Transformation

by Kara Dalkey

  Callimar’s eyes widened even more and she swam back from Nia. “Free Atlantis from Ma’el? Have you gone crazy? Do you know what you’re saying? He has all the power of all the kings, and he’ll . . .” She covered her mouth with her hand a moment and again glanced around the room. “Nia, there’s nothing you and your . . . Basking Shark friend can do. Everything’s different now. You just have to accept that.”

  “I can’t accept that,” Nia said. “I don’t understand how you can.”

  “It’s just . . . being sensible, that’s all.”

  Nia felt her stomach rumble and realized she’d been through a lot since she’d last eaten. “Could you . . . could you at least tell us where we could find some food without alerting too many people that we’re here? And where we could hide and rest for a while? Believe me, I won’t tell anyone that you helped us, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

  Callimar stared at Nia for what seemed like a long time. Finally she spoke. “No, I can’t let you wander off by yourselves. It’s too dangerous now. You’d better come with me. I’ll make sure that you’re fed at the Sunfish Palace. And if I can, I’ll give you a place to rest.”

  Nia allowed herself to smile. “I knew I could count on you,” she said, hoping it was true.

  Callimar returned a sickly smile. “We should leave now, though, before we’re seen. Follow me.” Callimar headed for the window.

  Corwin swam up beside Nia. “Do you trust her?” he asked softly. “From the way she was looking at us, I’m not sure she’s your friend anymore.”

  “What choice do we have? She’s our best hope right now. At least we might be able to find out how things are here from her, even if she can’t do much to help.”

  “If you say so. What about . . . ?” Corwin held up Gobaith’s basket.

  “Let’s not say anything about that, for now.”

  Corwin nodded. He turned to the dolphin. “Go on, Ki-ki. Shoo!”

  “No, no, let Ki-ki come with us,” Nia said. In a slightly harder tone, she added, “We might need her later.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Corwin awkwardly patted the dolphin on the head.

  “Come on!” Callimar called from the window.

  Nia and Corwin, bringing Gobaith in the big basket, swam after Callimar through the darkened streets. Since the most noble houses tended to build their palaces closest to the rim, where the water was freshest, the Sunfish Palace was right up against the crystal dome. Unlike the other buildings around it, the Sunfish home was full of light. Music played from one of the upper rooms, and Nia thought she could even hear laughter. It almost brought tears to her eyes. “Here, finally, is one place that’s just like Atlantis used to be.”

  “And doesn’t that make you wonder?” Corwin muttered.

  “You don’t like Callimar, do you?” Nia asked.

  “I can’t tell if I’d like her, but I don’t trust her. Fenwyck used to say that anyone healthy and wealthy under the rule of a tyrant is a friend of the tyrant. And yes, Fenwyck would have loved to be such a friend, but I think he was right anyway.”

  “We’ll soon find out, I guess,” Nia said.

  Callimar led them up to a window leading into a small, private dining chamber on the fifth floor of the palace tower.

  “You may go find air, Ki-ki,” Nia said to the dolphin, “but come back as soon as you can.”

  Ki-ki nodded and sped away.

  “Find air?” Corwin asked.

  “Atlantean dolphins are specially bred to stay underwater longer, but they still need to breathe air now and then,” Nia explained. “There are air tanks, like tiny dry rooms, scattered around the city for their use.”

  Nia followed Callimar in through the window, and after a moment so did Corwin.

  “I’m going to go order dinner for us. Please make yourselves comfortable.” Callimar left them alone in the dining chamber, leaving through an ornate door of pieced coral.

  “I was wrong,” Corwin said. “Vortigern wouldn’t just envy this place. He’d die of envy.”

  Nia gazed around, realizing why Corwin was so impressed. The floor was inlaid marble with geometric patterns of octopuses and fishes. Delicate wall-hangings of pearls, gold and topaz beads undulated against the walls. In the middle of the room was a low malachite table with a net of gold thread draped over it.

  “The Sunfish clan was the most wealthy and noble clan in Atlantis,” Nia said.

  “Looks like they still are.”

