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Red eyes blinked as I as I sped out of the cave. Shadows shifted in the murk. Slimy things grazed my skin, and I jerked away from their touch.
My tail carried me away as fast as it could. The instant I exited the dense and sulfurous water, my head cleared of the fog that had settled over it. With it came a torrent of guilt. What had I done? The witch’s contracts were binding. The only way to get out of one was for her or me to die. I was fin deep in some serious seaweed. To get out of this mess I needed some help, and I didn’t have a clue who to turn to.
The skin on my back pinched as if someone watched me. I scanned the area but could barely see a thing in the murk, despite my highly attuned mervision. It was probably one of Faraall’s spies, come to bring me back to the engagement celebration. Well, I wasn’t going back there.
Rubbing my arms, I sped away, heading for my little rock by the shore. Whenever my mind spun with confusion, I’d go there to think. Something about the salty breeze and the lapping water cleared my mind, allowing me to analyze my thoughts.
Sometime later, I emerged from the depths, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Whenever merfolk surfaced from the water, our gills deactivated, and our nose and mouth took over. I really needed the break, too. My gills stung from the sulfur in the Sea Witch’s cave. I cleansed them with water and rubbed my fingers along the slits to remove any gunk stuck to them. Shellfish, it hurt. But I didn’t want any part of that evil witch remaining on me. She’d made me feel dirty and contaminated. When I was finished, I leaned against the rock, inhaling deeply, letting the clean air invigorate and refresh my lungs.
Right now, I didn’t want to think about the deal I’d just made with the witch. I just needed to clear my head. Too much had just happened in such a short space of time. My mind tumbled with the weight of it all. The betrothal to a man I detested. My future stolen from me. The spell holding my father’s mind captive. A new threat to the sea kingdom.
Crustaceans plastered to my rock grazed my scales as I pulled myself onto its edge. It didn’t hurt one bit because merfolk’s skin was thicker and far tougher than humans. Thank the sea god for that.
Sunlight warmed my skin and made my silver scales tinge with orange. I stretched my arms behind me and leaned back, absorbing the warmth from the heated rock. It stripped away the coldness the witch had filled me with. The end of my tail dangled in the water.
I rolled onto my belly and watched some sea lions on a rock thirty feet from me. They dived into the water, spun around, and climbed back up, having the time of their lives. Their antics made me smile. Such a simple and happy life. Not complicated by pressures like mine was.
Poseidon.For one moment, couldn’t I just forget about everything? Didn’t seem like it. I guessed I had to face the inevitable sometime.
How the heck was I going to beat Faraall and the witch? The commander had the merfolk army by his side. With the Sea Witch’s magic, he also controlled my father and the kingdom. I had no one. The odds were seriously stacked against me. An invisible hand tightened around my throat.
Say I did steal my father’s pearl and used it as bait for the witch. Going back to the palace was risky. Guards were posted all over the place. My father never left his trident alone. Somehow, I’d have to distract him long enough for me to remove the pearl from it…or steal the weapon itself. But I wouldn’t have long before Papa realized it was missing. Alarms would be sounded. The palace scoured for the thief. If I was found with it, then what?
Imprisonment? That would give Faraall the chance to move on to my next sister. I couldn’t do that to Nimian. There had to be another way.
All of a sudden, my fin prickled with the subtle detection of a shift in the currents around me. This was one of the many gifts the sea god had blessed the merfolk with. I sat up and slipped back into the water.
I made a few clicks, sending out my sonar to find out what was approaching. Then I moved to three more positions along the rock and discharged more clicks. In a few moments, my first echo returned to me. A picture formed in my mind. Two mermen armed with tridents headed for my rock pool. But why? Then the rest of my echoes hit me in quick succession. Another two soldiers from the east. Two more to the west.
My pulse drummed in my head.Shellfish. They were coming from every direction.
My gut tightened. This wasn’t a friendly visit. My itching scales told me Faraall was behind this. Surrounding the rock in all directions was a classic merfolk attack strategy. My father had taught me about many such things. All bets pointed to the commander’s men having tracked me down to return me to the palace. But how’d they find me? After I’d left the cave, I’d felt something watching me. Had they followed me?
A slimy sensation licked my back as I played over scenarios in my head to escape. There was nowhere for me to hide. Going into the water left me vulnerable. I wasn’t getting off this rock without a fight. Against trained soldiers. My stomach locked tight, I crawled all the way onto the rock. They couldn’t detect me above water. Technically, I had the vantage point. But they had the weapons.
Most merfolk, given enough time to respond, were able to escape a predator by manipulating the water around them…unless they were caught in a surprise attack, which occasionally happened. For some reason, Poseidon had granted royalty with stronger powers than the average merfolk. I didn’t know why. Neither did my father. But every day, I thanked the sea god for the gifts he’d blessed us with.
My stomach dropped as Faraall and the five soldiers surfaced at different locations around my rock. Several of the mersoldiers sneered at me. One growled as if he were an animal. Another smiled like an orca about to devour a seal. Traitors.
