A Curse of Gold

by Annie Sullivan

  Rocks and bits of coral twist up from the ocean floor. They’re covered in patches of algae and other slimy-looking substances. Bright purple and green sea fans lay deflated along the reefs.

  I used to find fans like those washed up when my mother and I would walk along Lagonia’s shores. Only the ones we found were tattered and small. These fans are easily longer than one of my arms.

  But they look so odd the way they cling to the now-dry reef.

  Triton extricates himself from where he was lounging on a big chunk of coral and comes over. “What took you so long?” He stretches, putting his entire abdomen on display.

  “There were a lot of steps,” I say.

  “Well, then—” Triton snaps his fingers, and the stairs turn into a slide.

  The crew slips and tumbles down the slide, landing in a heap on the sand.

  Triton smiles widely.

  Somehow the flickering reflection of the water manages to highlight the grooves between each of his abs. I can’t tell if that was by chance or if he had something to do with it.

  “Ugh.” Hettie extricates herself from the pile and pushes past him.

  “What’s her problem?” Triton asks, finally dropping his outstretched arms.

  My eyes follow her path as she leans over to inspect a tall sea fan and a red starfish that rests beneath its crumpled form.

  “She’s dealing with a lot right now,” I say.

  Triton huffs. “That’s what all the human women I meet say.” But then his eyes focus on mine. “Except for you, that is. You’re different.”

  I force the scowl forming on my lips into a thin smile, reminding myself that we need him. Not to mention he could easily remove the air bubble around us at any time.

  “Can you just lead the way?” I ask. I wrap my arms around me for warmth and falter backward, right into Royce’s chest.

  “Is there a problem over here?” Royce asks, his body rigid and his voice as commanding as if he were standing on the bow of his ship.

  “No problem,” Triton says. “I was just thinking Princess Kora must not appreciate being soaking wet.” He waves a finger and my clothes instantly dry out.

  But something in the way the water drains off me jerks me forward, and I collide with Triton, catching myself on his bare chest.

  “Better now?” he asks, flashing a wide smirk at me before slowly lifting his gaze to meet Royce’s.

  I shove off him, tucking stray hairs behind my ear to keep from socking the grin right off his face.

  Royce strides forward. “Keep your hands off of her.”

  I throw out my hand, stopping him before he can swing the hand he’s balled into a fist. He won’t fare well against a god.

  Triton smirks at the sight of me holding back Royce. “She fell into me,” he says as he lifts his hands in feigned innocence.

  “It was your powers,” Royce throws back, jabbing a finger in Triton’s direction.

  He shrugs and then crosses his arms, leaving his arm muscles on display. “Powers are unpredictable, but I guess you wouldn’t know that since you don’t have any.”

  “Enough!” I shout. “If we’re going to travel together, then we’re setting some rules.”

  Triton tosses his head back, flinging loose hair away from his face. “I’m not so good with rules, or did you forget why my father locked me up?”

  I ignore his words. “Well, you’re going to abide by these or you won’t get your freedom.”

  “Don’t forget that you need me,” Triton snaps.

  “We need each other,” I shoot back. “This only works if we all get along.”

  “I’m not interested in getting along. I’m interested in getting you to Jipper as quickly as possible so I can go do whatever I want, wherever I want.”

  “Well, if we come to blows,” I say, “then I doubt any of us will make it to Jipper. So from now on, you keep your hands off of us. Got it?”

  He throws his arms up. “Fine, have it your way.” But a gleam shines in his eyes, and the edges of his lips perk up.

  The next thing I know, Royce jerks around as the water dries off of him like it did me. Only Triton uses more force, and Royce spins out of control, landing in the sand at Triton’s feet.

  “Still finding your sea legs, Captain? Or just trying to bow down and give me the respect I deserve?” Triton quips.

  “Triton,” I scold as Royce closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and collecting himself.

  Triton throws up his hands again. “I didn’t touch him, did I?”

  “No using powers on us either. Understand?” I clarify.

