Chapter 1
Xandra and I are both in
shock. The Merpeople believe Xandra killed
their Queen. “What do you mean, I killed
her? I haven’t been here since I blew up
her house,” Xandra exclaims. I groan
inwardly. This is really not the best
time for her bring up past transgressions.
Especially one which could be translated as a precursor to murder.
Kai bangs a heavy fist on
the table between us making me want to connect my fist with his face. “You came as you did before with your wild
magic and you destroyed most of our homes!
You made our Queen bow before you, promised her mercy, but you lied. You took her head, damn you!” Kai is looming over us now and Xandra is
rapidly pulling magic. I am right there
with her. Why is this Merman making up
such heinous lies about my wife? They
invited us here under the pretext of helping them find the murderer but now
they accuse Xandra? Do they seek war
with the Fae?
“Kai, sit down.” Arie’s voice is low and calm as she places a
firm hand on her husband’s arm. “We need
to get to the bottom of this.” Damn
right we do.
“I was in the Cowan realm
when you claim this happened. I was
checking on the Witches,” Xandra explains but it is obvious her words mean
nothing to the Merpeople in front of us.
“We have learned of your
Angel heritage. You have the ability to
move in and out of Angel time. You could
have jumped time lines and no one would be the wiser.”
Arie gives me a pointed
look. Is she trying to convince me now? If so, she is wasting her time. Xandra simply is not capable of doing the
things they are accusing her of doing.
It is beyond her nature. “My wife
did not kill your Queen,” I growl for the third time.
“Why do you expect us to
believe you when more than a hundred Merpeople watched you take her head?” Kai
demands.
I cross my arms over my
chest and shake my head in disgust. A
hundred Merpeople simply watched as their Queen was murdered. I would be embarrassed to admit such a thing. Then again, it would never happen in the
Fairy realm. Dagda’s subjects are loyal
and brave. They are not cowards who
would allow their Monarch to be killed without a fight.
Xandra presents a logical
point. “If I killed her, why did I come
here today to help you find her killer?”
Arie keeps her voice even
but she is wary. She knows her words
could incite the violence she speaks of.
“You are arrogant and powerful.
Perhaps you came to kill more Merpeople.” Yes, and we began this by sitting down and
speaking to them peacefully. Her
argument does not make sense.
My beautiful wife tries
another approach. “You know, Kallen
killed a rabbit once for us to eat and I was so disgusted by it still having a
head when he began preparing it for cooking I could barely eat. Beheading is definitely not how I would kill
someone.” I try not to smile at the
mention of our time in the mountains in the Cowan realm. We have certainly come a long way since then.
Twisting Xandra’s words,
Arie asks, “How, then, would you kill someone?”
Xandra gives her a flat, “I
wouldn’t.”
Kai is having difficulty
restraining himself. If he leans any
farther over the table in Xandra’s direction, it will be his murder we will be
discussing. If he touches her, his death
will be a lot slower than a beheading.
The Merpeople are no
strangers to magic. They know there are
a slew of possibilities out there for what they claim they saw. “There are spells which can change one’s
appearance temporarily,” I say evenly.
“If you saw Xandra as you claim, you were being duped. We should concentrate on finding the one who
wore a magical disguise and murdered your Queen. You will not find that person in this room.”
Exasperated, Xandra asks
again, “Why would I come back here if I killed her?”
Arie shifts uncomfortably
before finally telling us the truth. “We
did not expect you to honor our request.
We were simply trying to determine where the Fairies stood. We wanted to know if they would harbor you,
or declare you an outcast. If the
former, it would mean war between our realms.
If the latter, we hoped for a joint effort to hunt you down and make you
pay for your crime.”
Those were probably the
bravest words the Merwoman has ever said.
Stupid, but brave. They could be
enough for Dagda to declare war with the Merpeople if they insist on continuing
with this ridiculous, for lack of a better word, Witch hunt. I try again to make her see reason. I have given up on Kai. “This is not a situation with only two
possibilities,” I tell her. “You
neglected to consider the third option.
The one where Xandra did not kill your Queen.”
Xandra is eying Kai. She knows he is ready to pounce and she,
apparently, has not realized yet he is beyond reasoning with. “Kai, I did not kill your Queen. I am here to help you discover who did. Can you at least try to believe that?”
This leads to a back and
forth that ends with Kai attempting to sic his octopi on her. They get as far as the magical wall Xandra
puts up. “I guess you still don’t
believe me,” she sighs. It is doubtful I
will leave here without punching the Merman if not worse.
Arie considers Xandra for a
long time. Finally, she says, “Kai, call
off the creatures.” Not that it
matters. They are already tiring from
their useless attack and will soon be no danger to anyone. Her husband glowers in her direction, but he
does as his wife tells him.
