The Gift From Poseidon: When Gods Walked Among Us (Volume 2) Read Free Page A

heart thumped so hard and fast, she half expected it to erupt from her chest and land in her hands.  Penelope’s bluish hue now starting to return, she kissed Diedrika on the forehead, then the cheek, and hugged her.  Pulling back, but saying nothing, they locked eyes.
    “Whoa!  That – was – amazing !” Diedrika exclaimed through gulping breaths.  “I challenge Poseidon to match that!”
    A squeaky chuckle escaped Penelope as she continued to gawk at Diedrika.  “Adventure-driven madness has gripped you … you are beyond reckless … and every Mermaid – no matter if hero, villain, prince, or peasant – will follow you wherever you choose to lead us.  You may not be our queen yet, but as of this day, you are my queen now.”
    Words Diedrika yearned to hear since she was a youngling spoken; she hugged Penelope.  They then gathered their belongings and headed for the carriage.  Once they reached the cliff overhang where Penelope had watched from, Diedrika looked back at the sea.  And to her delight, caught sight of a single Orca about halfway between the shoreline and where she had met the pod.
    “The matriarch.…”
    Diedrika had failed for now, but for this future queen, failure was just the first step to success.  As for the next steps that needed to be taken….
    That is what tomorrows were for.
    *****
    “You have been at this for three days already – I can’t believe you are going to try again !”  For the fourth consecutive evening, Diedrika and Penelope headed for the sea as dusk wrapped itself around Atagartis and kissed the Mermaid capital goodnight.
    “But I’m so close, Penelope!  I can feel it – tonight is the night.  Besides, I have no choice, really.  Like us, Orcas have no master.  If I am to push our kind to attain those heights I hunger for us to reach, then we must become masters of not just Atagartis, but of the whole sea and every creature in it.”
    Penelope dropped off at her usual perch, Diedrika nearly tripped over her walking sticks she was so excited.  The pod was again prowling about and the matriarch … Diedrika’s heart sank – the matriarch was not with them.  With a heavy sigh, her chin crashed into her chest.  Then suddenly, she heard the rush of watery air explode through a blowhole.  This sound was close, very close.  Diedrika swung around and her gaze froze as she sighted the matriarch.  This gorgeous whale now patrolled much closer to the shoreline than Diedrika had ever seen any Orca.
    She headed straight for the polished rocks that jutted out from shore, entered the sea, and slowly, though eagerly, submerged.  As Diedrika descended, it struck her of the amazing differences a few days had made.  The day of her first attempt, she was nervous and scared – rightly so, she reminded herself – but today she was full of hope and almost at ease.
    The matriarch slowed as Diedrika swam past her.  Only twenty-five pike lengths or so from shore, these shoals were almost shallow enough for her to touch the bottom with her tail.  In more awe of their beauty than ever before, it suddenly hit Diedrika: This was the first time she had seen an Orca up close that was not flying through the air or steamrolling toward her.  Those distinct black and white markings meshing perfectly, such simplicity was pure genius.
    Diedrika swam in a circle around the magnificent whale, who now swam in this same path, but just a bit behind her.  She rolled over onto her back.  They were now face-to-face.
    “As I see you now, I realize we are even more alike than I first believed.  Powerful tails to propel ourselves through the water … two eyes with which to lock onto our prey … members of a species with no fear of any other.  And this, my friend, is the paradox we are faced with: The sea can only serve one master and that master is me.”
    The matriarch, of course, understood none of what Diedrika spoke.  Her soft voice, however, seemed to soothe the whale.  She