  Triton rolls his eyes. “You humans are no fun.”

  I stare him down. “Triton, do we have an understanding or not?”

  “Fine,” he growls. “Let’s just get moving so I don’t have to be around you a moment longer than necessary.” His eyes rove down to Royce. “That’s if your captain is done playing in the sand.”

  Royce rises to his feet, briskly brushing off the sand clinging to his clothes. His lips are tight, and his eyes are fixated on Triton’s. “Lead the way.”

  Without taking his eyes from Royce, Triton flicks his fingers and the coral he’d been sitting on splits in half, creating a pathway through it.

  Triton’s eyes move to mine for a half second before he turns toward the pathway. “Welcome to my kingdom. Do try not to ruin anything while you’re down here.”

  An eel falls out of one of the holes in the coral and flops around in the sand. Triton twirls his finger around and a jet of water shoots out, whipping the eel into the water above our heads.

  I take Royce’s hand as we move after Triton. “Are you okay?”

  “The sooner we’re rid of him, the better,” he says.

  And I nod in agreement. “Thanks for keeping your cool back there.”

  He offers me half a smile. “Thanks for holding me back. You probably saved me from ending up in the sand a lot faster than I did.”

  I stare up ahead to where Triton is twirling water around in intricate patterns as he walks. “I doubt he’d fight fair even if he didn’t use his powers.”

  “Let’s just hope we don’t have to find out.”

  “Agreed,” I say, resting my head against his shoulder. But I don’t keep it there long because the ridged sand makes walking uneven, and we haven’t gone far before my slippers are full of coarse, damp sand. I drop Royce’s hand to pull them off and then carry them, and the others do the same behind me.

  “Nothing like your toes in the sand,” Rhat says as he helps Hettie with her shoes. “Back in the Polliosaian Islands, there’s sand everywhere. The smoothest sand you’ll ever find. And on the eve of a new year, everyone goes out to the beach to leave footprints. If the first wave at midnight washes over your footprints, it’s supposed to be a good year.”

  As Rhat continues to tell Hettie more traditions she’ll have to look forward to when they visit the islands together someday, Triton sneaks a glance to see if I’m watching his watery display.

  I ignore him, slipping my hand back into Royce’s and keeping my gaze on my feet.

  The next thing I know, Royce pitches forward, nearly face-planting into the sand.

  “Careful there, Captain,” Triton calls over his shoulder. “Looks like I missed a piece of coral.”

  “Looks more like you’re not as powerful as you think,” Hettie shoots back at Triton, “if you can’t even move a little rock.”

  Triton huffs and continues walking as though he hadn’t heard her words, but I can’t help but notice the water patterns he’s making get bigger and start changing from dark blue to nearly purple before fading to a light-green color.

  “Just ignore him,” Royce says as he gets to his feet. “He wants us to get upset about it, and I won’t give him the satisfaction. He’ll tire of his little games soon enough when he sees they have no effect.”

  “Or he’ll just try harder,” Hettie mutters.

  I’m honestly not sure
who’s right—Royce or Hettie. All I do know is that this is going to be a very, very long journey if Triton keeps pushing the limits of the rules we’d laid out.

  Triton pushes us hard, not showing a bit of exhaustion himself, while the rest of us sweat and stagger our way through the sand for hours on end. While the sand appears to rise upward, cushioning Triton’s every step, for me it feels like it is trying to erode me from the bottom up. It grinds into my feet and splatters upward, rubbing my skin raw where my legs brush against each other.

  Not to mention trudging through the uneven sand has done nothing for the bruises I received from the satyr attack and falling off my horse. What I wouldn’t give to be back in my soft bed at the palace. Or even just to stop and rest for a moment.

  But Triton doesn’t show any signs of stopping. He whistles an unfamiliar tune accented by our heavy breathing as we huff along behind him.

  Eventually even Rhat, the most sure-footed of us all, begins to sway on his feet.

  Royce holds up his hand. “Enough, Triton. We should rest for the night.”

