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≈Rinaldo has withdrawn from me since he left Venice.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.
He wore Oriana's necklace. She had left it in Thalassa and it had become Cassia's bond-necklace. Torquato and Rinaldo agreed it should be hers again. Neither wanted the memories it held.
≈Without your effort to bring the Terran threat to our attention, Marea might not have survived. I need you to know how much we—I—appreciate your decision to come here before you knew how Thalassa's fate was tied ours through the villainy of Stavlakis. Isabetta told me of the strength you provided her and my mother. It comforts me to know they were not alone.≈
≈I would do it again without hesitation. To witness your success was what I hoped for. I had many conversations with Celestina. I'm afraid she learned I had another reason for traveling to Marea. When I heard from Torquato that Rinaldo would be forever Terran, I assumed, perhaps...but then a miracle happened for him.≈
Armida kissed him on the cheek. ≈Not a miracle. Just our nature. But whether his return is a joyous thing for Rinaldo is unknown. He grapples with his actions and has not found peace. He will perhaps aid you in rebuilding Thalassa.≈
≈It has brought the two of you back together. He will find happiness with you.≈
≈Rinaldo will always hold a special place in my heart but much has happened. We are not...≈ Armida couldn't finish the sentence. She wasn't ready to say the words. Her peace remained elusive as well. She had been through too much loss.
≈I will not push you to travel to Thalassa with us. Though Delfina would've been happy for a visit. You will always be welcome in my home. And Cassia will want to wrap you in honors once she learns she can return to merform.≈
≈ And you will be welcome in Marea. Let us return to have our final meal.≈
They swam in companionable silence as the sunlight traced a dappled path through the kelp forest.
Armida dreamed of what she might do next. She had learned much about the immense lands of the world when she was in Venice. Maybe she'd go to Africa, to Egypt. She'd heard of their written language etched into stone like in the Library of the Antichi. Or perhaps she'd venture past Spain, leave the Mediteranneo, and scout for others like Liath. She had time but not forever. She had been asked to step into the role of Custodian and would need to give the Tribunale her answer.
✧✧✧
Armida had intended to travel with Rinaldo and the others until reaching Ziphra's homecave. But she and Rinaldo were not ready. They'd had a moment, a shared glance when Armida saw the yearning in Rinaldo's eyes, yet where once had been softness, there was now steel. What was left between them felt hard and impenetrable. She and Ziphra would travel alone.
Rinaldo needed to understand his Thalassan heritage. He wanted time to examine his legacy. Time without Armida. It hurt but Armida understood.
Their love had always been about parting. Her heart was strong enough to let go and survive. In the end, neither said goodbye.
Armida looked forward to honoring the original Ziphra by visiting her cave. Her daughter was pregnant and needed to return to string her eggs as every Ziphra had. Before they left, Ziphra wanted one thing: to play with Nudger and Warbler.
≈Your role as a conduit will fade as our contact lessens. Soon I will not hear the words of Nudger and Warbler. I want to have the play with your dolphin friends to soften the memory of Traveler. I won't erase it, for it would mislead future Ziphras as to the natural predatory relationship. But I don't want the memory linked with you. You carry enough guilt.≈
Armida and Ziphra met the dolphins beyond the Watcher Station. Armida tossed the kelp ball to Warbler, who bounced it a few times on her nose. She batted the ball over Ziphra's head but forgot to calculate the long reach of her tentacles.
The giggles of merpups stopped the play temporarily. Armida coaxed them out of their hiding spot near a rock outcropping, and they flipped about with excitement to join in a game of Fish-in-the-Middle. Paolo lingered at a distance, watching warily.
Armida broke away to take his hand to encourage him to take part, but she did not force him. She saw the wounds and wistfulness on his face and hugged him gently. He would need to find his own time, his own way.
When Ziphra, not knowing the rules, refused to yield the kelp ball, Nudger charged. Ziphra disappeared in a smoky ink cloud.
The tension in Paolo lessened with a hint of a smile. But he remained with Armida and twisted the pink and white Parian marbles Armida had strung on a necklace for him. Maybe she would take him to Thalassa to show him where they had come from.
And she knew in that bittersweet moment what she would do. Paolo would join her and travel with Ziphra. To see the world beyond Marea. There was a shipwreck she wanted to show him.