Surrender of the Brutal King (The Poseidon Trials Book 2) Page 4

  A knock on my door a short while later turned out to be the two nymphs who had dressed me for the start of the Trials.

  “Hello. Please come with us to the dressing rooms to be prepared,” the small one said.

  I followed them dutifully, taking Kryvo with me. He didn’t camouflage himself, and both nymphs kept giving him small, disapproving glances.

  “You’ve decided not to hide anymore?” I asked him.

  “Poseidon knows I am here, and they all saw you talking to me in the Trials. If you insist on me accompanying you, then I may as well save my energy.”

  I was sure I heard a hint of pride in his voice. Maybe my cowardly little starfish was getting a teensy bit braver.

  “Good. Be proud, Kryvo,” I told him.

  We reached the dressing rooms and I looked at the nymph next to me. “This is my friend, and I’m going to need an outfit that he looks good with.” I was joking, but I felt Kryvo warm a little. The nymph raised their eyebrows, then raised a hand to their chin thoughtfully.

  “We can make that work.”

  9

  ALMI

  Somewhat to my surprise, the nymphs dressed me perfectly to match Kryvo. They put me in a corset dress, the top half the same shape as my vest, leaving everything above my breasts and my shoulders completely bare. At first, I felt uncomfortable with so much skin on show, but when I swished around in front of the mirror, the full bottom of the dress weighing nothing and moving like liquid, I decided I liked it. The dress was jet-black, a color I hadn’t expected to suit me. But with my bright red starfish accessory, it looked good. And there was another splash of color showing in the mirror.

  “Can you see the tattoo on my chest?” I asked the nymph.

  “Yes. It was not there last time.”

  “Huh.”

  Poseidon must have lifted the glamor hiding it. The vivid blue and turquoise center caught my eye, the black gown only enhancing it.

  The nymphs put my hair up in an elaborate knot, much of it curled and falling in tendrils that looked effortless, but that they had actually carefully arranged. More streaks of blue had joined the purple, I noticed.

  My makeup was done the same as it had been last time, subtly, but making me look older in a way that I liked.

  “You guys are really good at this,” I said when they were finished.

  They both nodded. “Yes.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  With more nods, they bowed their heads and left the room, just as Galatea appeared in the doorway.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Good evening.”

  “You coming to the ballroom too?”

  “Yes. Why is there a starfish on you? Is that jewelry?”

  “He’s my emotional support starfish.”

  Galatea just shook her head and held the door open for me. I heard her muttering the word odd as I walked past her.

  “Any ideas what the next Trial will be about?” I asked her.

  “No. But Poseidon told me he has shown you the Okeánios ánemos.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I will meet you aboard if anything happens.”

  “Would you not have to take Poseidon’s place if anything happens to him?”

  Her pace slowed as she threw a surprised look at me. “No. Aquarius must be ruled by a god.”

  “What are you?”

  She paused before answering me, her pace quickening along the corridors again. “A nymph”.

  “You must be a very powerful nymph, to be Poseidon’s General.”

  “Yes,” was all she said.

  Sensing her reluctance to talk about it anymore, I changed the subject. “Kalypso spoke to me earlier. She wants to win.”

  Galatea pulled a face. “I’ve no doubt. She is the strongest in the competition. Apart from the king, of course.”

  If Poseidon was at full strength that might have been true, but I refrained from correcting her. “Ceto scares me,” I said instead.

  “Ceto has been under Poseidon’s control for all of time. This will be a hard rift to heal, once the Trials are over.”

  “Was she under his control voluntarily?”

  “It was a mutual arrangement. Poseidon let her and her brother create all manner of hellish creatures, in return for allegiance. For the most part, they had free run of the deep. He was not abusing his position,” she said, with a severe look.

  “I wasn’t suggesting that he was. Just trying to understand how she might see it.”

  “She has betrayed his allegiance. There is no more to it than that.”