  “Prince Triton,” Triton corrects. “And I forgot how weak you humans are. But fine. We’ll stop.”

  The men let out a sigh of relief before dropping like flies into the sand to rest. Even Phipps is too exhausted to make any jokes or remarks as he plops down next to Lenny.

  Lenny leans his head on his brother’s stomach, reminding me how young he truly is.

  “I’m going to make sure all the men get settled,” Royce says.

  I nod, too tired to answer. I collapse where I stand and set about running my hands over the grainy sand, beginning to even out an area underneath an outcropping of rock to sleep. As much as I don’t want any more sand grinding into my skin, I’d sleep just about anywhere right now.

  I’ve just got a nice rectangle-looking area smoothed over when an unwanted voice chimes in.

  “What are you doing?” Triton asks, stretching his hands high to grab on to the outcropping so he can lean forward, once again no doubt trying to highlight his toned midsection.

  “I thought it would be easier to sleep if the sand weren’t so lumpy,” I say, sitting back on my knees and swooping back several strands of golden hair. I suppose it was too much to hope Triton would settle down somewhere for the night and leave us in peace. He’s like a puppy with his constant need for attention and entertainment. Only puppies aren’t vengeful and unpredictable when they don’t get their way.

  Triton swings his arms down and crosses them across his chest. “Huh. I didn’t think humans enjoyed sleeping in sand.”

  “We don’t,” I state, fighting to keep my tone even. “But we’ll make do.”

  I’m hoping now that he’s gotten his answers, he’ll leave so I can go to sleep. But of course he doesn’t.

  He stands there watching me as I go back to evening out the sand.

  “Is there something else you wanted?” I say after a few moments.

  “I just wanted to see how you humans do it before I showed you a better way.”

  “By all means.” I hold in a sigh and gesture to the sand, assuming he’ll wave his hand and even it out in one fell swoop. Anything to get him to go away faster.

  But when he twirls his finger around, the sand before me doesn’t shift. Instead, there’s a watery explosion above me, and an entire sunken ship blasts into the air bubble. Men cry out and duck as the ship lands a mere arm’s length from them.

  Water rains off the wood, and a few crabs scuttle out of the crack that separates the ship into two halves. Triton waves his hand, and the boat dries out, groaning in protest as tendrils of water float from the wood to meld into the water above our heads.

  It takes me a moment to realize it’s Royce’s ship. The one Triton sank to get us to his palace.

  “You found our ship,” I say, gaping.

  A cheer goes up from the rest of the crew as they recognize it.

  “I trust finding you a better place to sleep was an acceptable use of my power,” he says. “Or should I send it back where I sunk it?”

  I eye him. And I for the briefest second, I wonder for the first time if he’s hiding a heart beneath all the muscles of his exposed abdomen. But the thought disappears as quickly as it came. Nothing I’ve learned of him so far suggests he has an ounce of kindness or thought for others inside him. He probably just wanted to show off his powers again.

  “Thank you,” I say, actually finding I don’t have to force the words as much as I thought.

  He waves me away. “Don’t thank me. I just don’t want to hear you all complaining after not being able to sleep on the sand. I know how grumpy you humans get when you don’t sleep, and you’re all already annoying enough as it is.”

  He refuses to meet my gaze as he says the words, inspecting his immaculate nail beds instead. And I take that as a dismissal.

  I’m just grateful for a bed to sleep in, so I join the others as they move toward the ship to look for lost belongings and a place to rest.

  I get there just as Phipps pulls Lenny into the hull amidst the mass of other sailors. “Hey, Lenny,” he calls. “Do you think everything on this ship counts as sunken treasure on account of this ship being sunk under the sea?”

  Lenny hangs his head and presses his hand to his face.

  “Phipps,” several sailors groan in unison as they climb over the jagged wood sticking out where the ship broke in half.

  “Joking,” Phipps cries out. “I was joking.”

  He slowly shakes his head and offers me a hand up. “Seems like no one can take a joke these days.”

  “They’re just tired,” I say, giving him a pat on his shoulder. “We all are.”

