Between
a glimpse into an anthology piece
This is an older piece for an anthology that is no longer published.
BETWEEN
By Mary Duke
Somewhere between the Earth, Sky, and Sea…That’s where you’ll find me.
Chapter One
I wrote my name in the wet sand that coated the oceans floor. C-H-A-S-K-A, then I punched it. I hated my name. I hated it’s meaning. Was it really the only name my mother could find that had the same meaning as my fathers?
I flung myself back and just floated.
She gave me the wrong name…That’s it. I can blame everything on my name. I am no Star Goddess, nor am I like my father, star of the sea.
“I thought I would find you out here,” Kaius said.
I could feel my heart flutter.
“Why are you with your family?” He asked. “Today is a very important day.”
“For them maybe.”
“For everyone,” he corrected me.
“Right.”
“This is huge,” he said, swimming in front of me. “This, this could change everything.”
My stomach rolled, that’s exactly what I was afraid of.
“They’re already talking about opening the gate. The Merpeople in town are already starting to prepare for travelers.”
I turned from him and began to swim away.
“Where are you going.”
“I don’t know. Somewhere. Anywhere.”
“Why aren’t you excited? I thought that out of everyone you’d be the most excited. You’re always reading about the other realms, fascinated by how they differ from our own.”
He was right, but he was forgetting one thing…Well two.
“Well, what is it? What has your fins all twisted?”
“Change. I despise it. No…I take that back. I flat out hate it, and like you said this is going to change everything.”
“You know, sometimes change is a good thing?”
“Ehhh,” I mumbled. He was wrong, but I didn’t have the energy to argue.
“There’s something else I can tell,” he said grabbing ahold of my hands.
Then it hit me. All at once. Without warning. All week it’s tried to pop into my mind, and all week I’ve pushed it back into the depts and forgot that it ever crossed my mind. This time that wasn’t going to work. Tears welled in my eyes.
“What is it? What happened?”
“Nothings happened…Well at least not yet.”
“Is something going to happen?”
“Yeah,” I said as though it was obvious.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“It’s obvious isn’t it?”
“No,” Kaius said.
“Oh, come on. You can’t not see this.”
“If this is about what I think it’s about, don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t even think it. Forget it.”
“Kaius.”
“No, Chaska. It’s not even a possibility.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
“It takes two people.”
I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt, as I twisted away from him, and mumbled under my breath, “It’s like you don’t know Arkyn.”
“Chaska, you’re being ridiculous.”
“No I’m not.”
“How do you figure you’re not?”
“How do you figure I am?” I countered.
“You’re being irrational.”
“I’m not. She wants you. She’s made that obvious.”
“So.”
“So, Arkyn always gets what she wants. A-L-W-A-Y-S!”
“Well she’s not going to this time.”
“Aren’t you the one that always says that there is a first time for everything?”
“Don’t use my words against me. You know how much I hate that.”
“Sorry,” I said stopping. “This just sucks. All of it. Unending suckerly also known as my life.”
“Your life isn’t that bad.”
I laughed. “It’s like you don’t know me either.”
“I know exactly who you are Chaska. Well I know exactly who you would be if you quit hiding behind everything that’s ever gone wrong in your life.”
“Harsh,” I snapped.
“But it’s the truth.”
“No it isn’t.”
“You may not see it that way…”
“But let me guess,” I said. “Everyone else does.”
Kaius nodded. “But, I have noticed you trying more things lately. You’ve even put yourself out there a few times.”
I smiled.
“So is that all you were worried about, Arkyn getting chosen, and me falling madly in love with a person who’s my exact opposite.”
“When you put it like that,” I said regretting I’d said anything.
“It doesn’t matter how I put it, how I put it, or how anyone puts it, it sounds ridiculous. Plus, why would she want me? Once she gets this title, she can have anyone, in any Realm.”
My stomach churned as the answer to his question popped in to my head. Nope. I told myself. Not telling him that. Not telling anyone that. I’ve made that mistake once, and that’s exactly what it was; a mistake.
Arkyn was my sister, born not even a year before me so you like everyone else would assume we were the best of friends. But no…That is definitely not the case. She made it clear from the very beginning that we would be enemies, and that she hated me. What I ever did to make her hate me so much, I’ll probably never know. What I do know is that every time I walk into a room that she’s in all the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and she stares at me till I leave. She’s also prides herself in taking everything from me, whether I have it, or whether I want it…and then she parades it in front of me making sure I know that it’s hers.
This morning, my biggest fear, my biggest nightmare, became a reality. As I grabbed breakfast from our mother, I over heard Arkyn talking to our older sister Tanyn, about how she thinks she’s finally found her mate and how mother and father would be thrilled that she was uniting kingdoms…And then, after she was sure I could hear every word she was saying, she said his name. Arkyn, of Kithyuh….And my world shattered.
