Spirit of the Sea
Marius watched the Astrian Prince rummage through his library, skimming through every book he could lay his hands on. For hours, he sat cross-legged on the ground and poured over the ancient tomes, his back slightly hunched, his brows drawn together softly in concentration. Once or twice, he glanced up from a book at the hanging jellyfish as if he feared one of them would fall on him.
The boy meant to find information on his power.
An admirable feat, but utterly futile just the same.
He allowed himself to watch the half-breed boy for a very long time, noting every feature about him big or small. He'd steered clear of the half-breed before, but now it seemed like there was a need to familiarize himself with him.
He recalled the sea witch's words: The original host must be well and truly in love with the new host, otherwise a link for the power to transfer won't be established.
How ridiculous. It was both a secure and exploitable failsafe.
At least the boy was acceptable-looking. His features were sharp and aristocratic, a telltale sign of his royal descent. His fingers were long and thin; they looked like they would break upon the slightest bit of pressure. His hair was effortlessly soft and thick, like a lion's mane.
Well, if Marius was being completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that he was certainly handsome. Rather, he had a beautiful quality to him that Marius had never encountered before. Every time the half-breed looked at him with those big green eyes of his, he was possessed of an unfamiliar urge. How strange. He'd seen his fair share of beautiful young men and women, yet the Astrian Prince... captivated his attention so completely that, whenever he was in the same room as him, Marius would attune himself to his unique reactions.
Was it the human in him that had Marius' interest piqued so?
Absurd. If anything, it had to be the royal blood in the clueless boy calling out to his own royal blood.
Blood.
The boy had bled profusely on his chamber's floor from a simple wound. How fragile humans were. Their bodies were easily damaged.
Seeing him weak and afraid like that, someone who for all intents and purposes was his equal did not bode well with him. As Crown Prince of Astria, he was owed a certain degree of respect, even if he was the prince of an enemy nation and was being held captive.
He recalled the fear in the boy's eyes when Marius had appeared in front of him. He'd been so afraid of Marius that he'd dropped the Obelisk of Power.
He frowned.
He'd certainly given the boy just cause to fear him, yet...
Marius waived the foreign feeling away. He had no time to contend with feelings and the like. His goal was infinitesimally more important than anything else, and he was running out of time to achieve it.
He would suffer the boy just until he had the Spirit of the Sea.
****
"The Spirit of the Sea," Kai muttered and slowly closed the book he was holding.
Was that the name of his power?
He closed his eyes and looked within.
Is that what you're called?
Nothing.
He tried again.
Is your name the Spirit of the Sea?
Still nothing.
"Shit, how do you do this thing?" He'd never even tried yoga or meditation, so it was no wonder that he couldn't access his inner place or chamber or wherever the golden merman dwelled.
According to the authorless, six-hundred-page book he'd read, the Spirit of the Sea was possibly the most important power in the sea. At first, he'd thought it very strange to refer to a power as 'important', then as he read, he'd understood why. It was a Pandora's Box in reverse, if the mythical box released prosperity and bountifulness upon the sea rather than plagues and disease.
That was all the book mentioned about the Spirit of the Sea in the painfully short paragraph. It was hardly enough for him to understand what his power was or how to wield it, but it was a start. At least he now understood that its magnitude affected entire seas, and that it brought abundance. But an abundance of what? Fish?
Three hours later, he ruefully concluded that if that was anything more to be found about his power in the King's library, he would need guidance to find it, or he'd have to spend much, much more than three hours to do so on his own.
Carefully, he endeavored to return each book to the shelf he'd pulled it out of; the last thing he wanted was for Marius to realize what he was up to.
At the last red, leather-bound book, he hesitated.
Shit. What shelf did I pull this out of?
He turned around in a circle, eyeing the nearby bookcases as he rotated. Dammit, he'd forgotten where he'd found this book!
"Two bookcases down, third shelf."
Startled, Kai dropped the book and whirled around to find Marius.
He was caught red-handed.
Once again, he hadn't even heard or felt him enter the library.
"Are you going to keep dropping things every time I walk into a room?"
Kai gulped and looked down at the leather-bound book.
Slowly, he bent to pick it up.
A hand adorned with rings appeared in his line of vision.
It brushed with his for the slightest of moments.
He quickly snatched his hand away, as if singed.
King Marius picked up his book and moved to put it in its correct place. The space between the bookcases was so narrow, Kai had to plaster himself against one to keep from touching Marius.
Marius stopped right in front of him and placed a hand just above Kai's head, trapping him.