  He nods. “And on that note, I want to make sure we get some decent hammocks. Come on, Lenny.” He and his brother disappear farther into the ship while I climb up a slanted staircase until I arrive at my old room.

  The two chairs that had once formed a sitting area lay tumbled in a heap with my trunk against one wall. All the books that once lined the walls are scattered across the floor, and it smells musty. But it’s so much better than sleeping on sand.

  I set about dragging my trunk back to the foot of the bed and straightening out the pages of all the books that lay bent and torn. The books remind me of Tilner, which makes me remember my promise to visit my father.

  I lie down on the bed and close my eyes, enjoying the feel of the mattress cradling my sore body. In the distance, the bright light of the gold beckons, and then I’m standing in the palace tower where all the golden objects my father turned to gold gleam invitingly.

  My father sits in a chair near the gold, watching it glisten. He startles at my appearance, leaning back in the chair.

  “Father.” I move toward him quickly. I know I don’t have much time in this ghostly form. “We’ve found Triton, and he’s leading us to Dionysus.”

  I leave out the part about the gorgons. I don’t need him to worry.

  “We will find a way to stop him and his attack.”

  He raises his eyes to mine, then brings his hand up to my cheek as if he can touch me. “Be safe.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’ll let you know if I discover any more information.”

  “Your mother would be so proud of you.” There are tears in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”

  I offer him a small smile. Then, I’m closing my eyes and flying back to my body.

  I jolt awake on the bed. But I’ve barely opened my eyes when Hettie bursts in, her eyes wide and a sour look on her face.

  “I’ve been sent to summon you,” she says.

  “Summon me?” I ask, groaning as I extricate myself from the soft bed. “What’s going on?”

  “I can’t even begin to explain it,” Hettie says.

  I freeze. “Are we under attack? Is something after us?” Dionysus? A sea monster? Poseidon? An endless list of possibilities scrolls through my mind. Has Grax attacked? Is the air bubble shrinking? Have the Temptresses sho
wn up?

  “You’ll just have to see for yourself,” Hettie says somberly.

  My stomach clenches as we file out the door. She doesn’t lead us up to the deck or off the ship like I expect. She stops at Royce’s cabin.

  Air catches in my lungs, and all feelings of tiredness flee. Has something happened to Royce?

  Before Hettie can open the door, I grab the handle and throw it open.

  Inside, bright lights greet me. What had once been Royce’s cabin now looks like a coral reef has exploded.

  Glittering red-and-gold tapestries are held in place by deep maroon-colored starfish as they drape across the room, concealing every bookshelf. The desk has purple silk draped across it while a thick blue carpet stretches across the floor. All of Royce’s books and tidily kept maps scrawled with notes in his own small handwriting now lay crumpled and discarded in a corner, seeping up water from the soggy carpet. Dark ink slowly swirls downward as the words begin to run and pool together.

  The table that once held those maps is laden down with lit candelabras casting light down on plate after plate of food. What looks to be an old burgundy curtain with fringe dangling off the sides acts as a tablecloth. None of the place settings match, and a few have cracks.

  The grandeur of the table distracts from the figure at the far end. Triton sits on a tall throne covered in barnacles. He sips from a silver goblet that has algae winding around its stem.

  I step closer, and my feet sink into the wet rug, causing a puddle to ooze out behind me. And the scent of stale water permeates the room.

  “Do you like it?” Triton says, raising his goblet and indicating the room. “I had some dolphins fetch these from a few nearby shipwrecks. It helps bring a little life into this dreary human vessel.”

  At that moment, Royce appears in the doorway, Rhat at his heels.

  “Ah, Captain, you’ve made it,” Triton says, throwing his arms out wide and causing dark liquid to slosh out of his cup.

  Royce pushes into the room, his feet squishing onto the rug. His eyes go straight to the pile of ruined maps. And then he’s staggering toward them. He kneels down, picking up fragments that rip apart where he touches them. “What have you done? I just laid these out to dry.”