  Galatea’s unending loyalty to her king was admirable, but I wasn’t surprised it wasn’t echoed by Ceto. In fact, there were likely a number of Poseidon’s subjects who resented being controlled by a god their whole lives, especially if like Ceto, they had so much power of their own. “I heard she won the last Trial,” I said.

  “Yes. She has the most shells now. But that will change,” Galatea replied fiercely.

  We reached the large, familiar double doors to the ballroom, and she pushed them open.

  The room looked the same as the last time I’d been there, except there was now a large chair in the middle of the room. It was made from hundreds of interlocking rings that made up globes, and there was no question it was representative of Atlas’ sigil.

  Atlas himself was lounging in the throne, the light from the beautiful coral reef surrounding the ballroom playing across his face as his eyes found mine. A cruel smile twisted the corners of his mouth.

  Galatea growled low in her throat. “That bastard sits on a throne in the true King’s own palace?”

  I looked around for Poseidon, and found him instantly. He was standing with Hades, the two of them talking quietly. He was wearing the ocean robe, waves washing over the fabric and drawing everyone who passed him’s gaze.

  I scanned the rest of the room quickly, noting that the audience was mostly the same as last time, the same Olympian gods—and the same three missing.

  I started to move toward Poseidon, but before I took one step, Atlas rose.

  “You’re here, Queen Almi!”

  I stalled in both movement and thought.

  Queen.

  Well, that was new.

  I glanced at Poseidon, but his angry eyes were fixed on Atlas.

  “We have been awaiting your arrival so that we may begin the festivities. And may I say how lovely you look?”

  I gave him a sarcastic smile, then flipped him the finger.

  My knees buckled beneath me, and I cried out in shock as my body folded itself over into a groveling bow.

  “Atlas!” roared Poseidon’s voice, and the compulsion controlling my body vanished.

  “She must learn to respect those more powerful than her, Poseidon,” Atlas said, voice silky sweet. “Which, I believe, is everybody.”

  Fury coursed through my veins as I got to my feet. “Prick,” I hissed through my teeth. I knew he heard me, because his eyes narrowed, and a fizz of pain jolted through my body. It was gone before I could suck in a breath, though, and he turned back to the rest of the room.

  “Citizens of Olympus, honored Olympians,” he called, spreading his arms wide. “Welcome. As it stands, Ceto has four shells, Kalypso three, Polybotes two, Almi one, and Poseidon,”—he turned to the sea god. “None.”

  Thunder cracked in the distance, and the coral reef's bright pastel glow flickered dark for a split second.

  I had more shells than Poseidon? Shit. That must be because it was my ship that had flown over the finish-line. His had never made it.

  “The next three Trials will be a feast for your senses, good people!”

  He clapped his hands and a massive flame dish appeared in place of his throne. Flames leaped high in it, flashed a white-hot color, then an image appeared in them.

  “Apollo has graciously agreed to host the first of three elemental themed Trials. As his realm has the most extreme temperatures, it seemed fitting to hold the ice Trial there.”

  The image of a cliff made from solid ice moved as though a drone was panning, and I felt my muscles tense as I saw something huge and dark moving inside the ice. The image swooped to show a sheet of ice that seemed to go on forever at the foot of the cliff, with more dark shapes moving beneath it in the sea below.

  Atlas’ eyes glinted with cruel excitement as he spoke. “You must collect as many shells as you can in one hour. But be warned, the only way to leave the Trial is to find the red shell. Without it, you cannot return.”

  Fear gripped my gut, and I felt hot at just the thought of being trapped.

  “The second of the elements will be earth, hosted in Aphrodite’s deadly tropical seagardens.”

  The image changed to a panning view of a series of tropical islands. As the view swooped closer to the water, I could see green beneath the surface, then red liquid began to seep like blood through the water, obliterating the green below.

  “The last will be fire, held where the volcanoes of Hephaestus’ Scorpio meet the depths of Aquarius.”