Arie turns her attention
back to Xandra and a noticeable change has occurred within in. She is not quite as certain as she was only
moments ago that Xandra is the murderer she thought her to be. “When you were here the first time, you were
bitten by a textile cone snail and were on the brink of death. Your husband and I had to become quite
insistent in encouraging you to use your magic to heal yourself as you did not
want to break the rules of the competition.”
“You should have let her
die,” Kai grumbles and it is all I can do not to reach over and pound his head
on the table.
Xandra shrugs. “No magic was supposed to be used. It felt like cheating.” Her sense of fairness is one of the many
things I love about her.
Arie nods once. “So you said at the time. Because of this, I am willing to give you the
benefit of the doubt. For the moment,”
she stresses.
“What does that mean?” I
ask, ignoring her husband’s verbal indignation at the suggestion of Xandra’s
innocence.
Also ignoring her husband,
Arie responds to Xandra as if she asked the question. “If we have the full cooperation of the Fairy
realm, and you assist in our search for the one who murdered our Queen, we will
consider the option your husband put forth as true unless there is evidence to
the contrary. If this is the case, we
expect the Fairy realm to hand you over to be tried by Merpeople laws for the
murder of our Queen.” That would never
happen.
Kai is beyond pissed. “You do not have the right to make that
decision,” he growls to Arie.
Arie eyes him coolly. “I am acting sovereign until a new Queen is
elected, so I have every right.” Just as
I thought. She would not be the one
making these accusations if she was not the acting sovereign. I wonder why she did not mention it until
now. This leads to a discussion between
Xandra and Arie regarding the succession of MerQueens which are elected
democratically.
We need to get the
conversation back on track. All in all,
Arie’s proposition is the best way for Xandra and me to get out of this realm
without inciting war. The sooner we
begin the investigation, the better. “Can
we see where the incident occurred?” I ask.
“I would like to determine if there is any magical residue left. We may be able to identify the type of being
whom committed the crime.” My guess is
one of the Queen’s own people did the killing.
She was not a popular monarch.
“Of course,” Arie says. After a brief glance at her irate husband,
she adds, “I will escort you.”
Xandra’s Familiar snarls and
Xandra mumbles in reply, “That would have been difficult to do while you were
sleeping.”
“Pardon?” Arie says.
Not wanting to admit the
Tasmanian devil is her Familiar, Xandra rushes to say, “Sorry, I was just
mumbling to myself.” It is a shame she
cannot communicate with the beast telepathically. It would prevent situations such as this.
Arie is not convinced but
she lets it go. We follow her out of the
room and into the adjacent building which was the residence of the murdered Queen. The MerQueen’s home is still in disrepair
from our last visit, I note. A constant
reminder to the Merpeople of Xandra’s power.
I can understand why they would be so apt to accuse her. Arie brings us to a small room at the bottom
of the house. The walls and ceiling are
deteriorating and could collapse at any time.
I scowl as I look around at the crumbling walls. We may be risking our own lives entering such
a place.
Arie stops and turns to
us. “It is here you, or the other you,
killed our Queen.”
Refusing to acknowledge her
verbal sniping at Xandra, I ask, “How could this room hold a hundred Merpeople? It is barely large enough to fit us.” Their version of the murder tale is not
adding up. There is no possible way one
hundred Merpeople were in here and the room has no windows. Kai was lying.
Arie’s new explanation makes
more sense. “Only the Queen and her
killer were in this room. A hundred Merpeople
watched the Queen be dragged into this room and only one came out. The Queen did not.”
Her explanation may make
more sense but it does not prove anything.
“So, no one saw the Xandra lookalike actually kill the Queen?” I ask, my
tone growing harsher as more lies are exposed.
“No,” Kai growls. “Perhaps it was not the Xandra lookalike, as
you call her. Perhaps it was the little
beast. The one who now accompanies your
wife.”
Xandra and I both still. “The killer had a Tasmanian devil with her?”
Xandra asks. Her Familiar snarls but
Xandra’s only response is to nudge him with her foot. I wish I knew what the beast was saying.
The longer I stand in this
room, the more confused I become. I am
sensing magic, but it is not what I expected.
In fact, it is quite troubling.
Making my face a blank page, I ask, “When is the last time this room was
used?” It is obviously a storeroom of
some sort, but the supplies in here are meager.
“Three months, maybe
longer,” Arie says.
“Can you feel magic?” Xandra
asks.
Before I can say anything,
the beast at her feet begins to snarl again.
Xandra’s expression instantly turns to shock. I believe the devil has told her what I
already know. Words pass between them
and I am fearful Xandra will let her newly acquired knowledge slip. I give her the slightest shake of my
head. We need to figure out what is
going on before we tell the Merpeople it is indeed Xandra’s magic lingering in
the room. Xandra narrows her eyes at me
as if chastising me for believing she would say anything. To be fair, her mouth does run away from her
sometimes.
Pulling us out of our silent
conversation, Arie says, “You did not answer her question.”
