by Starla Night
And he had no trident. No daggers. Nothing to defend them from a creature able to crush a mer with one arm or bite him in half with the powerful beak.
He would sacrifice his life to save Milly.
They emerged into an open cavern. The giant cave guardian whirled. A thick tentacle flew at his face.
Wham.
Black dulled his vision. He flew across the cavern and scraped the ceiling.
The cave guardian had thumped him with a tentacle.
Milly’s voice rose in protest. “Don’t do that! You hurt him.”
The giant cave guardian growled. Unrepentant.
He shook his head to clear the fog.
He must not threaten the giant cave guardian. They were moody and prone to violence.
The giant cave guardian drew Milly toward one eye, clacked her beak, and stared at Milly with her other eye. Her tentacles caressed Milly like a parent examining a new child.
Or like a predator tasting its new prey.
“Hello,” Milly told the giant cave guardian.
“Do not move,” Uvim entreated.
Milly nodded tightly.
One tentacle curled around Milly’s flashlight. She removed it from Milly’s wrist and eyed the cylinder.
“Oh, you like my flashlight? You can have that.”
She warbled an off-tune reply and the tentacle with the flashlight disappeared into a deep crevasse in the lair.
Milly struggled. “Oh, look!”
The giant cave guardian growled.
“Milly,” he warned.
Milly wiggled an arm free and pointed. One tentacle was shorter and torn on a ragged edge. “I was right. She’s missing an arm. How did that happen?”
The giant cave guardian quieted and offered its stub at different angles. Milly petted the injury, cooing a reassurance. The stub glimmered.
Glimmer?
Milly’s hands emitted a glow?
Impossible. Queen powers did not appear until after she had mastered her fins. The warriors from Atlantis, who first discovered modern brides could wield the powers of legendary queens, had shared this truth.
“Take it easy now,” Milly told the giant cave guardian. “I’m so sorry. Feel better soon.”
She disentangled herself.
The giant cave guardian allowed her to go.
She paddled to Uvim.
He wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight, his senses still tuned to the unpredictable denizen before them.
“Are you okay?” She examined his forehead and stroked where the giant cave guardian had struck him.
His forehead grew warm.
Was it his imagination? Her power must be a healing touch. Queens had such powers. But how could she wield these powers without the final ritual uniting them in marriage — and binding her soul to Dragao Azul’s Life Tree?
“You warned me that the ocean was dangerous.” Her soul glowed. “The giant cave guardian took us both by surprise. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
Her apology was unnecessary. He was the failure. But her words were kind.
He flew through the tunnel back to the open ocean. The giant cave guardian’s noises grew faint.
Her soul light flickered and she snuggled, warming him. “Around me you keep getting knocked out. You’ll be sorry you laid eyes on me.”
“Never.”
“You say that now…” She dimmed.
He wanted to explain to her. Tell her the words she needed to convince her.
His heart beat for her. She was his world, his future, his hope, his soul.
But instead, he circled back to the same statement. “You are my bride.”
“For now.”
He shook his head, still upset.
“Sorry. This is me, not you.” She stroked a lock of his hair. “I’ll be useful. Someday.”
They broke into the open ocean. The seafloor fell away. Currents swirled around his body. He passed the current for the echo point and the current that would lead him down to Dragao Azul.
Schools of pelagic fish combed the surface currents pursuing their favorite larvae and plankton. They fled their own predators — marlin, barracuda, whitetip and tiger sharks — who took note of the new prey entering their sphere: a lone merman and his bride.
The surface was denser and deadlier than any other region of the ocean.
He kicked for a current to chase her boss’s boat.
Two tiger sharks peeled away from their unsuccessful pursuits and oriented on him. Sirens sounded a warning.
Milly looked around. “What’s that?”
“Sharks.”
“They sound like police sirens.”
Hungry? Territorial? Either could give him trouble with hands full and no weapons.
The sirens grew louder.
Loud screeching announced the re-appearance of the giant cave guardian. She exploded from the narrow cave entrance and filled the ocean, looming monstrous in the open ocean. Huge and black, her mass dwarfed even human boats.
Milly lifted her head from his shoulder. Her soul beamed and she laughed. “What are you doing, you big black girl?”
The giant cave guardian jetted toward her. The screech changed to a happy squawk.
All predators — including territorial sharks — scattered.
“Are you following me?” She giggled. “Should I call you ‘Clifford the big red dog’? You’re black though.”
The giant cave guardian accepted her name. A huge black tentacle wrapped around Milly trying to force him off.
“Whoah! Okay, be nice to Uvim. I’m swimming with him now. You’ll get your turn.”
Clifford released Milly, accepting her promise.
He kept on the same path after the boat. The current tasted old. He would have trouble catching up to it. No problem tracking it, but more difficulty reaching it before the harbor.
Or, he could risk and dive for the echo point.
He changed direction and dove.
Milly tightened her grip. “Whee!”
