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I winked at him. “Some secrets are just too good to share.” It actually wasn’t a huge secret. We simply brought fish to rice farmers who lived on the mainland in the south. They were always willing to trade. Sometimes, the queen granted legs to a group of merpeople, who would take up goods to the capital, Havacria, and trade them for spices or ingredients we needed. It was the only way, since no more merchants attempted to visit our city. Not after sharks ripped into the last caravan. Why they would bring meat under the sea is beyond me, though.
Kaga started muttering, trying to brainstorm ways to grow rice in water. I put my hand over my mouth to hide a smile, then immediately sobered when I realized I had been thinking he looked cute. Turning away from him, I flipped my fins and drifted through the water.
He caught up, his water dog bouncing all around him. I smiled at the creature, and he nuzzled his nose to mine. It felt like absolutely nothing, because we were under water, but it was fun all the same.
Kaga commanded the water dog to go, and it shot off. We followed it, still swimming at a leisurely pace. “You should give him a name,” I said, nodding toward the water dog. “Or is that beneath mages?”
He straightened his back and patted his chest. In a lofty voice, he said, “Most activities are beneath us mages. I’ll have you know.”
I pushed a ball of water into his face, laughing as he sputtered, forgetting that he breathed through his gills for a moment. With a laugh, I sped off toward his water dog, my good humor warming my heart.
If only it had lasted.
Chapter 10
We swam for hours, at times speeding up, otherwise drifting to conserve energy. We ate a few more times, happy to take breaks from the constant movement. The distance we’d gone was far, but we had no idea how much farther until we were home. The rays of sun disappeared from the waters, as if a candle putting out its flickering light. I stretched my arms and groaned, my muscles sore from an entire day of swimming.
“I need sleep,” I said. “Let’s go find another cave for the night.”
I had spotted one up ahead, and we aimed for it. It was completely dark on the inside, but was quite a bit bigger than the one we stayed in last night. I swam for it, but floated at the entrance. A strange foreboding washed over me. My heart pounded as I widened my eyes, searching inside for the source. Kaga floated up beside me. “I don’t know if we should go in there,” I said, biting my bottom lip. “Something seems off.”
Suddenly, I heard a sweet melody coming from inside the cave. It surrounded the both of us, calming our nerves, gently tugging us inside.
I shook my head. “I don’t know why I was so worried. This one looks great.”
“It does look warm and inviting,” said Kaga, agreeing with me.
We drifted inside, and I ignored Squiggle’s alarmed squeaking. I patted him. “It’s fine, Squiggles. It’s a safe place.”
The melody continued, and Squiggles wouldn’t stop shuddering. “Allura, don’t!”
I ignored him, swimming farther into the cave.
In a flash, the singing stopped, and all the previous trepidation I had returned. My heart pounded in my chest. I whipped around, grabbing Kaga’s hand, and swam toward the exit.
I cried out when I ran into an invisible barrier. The hard water blocking the exit rippled instead of releasing me. “No,” I whispered.
A laugh floated from the darkest part of the cave, and my heart raced as I tried to leave again.
“Caught, little fishy?” said a voice. “I’m afraid you cannot leave.”
My hands shook as I gripped Kaga’s hand. That was a voice I’d only heard once in my entire life. One that chilled the bones of merpeople all throughout the ocean.
The sea witch.
“Child, why so afraid?” Her sinuous voice wrapped around me, and I shuddered, matching my poor octopus.
I whipped my eyes toward Kaga, nodding toward the door. “Run,” I whisper. He wasn’t technically a merperson. He might not be affected by the barrier. Before he could move, though, a tendril of ink wrapped around his waist. The same tendrils had climbed up me, tightening around me. Against our will, the ink arms dragged us farther into the cavern. Deeper we moved, through twists and turns, ensuring we would not find our way back. My arm scraped against a rock, and I seethed.
Darkness surrounded us until suddenly, light. I blinked, clearing my vision, keeping my back straight. There were certain rules underwater, and one of the most important was never showing fear. Sharks smelled it from miles away. So would sea witches.
Small moon-shaped globes hung in the ceiling, just like in the city. Shelves were carved into the stone walls, covered in bottles and tablets. A large cauldron bubbled in the middle, its murky green depths slightly eking out of the sides. Shadows were all around us, and we didn’t even see the entrance to this room.
“What do we have here?” Out of the darkness swam the most beautiful mermaid I’d ever seen. I glanced away, the perfect symmetry making my eyes hurt. Out of the corner of my eye, I examined her, wondering about this creature I’d learned from tales of long ago. Who I’d heard once before. Her eyes were a piercing blue, bluer than any sky I’d ever seen. Her tail shimmered gold and blue. She swiped her long blond hair away from her face, studying me with just as much intensity.
She swirled around Kaga, sniffing, then turning her nose up. “A human.”
To the left of me, the darkness parted, revealing a prison. Grabbing Kaga by the throat, she opened the gates with a swish of her hand, throwing him inside. After she locked the door, she swam back to me and floated in front of me.
