The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Isabetta joined Armida in the dining hall where they had been together ahead of the Great Battle. Armida offered her a basket of sweet shrimp. ≈You might as well have these. I'm not hungry.≈

≈No? Are you troubled?≈ Isabetta's face was soft with compassion.

Armida did not know herself anymore. The sea army she'd led seemed of her dreams. The numbers lost were small considering what might have been but nevertheless too great for Armida. Like Rinaldo, she was without a mother though her father still lived. She had gone to Venice after the battle pursuing vengeance, and her actions had indirectly brought about the deaths of Rinaldo's parents. Had she not been blind to what was unfolding, might things have ended differently? Would she have wanted them to?

≈Rinaldo has withdrawn from me since he left Venice. He desires to travel to Thalassa to prove his bloodline was greater than Stavlakis. He seeks to show he has inherited not the aggression but instead something better.≈

≈We have all endured trials we never anticipated, you and Rinaldo more than most. But I know you both. You will find contentment before long.≈

Perhaps Erastus would help him in Thalassa. Delfina and Theo were planning their bond ceremony for the coming year, and Erastus agreed to escort Rosamunda to visit and to introduce Rinaldo to Thalassa. The group would leave in the morning.

First, Armida faced the celebration in the Ceremonial Grotto. There would be recognition of the signs of life reclaiming the poisoned sea and air and then an observance of the courage of those lost in the fight to save the seas. Honoring hope for the Marean future.

≈Are you ready? They will expect you to speak.≈

≈I never feel ready for anything. Somehow, I stumble my way through. Sometimes those I care for die when I stumble. How do I honor them?≈

≈Armida. Do not count it as a minor victory. The entire Adriatico could have become deadwater. We are part of a circle. We live and die in balance. Terrans too. Do not use reason to explain Stavlakis and Oriana and how they lost their way. We must accept that they did and move on. Their ruin is not ours.≈

≈Are you sure you cannot speak instead of me?≈ Armida's strained smile revealed the sincerity of her question.

≈It is you they want to thank. Come with me. Get your speech over with.≈

They entered the Grotto together. Isabetta held back, letting Armida proceed alone. The crowd parted to allow them through, but it was the mermen who lined the pathway that opened. As Armida passed, each bowed his head and placed his open palm over his heart, a gesture of the most profound respect in Marea.

Torquato was near the end of the line. ≈Thank you. Boop-boop shall be forever a term to describe a great warrior.≈

The very last merman she passed before rising at the rimstones was her father. ≈Though you were raised to defend Marea, none could have anticipated your cunning and valor.≈

She missed her mother with an intensity that was heavy in her chest. As if her lungs needed air.

Armida gazed at the merfolk assembled. ≈I feel such joy seeing you here, alive and well. I also feel deep regret for the losses we are all too familiar with. Thank you for trusting me when I did not trust myself. We will heal and recover by seeking our future and not regretting our past. That is true for me most of all.≈

Armida looked for Rinaldo in the throng. When she saw him with Isabetta, her heart tightened. She bowed her head and placed her hand over her heart. She raised her head.

≈May Marea flourish.≈

✧✧✧

Armida invited Erastus to tour la Laguna. She wanted him to observe the healing waters. She wanted to thank him.