Chapter Sixteen
Marin stared at the object called a television. He still didn’t understand how the device worked, but he didn’t need to. The picture on the screen showed Atlantis and the science teams who were reporting back on their explorations of the mysterious island that had risen from the depths of the ocean.
“You won’t find out anything new about Urion on the television,” Caspian told him as he passed him a mug of coffee.
“You don’t know that.”
Caspian sat down beside him. “If the sea dragons had been spotted by humans, Mariana would have made us all aware of it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Oh yes, I’m sure.”
Marin turned back to the television. “Isander seems to think Urion will want to turn back into a human sooner or later.”
“He probably will. Despite his current appearance, inside he is still a man, with a man’s needs and desires. Of course, he can’t turn back without Mariana’s help, and she seems determined to keep her priests in this form. They give her a certain advantage over the rest of us immortals.”
“Why would she need that?” Marin asked.
“Because the Atlantean gods and goddesses have never seen eye to eye on anything. They have always sought to increase their powers, and right now, Mariana is the only one of them with priests. Well, save for Medina and Cari. My sister has her Oracles, and Medina has Jake.”
“Jake is a priest?” Marin wondered whether Caspian even realized he spoke of the other immortals as if he were no longer one of them.
“A somewhat reluctant one, but yes,” Caspian confirmed. “None of the others have bothered to enlist anyone yet. They hoped that raising Atlantis would increase their powers, but it wasn’t to be. We no longer have a place in the world of men.”
“You sound resigned to that.”
“I suppose I am.”
“The mer still believe in you.”
“Unfortunately, it isn’t enough. It might have been once, but your numbers are so few these days…”
Marin sighed. “And that’s my fault, of course.”
“No, it’s not. Anyway, my mother has undone her magic, so the mer will no longer decrease in numbers with each generation. We hope that will save your people from dying out completely.”
“Why did she undo it?” Marin asked.
“Because I asked her to.”
“Even knowing that it means this life I live now will be the last one for me? That I’ll return to the ocean in the way of the mer, instead of being reborn some day in this form?”
“Yes.”
Marin lowered his eyes. “What if I never grow to love you in this life?”
“Then so be it,” Caspian said. “I want you to love me. I don’t deny that. But I don’t want your people to suffer any longer.”
“Thank you,” Marin said, and he kissed Caspian on the cheek.
* * * *
Caspian arrived at the council meeting just as it was starting. He had no idea what it was about, but no one seemed to be taking much notice of him, so he guessed they hadn’t yet decided on his punishment for making Rafe immortal.
He took his seat and waited for the meeting to be called to order.
When Mariana stood to address the gods, Caspian was surprised. He couldn’t recall a time when she had been the one to summon everyone together. He supposed it must have happened on occasion, but it was infrequent enough for him to have forgotten.
“I wish to petition the pantheon for the most loyal of my priests, Urion, to drink from the cup of immortality,” Mariana said. “My high priest has served me longer than any other and I would see him rewarded for his devotion.”
Caspian stared at the goddess in silent horror. Around the table, several immortals were in a similar state of muteness. Others, like Medina and Odessa, made choking sounds. He wondered whether they were choking on their wine or trying to smother their laughter.
“You aren’t serious?” Cari asked. “Your high priest should have died centuries ago and is currently on a murderous rampage through the Atlantic Ocean. You can’t imagine that we would ever allow such a man to be made immortal.”
“Urion is obeying my orders, just as he has done for centuries, even when I was not around to guide him.”
“I vote against it,” Cari said.
Antar stood and raised his hand for silence. “We cannot vote on this immediately. Urion, whatever his faults, should be judged in the same way as any other mortal, before we cast our votes.”
Caspian could tell that Cari had already made up her mind, but there was something he was curious about. “I have a question.”
“Yes?” Antar replied.
“If he becomes immortal, what form will he take?” Caspian asked. “Will he be human or a sea dragon?”
“He will be human,” Antar confirmed. “He will have to take human form before he drinks from the cup, and he will not be able to change back again once he is immortal.”
Mariana made a noise as though she meant to argue, but Antar halted her with a glare.
“You don’t have the power to transform him again and you know it. And even if you did, it is forbidden for an immortal to take such a form.”
“Not in other pantheons,” Mariana said.
“You’re not in another pantheon,” Antar snapped back at her. “In this one, the immortals only take human form.”
“And how would you prevent him from taking another form?” Mariana asked with a sly smile.
Antar shook the room with his roar. “You are doing nothing to convince me to vote in your favor right now. And to answer your question, it would be a simple matter to make Urion immune to all forms of magic if he is made immortal. If you wish him to become immortal, then understand that he will be in human form.”
“Very well,” Mariana replied with bad grace.
As the meeting broke up, Caspian wondered whether Mariana’s request was such a bad thing. Urion in human form was a lot less destructive than a sea dragon. He had to talk to Marin about this new development.
* * * *
“Immortal?” Marin stared at Caspian in horror. “Are you telling me that instead of being punished for his crimes, the gods and goddesses are considering making him immortal?”
“Yes.”
“What sort of warped reasoning do they have?” Marin shouted. “They should be killing him, not making sure he stays around forever.”
“The pantheon didn’t decide this,” Caspian explained. “The request has been made by Mariana, just as I once requested the same for Phoebus.”
“Then they have to vote, as they did before?”
“Yes.”
“When will that be?” Marin asked.
“Probably in a couple of weeks,” Caspian said. “It doesn’t usually take long to come to a decision about such things.”
“Even less time when the one in question is a monster like Urion,” Marin muttered.
Caspian gestured for Marin to take a seat at the table. “The decision isn’t as straightforward as you might imagine.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Urion becomes immortal, he’ll be forced to give up being a sea dragon.”
“Oh. And he’s prepared to do that?”
“I don’t know. Mariana wasn’t happy to hear about that condition and I doubt Urion will be either. He seems to like being one. I never thought he’d stick to that form for so long.”
“Me neither,” Marin said. “Isander thought he’d want to change back to have sex long before now.”
“Me too.”
“So, you think some of the gods might vote to make him immortal, just so that he has to turn back into human form?”
“Yes, I’m considering it myself.”
Marin glared at him. “But if he’s immortal, how am I supposed to kill him?”
“Well, there’re a couple of options,” Caspian replied. “The same way I instructed you when it came to Rafe, though you’d need a lot more practice since Urion won’t be chained in a dungeon waiting for you to strike the blow.”
“And the other option?”
“There will be a short period of time where Urion is human and mortal,” Caspian said. “During that time, he will vulnerable in a way that he hasn’t been for hundreds of years. You could strike him then.”
“The gods would allow me to do that?”
“It isn’t a question of whether they would let you or not. You have free will, after all.”
Marin nodded. “I guess I need to think about this.”
“Yes, you do. It may be that Urion will eventually tire of his sea dragon form anyway. If that happens, you’ll get a much longer window of opportunity to fight him.”
Caspian left Marin to consider what he had told him. He didn’t want Marin fighting Urion at all, but he knew there would be no way to talk him out of it. He just didn’t know if it would be best to wait indefinitely for Urion to revert to human form, or whether to speed things along by voting for him to be made immortal and give Marin the chance to kill him before he drank from the cup.