  Once more, the image changed, this time to a scene below the surface of the water. Everything was dark and gloomy, except for a searing river of molten lava carving its way through jagged black rock.

  “Do we take it in turns or all do it together?” Polybotes’ deep voice rumbled from where he stood on the other side of the room, towering over everyone else.

  “No. You will decide what order you take on the Trials, now.”

  My heart was beating too quickly as I looked at Poseidon. His eyes met mine, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. If we were going to work together, we had to choose the same order as each other.

  10

  ALMI

  I began to move toward Poseidon, but after one
step, my feet froze. I tried to pick them up off the ground, but they wouldn’t obey me. More anger surged through me as I looked at Atlas.

  “You will be choosing in private,” he smiled.

  “Choose the—" Poseidon’s voice in my head was abruptly cut off.

  “There will be no mental communication, either.” Atlas looked at Poseidon, and I thought for a minute the sea god would throw himself at the smug Titan.

  Hades laid a hand on Poseidon’s shoulder, and he flinched.

  Atlas gave a small chuckle. “Ceto, as the leader, you will choose first.” He clapped his hands again and the flame dish vanished, replaced by a table with three small, identical urns on it.

  “He shouldn’t have this much power in the palace,” hissed Galatea quietly. “I will find out how he is doing this if it kills me.”

  “Can you speak to Poseidon in your head?” I whispered to her.

  She concentrated a moment, then shook her head. “No.”

  “Shit.”

  Ceto emerged from the crowd, and she slithered on her many creepy, rotten looking octopus legs up to the table. Silently, she leaned over the urns, then moved two of them so that they were in a different order. I watched carefully, but I could see no indication that there was anything on them that determined which was which, or even that they were different from each other.

  “Kalypso?” Atlas said when Ceto moved back from the table.

  The beautiful Titan was wearing scarlet red and looked as fierce as a lion as she stepped forward. As fierce as a loin-fish, I corrected myself mentally as she made her way to the table, her water-hair swishing. She reordered all of the urns before stepping back with a nod.

  My stomach felt uncomfortably jumpy as I watched Polybotes stomp over next.

  Poseidon’s plan for us to stick together had clearly been anticipated by Atlas.

  I looked at the Titan I had been repeatedly told not to underestimate. He looked like a man. A normal, if a little hotter than usual, middle-aged human. Tanned skin, symmetrical, good-looking face, and the build of someone who went to the gym a lot.

  Sensing me looking, he fixed his dark eyes on mine. I swallowed, about to look away, when his whole appearance changed. It was only for a split second, but for that second, he was made of freaking fire. Everything other than his eyes were flame-red, sparks of deadly power running in rivers across his whole body. Those eyes, though… Black pits of nothingness, a promise of an eternity of soulless, lifeless nothing.

  His human image flashed back into place, a cold smile on his handsome face, and gooseflesh erupted over my skin.

  “Can he read my mind?” I asked Galatea out of the side of my mouth. It was too much of a coincidence that I had been thinking about his appearance for him to give me a flash of himself looking so terrifying.

  “The palace forbids mind-reading as part of its magic, but Atlas has been thwarting its magic since he got here, so fuck knows.”

  It was the first time I’d heard her swear, and I turned a little to her. Her sternness had amplified tenfold, and I felt a bolt of sympathy for her. She loved Poseidon and Aquarius; that much was clear. And that meant everything she loved was under very serious threat. Hatred for Atlas oozed from her every pore.

  “Can I stop it?”

  She glanced at me. “Not with no magic. But I can try to shield your thoughts.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I can try. Take my staff.”

  “Thank you,” I said, as she passed me her staff as subtly as possible.

  Polybotes had finished rearranging the urns, and Atlas looked at me.

  “Almi’s turn,” he said, gesturing at the table.

  I strode up, keeping the staff by my side and gripping it hard. I had a plan, but I had no idea if I could pull it off.

