“Do you think the others will be jealous of what just happened here?” She asked as she awkwardly slipped her pants back on, stumbling sideways in the water.
I smiled and set her upright, holding her while she finished. “We can’t guarantee they will be 100% happy with it, but trust me when I say they won’t take it out on you.”
“We, however, might lose some scales.” Percy commented.
“I’m sorry!” Atalanta exclaimed, looking worried.
Percy shook his head vigorously, eyes wide. “No, I’m sorry, I was only joking. It was in bad taste.”
She still looked somewhat panicked.
I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. “We should get going.”
Carefully, she exited the room, looking around before fully swimming out.
I began to follow when the twinge of pain from my wound made me flinch back and groan.
“I probably shouldn’t have let you exert yourself like that.” Percy hooked his arm under mine and helped me along.
“Probably, but…I mean.” I smirked and tilted my head at him.
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
“Do you think it was too soon?”
“It was her choice, Jason. If you keep letting your heart fill with doubt, you will only stunt the relationship you’re cultivating.”
I nodded, lost in my own thoughts. For years, I had been groomed to one day become the next head of the family. An agreement my parents begrudgingly agreed to after I was born. In exchange for my future, I could live out my childhood on land with my parents. My family wouldn’t interfere with my life or the town which they held power over beyond teaching me.
My entire life, chained to a path I didn’t choose. Meeting Atalanta, choosing her, was the first time I had ever gone against that.
We followed Atalanta and the guard, Callum, down to the floor where Hip, Theseus and Ajax were waiting.
The three of them studied us. Ajax’s expression remained unchanged, but the unmistakable spark of jealousy in Theseus and Hip’s eyes made guilt, and something akin to pride, war in my chest.
They didn’t say anything about it, though. They simply flocked around Atalanta. Asking her how she slept and if she was hungry.
Callum assured us that we would get to eat after the trial was finished. They wanted us hungry. Hunger stripped away our energy, made us more honest. Not that there was much point.
Calder arrived with several of his personal guards to escort us. As they brought us outside, Calder took my arm, pulling me away from Percy and dragging me to the side. Percy growled and moved to protest, but with a snap of Calder’s fingers, several guards pulled Percy away.
“Jason. Are you well?”
I leaned against the wall of the building, supporting myself. “As well as I can be, Uncle.”
“I just want you to know that I didn’t want you to get hurt.” He said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
He looked sincere and as someone who I had long looked up to, it made me happy to know that he actually cared, and yet…if Calder was anything, it was ambitious, and it was that ambition that caused me to be stabbed and put us in this situation.
“But it’s what happened, Uncle. This was your decision to force the issue and you have to live with those consequences.”
Turning away from him, I powered through the pain and followed after my friends.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Atalanta
The guards were taking us through the city, and if I felt we were getting attention before, this was like I was standing one a float in the center of the city’s big parade. Thousands of eyes were on us, questioning, wondering.
I tried my best to keep my mind off of them. Tugging at the sleeves of my shirt, I focused ahead, on the guards who were escorting us to wherever.
I tapped Theseus’s shoulder. “So, what’s the lowdown on the council?”
“The lowdown?” He chuckled.
“Yeeeaah, like what’s their dealio? If I’m about to be subjected to their scrutiny, I want to know who I’m up against.” And knowing my enemy would help distract me from the nerves that were beating up my stomach.
Theseus took my hand to sooth my nerves. “The council is made up of twenty Mer from all walks of life. Citizens, nobles, elders…”
“You have nobility?” I asked, surprised.
He nodded. “We have a king and queen.”
“Wait, so you have a monarchy and a council?”
Percy popped into our conversation. “The council acts as the king’s advisory, and stands judge on basic matters. Basically, they’re how the King knows what goes on in the kingdom. They also meet and make decisions on how to lead, bring those decisions to him in proposals. They will judge you of your worth and inform the king. Ultimately, it is his choice on what happens to you, but the council holds a lot of sway on that decision.”
“Kind of sounds similar to America’s democracy set up, with the senate and the president.” I said, simplifying it in my head.
“Don’t compare us to your human government. We are nothing like them. The council works to the betterment of its citizens.” One of our guards called from the front.
I snorted and rolled my eyes. Yeah, sure. That’s what they all claimed. Blind faith.
“So will all twenty of the council members be coming to the trial?” Percy asked.
“Only nine were able to make it on such short notice. Usually, an evaluation is scheduled in advance so that all twenty may come.” Callum, who was floating on my other side, shot a glance back at Calder.
Of course, he was the reason.
Callum leaned in and whispered, “Between you and me, the other members will be extremely miffed to be missing out on this trial period of the year, really.”
I looked up at him. “When was the last time you had a made Mer evaluation?”
He thought about it a moment before saying, "For a male, it’s been about thirty years. For a female…maybe about three hundred?”
“Three hundred?!”
He smiled. “You, miss, are a rare commodity around here.”
“Great,” I grumbled.
Theseus’s hand squeezed mine reassuringly before swimming up ahead to speak with one of the guards. Ajax took his place by my side, while Hip squeezed himself between Callum and I.
The place where the council met wasn’t what I suspected. Unlike the rest of the city, which appeared to be mostly made of spiraling coral that came to points, the council building was a smooth dome shape.
Swimming closer, I could see that it didn’t have a door. Entering the building, we travelled through a long hallway. I squeezed in closer to my guys, Hip and Ajax holding my hands while Percy and Jason pressed in behind me. Theseus’s red hair flickering like fire in the dim lighting in front of us. His shoulders were squared back and he was exuding a presence similar to Calder’s.
Something was up with him.
Reaching the end of the hall, we entered a sloping crater that seem to span the entire length of the dome. It was like a closed in amphitheater with large step-like benches that ran down along the crater before it plateaued at the bottom.
The guards brought us down to that plateau and told us to stay put, leaving without further instructions and taking positions at the edge of the crater. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed statues lining the edge of the crater, staring down at us. Judging. Calder sat down on one of the benches, looking as cool as a sea cucumber.
I turned to my guys. “What’s the plan?”
Jason looked me dead in the eyes, his expression so serious it sent shivers down my spine. “Don’t tell them the real circumstance of your turning. We fell in love, you were smart and found out our secret, and I turned you. That’s it.”