Chapter 62 A Queen Among Tides: Chapter Sixty-Two - Sebastian

Chapter 62 A Queen Among Tides: Chapter Sixty-Two - Sebastian
“It is my deepest honour to introduce for the first time, our new King and Queen, Sebastian and Lemuel!” I hear Eisa cheer through the microphone as Lemuel and I make our way into the ballroom.

Everyone is gathered and cheering, still carrying the same excitement from earlier. I smile at Lemuel, tightening my hold on his arm and watch as he takes in the wonderfully decorated room. The decor is much the same as the throne room, only on a much larger scale. Glittering purple water pours from the fountains and waiters walk around serving drinks, but all that is tuned out the moment I hear ‘Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?’ begin to play. I grin at Lemuel as I bounce with excitement. Dimitra deserves a big fat raise after this.

Lemuel smiles and extends his hand to me, “May I have this dance, my King?”

I smile and bat my eyelashes, “I thought you’d never ask.”

I place my hand in his, smiling wider when he pulls me close by my waist and begins twirling me around the dancefloor. It’s like a fairytale. Dancing in a grand ballroom with my Prince Charming – or is it Queen Charming now? Time stands still for the moment; the world melting away as we stare into each other’s eyes. I brush my fingers against his cheek as I sing the next line of the song to him, “Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream, or are you really as wonderful as you seem?”

Lemuel smiles at me, his electric eyes sparking with life as he leans in and places his lips on mine, “You know you can’t sing, right?”

I snort, “Thank you for crushing my dreams of ever auditioning for the Greek X Factor.”

He chuckles, “I love you too much to let you embarrass yourself,” he says before kissing my forehead.

“Well, when you put it like that,” I concede as he continues to guide me around the room.

After a little more dancing, we finally break to make our way around the ballroom greeting our guests and giving them a chance to meet Lemuel or share any concerns they may have with us, but all we receive is warmth, love and welcome. I’ve always been proud of my people, and today just proves why.

Suddenly an intense sense of calm comes over me, settling every nerve and bone in my body, and I know Lemuel feels it too.

“That was a beautiful ceremony,” compliments a delicate voice.

Lemuel and I turn around only to lock onto two pairs of glistening gold eyes. The first pair belongs to a face I remember well.

I smile excitedly, “Aiyla, we are honoured to have members of the Delegation attend our coronation.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Your Majesty. I’m just glad I’m returning for a celebration and not to intervene on your parent’s poor judgement,” she says pointedly. I had almost forgotten she’d come to tell off my parents for getting between me and Lemuel.

“Thank you for coming all this way to protect me and my animai,” I say gratefully, sensing Lemuel’s confusion.

“We’re protectors of the animai bond, as much as we are upholders of peace,” explains Aiyla’s sister, who I have never met.

“King Sebastian, Queen Lemuel, this is my sister Gokcen,” Aiyla introduces us warmly as if reading my mind. Lemuel and I both nod in greeting.

Irshiusts have always fascinated me. They’re all sisters, bleed the same, and share the same physical traits, and yet not a resemblance among them. It’s like a hundred adopted siblings, who all happen to have the same bright gold eyes and glittering gold skin. I love it!

Aiyla has long platinum hair down to her breasts with dark blonde roots. Her skin is creamy white embedded with glittering gold, and she stands at about 6’1” with a sharp nose, and small pouty lips and a sharp chin. Gokcen on the other hand, couldn’t be more different. She’s 4’9 without the heels on – I’m sure – with long dark brown hair down to her waist. She has Asian-European features with a long narrow face, a tiny mouth, monolid eyes and deeply prominent cheekbones that make her cheeks look sunken in. Her skin is a unique greyish beige with the same glittering gold as her sister and both are dressed in stunning gold gowns.

Aiyla is wearing a gold, low-cut spaghetti strap dress with sequins patterned mostly on the bodice and train as it skims the floor, while Gokcen is in a black dress with golden flowers and one-shoulder volume cape sleeve, and a side slit that goes up to her knee. I appreciate anyone who can dress on theme.

“This is my first time ever meeting an irshiust,” Lemuel informs them.

“And our first time meeting a visum who is Queen of the sirna,” Aiyla teases.

“I’m sure it won’t be the last you meet us,” says Gokcen gravely.

“That sounded ominous,” I point out.

“My sister is right. Much has happened lately. The Kartheca was attacked and as a result… our sister was killed,” Aiyla says, choking the words out as Gokcen fists her hands at her sides.

I gasp in shock but know better than to ask if they’re serious. An irshiust cannot tell a lie, and who would joke about their sister being killed? The Delegation has existed for thousands of years, and no one has ever bested them in a battle. How the fuck did this happen?

“We are deeply sorry for your loss,” says Lemuel compassionately, as I nod in agreement. The pain is written all over their faces and I can tell whatever happened was quite recent.

“Thank you,” Aiyla says graciously.

“How did this happen?” I ask, still in shock over the news.

“A makkari whom we stupidly trusted, infiltrated our home to obtain a powerful item we have safeguarded for as long as we’ve been alive. In her attempts to obtain it, she killed our sister Nuray. Thankfully, our sister Ece survived the attack, though she has not recovered from the trauma. She feels great shame and guilt that she survived, and Nuray did not,” Gokcen explains in a pained voice.

“Survivors guilt,” acknowledges Lemuel, knowing that feeling all too well. I wrap my arm around him to comfort him and feel him lean into my hold.

“I’m relieved your sister survived, though I’m very sorry she is in such pain. I still can’t believe a makkari could do that,” I say in continued disbelief.

