Mervidia (27 page)

“Yes,
Sir,” Druitt said, nodding and visibly relieved that he was not going to be further questioned, “Thank you, Sir.” The black-finned merwin’s shoulders sank. Kiva doubted that Druitt had even noticed how they had tightened up and how rigid they had been while he had been talking.

“You did well.
Good day,” Captain Raygo said, signaling to a guard to escort the ethyrie witness from the room. The guard knocked on the uklod bone door, and the Palace Guards outside opened the entryway for the two merwin to exit. The double entryway rumbled closed again, the sound emerging from the two hard surfaces grinding together as the bone doors rubbed over the stone floor.

“Cassondra, of House Lumen,” Domo Vaschel said, taking charge of the prisoner’s questio
ning. “You have heard the witness’ accounting. Do you admit guilt in the murder of your brother, Flinn?”

Cassondra grinned, putting the Assembly on edge
considering the situation. Her smile was unnerving, especially with her sharp white teeth showing between her lips.

“Good
Domo,” Cassondra replied, her voice smooth, collected, and tinged with condescension. “Surely, the Assembly understands that it was not my hand that slew my brother. The frilled sharks took care of that bit.”

Quag chuckled aloud, the sound more like a barking cough than a laugh, and the rest of the Coral Assembly shot him vexed glares.

“What?” the grogstack asked. “She makes a good point.”

“Indeed,” Thaddeus spoke up for the first time.
The octolaide was known as having a level head, but it was in his blood to be brusquely candid. A traditionalist supporter was the fin-in-the-door Cassondra needed; the single vote that she would need to save her from a sentence of death. “She clearly did not directly cause her brother’s death, but she
did
conspire against him.”

Uchenna spoke out against his fellow
octolaide, clearly not wanting his words to spare the ethyrie in the least. “Who knows what our good captain would have found on Flinn’s body had there been more left of him.” Uchenna stated.

“A
small chunk of a severed fish stowed upon his person perhaps?” Kiva inserted, and Uchenna cast her a brief smile. She was clearly letting show her desire to see Cassondra die for her crimes. She was the octolaide’s ally in this matter. Any negative details the faera could add to Uchenna’s suppositions would aid in the Divine Family’s demise.

“Yes, something must have set the sharks off to have broken out of the pen,” Uchenna added, with a pensive look that he made sure encompassed the attention of all at the table.
“Druitt, a
shark handler
, already stated that despite the compromised gate the sharks were content to stay inside.”

“If she does not admit her guilt, we cannot condemn her though,” Slone, the
neondra representative interjected. “A
witness
can be paid to talk.” He flicked his neon orange and black-striped tail, shifting position in his chair to push himself forward so that he leaned over the table. “
I believe
Cassondra is being set up.”

Damaris let out a sigh so loud that the entire Assembly turned and regarded her.
Not meaning to garner so much attention but willing to take advantage of it, the Queen Mother took the opportunity to speak herself. “I believe Cassondra is innocent as well. I have known her since she was a fry. I don’t think she would murder her own brother. They’re twins... they originated from the same egg, an unbreakable familial bond,” she said, her words growing frantic. “Some merwin is clearly trying to rid Mervidia of our family.
Can’t you all see that?
” The Queen Mother had desperation in her voice, grasping to keep the Divine Family in power.

“Let us ask the prisoner,” Vaschel said, grasping hold of the trial again.
The room grew silent, letting House Paua’s domo take the lead once more. “Cassondra, I ask you again, but I will re-phrase my question. Did you arrange for your brother’s death?”

Cassondra was quiet, as if carefully considering her response.
Kiva studied the ethyrie’s pretty face and her perfect little nose. Her pink hair flowed freely around her face, like single stalks of kelp gently waving in open water, a stark contrast to her bound hands. Cassondra looked as though she had been pulled from her bed by the look of her untamed hair and lack of jewelry. She had still managed to don a red kelp cape, which was settled elegantly around her narrow white shoulders, before being arrested and escorted from her room.

“I did.
Druitt saw the truth, yet he did not
see
all,” Cassondra replied calmly, her final words eerie. Not one merwin inquired as to what she meant by them though; the Assembly was too overwhelmed by her admission.

The
faera did not think that Cassondra had planned on confirming her guilt, but the conversation had turned somewhat in her favor. Thaddeus’ words, at least, had moved the conversation away from a death sentence by pointing out that Flinn did not die directly by her hand. Kiva had no doubt that the clever ethyrie had had a plan all along, although getting caught had not been a desirable turn of events.
Amateur
, thought Kiva.
It is a shame though
. Cassondra was obviously bright. Not that ethyrie were drawn to that sort of profession, but with some proper training she could have been a promising assassin.

Nayan and Damaris gasped, shocked by her confession
. The rest of the Assembly quietly studied the young ethyrie, wondering what she hoped to accomplish with her admission.

Kiva looked at the other two female Assembly members.
You cannot truly be so sheltered and naïve to be shocked by Cassondra’s betrayal? Have you fools forgotten, despite our grand city, that merwin are still the same predators who we have always been?

C
assondra filled the silence by speaking again, “I will point out, by our laws, that I cannot be put to death for my crime. The First King’s Mervidian Scrolls dictate I be exiled for being an accessory to murder. The actual killing was carried out by the frilled sharks, so perhaps they should be put down.”

The Assembly looked around at each other, finally settling
their gazes on Domo Vaschel, who was presiding over the hearing. He nodded, stalling while he decided what to say next. “Forget the frilled sharks,” he finally said, “They have no intelligence, only an animal’s base instincts. However, young lady,
you
know better,” Vaschel said, pinning Cassondra with a hard stare. “Have it your way though. You have clearly planned this whole thing out from the beginning to its end. Coral Assembly,” the Domo of House Paua formally addressed the seated merwin before him, “I call for a vote to exile Cassondra of House Lumen, casting her outside of Mervidia’s protection and to the mercy of the Deeps. All in favor raise your hand.”

