Waterborne Read Online Free Page B

with her mouth, but her eyes remained crystalline chips of ice. “I trust you are in no hurry to return to your own kingdom, Prince Alexandros,” she said.
    Alex inclined his head slightly. “No hurry at all.” His weapons had been confiscated at the wall of fire, after he’d been overwhelmed by Lemorians and before he was escorted into the city proper. He was no coward, but neither was he a fool. Now, he assumed a stoic expression as his wrists and ankles were bound in lengths of silver chain, and he was surrounded by a platoon of female soldiers.
    Lemorians stared and pointed as the guard hustled him down the columned hallway with its rows of giant oysters and outcrops of living coral. The palace was unlike that of Atlantis, despite the widespread use of marble floors and walls, as much of it was roofed over in woven kelp as the humans of the Polynesian cultures used thatch on their dwellings. Here, the pink coral columns were carved into the shape of giant palm trees, and great stone heads with jade eyes reared from the ocean floor at every turn. The dungeons lay deep below the seafloor beneath a massive complex of windowless pyramids.
    Nothing could prevent a feeling of unease as the guards led him deeper and deeper into the prison. Here, the passageways were narrow and low, the cells small and dark. Alex could hear the cries of prisoners as they strode past. Some extended hands or tentacles as they pleaded for food; others proclaimed their innocence and begged for justice. Others merely howled for a merciful death.
    As if reading Alex’s mind, the captain of the guard stopped and stared at him with obvious contempt. She was a formidable warrior with wide shoulders and muscular thighs. Her arms and legs bore the scars of many battles, as well as the elaborate tattoos proclaiming her prowess in battle. She retained both breasts, which were high and shapely, but somewhere in the past, she had lost an eye. A patch covered the missing orbit but did not completely hide a healed scar.
    “It may be that you too will be forgotten here, Atlantean scum,” she said. Her voice was husky, as if she were more accustomed to giving orders than offering sarcasm. “Many prisoners are. It might have been kinder had the supreme one ordered you thrown into the flow.”
    He looked into her eyes. “My name is Alexandros.”
    “I am Anuata of the Hundred Battles.” Her features hardened. “Don’t think to use your courtly wiles on me,” she warned. “I’ve killed more of your kind than I have scales on this hand.”
    “Anuata. It means woman of the shadows, if I remember my Lemorian,” he said. “I will remember you.”
    “As I you, prince of Atlantis.” Her tone grew deeper. “Look well on my face. It might be the last you ever look upon.” She pointed to a low door in the wall, and another soldier flung it open. “Inside,” Anuata ordered.
    Darkness loomed within. “’Enakai commanded that you leave me a light-fish,” Alex reminded her.
    She smiled. “Don’t tell me that you fear the dark, warrior-prince?”
    One of her companions chuckled, and Anuata stiffened and rested a hand on the curved knife at her waist. Instantly, the soldier dropped her gaze and mumbled in submission. Anuata shrugged and pulled a small light-fish from the pouch at her waist. “Enjoy it,” she said to Alex. “For when that goes out, you will learn what darkness truly is.”

CHAPTER 3
     
    “K ill him. He’s too dangerous to keep alive.” Caddoc rose up on one elbow and gazed at ’Enakai with heavy-lidded eyes. She’d pleased him well this night, and he was certain that she was equally impressed with his prowess. Any male Atlantean worth his salt was better in bed than a dozen pampered Lemorian men, and Caddoc had long prided himself on his sexual vigor and creativity in matters of physical pleasure.
    “Your own brother?” ’Enakai brushed aside a length of midnight-black hair and stared back at him. Her lips were bruised and