIGHTS

  Reproducing this book without permission from the author or the publisher is an infringement of its copyright. This book is a work of fiction. The characters names, names of places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real or used without the author’s authorization. Any resemblance to any actual events or persons, living or dead, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 A.K. Clark

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by Tina Winograd.

  Proofread by Shannon Page.

  Cover Design by Coffee and Characters. All Rights Reserved.

  Interior Design and Formatting By Stephany Wallace. All Rights Reserved.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  An A.K. Clark publication:

  May 31, 2019

  DEDICATION

  To everyone who has a dream

  and for those who believe in them.

  I hurried down the halls of the Blue Water Castle, running as fast as a ten-year-old could. The magicked walls held shells of varying sizes and beauty. Tonight they weren't beautiful but hollow and cold. The only thing remaining after whatever creature used to live in it left it abandoned. Forgotten. Like me.

  "Mom!" My screaming echoed through the hall, bouncing back and slapping me in the face. The castle was deserted. It couldn't be. She wouldn't leave me. I took a corner too fast and had to jump back to avoid colliding with an adult.

  "I'm sorry!" I shouted in surprise.

  "Child," the woman said soothingly. She seemed so familiar. "Why are you racing through the castle?"

  "I can't find my mother." My voice cracked. The woman's hair blurred as I blinked back tears.

  "She's here, my petite conch," she said as she stroked my cheek. I wiped a tear and looked at her again.

  "Mom?"

  She nodded and pulled me into a hug. I nestled into her comforting embrace, but the moment contentment filled me, something ripped me from her arms. I stood alone screaming for her to come back.

  "Ezme." The person shaking me shouted my name. I grabbed the hand on my shoulder and shoved it away as I woke from the dream.

  "Ezme," the voice said again with more command.

  I shook off the fragments of the dream and focused on the person sitting at the edge of my bed. Sleep had rumpled her aqua nightgown and her blond hair was askew from lying in bed. Eyes turbulent like the ocean, deep blue and swirling with the entirety of our home, the Blue Waters, stared back at me.

  "Mom," I whispered in relief though not in surprise. I should have known. Every day for the last ten years I woke like this. Sweaty, out of breath, and empty like the shells adorning the castle walls. What I didn't understand about the dream was my mom always woke me. Why the debilitating fear of abandonment manifested in my dreams was beyond me.

  The mother sitting in front was a stark contrast to the mother in my dreams. Where my mother was pale with blond hair, the imaginary one had dark skin and hair--like me. I’d asked her once before if I was adopted, but the question made her furious and she explained that my father had dark features like me.

  A familiar sadness gripped at me. It was hard to miss someone you never knew; the sadness was more self-pity for having never known what it was like to have a dad, and my mother refused to tell me anything about him. His death had broken her heart.

  My mother's pale hands stroked my hair before tucking it behind my ear and holding my face in her porcelain palms. I searched the endless depths of her eyes, which raged like the ocean itself, for some sign as to why I dreamed of her leaving me. Why do I fear losing you? I wondered but, as always, I saw nothing in her eyes to help me understand. She hardly understood the dream either. But she was here.

  I wrapped my hand around her arm and pulled. She toppled over with an oomph and hesitated before she stiffly hugged me back. Her reaction didn't bother me. It was a part of who she was. While affection made my heart warm, she shied away from and cringed at the thought of physical contact. In some ways, our personalities were as different as our skin was.

  Aside from me, everyone in the Blue Waters was pale like my mother. She never spoke of my father. Every time I asked, she would go silent, refusing to acknowledge the question. The only thing I knew about him was that he was different and had green magic which he passed on to me too.

  She patted my back, extracted herself from the hug and sat back in her queenly manner. Or at least as queenly as she could be on her daughter's bed. She smoothed her nightgown, and I smirked. Even in the middle of the night, she fretted over her appearance. Dressed for day, night, or sleep, my mother was beautiful. Every curve, cheekbone, and piece of hair like sculpted marble.

  Though the only sculptures I'd ever seen were those made from water, but I'd heard of sculptures made on the Lands. Those were the ones I imagined when I looked at my mother. Her face captivated thousands but her heart held love for few. I was lucky to be one of the few. I admit being her daughter probably had something to do with garnering her affection, but there were days when I worried I'd fallen out of her favor. Still, even after the worst of fights, she rescued me from the dream.

  She cleared her throat. "I assume it was the same as always?" One delicate brow arched.

  "Yes." I dropped my head, ashamed. I had turned twenty a little over six months ago. What kind of adult still needed their mother’s comfort after a bad dream?

  "Nothing different?"

  "No." My head shook back and forth so hard I thought it might topple off.