  A nervous servant came in and placed platters of succulent fish rolls and kelp balls under the net so that they wouldn’t drift away. The servant tried to take the basket Corwin held, but Corwin scared him off with a grimace and a growl. Another servant brought in bladders of kelp wine and handed one each to Nia and Corwin.

  Nia showed Corwin how to suck on the reed straw to drink the kelp wine. He took one sip, made an awful face and put the drink aside. “Ugh! You drink this stuff?”

  “I guess it doesn’t suit everyone’s tastes,” Nia said delicately.

  “No offense, but I think Anwir’s ale was better,” Corwin said.

  More servants brought in giant clam half-shells, each filled with a cushion, and set these around the table. Callimar came in with them and curled up in one of the shells. She gestured gracefully for Nia and Corwin to do the same.

  “Is it safe for us to talk here?” Nia asked as she sat.

  “I don’t think you could find a safer place,” Callimar replied.

  Nia took a deep breath. “Then Callimar, can you tell me—” she stopped, her voice shaking. “Can you tell me what happened to my family?” she forced herself to finish.

  Callimar sighed and bit into a fish roll. After swallowing, she replied, “I hate to give you sad news.” A quake seemed to pass through Nia’s body. Her worst fears were true—they were all gone. “Nia,” Callimar continued, “the elders of your clan chose to . . . defy the changes in Atlantis. From what I know, they’ve been put into custody until they come to their senses.”

  “Wait—then my mother and Pontus might still be alive!” Nia exclaimed, hope filling her again.

  Callimar regarded her with obvious sympathy. “Maybe,” she said. “I can’t say for certain. It would be too dangerous for me to try and find out.”

  “Of course. I understand. But what about your elders, and other members of the Sunfish clan?”

  Callimar paused even longer before replying. “Rather than cause more chaos, my family chose to accept Ma’el’s rule and abide by his laws. In exchange for our loyalty, we’ve been allowed to retain our noble status.”

  “Aha,” Corwin said. He looked at Nia. Told you so.

  Nia felt her stomach grow cold. “And since the Sunfish are the only noble house left, they gain much more power.”

  Callimar tossed her head nonchalantly. “Well, yes, I guess that’s true.”

  “Callimar, don’t you see how wrong this is?” Nia demanded, leaning toward her friend. “Ma’el is just using you and your family. He’s going to destroy everything that Atlantis stood for—peace, equality, knowledge, freedom. All he wants to do is conquer the world!”

  Callimar gripped the edge of the table. “And when he’s done there will be peace, once and for all. With no barbarian land-dwellers to be afraid of!”

  Corwin frowned.

  “What do you mean?” Nia asked Callimar. “Why should we be afraid of land-dwellers?”

  “Exactly! Atlantis has been living in fear of those air-sucking land-dwellers ever since it sank beneath the surface. Lord Ma’el has said that, in time, once the crisis is past, Atlantis will be able to rise again and we mermyds will be free to roam the world whenever we want.”

  Nia paused, unable to believe what she was hearing. “Maybe that’s true, but is it worth the cost, Callimar? Ma’el has already bought his rulership here with murder. Now he wants to rule the land-dwelling kingdoms in the same way. How many of them will die before Ma’el’s done with his conquest? How many of us will die? I don’t kn
ow how you can think of it as freedom at all if Ma’el has complete power over the world.”

  Callimar sighed and shook her head. “Nia, why are you trying to swim against the rim current? The fact is that Lord Ma’el has the power. The best thing you can do is save yourself and your family, until times are better.

  “We’ve been told to watch for you, you know,” she continued, her tone beginning to grow colder. “Lord Ma’el had great respect for your grandfather, Dyonis. Ma’el wants to form a coalition government with the great houses represented. He even said that he thinks the last Avatarship was stolen from you, and that you have great talents you could offer to the New Atlantis. I’m pretty sure that if you just surrendered yourself to Lord Ma’el, he would release your family and restore your noble house. Don’t you think that would be the best thing you could do? If you try to fight him, he’ll just destroy you and your family.”

  Nia’s body ached, and she wished she could be anywhere else. Of course Ma’el would burden her with the choice of saving her family over the slim chance of saving Atlantis. If I fail, how many more will die? But if I don’t try, many more will certainly die. “You don’t understand, Callimar. You can’t trust any agreements Ma’el makes. He has no loyalty to the Sunfish or anyone else. All he wants is power. He’s evil, Callimar. How can you serve him?”

