4. Chapter 4

His words still echoed in my mind when we entered his cabin and died right then. Never had I seen such luxury before. A long window ran from one side of the room to the other, giving a view of lapping water and I could just imagine what it would look like if this ship truly dove down into the depths.

Seating had been arranged right in front of the window, invitingly arranged, soft cushioned chairs and couches, with small tables by their sides to rest a drink or book.

The room was long, but narrow, a short wall filled with shelves divided the seating area from a dining room table that would easily sit ten, while the window still ran the length of the room.

Doors to the left and right stood closed, leaving me to wonder what lay behind them.

"I prefer to have a view, so my quarters take up most of the right side of the boat," Myles said having stepped next to me without me noticing.

A small shudder moved through the ship as I imagined the engine came to life, it was minimal though, I barely felt it through the soles of my shoes .

"Would you like to take a seat? Something to drink?" He offered.

I didn't answer, instead I moved the last steps forward until I could put my right palm against the glass, as if I could feel the water through it. Funny. I had always loved the ocean, never mind that it was endless and we sailed around Oceanus without ever reaching a point forcing us to stop and often without seeing land for months.

"I suppose according to your definition, we are happy here," I finally answered his earlier question. "I would not want to live anywhere else."

"Have you ever been anywhere else?" I countered, so close, his breath tickled a sensitive spot behind my ear, where my hair was pulled away.

"No," I admitted, "but I have seen pictures. My father owned a palmtop." I added somewhat defiantly, because until recently owning or using a palmtop had been a privilege to the Leandar elite.

"Have you now?" He teased, so close, the heat off his body reached my back.

I tried to tell myself the faster beat of my heart came from fear of being so close to a vissigroth, a man who was holding me hostage, but the truth was that my body reacted to him in ways it never had before to a man's nearness. Not even when Conrad kissed me. Even now the thought of Conrad was a mere afterthought despite us having discussed getting married only yesterday.

"I have," I tried to make the tone of my voice sound strong. "I don't think I would like to be on top of one of those mountains, heights… are not my thing." I underplayed my fear of them. They frightened the living daylight out of me.

There was no tilting to the floor, but I could tell the ship or submarine, was diving down, as it was getting darker behind the window.

"What about a forest?" Myles queried undeterred.

"I would feel, claustrophobic," I admitted. "I love the open and wideness of the ocean, where you can see all around you for miles on end. I would probably think some predator would lurk behind every tree."

"Hmm," he grunted, sounding very much like a predator and a shiver moved through me. "But you do not fear the depths of the ocean? Down deep, where its dark and a mantador—shark like sea creature—or— shadowbyssal—dangerous sea monster could sneak up on you?"

I squealed when his fingers brushed over my arm and he laughed. Automatically I slapped his arm like I would have Nathan or Conrad's, before I realized that he was my vissigroth, my captor.

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Ney, you have nothing to be sorry for," he was still laughing. "The gods know I deserved it for teasing you."

I was beginning to feel too comfortable around him, he held my life in his hands and I needed to remember that. We weren't friends, he wasn't my brother or my future husband.

"What will you do to me?" I had to know.

He regarded me thoughtfully, "Nothing." He shrugged. "Just like I told your brother, I would never hurt a seffy."

"But you would hand me over to the sirens." I reminded him of his own words.

He shook his head. "Ney, never. I just need your brother to believe I would."

I stared into his dark eyes and read the truth of what he said there. His words didn't reassure me though. "But you would have no such quarrels with my brother?"

"None," he admitted matter of factly.

Alright, at least I knew where I stood.

"Look, there," he pointed at shadows coming into view ahead of us, lit up by the submarines strong lights.

Expecting to see a mantador or equally fascinating creature, I squinted, waited for us to get closer, but instead of the humongous sea creature that was said it could eat a boat in one bite, I realized I was staring at what was left of a sunken city.

Spires rose high in the water, seaweed dangled from the roofs, moving in the water's current like flags might have in the wind some long time ago.

"What is that?" I asked breathlessly.

"Attourna, the sunken city." He replied in a tone holding just as much veneration as I felt seeing the remains of the mystical city.

"I thought it was just a legend," I whispered.

Shadows moved between the decaying ruins of towers and houses and I stepped back, "Sirens," I hissed.

He laughed, "They like to live in the old places. "

Fascinated I stared at the ruins, columns were slowly crumbling, but even now it was easy to see how impressive they must have once been.

"This is amazing. Did the Zuten really lived here?" I wanted to know, trying to come to terms with seeing a city everybody believed to only be a myth not even an hour from where Horn laid anchored.

"They did. Hundreds of thousands of rotations ago, before they angered the gods and were punished by being drowned with all their possessions and treasures, never to see daylight again," Myles remarked without any censor in his voice.

The city appeared endless as the submarine glided by. I wondered if Myles had ordered us to slow, because I was sure a ship like Myles's would have been able to go much faster.

Now and then I caught a glimpse of long orange or green hair, belonging to a siren, or a finned tail. "They're watching us."

"I like to let them know every once in a while that they're not the rulers of the undersea that they like to think themselves to be." Myles retorted.

"Why would they? You have submarines," I asked, honestly confused.

"Submarines are powerful and handy," Myles stated, "but not nearly as maneuverable as a single siren."

"Why don't send divers to remind them?" I was still confused.

"Divers?" Now he looked confused.

"You don't have divers?"

"Ney, Leandars can 't hold their breaths long enough to make it down here."

His statement puzzled me even more. "But… if you use oxygen tanks."

"What tanks?" He took my elbow so I had to turn to face him instead of ogling the fascinating city that we still hadn't passed. "You better explain, seffy."

I could hardly believe that Leandars wouldn't use diving gear, they flew through space for crying out loud. Then again, they weren't that curious about their surroundings, war was what mostly drove them—defending against the Chrymphten and keeping their cities safe from Eulachs.

But Oceanus was a large, waterfilled planet, wouldn't the vissigroths before Myles have been curious enough to try and engineer diving equipment?

"It's a tank, filled with air, that allows the wearer to dive deep into the ocean and to explore it," I explained.

"Air bladders?" He nodded, seeming almost disappointed. "We've tried those, but the wearer has to carry many, many rocks to dive deep, the bladders want to pull him up. They're very cumbersome."

"Not air bladders, metallic air filled tanks, you can stay underwater with them for hours."

His eyebrows arched and his expression turned fierce. "You have those?"

"Not here, but on Horn."

"Turn the boat back," Myles barked into his palmtop.