“We recently learned she has been the true criminal behind centuries of crimes. She had been using glamours and other methods to disguise herself as her niece, a makkari, and now High Priestess by the name of Isolde, who you may have heard of,” Aiyla explains.

Greater shock catapults through me as Lemuel’s and my head snaps to look at each other, both on the same page. They know! They know Isolde is innocent!

“Please tell me this means you’ve cleared Isolde’s name,” I say eagerly, much to their surprise.

“Of course. She was cleared and Manon was arrested. You seem very invested,” Gokcen notes with intrigue.

“Damn right I am, she saved my kingdom. It was Isolde who came to my kingdom and learned of the conniving bitch Circe conspiring against me and the kingdom with the bitch Manon. Had she not warned Eisa of what she learned, we might not be here right now,” I explain, relieved to finally be able to share this with the right people, knowing Isolde will no longer face punishment.

Both their eyes blow wide, “You knew of her innocence?” Aiyla whispers.

“And you said nothing,” Gokcen says disapprovingly.

“Believe me, Sebastian wanted to, but he and Eisa were instructed by Isolde to keep it to themselves. Isolde feared what Manon may do in retaliation and since none of us had any proof and only had word of mouth, she felt it wasn’t a strong enough case to be made in her defence,” Lemuel explains.

“Which I think is a load of shit. It should have been enough to make you question things. No true killer goes out of their way to risk their safety and very freedom to protect a kingdom they have no obligation to,” I huff, once again frustrated by the horrible injustice that woman has had to face. I’ve never met her, but the whole matter makes me sick. Plus Eisa tells me she’s gay, so naturally we alphabet warriors must stick together. We should call ourselves the Pride Guardians. Oh, I should coin that and put it on a T-shirt.

Aiyla sighs, “We still have much to redeem ourselves for. How we handled the Isolde situation has left us all extremely despondent and ashamed and showed us that even our gifts are more flawed than we realise, and we not only hope to make amends with Isolde, but we hope to do better in the future for all those under our care.”

“Learning curves are a bitch, believe me, I know,” Lemuel says sympathetically.

“Yes, news travels fast. Apparently, you’ve learned so much you even managed to get the Goddess Merlos to change her mind, and I don’t think that’s ever been done in our lifetime,” Gokcen says with an impressed tone.

“My man is just that special,” I say proudly.

“Actually, aside from your coronation, there is another reason why we are here today,” says Aiyla.

“Oh?” I ask curiously.

“The object Manon tried to obtain; we no longer feel is safe in our care. Your Majesties, we humbly ask that you safeguard this object within the walls of the undersea palace, until it is time for it to achieve its purpose,” Aiyla’s tone turns serious, and I can hear the severity of this request in her voice.

“What is this object exactly?” Lemuel asks.

Aiyla and Gokcen look around with unease, probably concerned someone will overhear, even though we don’t have advanced hearing like other supernaturals, but to be safe, I have an idea.

I smile at Lemuel, “Baby, I wish for no one else to be able to hear our conversation.”

He smiles shaking his head, “I can do that.” His electric eyes glow brightly and the brand around our wrists begins to glow and a wave of power crashes over him. He raises his hand and snaps his fingers, and the wave dissipates, and his eyes return to normal, “All done.”

“You wasted your one wish on that?” Gokcen asks incredulously.

“Oh, no. I have unlimited wishes now,” I grin cuddling Lemuel’s arm. Their jaws hit the floor as they stare at us in wide-eyed shock.

“We can explain the details of how that happened later, but for now, please tell us about this object you wish for us to protect,” instructs Lemuel.

Gokcen clears her throat and centres herself, “It is known as the Orraikam. It is the physical manifestation of all the magic ever wielded by the Goddess Fretez. As she lay dying, to ensure her magic was never reversed and in turn that all makkares would survive, she preserved all her magic in the form of the Orraikam. Manon attempted to steal that power and become a God. Our mother has explained that the Orraikam serves a greater purpose that we do not yet know, so until then, we must do all we can to keep it safe. We are clearly no longer the safe option. But…” Gokcen tappers off.

“But we imagine entering a deep sea palace would be extremely hard for just about anyone, even us, and I’m sure you know how to protect the palace against other sirna,” Aiyla explains.

I take a moment to process what I just heard, and perhaps I just have seaweed in my ears because I must have heard wrong.

“I’m sorry, did you just ask us to hang onto and protect the magic of a Goddess?” I ask incredulously and watch as they both calmly nod. “Oh, well, okay then,” I say, clearly not hearing things.

“What do you want to do?” Lemuel asks through our link.

“Are you kidding? Who turns that down? Our first act as King and Queen will be to help the Delegation and become the chosen guardians for the magic of a Goddess! That kind of opportunity doesn’t come around every day!”

“You’re far too excited about this,” Lemuel says in disapproval, “This is serious.”

“I know, and they’re trusting us. And with your new abilities, I know exactly how we can keep this Orraikam safe,” I grin confidently.

Lemuel takes a deep breath and looks at Aiyla and Gokcen, “It would seem we accept your request.”

“We promise to not let you down,” I vow as I try to contain my excitement.

They sigh in relief and smile at us with deep gratitude, “Thank you, Your Majesties, you have no idea how much help you are being,” says Aiyla.

As much as I’m looking forward to Circe’s execution, I didn’t like the idea of my first act as King to be starting my reign with bloodshed. Now I get to start my reign knowing I am safeguarding a sacred and powerful object. That’s how I hope future generations remember me, as a protector instead of a killer, but that killing will happen, just not today.