Clifford descended as well heeling them. Her song sawed the water with happiness.
“Where are we going?” Milly wriggled, excited. “You’re taking me to the echo point?”
“Yes.”
“I promise to listen. If we’re in danger, I don’t know if I can do anything, but I’ll try.”
“I made a mistake.”
“Hmm?”
“You are not useless.”
“Well, to be fair, you never actually said I was.”
But he had dismissed her. That had been his mistake.
He forced himself to find the words. “A cave guardian is formidable. A giant cave guardian is unstoppable.”
“I know. You got hurt because I couldn’t protect you.”
“You protect me now.”
She lifted her head from his shoulder again.
“You befriended a giant cave guardian. No warrior has done this.”
“What are you saying?”
“Clifford drives away predators. She makes our path safe. Because of you.”
Her soul light brightened. “I’ve done something useful.”
He nodded.
She snuggled him. “I don’t know if I believe you but you sure know the right things to say.”
He relaxed. For a moment.
Because soon they would reach the echo point. He must convey his message.
Queen Zara was not the only one who wanted to prevent their union.
If his elders discovered that Uvim had taken Milly for his bride, they would cast him from the city with dishonor.
He had done it anyway.
Because she was his bride.
Uvim carried her deeper into the deadly world of the mer with a giant cave guardian on his fins and prayed to the Life Tree that he could protect Milly.
Chapter Thirteen
Milly snuggled against her hard warrior — in every sense of the word hard — and studied him in the strange underwater light. This
close, she could enjoy his appearance even without her glasses, contacts, or prescription-strength mask.
A straight, dominant nose. Low cheekbones. Thick, expressive lips pursed as he kicked.
Lips she had tasted.
Her nipples tingled.
Contrasting amethyst crinkled across his green skin like veins of precious gems. How did they tattoo? She wanted to know about it.
She wanted to know about him.
“I’m so excited you’re taking me with you,” she said, snuggling closer.
His lids lowered with calm. “I could not leave you.”
“Will you show me everything? The danger and the beauty. I want to know this world.”
He complied.
They crossed the vast ocean.
A brilliant light shone in all directions, even down. Before her change, the ocean had thickened with a blue color when she’d looked down. Now, bright light stretched to infinity. If she squinted, she could pick out animals — life — miles down.
The squawking of the giant octopus grew fainter as Uvim kicked hard.
Long crackling electrical wires trailed from Portuguese man-o-wars. Deadly to humans, but according to Uvim, they only gave mer a painful sting. He skirted the buzzing filaments. Normally invisible, she would never miss the electric blue threads again.
This was a marine biologist’s dream
They skirted siren-warnings of blue sharks, bull sharks, and even a bullhorn of a basking shark with its gaping, plankton-eating mouth.
An entire pod of blue whales swam by. Their multi-harmonic whale song filled the ocean with thoughtful hums. A shimmering school of mackerel sang.
Rush hour in downtown Los Angeles had nothing to this. There, every car played its own radio; here, every fish sang its own song.
If he could see her soul light now, he must know she was shining with excitement.
Milly splayed her hand across his broad pectoral. So much taut muscle contained under the patterned skin. She circled his darker aureole with her thumb. He let out a pleased rumble.
Hers.
She jolted. Not thinking about that right now.
She moved her hands to safer territory — around the delicious bone of his shoulder — and rested her head in the hollow. “I can’t wait to visit my old scuba spots and really see the world.”
A note of caution entered his tone. “The elixir is temporary.”
“It won’t wear off right away.”
His jaw flexed.
“I thought it had to last until I reached Dragao Azul and drank the permanent nectar,” she said. “That takes a few days.”
“A warrior never leaves his bride.”
“Wait, so separating might make it wear off faster? Separating was your idea.”
He did not argue. He left his point for her to understand.
She didn’t want the elixir to wear off. This was amazing. She had her own giant cave guardian friend. Her hesitation before had been fear. She could never go back to an ordinary life.
“Maybe we should descend to the city after all,” she said.
His gaze flicked up to their surroundings and a rumble of disapproval sounded in his chest. “Queen Zara judges the unworthy.”
“Maybe she just wants to warn the brides not to expect roses and hearts.”
“She is my queen.”
“And she’s my sister.”
“I must obey.”
“And I don’t have to.”
His duty-bound heart disliked it.
Okay, new plan. “Can someone else bring the blossom?”
He was silent for a long time. “There is another problem.”
“You’re the only one who can touch the blossom?”
“No.”
“Then…?”
“We pursue our brides in order. The most honorable first.”
Okay. “What number are you?”
“Twenty-eighth.”
Oh.
Ohhhh.
“That’s kind of far down the list,” she said.
“There will be consequences.”
“Consequences? You’ve already transformed me.”
He swallowed hard.
“You won’t get in serious trouble, will you?” she asked. “Your people wouldn’t exile you.”
He did not reply.