If he but leaned toward Kai, they would touch.
Kai's heart thundered in his chest, pounding against his ribcage with all its strength. They were so close that he could smell Marius' musky, oceanic scent and feel the heat wafting off his body. It did things to Kai... things he didn't understand.
He forced himself to stare straight ahead at Marius' chest, keeping his breathing as level as possible.
"Where has all your moxie gone?" Marius said softly, tauntingly.
He felt it then, a charge in the atmosphere like an electric current crackling dangerously between them.
Defiantly, he raised his eyes to meet Marius' cool, assessing ones. Once again, any disdain the temperamental king had shown him before was gone, replaced by... curiosity? It was all he could do not to look away.
Though he was still the cruel, conceited king who held no regard for humanity, he'd shown some change, no matter how insignificant, these last few hours that did not bode well with him at all.
Do you call such a king kneeling to heal your wounds an 'insignificant change'? A voice in his head quipped.
The voice had a point.
What had warranted this change? He didn't believe for a second that someone could change so quickly. Just yesterday he was receiving gut punches from King Marius for every little thing.
"Ah, there it is." Marius' lips stretched in a small, puzzling smile, then he straightened.
He deposited the book in its slot and turned to face Kai.
"Come," he beckoned.
Kai looked down to see the golden chain activate. Whether he wanted to or not, he had no choice but to follow.
****
He had no words to describe the magnificent halls he walked through. Unlike King Marius' chambers, the corridor 'walls' were made of transparent glass, and they revealed the magnificent Palace Grounds that lay beyond. He gawked. Just as he'd thought, the bottom of the ocean lay just outside the Palace. He could see the hint of a city peeking past the humongous stone walls surrounding the Palace.
But there was something else.
He squinted into the distance.
When he couldn't make out what he was looking at, he stopped and wiped the glass with his sleeve, thinking it had to be a smudge.
"What is that?" he finally asked. He had to know.
Without halting in his steps or looking back, Marius said, "A barrier."
Kai's knees buckled.
Marius was there, keeping him from falling to the ground.
"A-A barrier..." he sighed, shell-shocked. He cleared his throat. "Around the entire Palace?" he whispered his question, as if raising his voice would make it true.
"Yes."
Kai nearly threw up.
"Did you entertain hope that you could ever escape this place?" King Marius said against Kai's ear, his lips touching Kai's sensitive earlobe.
Kai shuddered like an untouched virgin. Forcefully, he pulled away, the King's touch scorching fire against his skin.
King Marius led the way to a new part of the Palace that Kai had never seen before. As they walked, he became sure of his initial assumption: The Palace was a labyrinth of flowing passageways and interconnected corridors. Black and gold tapestries hung on the walls, displaying a trident with what appeared to be a giant white shark wrapped around it. They passed so many marbled stairs, gold-inlaid archways, and latticed doors with gold handles that he lost count. Like a kid in Disney World, he tried to absorb everything he saw at once, peeking into every room and chamber, but what he managed to see only afforded hints and suggestions, never the full truth of what lay beyond those decorative, lattice doors.
To the best of his ability, he tried to commit their route to memory. It was difficult considering the shocking news Marius had dropped upon him less than ten minutes ago.
A barrier. A fucking barrier.
How the hell was he supposed to escape a giant dome surrounding the entire Palace?
Finally, they arrived at a set of heavily-gilded double doors that opened inward, as if sensing that the King of Nostraza in all his royal magnificence stood before it.
The room resembled a miniature amphitheater thronging with courtiers decked out for a spectacle. Black and red silk drapes hung low from the ceiling. Cushions of all shapes and sizes were strewn about across the floor, and most of them were occupied. Excitement hung in the air, draping over the crowd. Fashionably-clad mermen and mermaids moved about on two legs carrying golden flutes or bejeweled smoking pipes, their eyes hooded.
A peculiar scent hung in the air. Kai realized that it was coming from the burning braziers hanging on the walls. An incense of sorts burned in them, giving off a sickly-sweet scent.
Servants trotted trays laden with mysterious, sweet-smelling fruits that Kai didn't recognize.
Sitting at the feet of most of the courtiers were slaves -human slaves- who were even more scantily-dressed than Kai. There were so many humans he lost count, all young, all beautiful.
Movement in the center of the room drew his attention. He tore his gaze away from a particularly young slave sitting at the feet of an old man to see what he'd glimpsed.
Kai's stomach twisted.
In the middle of the amphitheater where the floor dipped, two slaves were fucking.