Waterborne Read Online Free

and knock them all down. They will fall like dominoes. Flash. Flash. Flash.

     
    “How dare you show your face here?” ’Enakai demanded. She rose from her massive jade throne and glared down at him from the height of the marble dais.
    Alex ignored the theatrics and held out the woman in his arms. It wouldn’t do to make ’Enakai any angrier than she was, but neither was he willing to bend his knee and beg for mercy. Instead, he simply stated his purpose. “I have need of your healers.”
    “For a human?” Her upper lip curled as she stared with contempt at the woman’s unconscious form. “Why would we use our sacred arts on a human?”
    “Because you’re the supreme ruler of Lemoria.”
    “And high priestess,” she reminded him.
    “And high priestess,” he conceded. “I appeal to you because whatever you order will be done.” He flashed her the hint of an arrogant smile. “And because you always pay your debts.”
    A ripple of disbelief rose from the onlookers. This was not the great court reception hall of Lemoria, but only a smaller one. Still the space was packed with the members of the royal household, minor and high nobility, and bureaucrats, palace guards, servants. Not to mention the soldiers—some of whom had made a good stab at killing him only a short time ago.
    ’Enakai’s eyes narrowed. She was very beautiful, Alex conceded, her appearance young and lithe, as slim as a snake with great black eyes and hair that fell unbound to her hips. “What debt do I owe you, prince of Atlantis?”
    He shrugged. “I sent your brother back to you, didn’t I?”
    “After we paid a fortune in pearls and jade for his release.”
    “Prince Kaleo took part in an unprovoked attack on an unarmed trading outpost in the south Atlantic. If he were human, he’d be no better than a pirate. You’re fortunate I didn’t return his head to you in a fishnet.”
    “You lie! My brother was on a diplomatic mission.”
    “If you believe that”—Alex said—“you’re either a fool or you’ve been sadly misinformed.”
    The women around her glared and whispered among themselves. “Kill him,” one murmured. “Kill him and throw his body into the flow.”
    “Silence!” ’Enakai’s captain of the guards commanded, driving the butt of a trident into Alex’s ribs.
    He gritted his teeth and held back the gasp of pain that resulted. The blow had knocked him off balance, and he took a step back, but managed to regain his composure without dropping his human burden.
    The captain was female as well, or what passed for female among these outlandish Lemorians. Here, in this rival kingdom in the Pacific, no king ruled. Instead, a woman sat on their highest throne. Warrior women filled the ranks of their armies and guarded the palace, and held the important offices of state, while males of noble blood were more often artists, musicians, poets, and sexual playmates kept and provided for by their mistresses.
    Among the Atlanteans, there were women who sat on the high court and served in the armies. Every position but that of Poseidon was open to them, but these Lemorian warrior-maids were a race apart. The elite palace guards shaved their heads except for a single, braided scalp-lock at the back of their skulls, and each bore a row of intricate tattoos across their upper face, making it appear that they wore patterned masks, black against their pale green skin. Additional designs were tattooed across their back and down their arms. Those were considered badges of honor representing bold deeds or battles they had survived.
    Some of these elite female soldiers had one breast surgically removed to more easily shoot a bow or cast a trident, and they were tall and stocky, muscled beyond what most Atlantean men would find attractive in a sexual partner. Many Lemorians of the lower classes had only a thumb and three fingers on each hand and thick webbing between their toes, making them powerful swimmers. These, unlike the