Everyone, save for Damaris, raised their hands.
The Queen Mother was in utter shock, frozen and starring unbelieving at her niece. It wasn’t until Domo Vaschel pronounced the vote, nine to one – the Royal Chair was empty and, as such, the Assembly was minus a vote from its usual eleven – and Cassondra was escorted from the room as Iago had been, that Damaris snapped out of her paralyzed state. She remained quiet but looked thoughtfully from one face to the next, as if truly viewing the members of the Assembly for the first time. The mistrustful sneer on her lips portrayed that the Queen Mother now regarded them all as enemies.

“We move on to the next order of business,” Vaschel announced, after the doors had
once again been sealed. Damaris’ face darkened further but said nothing, so the ethyrie domo ignored her and continued. “Since we are all here, we should discuss the candidates for the future monarch of Mervida. I open the floor for discussion,” he said, but held out an imploring hand to stay the talk a moment longer, “but
please
do not interrupt someone who is already speaking. This meeting should be productive and not end in a cacophony of unhelpful arguing.”

“It is my opinion that Mervidia ha
s outgrown its need for a monarch,” Hasad chimed in first. “Clearly, this meeting has proven that the Coral Assembly can handle Mervidia’s tribulations.”

A bold move,
Kiva thought, praising the blue-skinned seifeira.
Perhaps a tad too bold though
.

“Yet, without an eleventh Assembly member, we could have vote
s resulting in ties,” Thaddeus retorted, the octolaide obviously torn in his feelings on the matter. His troubled face had shifted from gloomy to anxious, unsure as to what was next in store for Mervidia.

“We could get rid of the
monarch’s and the High Houses’ seats all together. Then we would be seven, an odd number,” Kiva offered, liking the way the discussion was beginning. “Then the Coral Assembly would be based on an equal representation of the races, an even rule apart from the houses’ rankings.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Domo Kiva,” replied Uchenna,
domo of the second High House, certainly not wanting to lose his seat on the Assembly. “There would still be a battle for rank within the different races’ houses for a seat on the Coral Assembly.” Uchenna nodded to Thaddeus, crediting his fellow octolaide with his following words. “Besides, there is merit in having a monarch beyond just an eleventh vote. A king is a figurehead, someone the Merwin can look up to, to guide them and care for their needs. I think we should proceed like a new fry testing his fins, beginning slowly and cautiously, with the first stroke giving another race a chance to wear the Fangs.” Uchenna let his words settle in with the other merwin. Even the traditionalists like Slone and Thaddeus were nodding, despite the sadness clearly evident on their faces. “The Royal Family has become weak and few in number. I believe it’s time for another bloodline to be crowned,” he finished.

Kiva noticed right away that he omitted the word “Divine,” instead using “Royal.”
She admitted to herself that she, too, had been enchanted by the Divine Family in her younger days, entranced by the ethyrie’s breathtaking beauty and astoundingly useful gift of foresight. It was easy to put its members on a pedestal and revere them
. Not anymore,
she thought.
Mervidia has changed, and House Lumen no longer has a place at the top of the city’s hierarchy. Its members do not have the sharp teeth that the rest of us do to deal with the plotting that is so common nowadays. There is no place for weak fish in this shark pen.

“House Lumen has indeed
declined,” Nayan said, reaching for Damaris’ hand as if to lessen the blow of her words. The Queen Mother snatched her hand away, fixing her old friend with a betrayed look. Nayan sighed and continued, “I am sorry, my friend, but that is the truth of the matter.” As she spoke her next words, the jellod machi looked at each Assembly member in turn. “As Domo Uchenna stated so well, we should approach a change in leadership with a fry’s first tenuous flicks of his fin. I like our traditions,” she stately bluntly, which was a little uncommon for the highly-educated, usually more eloquent merwin. “To avoid needless arguments and squabbling, I propose that we do a guided machi seeing, a formal ritual. We should use someone from House Lumen, as a respectful nod to their family for decades of just rule and good deeds. It would be a more peaceful end to what was a long and prosperous reign.”

Kiva watched as the rest of the Coral Assembly was drawn into the
jellod’s words. She too found herself agreeing. Nayan was the oldest and wisest of them all. She didn’t often speak. When she did though, her advice was usually sound and therefore well-received. Even Damaris, who had slighted her a moment before, was nodding in agreement. The Queen Mother looked deflated, defeated and exhausted, like a withered sea snake, dead and beginning to stink with rot.

Kiva could
not care less.

Your family, while
once honorable, has sunken low. Your continued backing of the old ways and show of contempt towards a new regime will be your undoing
, Kiva thought, once again studying Damaris and wishing she could speak her mind aloud without repercussions.
You, who still supported a merwin who had an entire house of innocents slaughtered. Yes, you are beautiful to look upon, yet your heart is full of decay. Instead of honoring your dead husband, who was a true king, you cling to a monster in a pitiful effort to preserve a nearly extinct family.

“Looking around at all of your faces, I believe our wise and lovely
jellod peer has come up with an agreeable course of action,” Domo Vaschel stated, nodding to the jellod representative. “All in favor of Nayan leading a machi ritual to determine our new monarch, with a member of House Lumen as the conduit, please raise your hand.”

The entire Coral Assembly
assented.

It had been decades since the Divine Family had conducted a formal seeing ritual.
This would be the first time Kiva would bear witness to such an event. Despite her feelings towards House Lumen, the faera was excited that the throne would see fresh blood, swishing her tail a little too fast, causing her to float higher than she had meant to swim. She forced herself to relax and drifted back down to her usual spot, moving her tail more slowly.