Chapter Two
“it’s time!” Kaius said, running his hand up my back, as the bell rang announcing that the Elders have made their decision.
“Yay,” I said starting to head back.
“We could always skip it?” He said a smile spreading across his face.
“My mom would kill me. Literally. She’s the biggest advocate for opening the gate, she misses all the adventures she and my father took. So we all have to be there, be happy, and show everyone that we are a unified undevidable family.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I wish I wasn’t. But hey, at least I just need to stand there and smile…Act like I’m really part of this family. You know what I’ve done on a daily basis my entire life.”
“WHERE WERE YOU?” My mother scolded me as I came back through the door, as she stared at Kaius.
“I was just clearing my head,” I sa id: lying was pointless.
“I’ll catch you later,” Kaius said.
“No,” my mother said. “Kaius, isn’t it. Why don’t you stay. This is a big moment, for our family as well as yours.”
He tried his best to hide the cringe that threatened to twist his shoulders, as he followed me inside.
“Finally!” Ellery, head Elder said as I walked into the room my mother and father used for meetings, and discussions. “Can all of you line up here at the front. After much deliberation with our ancestors we have chosen an Ambassador.”
I took the last spot, farthest from Zagreus, my eldest brother.
“Each of you have your own unique and important qualities, therefore choosing only one of you wasn’t easy. Fear not though. This is only the first step, once this Coalition is established, the possibilities are endless, and we are sure that each of you will find your place in this new world.”
Ellery, started with my brother, and ran her hand across all nine of our chests, getting a read on our auras, or at least that’s what she told us. Then she stopped in front of me.
Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Arkyn glaring at me.
“Chaska,” Ellery said. “I was there when you took your first breath. I was there when you took your first steps…Said your first word. I’ve been there for everything, and nothing makes me prouder than being here with you today as you are given the title of Ambasador of The Realm of the Sea.”
My breath caught in my throat, and the room spun.
“What?” Arkyn said. “You can’t be serious.”
“ARKYN!” Our mother snapped.
“She messes everything up. She always does. Something like this…”
“Enough!” Our mother said in an attempt to silence her.
“Mom, she can’t handle this.”
Before our mother could defend me, I agreed with her. “You’re right. You guys have chosen wrong. I can’t do this.”
My father stepped between me and my only way out. “Chaska.”
“Please don’t. I can’t.”
“You can’t what?” He asked.
With everything that had been said already this morning, and the fact that my emotions were on overload, I was running without a filter. “Your lectures are soul crushing,” I said before I could stop myself. “I am not Arkyn, I am not Mirra, or Vale… I am not you!”
It was no secret that I was my fathers biggest disappointment, though he himself would never admit it, he didn’t have to say it aloud for me to know. It was the look on his face. The way he spoke to me. The way he skimmed over me when assigning roles.
“I’m sorry,” I said instantly regretting the words after they blurted out of my mouth.
My father stepped towards me, and wrapped me in his over sized arms. “It is no fault of yours, and you shall not apologize for my actions.”
“But I didn’t mean it. I swear!” I said through the tears. Though I wasn’t telling the truth, I didn’t want to hurt him…it was never my intention to hurt anyone.
Arkyn grumbled again, in an attempt to end this moment before it started. She hated emotions…Which is another reason why I think she hated me. I was an emotion…Hell I was all the emotions in one, and no one, not even me, knew which one was going to shine the brightest. “So now what?”
“Now,” Ellery answered. “We must prep your sister for the journey of a lifetime.”
“There’s no way,” my sister snapped. “You have to choose someone else. ANYONE else. It doesn’t even have to be me, though it is obvous that I am the best candidate.”
“The choice has been made,” Ellery said walking past my sister. “And the best candidate has been chosen.”
Zagreus, walked towards me, and I froze. Zagreus was my oldest brother, he was a mirror image of our father, and without a doubt he was the third person I feared most…just behind my Arkyn, and my father. He wasn’t known for being quiet…Nor for holding back the words he truly wished to speak. He held his hand out to me, “Congratulations, littlest sister.”
I tried my best to steady my shaking hand, “Thank you.”
He looked to Ellery. “What can I do to help?”
Ellery patted him on the shoulder, “You’re going to make a fine King one day, Zaggy.”
He smiled.
“You sister will need advisiors, until she is versed enough on the working of our Realm, and our Kingdom. Chaska will need to be surrounded by people she can trust,” She said side eyeing Arkyn.
“I just don’t understand though. Why me. Out of all of us. Why did it have to be me?”
“Because,” she said taking my face in her hands. “You see the Realms differently. Different from any one of us.”
