The Shell and the Star - Part 13

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, if you celebrate. 

For those of you who are also Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby fans, this year's events made for two days of fun, festivity, surprises and even a bit of drama as an 80-1 longshot who hadn't even made the final lineup until the day before the race (due to a scratch), took it all in a huge surprise victory. As a writer, I love it when there's a Cinderella ending. The Preakness -- in two weeks -- could also be quite a moment in the sport as the Kentucky Oaks winner might just be taking on the boys -- including the surprise Derby winner. This is what we call a page-turner in the writing world. :)

Today. Part 13 of my serialized book, The Shell and the Star, begins as Jinn and Trey return to his father's estate at the end of an eventful day together.

If you're just tuning in to this episode of this aquatic SFR, you can catch up on everything posted to date at this link:

The Shell and the Star

CHAPTER FIVE 

Once more encased in her bubble, Jinn glided along beside Trey as they made their way back to the family estate through the stark coral banks, muted flow-coat dwellings and colorful sea gardens of Fourth City.

Not far from the estate, a foreboding, circular black structure rose up on a sea mount, nearly touching the waves at its highest point.

“What is that place?” Jinn questioned.

“The Conclave of the Elders. Named for the council that are the keepers of the order, and hold tribunals for any who violate the Law of the Shell.”

“I thought your father was the law here.”

“He is the leader of our people, but the authority of the Elders can surpass even that of the Imperator when a law has been broken.”

“Like our magistrates, then?”

“I am not familiar with your word, but if they are the interpreters and keepers of your laws, I imagine so.”

When they reached the manor’s vestibule, Morra was waiting to greet them. “Welcome back, Jinn Amalla. His Grace wishes to invite you for dinner this evening at seven bells. What answer would you like me to convey?”

“Tell him I’d love to stay,” Jinn answered, getting a very pleased nod from Trey.

“Shall I show you to your guest quarters to refresh?” Morra suggested.

“I’ll be happy to show her there, Morra,” Trey volunteered.

Morra reacted to his offer with a discerning smile and a tip of her head. “As you wish, Master Trey. I’ll return to meal preparations then.”

Trey guided Jinn in her bubble through the labyrinth of corridors to her quarters, a large round room, the flow-coat walls a lovely shade of lavender.

“It’s very spacious,” Jinn said, taking in the width and breadth of her accommodations.

“Come topside,” Trey pointed, rising to the surface.

“But…my bubble.”

“There’s room. You’ll see.”

Jinn followed his lead, and surfaced her envirosphere to find a large, air-filled dome arching high above the water.

“Yours isn’t the first bubble that’s been here,” Trey told her. “These chambers were built with your father in mind. They were his quarters, back in the time he used to frequent Fourth City.”

“I have vague memories of his trips, though he never spoke much of his time on Veros.” Jinn drank in the lovely frescos of shells and sea creatures painted at the water line. And…was that a rendering of Talstar above, floating in a panorama of the starry skies?

Indeed, it was.

“This room was specially constructed so a sphere can be moored at the surface with the hatch open, and powered off to save the charge.”

The Imperator obviously thought much of her father to have built him such an opulent and accommodating home-away-from-home. Why then had he said nothing about it? And why had he stopped paying visits to Trey’s father’s estate so long ago?

“Do you remember when my father used to visit?” Jinn asked, still craning her neck to take in the elegant murals.

“I do.” Trey gave her a quick smile. “I was very young, of course, but completely fascinated with the commander. He was one of the first people of the Star I’d ever seen. I begged my father for a bubble of my very own.”

“Did you?” Jinn laughed. “Maybe you should borrow mine some time.”

Trey’s eyebrows arched at the prospect. “I would relish the chance.”

Jinn gave him a teasing grin. “Am I to think you only love me for my bubble?”

“Your bubble,” he said with a laugh, “is the least of your charms.”

Jinn didn’t know how to respond to his words. Was he being sincere? Merely playful? Thankfully, a muted tone sounded from the translator in Jinn’s sphere, which spared her the need for an awkward response.

“The call to dinner,” Trey explained. “I’m expected to dress. Give me a moment and I’ll return to escort you.”

Jinn glanced down at her informal attire. “Oh, but I’m—”

“You look beautiful.” Trey made a diving roll toward the submerged door. “Be right back,” the sphere’s translator emitted.

Beautiful?

Her heart fluttered. He thought she was beautiful? Even in her plain traveling attire?

Jinn eyed the clothes storage chest beneath her pilot couch. Essa had packed one dress of delicate ivory silkskein. It was one of her favorites. If Trey was going to don formal dress for dinner, then so would she.

She skinnied out of her white top and pulled the dress over her head. She’d just peeled off her leggings and tucked them away in the chest, when she heard the soft knock at her waterdoor.

“Come in.”

She submerged her bubble as Trey swam inside. The moment he saw her, his hands stilled. So did his feet. He gave a slow blink and uttered a quiet exclamation her translator said it had no interpretation for.

Yes. That.

Because Trey was wearing a tailored bodyveil as dark and blue as the Deep. The garment’s classic lines molded to his muscled torso but flowed fuller along his limbs. A hands-width of silver and sky finery wrapped his neck and tucked into itself at his throat. He looked oh so elegant and dashing and just…just…

Untranslatable exclamation.

The alarm sounded on Jinn’s respiration monitor and she slapped her hand down to silence it. He looked so fetching she’d literally forgotten to breathe, but did the monitors really have to announce that to the entire manor?

“Is there a problem with your sphere?” he asked, concerned.

“Just a minor anomaly.” Jinn gave him a blushing smile and for  a single moment in time the world around them faded and they connected through their barriers—Jinn seated in her enviro-bubble, Trey floating in his water world.

“We should…” he said.

“I’m ready.”

But still they remained. A few more seconds, a few more moments, in this world between worlds that they alone shared.

The dinner chime sounded again and Trey gave an anxious glance over his shoulder, breaking the spell. “I’m afraid we’re late.”

He moved closer and extended his arm, placing his handfin on her sphere. She reached up to press her hand to his from the inside, and it met with the solid surface. A sadness she didn’t truly understand took hold in her heart.

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Hope you'll be back next Monday to read on, and see where Jinn and Trey will go from here.

Have a wonderful week!