  Anger and pain warred in Callimar’s eyes. Her gills flapped rapidly for a few moments before she replied. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Nia. But I have to be loyal to my family, my clan. Ma’el imprisons dissenters in the dry rooms, did you know that? That’s probably where your mother and father are. If they are, can you imagine the suffering they’ve gone through? But the Sunfish clan has stayed strong and loyal. We wouldn’t let that happen to each other. None of us would condemn any member of our family to such a fate. We’ve done what we have to do to protect each other.”

  “To save yourselves while Atlantis falls?” Nia exclaimed, horrified. She’d always known that Callimar was a little self-involved, but this was beyond what she would have expected of someone she’d considered a good friend.

  Callimar narrowed her eyes. “Are you calling me selfish? You, who let your cousin be killed by your Deepsider boyfriend Cephan so that you could be Avatar?”

  The accusation cut through Nia. “That’s not true! I tried to stop Cephan!” she cried.

  “That’s what the gossip says about you, you know,” Callimar told her. “They say the last prophecy of the kings was that a traitor would bring down Atlantis. I didn’t want to believe it was you, but now I’m beginning to wonder—”

  “Stop it, Callimar! You know me better than that! I would never do anything to hurt my family, or Atlantis. If I’d wanted to ruin Atlantis, I’d be standing at Ma’el’s side, instead of fighting him. Think, Callimar! Think about what Ma’el’s done already. Your clan can’t buy off his evil with your loyalty forever. Someday he’ll turn against the Sunfish, too, when it suits him. Help me, Callimar—before it’s too late.”

  Callimar closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m so sorry, Nia. I’d hoped you’d do the smart thing. The right thing for your clan. But I’ve got to look after my own. I can’t help you.”

  Nia sighed too. “I knew I was asking a lot of you. I think Corwin and I had better go now.”

  Callimar got up from the clamshell chair. “You don’t understand, Nia. I can’t let you go. My family knows you and your friend are here. If we let you escape, we’ll be punished. I can’t let that happen. I’ll give you one last chance, Nia. Please. Give up this idiotic, suicidal fight.”

  So that you can turn me in to Ma’el and get extra points for being good minions? Nia thought bitterly. But instead she said, “I’m sorry, Callimar. I can’t.”

  Callimar hung her head and flapped her hand in a beckoning gesture.

  “Hey!” Corwin cried out, as four burly Manta Ray guards swam in through the window.

  Nia’s arms were grabbed by two of them. The other two headed for Corwin. “Callimar!” Nia cried. “Don’t let them do this! We may be Atlantis’s last hope!”

  Callimar looked up sadly. “I’m sorry, Nia. But be brave. You always were good in dry rooms. I hope that . . .” Unable to finish, Callimar covered her face and swam out.

  Chapter Six

  What’s happening? What’s happening? Gobaith sent. Corwin was thrilled to hear the young Farworlder’s familiar question as the Sunfish household guards grabbed Corwin’s arms. “We’re being captured!” he yelled.

  Let me out! Let me out! The top of the fish basket pounded against Corwin’s arm, and Corwin let go of the basket.

  Gobaith uncoiled and launched himself at the guards. He flared his tentacles wide in front of them, glaring imperiously and making a screen of bubbles with his siphons.

  The action startled the mermyd guards, and they released Corwin and flung their arms up in front of their faces. Corwin swam aside, preparing to fend off another grab. But, strangely, the guards didn’t try to seize Corwin again—they simply stared at Gobaith in fear and confusion.

  Ki-ki the dolphin zoomed in through the window. “Ki-ki! Over here! Help!” Nia cried from the other end of the room. The dolphin arrowed in and delivered a blow to the belly to each of Nia’s guards with the top of its head and snout.

  Corwin and Nia both had the same thought and headed for the window, and escape, at once. “Gobaith!” Corwin cried over his shoulder.

  But Nia shook her head. “Let Gobaith delay the guards for a little while longer. We have to get out of here.”