  The softly spoken question didn't fool me. The sharp edge of her inquiry poked between my eyes. I closed my mind to her magic, picturing nothing but the empty halls of my dream. I didn't want her to see the woman in my dreams. I couldn't bear to face her after she saw the mother my mind conjured. A woman who wasn't her.

  Dreams were tricky things and the mind created pearls from the smallest, most insignificant pebble in the ocean. Something told me this woman was important, if only in my dreams. The brief moments I spoke with her were warmer and wrapped in more love than any I'd ever had with the Queen of the Blue Waters. I didn't feel unloved, but I didn't feel completely loved.

  "Same as always." She nodded in confirmation. "You should sleep fine now; rest well, Ezme." Accustomed to my nightly routine, we both knew I was safe from the dream until tomorrow. For whatever reason, the dream only came once a night. I never fell back into its terrifying grip. The sharp probing of her magic eased until it left me with a mild headache.

  "Goodnight," I whispered.

  I rubbed my temples while she got up to leave. I hated when she used her magic on me. Thankfully I had strong shields. She hadn't just hired magic tutors for me; she’d pulled tenured professors from various land institutes to inst
ruct me on the ways of the Lands and magic.

  Professors rotated tutoring duties based on their sabbatical leave. They had each given me a year of their undivided attention and mentoring until I became proficient in magic.

  My defensive skills were lacking, but I had worked hard to become good. I wasn’t the best magic user. That title fell to my mother, but I was one of the more competent users in the Blue Waters. The only thing preventing my mother from discovering the mother I hid in my dreams was the hours I'd spent shielding this last year.

  I turned over in my water bed, which swayed like the ocean surrounding the castle, and stared at my room. A faint white glow came from the castle walls. The goddess-blessed magic created the perfect nightlight. I didn’t need one. I might’ve had bad dreams, but I wasn’t scared of the dark. The glow from the goddess’s magic was comforting; a reminder that a divine being watched over us and cared about our well-being.

  Magic sculpted the castle from the water--walls, turrets, halls, windows, and everything else flash-frozen by the goddess's magic. Our hair and belongings didn't float toward the surface. The magic anchored the castle and those within it, providing an artificial, water-free, land-like gravity.

  Outside the castle was the vast ocean where we needed our tails to move about. In the castle, we walked like the land people. Every mermaid had basic magic, the ability to transform tail into legs. While I liked walking around like the people of the Lands, I spent most of my time in the water. Transforming my tail to legs wasn't hard, but legs just weren't natural, and as a mermaid, I felt more at home in the water than I did in the castle.

  I didn't understand why the goddess made the castle the way she did, but I was sure it had something to do with the land people and their innate ability to drown if submerged for too long. Or maybe she provided the castle as a place to develop our balance before we ventured above the surface of the Blue Waters. Nothing spelled weak like a freshly beached mermaid who couldn't walk. The goddess wasn't weak, and neither were we.

  I shifted up in bed, looking out my window at the base of the ocean floor below. The only movement came from the sentinels swimming around the perimeter. I hoped Aiden was out on patrol, but they were too far away to make out any distinguishing features. I sighed and laid back; my body swayed on top of the water bed and I felt sleep creeping up on me. I welcomed the dreamless void waiting for me with open arms.

  My eyes were closed, my mind tried to convince my body it could sleep for ten more minutes when Mia swept into my room, bustling about and picking up discarded things and putting them in their rightful places. I groaned but kept my eyes closed, ten more minutes. Morning and I got along like orange juice and toothpaste. No one liked us together.

  "Ezme," she scolded, "you have ten seconds to get your tail out of bed before I drag you out by it."

  I stifled a snort.

  "You shouldn't threaten someone if you don't plan on following through with it." I peeked at her from over my shoulder before I was whipped out of bed and flung to the ground.

  "Mia!" I feigned shock. "You can't do that. I'm a princess!"

  "Princess or not, your mother wants you ready for breakfast by nine, and it is already eight thirty." She crossed her arms in defiance.

  "The queen wants this. The queen wants that. Doesn't anyone ever stop to think about what other people want?" I quipped, but Mia didn't laugh. Her faced sobered with the reminder of her servitude. No one would ever ask what she wanted. Except me.

  Mia was like a sister to me. At twenty-three, she was only a few years older. While my mother was busy ruling the Blue Waters, Mia kept me company. Mia helped me practice my magic. She had been there for the things my mother should have taken care of. My first period. My first breakup when I was fourteen, though I admit it was a silly notion to be heartbroken over a sentinel twice my age who hardly looked my way and our so-called "relationship" only existed in my head.

  But Mia had been there through it all. Soothing my broken heart, ushering me into womanhood, braiding my hair, and belting out songs at the top of her lungs with me. Aiden may have been my best friend, but for what it was worth, Mia was my family. If only in the secrecy of my heart.