I take a slow look around
the room while I decide how I am going to answer her question. I decide to stick to the truth as much as
possible. “The magic used was very
strong. It is like no other I’ve felt. Magic this powerful could easily work a
convincing disguise spell.”
Xandra’s
magic is one of a kind and she could easily have done the spell if she learned
how. But, how in the hell did her magic
get here when she was not here?
Disguising one’s appearance is one thing, exactly mimicking another’s
magic? Impossible. Yet, here we are.
“Can you be more specific?”
Kai growls.
I shake my head and full out
lie this time. “Too much time has
passed, the water has washed away too much.”
Could Xandra’s magic still be lingering from when she blew up the
house? No, I do not believe so. This magic is too new.
While I am busy lying to
protect her, Xandra is conversing once again with her Familiar. The beast has wandered over to the fish cage
and is sniffing around. Whatever he is
saying to her has Xandra even more rattled.
“What is the beast doing?”
Kai asks.
Xandra glances back and
forth between Kai and her Familiar. “Um,
looking for food.” She is a terrible
liar.
I need to move things along
before one of us says the wrong thing and starts a war. The sooner we get out of here, the
better. “Are the passages of your realm
guarded?” I ask, hoping for a clue as to where the imposter came from.
“Aye,” Kai says. “Most have been sealed. We do not believe the killer,” he looks at Xandra in disgust, “came through a known
passage. She appeared many leagues from
the closest one.”
“She could have swam here,” Xandra
suggests.
“Those who witnessed her
coming say the sea opened for her,” Kai argues.
I groan inwardly. The only one who can tear the fabric of the
realms like that is Xandra. But, I know
in my heart she did not do as they accuse.
So, who would have the power to mimic her abilities? Keeping my growing panic from my voice, I
ask, “What do you mean?” Perhaps it was
not really like Xandra’s ability.
Perhaps it was an illusion of some sort.
To my great surprise, Arie’s
face twists in irritation. “You cannot
believe every fanciful tale,” she says to her husband. In response to my question, she adds, “The witnesses
claim it was as if a passage was made from sea to sea, a window opened and she
swam through it. It closed after her.”
I need to work hard to
school my face. Though she does not
believe it possible, Arie just described Xandra’s ability perfectly. I glance at my wife and her calm façade is
crumbling. We need to get out of here
before she accidently confesses to something she did not do.
“Where did the killer go
after leaving here?” I ask, hoping to move the investigation along again.
Kai’s face turns red. “We do not know.”
Not only did he do nothing
as his Queen was murdered, he also did not bother to give chase? Crossing my arms over my chest, I push, “How
did she get past you?”
“Her magic, it was…” Kai
hesitates, trying to hide the shame on his face. “It was too powerful to penetrate with our
weapons.”
Xandra’s expression is
looking guiltier by the second. “What
efforts, besides contacting the Fae, have been made to find the guilty party?” I
ask Arie.
Her eyes downcast, she says,
“We do not know what else to do. We
thought we knew the identity of the killer.
Now that this may not be the case, what is there to do? The killer is no longer in this realm,
therefore, we do not know where to look for her.”
I want to rail at her. I want to tell her she is crazy for
suspecting my wife. But, I cannot. The initial anger I felt at the accusations
is fading. It is being replaced by
incredulity and fear with a healthy dose of curiosity mixed in. By all accounts, Xandra does seem to be the
guilty party. Yet, she is not. It simply is not possible. Perhaps Grandmother or Dagda can put the
pieces together better than I can.
First, I need to warn Xandra she is letting her fear begin to show. I go to her side and take her hand. I squeeze it slightly, hoping she
understands. Her face clears so she
must. “What would you like us to do?” I
ask.
Arie sighs. “I fear there is nothing which can be done. You are no more able to track the killer than
we are.”
“We may be able to do
more. We will discuss the matter with
our King and determine a course of action.
The Fae will do everything possible to help you.”
A distinct snort comes from
Kai. His wife gives him a stern look
before saying to us, “We appreciate any assistance you can lend us.” Her head bows slightly. “Thank you.”
“Taz,” Xandra calls. “Time to go.”
Her desire to be gone from this place is evident in her tone.
I need to be certain we will
have safe passage. Normally, Xandra
would simply open a passageway between realms wherever we are, but that is not
wise at the moment. So, we will need to
swim to the nearest existing passageway.
That gives the Merpeople ample time to attack if they discover we are
lying to them. “Are you willing to let
us leave without incident?” I ask, ready for a negative response.
Kai’s answer is written all
over his body from his pinched, scowling face down to his twitching tail
fin. He wants to put up a fight. Arie, on the other hand, has a defeated air
about her. She knows she cannot hold us
here against our will. Even if Xandra
was the killer, she would have already proven the Merpeople are powerless
against her. Not to mention, Dagda would
declare war in a heartbeat if he discovered anyone was holding his daughter
against her will.
Arie takes the only logical
course available to her even though it is killing her to do so. “You will meet no resistance in your
departure,” she says evenly.