  Corwin followed her out the window and straight down the outside wall of the Sunfish Palace: then they shot out over the street and into a narrow alley. Nia took a sharp turn around a corner that would hide them from view of the Sunfish Palace. Corwin felt the same surge of exhilaration that he used to feel when he and Fenwyck were fleeing angry fairgoers—the sweet joy of a close escape. But the unfamiliar surroundings and the complication of swimming instead of running caused his pleasure to fade quickly. Nia stopped and slipped beneath an overhanging balcony. “Let’s wait under here for Gobaith.”

  Corwin joined her, relieved at the chance for a brief rest. “Nia, where are we going exactly, other than away?” he asked.

  “Callimar said my family’s probably being held in a dry room,” Nia replied, her voice firm and decisive. “So I’m going to the one dry room I know of that might be big enough to hold prisoners. Even if my relatives aren’t there, we’ll have a good chance at finding allies among the mermyds Ma’el has punished.”

  “Do I get to say I told you so about Callimar?” he couldn’t help asking.

  Nia’s frown deepened. “No. She was my best friend, Corwin. I had to at least try. And like I said, we did learn more about what’s going on here from her.”

  “Yes,” Corwin agreed, “but now there’s a powerful group of people who know you’re back and that we’re rebels. I’m not sure it’s an even trade. You know, if Fenwyck were here, he’d have suggested we pretend to join the enemy side. That way, we’d be closer to Ma’el and have an easier chance to take a stab at him. Preferably in the back, in the dark, when he least expects it.”

  Nia shook her head. “I’m starting to get tired of your master Fenwyck, and I’ve never even met him.”

  “I can’t say I blame you,” Corwin muttered. “Some days I wish I never had.”

  “Besides,” Nia went on, “Ma’el isn’t stupid. He would never trust us. We’ve managed to defeat him and his traps so far, so he’ll know enough to be careful. We’ve got to surprise him somehow. That’s why I hope he still doesn’t know the power of . . . the you-know-what.”

  “That’s assuming we can figure out how to use the power of the you-know-what.” Corwin wasn’t sure how he felt about the prospect of finding a genuine magical sword. Myth and legend weren’t very helpful guides in how a person was supposed to use one. Often the myths implied that only one person could wield such a sword—usually you had to be at least a demigod. Despite his new
abilities, Corwin didn’t feel very godlike. And there was the danger that sometimes these weapons had minds of their own.

  An oculus is part of a Farworlder’s mind, right? Corwin thought. But how much of a mind will the sword have? Maybe Gobaith will be able to tell us. “What is keeping Gobaith, anyway?” Corwin asked, glancing back the way they’d come. Corwin tried to contact Gobaith’s thoughts, but received only sensations of speed and unalloyed glee.

  “Bewildering the Sunfish clan and their guards, no doubt,” Nia said. “We’re taught from an early age to revere the Farworlders. Very few of us ever get to be in the presence of one. No mermyd would ever raise a hand against a Farworlder. Except for Ma’el, of course. The guards might try to catch Gobaith, but they’d be so careful about it that Gobaith could swim rings around them. Look, here he comes!”

  Gobaith zoomed up beside Corwin. Here I am! Did you miss me?

  “Of course. Did you enjoy yourself?” Corwin asked him.

  Not nearly as much as Ki-ki did. But we’d better get to a good hiding place quickly. The Sunfish won’t remain confused for long.

  Again Nia shook her head. “There’s no point in just hiding somewhere, Gobaith. We have to move fast to stay ahead of Ma’el. Let’s go. And keep an eye out to make sure we aren’t being followed.”

  Corwin looked around. He didn’t see any mermyds following or ahead of them. But who knew who might be lurking within the darkened windows of the towers they swam past? And he couldn’t see clearly down in the darkness of the alleyways below.

  Corwin had never been in a city this large—its sheer size and strangeness were disturbing despite its beauty. In Carmarthen, I knew every bolthole, every back door, every street that led quickly out of town and into the forest. Here I know nothing. I must rely on Nia. Or Gobaith, I guess.

  I don’t know the city either, Gobaith sent. I was only a crecheling when I left. I never saw anything but the nursery until I was taken out to prepare for the Naming. And after—wait, there’s someone behind us, approaching rapidly!