“My lord, may I present Poseidon’s gift—Lady Natasha from the Surface. We beg forgiveness for our tardiness, but I felt it inappropriate to introduce such a wonderful blessing from Poseidon in a state unbefitting a lady.” He said all this as he rose from his bow, but didn’t make any move to hold my hand again when he was finished. I was shocked to hear him speak with absolutely no inflection in tone or facial expression. I was starting to wonder who the real Raif was and if I had even a snowflakes chance in Hell to get my heart back if this was his true self. I did my best to curtsy as he finished talking.
“She is not like Poseidon’s other gifts, is she? I wonder what he had in mind by sending her. She does not seem fit to tend fields, climb mountains, or care for our sea creatures. There is an excess to her that does not seem proper for a lady. She is not even properly contained in her dress; the spillage is extensive.” At this, the king swatted the tops of my breasts as if to accent the ’excess’ that he was talking about. I was beet red in anger and he wasn’t even finished.
“She does possess motherly hips, perhaps she was sent here to breed. What say you, Raifuku? She would make an excellent breeder, and we are sorely lacking in new mothers.” At this he grabbed my hips, pantomiming exactly what the process of breeding would entail, from behind me. I was enraged and extremely embarrassed to be treated like a piece of cattle, especially in front of so many people. I schooled myself slightly to hide the shame, but let my anger loose.
“I don’t give a flying rat’s ass what Raifuku has to say about it.” I emphasized the use of his full name. “She has a name, and a mind of her own to choose whether she wants to be a breeder. She can talk for herself, you pompous ass! Who the hell are you to criticize me? I’m a strong woman who has a hell of a lot more to offer than ovaries. If you cared to ask me what I wanted instead of treating me like cattle, you’d know that I don’t even want to be here. I just want to go home!” I spoke quickly, yanking myself out of his embrace and was visibly shaking with anger.
It took every ounce of restraint I had not to beat the crap out of this man, royalty or not. Raif had, at some point, put a restraining hand on my back, and even the warmth of his electric touch hadn’t been able to calm me down. I knew I wasn’t a wisp of a woman; that I had curves and cushion where there could be ribs and a six-pack, but I liked my appearance. Who was he to insinuate that I was unacceptable? Any softening toward this place I was starting to feel because of Raif vanished at this introduction. I desperately wanted to go home and pretend I had never seen Atlantis. The thought of never seeing Raif again was the only pain I felt. While that thought hurt beyond measure, I could never live in a place where I was so thoroughly disrespected because of my packaging.
“Well, she certainly has spirit. Atreyu, what has Poseidon whispered in your ear about this new treasure?” He laughed at me and turned away like I mattered less than a gnat buzzing around his head. If Raif didn’t have one of my hands in his and his other on my back in a comfortable distraction, I swear I’d have hit the king of Atlantis right then and there. No wonder the queen’s chair was still empty.
The man he turned to wore black robes that contrasted with his silver hair. His long locks were held back with a black cord. He had three long silver braids on the left side of his face that were separated out from the rest. He glided over to the king and started examining me like I was a piece of meat to be auctioned off later. His silver eyes swirled as he looked at me and for just an instant I saw an expression of awe, respect, and abject terror. He turned from me and addressed the king.
“My lord, as Poseidon’s high priest I am honored to have had him visit his temple this day. He came to me and instructed me to find the ancient scrolls. He spoke to me again and told me that this day could be a day of much rejoicing or great despair. My king, Poseidon brings to all of Atlantis on this day, the one who will fulfill the prophecy.” He gestured to me as a sudden uproar exploded from the crowd, distracting me from my questions and fury.
There were exclamations of joy, shock, and terror. I couldn’t understand anything they said, but I could feel the undercurrents of emotions and see the expressions on their faces. The Council members continued to wear masks of indifference. Even Raif’s face held no sense that he was concerned in any way that I was some sort of prophecy come true. Only the hand that clenched mine betrayed his emotions. Every muscle was tight with the tension he was holding in check. The king quickly hid his terror from his people, but not so quickly that I didn’t catch the momentary lapse in his schooled features.
“Atreyu, are you certain this creature is whom Poseidon refers to? I cannot see how she would be anyone’s alma xemelga.” The king turned up his nose at me. I suppressed a shiver of awareness at the words. Alma xemelga. The words rang as important and resonated