  "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

  "It's all right. Now get up and brush your teeth so I can fix your hair." She snapped twice and pointed at my bathroom. I closed the door behind me and scrubbed furiously. Tired green eyes stared back at me as I rinsed the seaweed-based toothpaste clinging to my teeth. I watched the dirty water as it swirled down and out of the purge drain before new water washed the sink out. Gotta love magic plumbing.

  Mia knocked on the door and I hurried out and sat in my vanity chair. She set to work, her delicate fingers weaving intricate braids in my hair. She was unusually quiet this morning, but I attributed it to the pressure she felt to get me ready in time. She pulled back one side of my hair, letting the rest fall over one shoulder in a combination of loose waves and braids.

  "Now get dressed. I laid out the purple gown."

  I smiled. My mom preferred I wear blue to match the color of our royal banners, but purple did wonders for my green eyes. Mia surprised me by choosing a more formal dress today, but I didn't have time to ponder her reasoning. I stepped into the gown and Mia laced up the back and completed a final inspection, picking flecks of lint off fabric and straightening a wayward piece of hair before she deemed me worthy. She worried her lip and I paused, wondering if her silence was due to more than the rush to get ready.

  "Is everything all right?" I asked her.

  Her ice-blue eyes flitted away from mine and she fidgeted, a sure sign she wasn't going to tell me a thing. I sighed. My mother had provided Mia with details but had used magic to forbid her from speaking to me about it.

  I figured out her manipulations early on and it hardly surprised me anymore. Refuse to attend one royal meeting and everyone got their tails in a bunch. Now, whenever she worried I might ruin her plans, she compelled Mia to silence. Based on the dress Mia had selected, I assumed we'd be meeting with members of high court today.

  "Fine, but we will discuss this when I return," I grumbled. We had to come up with some loophole, maybe sign language? We'd already tried notes but that hadn't worked. We were both disappointed when Mia's hand had hovered frozen over the paper, unyielding to the magic.

  "Have a good breakfast," she said, eyeing me with a pity that set my nerves on edge.

  The royal staff scurried about the halls, rushing to finish their morning duties. A baroness curtsied as she passed. I nodded in acknowledgment. I hated the formality, but as princess, I had a role to play. Thankfully the west wing housing the royal dining rooms was empty save a few maids too busy shaking the dust off blue tapestries to notice my passing. I hurried to the smaller stone table where breakfast was laid out. At least our company would be small; the table could only seat six. Some of my apprehension melted away with the realization.

  "Good morning." I greeted my mother as a server pulled out my chair. The fresh fruit on silver platters was a pleasant surprise. The fruit had to be carried from the Lands in a magicked bag and its presence could only mean one thing: this was an important meeting.

  "Morning, Ezme. I trust you slept well after I left you." Her tone was more conversational than one of actual concern. She hadn’t looked up when she spoke.

  "I did, thank you." I eyed the fruit. Princess or not, I had to wait to eat until the queen ate. She nursed her morning tea, not sparing the food a glance. It seemed eating would have to wait. I picked up my freshly poured cup of tea, thanking the server before taking a tentative sip. Satisfied it wouldn't burn my mouth, I took a bigger drink before setting it down again.

  "Do I have the pleasure of knowing who we will entertain for breakfast?" I barely sounded bitter.

  "You'll know soon enough," she said. "After breakfast, we have a meeting with Baroness Charlotte." That was the woman I had passed in the hall. I couldn't remember why she'd come to meet with my mother.

 
"Earl Salamon and family," the server announced upon their entrance. The corners of my lips rose in a wicked smile. Aiden's family? Maybe breakfast wouldn't be half bad.

  "You can't be serious," I scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Aiden to say can you believe this? He never saw the look because he watched my mother with a polite smile. His mother and father sat in the same stony silence while my mother glared at me. Seriously, marriage? Aiden and me? Nope. No way.

  "Ezme." Her cold tone had me bracing for a fight. She’d already made the decision. Informing me was just a formality.

  "I won't do it," I said. Aiden flinched as if my refusal hurt him. He didn't want this, did he? There was no way. He still farted in my path like a twelve-year-old and swam away with giddy laughter while I coughed and sputtered. How was I supposed to marry him? Sure, we knew everything about each other and got along great, but I didn't want to marry him. What was my mother thinking?

  "It isn't up for discussion," she said.

  "Aiden," I implored him. "You can't be okay with this. What about Carly?" On more than one occasion, I'd seen him eyeing her when she swam by. He liked her. He couldn't marry me.

  “Aiden has already agreed to the marriage," Earl Salamon said. The familiar look of annoyance crossed his alabaster face. Aiden's father didn't like me, and it wasn't just my skin color he despised. Every time I spoke, his eye twitched in irritation.