Chapter 44
“The one and only.” She did a little curtsy before I jumped into her arms. I didn’t miss the fact that her voice had instantly lost its southern drawl.
“It’s been you this whole time?!” I screeched into her neck. “I knew something was off about you, but I never thought…”
“I knew you needed me,” she shrugged as if embarrassed. I unclenched the death grip I had on her neck and stood back to get a good look at her. I knew that she had meant the world to my mother, and I was excited about one day getting to know her as well. But it would appear that ‘one day’ was here!
“You shrouded yourself to…everyone? But I thought you could only show one person at a time? Oh! And you’re a tri-goddess! Just like me!” I jumped into her arms again and she chuckled.
“I have a lot more experience than you do, dear,” she admitted with a wink.
“I knew it!” Natasha put her hands on her hips and shook her head at her old friend.
“Now it all makes sense,” Carmen tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I couldn’t figure out how a Maven knew so much about tri-goddess abilities. We were starting to get a little curious as to who you really were.”
“I apologize for the deception; however, I needed Stasia to do this on her own,” she smiled tenderly towards the group. “She couldn’t know she had me here to depend on.”
Finn stepped forward and cleared his throat; his eyes remorseful. He bowed to her respectfully.
“Hello Finn,” she bowed to him as well. “You’ve grown up to be a powerful young man.” His face actually flushed and he looked down at his feet.
“I wanted to apologize for how I treated you back at the cotta-“ he began, but she held a hand up in protest.
“No apologizes needed. In pretending to be a Maven I should have remembered your position outranked mine. I suppose the goddess in me got a little carried away.” She placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a hug. “The little boy I watched destroy sandcastles on the Isle has turned into the best Prime the Sons will ever know.”
“Thank you,” he ducked his head sheepishly.
“And according to that mountain perched on Stasia’s finger,” she raised an eyebrow at my hand, and Natasha almost got whiplash she stood up so fast. “You’ll soon be bound to the best Leader the Tydes will ever know.”
The frenzy of squeals and happiness that followed filled my world with the promise of a bright future that hadn’t always been certain. As I sat back down in the sand to rest before making the trek back to the cottage, my eyes settled on a still form in the sand. The hollow body of my father was the most glaring reminder at what had truly been lost that night. Someone had wrapped him in seaweed, and I could have almost convinced myself that he was simply sleeping. The despair in my chest knew different, however.
“That was his destiny.” Amphitrite plopped down beside me and followed my gaze with pure adoration.
“Brutally dying because of me?” I muttered. She took my hand and made me look in her eyes as they sparkled with happiness.
“Dying for you and delivering the orb to you before Nadia stabbed you,” she explained.
“What?” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
“Your mother foresaw this of course.” Her gaze shifted to the sea as her eyes became unfocused; remembering something. “She made sure that your father knew his true calling in life.
You are the reason he hung on for all of these years.”
“Me?” I asked with consternation.
“She only bestowed that key piece of information upon your father. She revealed it to no one else. Not even me.”
“How do you know all of this then?” I asked.
“He told me after dinner. Only a couple hours ago.” She got that faraway look in her eyes again and chuckled. “Your mother was a very smart woman, Stasia. But you will surpass her in every way. And she would be so proud of you. As am I.”
I wrapped an arm around her and leaned into her as I thought about what she had said. All those years, I thought that my parents had abandoned me. I thought that they hadn’t loved me; sentencing me to a life of abuse and pain. But they had been with me all along. And after their deaths, they continued to protect me and guide me. I had a feeling that they would always find a way to touch my life, whether I was aware of it or not.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I faced Amphitrite. “You know what makes me the happiest?”
“What’s that dear?” she questioned.
“They’re together now.” I beamed as I thought about them side by side in the Asphodel Meadows. “They’ll be together forever. No one can ever take that away from them.”
“That’s right.” She wiped a tear from my cheek as she continued, “Just as you’ll have them in your heart forever. No one can ever take that away from you.”
“Step away from the dress,” Carmen scolded a worried Phoebe. Without the help of Tina, we’d enlisted the help of Amphitrite, who unfortunately didn’t know the intricacies of my white traditional Nereid dress either. After the final aquamarine piece of fabric had finally been secured to my shoulder, Carmen and Willow pulled Phoebe’s perfectionist fingers out the door and into the courtyard.
Unbeknownst to me, a structure had been erected on the campus of Lorelei during my hiatus in the cottage. It was located as you entered campus, immediately to the left of the drive, and it took my breath away. It matched the sandstone materials and gothic architecture of the other buildings on campus, but somehow stood out above everything else. Or maybe I was just biased. It rose three stories into the air, with three majestic stone columns that welcomed you to the massive wooden front door. I stood next to Amphitrite on a stone path along the side, awaiting our cue to walk over to the circular stone courtyard and sprawling gardens of the backyard.
“Ready?” Amphitrite took my hand and nodded in encouragement.
“I think so,” I took a deep breath and giggled. “Tell me again that all of the Nereids will accept me?”
“All of the Nereids will accept you into the sisterhood.” She shook her head at me and rolled her eyes. A loud bell rang three times; signaling the start of the ceremony. We stepped forward in unison, and my hand squeezed hers tighter as my legs began to wobble. She confidently led me around the side of the building, through a vintage wrought iron archway and into the courtyard. I was immediately taken aback at the size of the audience that had gathered around the perimeter of the courtyard. The backyard sloped upwards, revealing a crowd of at least one thousand that erupted into applause as Amphitrite guided me to the very middle of the courtyard. We stopped to stand on a beautiful stone mosaic of a sea turtle, which had been laid with unmistakable artistry. Once in position, Amphitrite stood regally at my side and clasped her hands behind her back.
My palms began to sweat and my legs turned to the consistency of grape jelly. I searched the roaring crowd for a single shred of sanity and found it immediately in a pair of dark blue eyes. His smile was only a precursor to the warm darkness he wrapped around me; causing the rest of the world to fade into the distance. Beside him stood our friends: Carmen - elbowing Ricker, Ian - who was comforting a tearful Phoebe, and Willow - tucked under the supportive arm of Liam. Elina, Natasha, Charon, Dr. Campbell, and even Olivia stood along the stone wall that circled the courtyard. My heart warmed with love and I couldn’t believe that I had so many wonderful people in my life.
The bell rang another three times and I held my breath, as thirty-eight Nereids (yes, I counted) filed into the courtyard and created a circle around us; just as they had in the courtyard of the Spiti of Achilles. An irrational insecurity drifted over my heart, and I suddenly had a fear that the remaining nine Nereids needed to complete my induction wouldn’t do so. After a moment of soul wrenching silence, a weight lifted off of my shoulders as a woman in a bright yellow dress stepped through the arch and into the courtyard. She gracefully made her way to the center and stopped in front of me.
With a gentle smile, she held out her hand and I placed mine in hers palm up. “I am Eione, Nereid of the beach strand.” Her eyes were the color of the sun and her touch was like a fire on a winter’s night. The drop of
