Episode 210: Return (Eedhos)

He swam below the teals and golden-blues, into the deeper purple-black nightwater of the palace.

Home, likely for the last time. Either his father would guess, and kill him finally, or his father would fall for his clumsy plan and release him to freedom.

Death, he would welcome with only a little lament. His life had no purpose or joy, beyond subtly protecting others when he could. When it went well, he had the satisfaction of knowing he had undone some of his father’s dark work over the kingdom. When it went poorly…

It never left a mark on his body, at any rate.

He swam to his father’s private quarters, ready for the game

“Your bond is broken,” his father greeted without looking up. “Kill her already?”

He plastered on his most smug smile, chin high. “I said I’d take care of her,” he boasted. “Do you need anything else?”

“It’s time you find a wife,” his father said. “A quality wife. Who would you like? Cafissia?”

This again. He imagined Cafissia. There was no sound reason to reject her. She was beautiful, efficient, a small streak for compassion…

“I haven’t bonded to anyone,” Eedhos hedged.

His father met his eyes. Cold, discerning, searching. Eedhos held the gaze.

“You can’t wait forever,” his father summarized.

Eedhos forced a laugh from himself. “I keep telling my bond the same thing,” he joked. In truth, it was in tatters. Each false bond his father worked, made it only worse for him.

His father afforded him a small smile, not quite expansive enough to reach his eyes. “There are plenty of fine options among the nobility. Pick one.”

“I would have taken Tey,” he hedged again. He needed to get himself back to land, before he was tied to this place forever. “Why did you give her to Rykla?”

“She was damaged,” his father dismissed with a wave. “Why would you want a woman that’s been used?”

Damaged. He wondered who Tey had loved before his father’s hand passed through her life, changing and removing and destroying.

“Well,” he amended, “I would have preferred her before that happened. Can I have time? I’ll explore all my options.”

“You’ve had time,” his father complained. He swam a circle around the room, a rare show of agitation. Eedhos wondered whether it was genuine or to make a point.

“I would be open to a deadline you set, Father.”

“By the end of the week.”

So little time, so little interest. “Two days?” he clarified. Panic would not serve him. He’d come here expecting that death might be the order of the afternoon. Marriage was hardly worse.

“You know the options,” his father explained. What more could Eedhos hope to learn in two days, that he had not already gathered over the centuries, about each of the noble girls?

“What if I found an undine on land in that time?” he asked. It would get him to land. He’d have to count on his mother to protect him, possibly with war as the cost. “Noble. Would you accept her?”

“You have one in mind?” his father asked. “Very well.” His tone dismissed Eedhos, in a way that said no noble undines would dare to be on land.

“Not a specific one, but I have sisters in the Dells. Strong, capable, noble.”

His father swam toward him, unexpected intensity in his eyes. “Sisters?”

Ah. He would win this, at least as far as reaching land was concerned. The rest was on his mother.

“Their mother would never know of my intent,” Eedhos assured.

His father swam a handful of circles. “If she moved here,” he decided, “you have my blessing.”

He nodded his head, despite the revulsion at the idea of marrying his own sister. “I’ll need to visit the Dells to lure her away.”

“If you’re caught, we won’t come for you,” his father warned.

What a sweet surprise to find in the midst of all this tension: All Eedhos had to do was be caught, to be free of his father and have only his father to blame.

“I won’t be caught,” he said, prideful. “I’m nothing more than a peasant, passing through. They have a festival, countless strangers at the palace. The timing is perfect.”

So perfect, in fact, that it made him a little ill to imagine if he were the sort to do this. It would be so easy to catch one of the teenage girls, lure her into security, drag her to the sea.

Fortunate for his sisters, then, that he had a conscious.

“I look forward to meeting her,” his father said. “I hope you disposed of the other girl properly.”

Properly, in most cases, meant feeding the body to the dolphins. Eedhos didn’t answer that – let his father assume he was as obedient as he seemed – but instead swam out of the room and upwards towards shore. Towards freedom.

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