Ominous? Hard to say since a squawking, squeaking, honking giant black octopus bounced along in the water behind them. She frolicked in a wonderful mood. It was like being tailed by a giant puppy.
Yeah. A huge, cheerful dog. Like Clifford the big red dog, only black.
So, he couldn’t ask for a blossom because then they would know he had broken the rules.
“Then what was your plan when we got to Dragao Azul?”
“Queen Zara must approve.”
“There is no way Zara cares about ‘what order’ warriors get married. People fall in love all the time.”
“People,” he agreed. “Not mer.”
“Well, you have fewer opportunities. But when you have more opportunities, then it won’t be such a big deal, I promise you.”
He thrummed as though she had said something deeply comforting.
Well, maybe she had. Uvim’s entire city had been unsuccessful in getting sacred brides for years. Elan’s luck finding Zara was an outlier. How often did cities send warriors to receive a bride? It might have been decades. Generations.
And she blithely promised the mer would have “more opportunities.” Like bride candidates would just fall in their laps. On the bottom of the sea.
Magically.
Well, when Milly was queen, she would make those opportunities.
“Did you ever go to the surface?” she asked.
He looked at her sharply.
“To search for a bride,” she clarified.
He shook his head once. No.
Why so stiff?
She tried to reassure him. “If they punish you for going out of turn, then when I get my queen powers, I’ll un-punish you.”
He blinked. “You?”
“As soon as I show off my super powers, your people recognize me as a ruler. That’s what happened with Zara. Right?”
He looked blank.
She nudged him with her elbow. Teasing. “Did you forget?”
But he had forgotten. Forgotten that she could make decisions and be respected.
His doubts sank onto her shoulders. “You don’t think I can do it, do you? Even if I get super powers, you don’t think your people will ever respect me.”
“Queen Zara is forceful.”
Her heart lurched.
She had plenty of doubts inside. But she’d put her faith in his. He’d been so sure her destiny was the ocean.
Now that was a mistake?
“You are saddened,” he said.
“I know I’m kind of dumb.” She tried to keep the hurt out of her tone but that was impossible. “I put my trust in the wrong people and I don’t learn from my mistakes. But I am going to be a reliable, responsible queen who revitalizes your city and attracts lots of new brides. I am.”
“Yes, Milly.”
Yes? Yes?
“Then if you believe in me, why are you doubtful?”
“I am not doubtful.”
“But you said Queen Zara is forceful.”
“When she fights,” he agreed. “You must not fight.”
She snorted. “Well, I’m sorry, but we’re not saints. A fight will happen.”
He did not answer.
The elixir was supposed to solve everything. She’d get the mermaid super powers she wanted and be in charge of her own destiny.
But instead, now Uvim was in trouble. The super-dutiful warrior had violated his code of honor to claim her as a bride. He wouldn’t take her to his city until she got permission from her older sister — of all people — and even there he didn’t think she had the poise to issue commands.
She swallowed back her pain and tried to ease it with a joke. “If they
don’t listen, then I’ll sic Clifford on them.”
His jaw flexed again. The words vibrated from his chest; his mouth remained closed. “You wish to protect me?”
“Yes.”
“Be silent now.”
Uvim swam into still water.
The echo point.
All around, currents pulled hard and fish, plants, debris swirled like a tornado. But inside this still water, she watched them go by like looking out a glass window.
Faint words and phrases echoed. Different languages — some English — warbled on the water along with unidentifiable sounds. He floated forward, up, down. Like tuning a radio dial, different messages sounded.
Raiders on the ridge, one male voice echoed. Prepare for war.
… large migration on Sol Sud.
… fire! Send warriors …
… in … all are welcome …
… flavor. “Car.” A metal box that conveys humans across the surface. “Dog.” A furred, toothed, four-legged animal kept for defense and companionship. “I love you.” No meaning is …
They floated away from the loudest, clearest broadcast — teaching English? — and she strained to hear the teacher’s answer.
“Wait. I—”
Uvim held her tight and shook his head, panic in his gaze.
Her heart thudded.
If she had just revealed her existence then she would feel seriously dumb.
… rior Uvim, report.
This was it. A direct current to Dragao Azul.
He threw back his shoulders and expanded his rib cage.
She released him.
He tightened his grip as though afraid to lose her. He pressed her against his chest.
“Queen Zara issues orders about the All-Council and brides!”
His chest vibrated.
His shout echoed in her chest.
He frowned, startled.
Queen Zara issues orders about the All-Council and brides! QUEEN ZARA issues orders about the ALL-COUNCIL AND BRIDES! QUEEN ZARA ISSUES ORDERS ABOUT THE ALL-COUNCIL AND BRIDES!
His shout amplified, growing louder and louder.
His eyes widened.
This wasn’t good. She pressed her hands over her chest.
The vibrations quieted.
His shoulders relaxed. He’d been holding them taut in concern.
Well, hopefully, nobody would notice the weird amplification. Maybe it wouldn’t be audible by the time the vibrations reached the city where another warrior was listening in.