  When I reached the urns, they all flared to life with a deep red glow, and writing in a messy scrawl burned in the ceramic: Fire, Ice, Earth. One label on each urn.

  Shrugging, I put them in the order Atlas had introduced them, in the hope that Poseidon might instinctively do the same if my plan failed.

  I moved the pot that read ice to the left, put the earth one in the middle, and the fire one last.

  When I turned away from the table, just as I had hoped, Poseidon was waiting a few feet behind me.

  “Kryvo,” I said as quietly as I could, without moving my lips. “Tell Poseidon what order I put the urns in.” As swiftly as I could, I moved my hand to my collar and lifted the starfish from my skin as I walked toward Poseidon, my back to Atlas.

  Poseidon’s eyebrows rose as I walked straight at him, holding his gaze and trying to send my best ‘just-go-with-it’ vibes.

  “Good luck, husband,” I said loudly, and pressed my lips to his in the most over-the-top manner I could, whilst also pressing Kryvo to the shoulder his toga left exposed. The starfish gave a tiny, startled squeak, and it felt like Poseidon had turned to stone again, he was so still. He flared to life suddenly, gripping my waist and pulling me into him, his lips moving beneath mine. Heat rushed me, my stomach swooping, and I heard Atlas bark.

  “Enough of this nonsense. Poseidon, choose your urns.”

  Poseidon stepped back, and I dragged my eyes from his to glance at his shoulder. Kryvo had camouflaged himself completely.

  I walked slowly back to Galatea. “I think it worked,” I whispered to her. Atlas had said nothing, and Poseidon was moving the urns with a sense of purpose.

  “What did you do? Where is your ornamental starfish?”

  “Hopefully saving my ass. Again.”

  Poseidon moved back from the table, and Atlas waved his hands. The table vanished and the throne reappeared as he began to read the order the first three competitors had chosen. I barely heard what he said until he said my name. My pulse quickened and I fixed my eyes on Poseidon. He stared straight back at me.

  It was him who had suggested us working together, but now it seemed I had been keener on the idea than I had realized. More than anything in the world, I wanted the moody ocean god by my side when we faced the Trials we had just been given a glimpse of.

  “Almi chose Ice, then Earth, then Fire.”

  I knew instantly that my plan had worked. I saw the flicker of light in Poseidon's eyes, and the coral reef around us pulsed with the faintest glimmer of energy.

  Atlas’ voice was hard when he spoke again. “Poseidon is taking on Ice, then Earth, then Fire, too.”

  Galatea gripped my arm. “That means you’ll be in the Ice level with the giant, the Earth level with Kalypso, and the Fire level with Ceto. You need to be on your guard,” she said, face tight with concern. She’d obviously been listening more carefully than I had.

  “I will. And I’ll be with Poseidon, thanks to you shielding my thoughts and one tiny starfish.” I grinned, holding her staff out.

  She took it, a slightly puzzled frown on her face. “I’m glad I could help.”

  “I’ve had an idea!” Atlas’ voice boomed across the room, loud enough that it made my pain lance through my skull. We turned to him, and I was alarmed to see that his placid, smug expression had been replaced with something bordering on manic.

  “I think we should start now.”

  “What?” Kalypso’s voice was crisp and clear in the stunned silence. “No, we need time to prepare.”

  “No, I don’t think you do.” Atlas’ unhinged glare was trained on Poseidon. “Let’s do this now. Off you go!”

  The world flashed white, and the next thing I knew, I was underwater.

  11

  ALMI

  My immediate instinct was to draw breath, and I barely stopped myself in time. Panic swamped me as I began to sink through the water, and I kicked my legs, trying to orientate myself.

  I didn’t have my belt. I had no water-root.

  The overwhelming sense of being trapped pressed in on me, the weight of the water crushing me on every side. Something moved around me, freezing cold currents blasting my body, and then Poseidon’s face was in front of me, his bright blue eyes beacons in the gloom. He gripped my face with his hands, then drew my lips to his.