by Dee J. Stone
Kyle takes my hand again. “It will be okay. If Damarian and Kiander are alive, we’ll find them.”
“Syren won’t let me help,” I say.
He rubs my hand. “I understand where he’s coming from. You’re new down here and don’t know your way around, or the way we operate. Bringing you along would only be a…”
“A liability.”
He shuts his eyes for a second. “I didn’t mean it like that, but it would be better if you stay behind. Leave it up to us to go look for him.”
I purse my lips. I risked my life coming here so I could save the love of my life. I won’t sit back and wait. I won’t.
“Pardon me.”
My head snaps up and I see Doria floating a few feet away. Kyle nods to her. “Doria.”
“Forgive me, but Mother has asked that Cassie return. It is not safe.”
“She’s right,” Kyle says. “If the rebels know you’re here…”
I’m as good as dead.
We pick ourselves off the stones and face one another. Kyle wraps his arms around me, kissing my cheek. “I’ll bring him back. For you.”
I clutch onto him. “Thanks.”
Doria nods farewell to Kyle, then motions for me to follow her. We’re not that far from the cave, but my skin prickles as I survey the area. I haven’t seen a non-sapphire tail here other than Kyle’s, but do I know who I can trust? What if a Sapphire is part of the rebels?
“Doria?” I ask.
She pauses mid-swim and glances at me.
“I’m sorry for all of this.”
She picks up swimming. “It is all right.”
“I know you don’t like me that much, and it’s cool. I mean, it’s fine. But I just want you to know that I didn’t mean for this to happen. If there’s anything I could do…”
She doesn’t say anything. Is she mad? I’m pretty sure she wants to bash my head into the coral. If Damarian had never met me, he would be king and all the merpeople would live in peace. But if that were the case, Damarian would have been miserable. Is that what she wants for her brother? I know she cares deeply for him.
“As I have told you when I came to land,” she says. “I do not understand how my brother can have such love for a human. But I do not question it. Though I am upset at the turn of events, I do not blame you.”
That’s a relief.
“I wish things were different,” she continues. “I wish Damarian chose a child of the sea as his mate. I wish he did not spend so many days on land. But circumstances are so, and there is nothing I can do but accept it.”
I’m not sure how relieved I should be, but at least she doesn’t want to poke my eyeballs out.
Our conversation has been taking place outside her home. I cringe back when I see the way those sharks look at me. Doria follows my gaze. “They are hostile to all who are not my family,” she explains. “But as you are Damarian’s mate, and a child of the sea, they understand you will visit often. In time, they will no longer be hostile to you.”
The thought of being with Damarian and traveling home with him every so often to see his family is like a dream come true. I mean, we need to work out a lot of things, but it would be awesome to have that life.
“These sharks guard your home?”
“Yes. We have only need for one, but due to the current circumstances, Father has requested another.”
That’s good, I guess. Not good that they need another shark to protect them, but good that they’re being protected.
I follow Doria into the cave. Kiandra and Syren are sitting at the table, and Zarya is on the floor, playing with what looks like toys. It looks like things found around the ocean, like parts of coral, stone, fish bones, shells, and other things I can’t identify. There also seems to be human things too, probably salvaged from sunken ships.
As soon as she sees me, she springs off the floor. “With Cassie’s arrival, surely Damarian is here as well.”
Doria takes her arm and lifts her onto her back. “I shall play with you.”
“Yes!”
They swim away to one of the rooms.
Syren stands. “Is it your wish to remain here?” he asks me. “Or do you plan to return to land?”
“We cannot allow her to return to land,” Kiandra says. “She will undoubtedly get killed.”
It doesn’t look like Syren gives a damn about my safety. “She traveled here in one piece.”
“She is Damarian’s mate, Syren. She is part of the family.”
I’m not in the mood of arguing with Syren or trying to convince him that I’m the right person for his son. But I deserve respect. “Look, sir, I understand you don’t like me. But I wish you would accept Damarian’s decision and accept the fact that we are together and will be together forever. He’s happy with me. If he wasn’t, I wouldn’t force him to be with me.”
Syren narrows his eyes. He’s quiet for a few seconds. Then he turns to his wife. “I will travel to Eteria in the morning.”
Eteria is where the palace is located.
Kiandra nods. “I hope all will be well.”
He swims toward her and touches her arm. “I will retire to bed.”
She nods again. He gives me one more look, his expression grim, then swims away to one of the rooms.
Kiandra and I gaze at one another. A part of me feels like I need to apologize to her for causing this to befall her son. But I’m sick of apologizing. I didn’t do anything wrong. The people at fault here are the rebels. They are the ones who have caused all of this, not me.
Her eyes soften. “Would you like to rest? You must be exhausted.”
I feel my guard start to melt away. “Thanks. I am exhausted.”
“I will show you to your quarters.”
I follow her toward the tunnels. As we pass one, I feel something. Something crawling on my skin, something buried in my heart. I stop and peer inside. There is a large oyster shell in the center with seaweed inside. A few stone pieces are around, like chairs. “Is this Damarian’s room?” I ask.
Kiandra swims over to me and looks into the room. “Yes.” Her voice is barely audible.
“Can I…can I sleep here?”
She moves her gaze to me, examining me closely. “Yes, if that is your wish.”
I nod.
“Very well. I will leave you to your rest. Please do not hesitate to ask for anything you may need.”
“Thanks.”
She touches my cheek before swimming away.
I swallow a few times, then face the room. This is it, Damarian’s room. His most private area. He’s not here to give me permission to sleep here, but I know he’d want me to. He’d want to share every part of himself with me.
Slowly, I swim toward the bed. It doesn’t look that comfortable, but I guess it must be. Curling my tail around me, I lower myself into it. My body sinks into the seaweed. It feels more comfortable than I imagined.
It smells like him. The rest of his family have the same salt water smell, but his unique scent is buried between the seaweed. I grasp one of them and hold it tight to my chest, imagining Damarian lying here with me.
It’s only because of my extreme exhaustion that I manage to fall asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I have the dream again. Damarian yells my name in the same manner. I call back, but can’t see or hear him. There are a few flashes of lightning, and I wake up shaking, aching all over.
A face so similar to Damarian’s is in front of mine.
“Mother, she has awakened!” Zarya shouts.
A few seconds later, Kiandra peeks her head into Damarian’s room. Giving me a sweet smile, she says, “I hope you slept well.”
Damarian’s bed turned out to be extremely comfortable. Other than the dream, I had a restful sleep. “I did. Thanks,” I say.
Kiandra swims into the room and stops a few feet away from me. “Queen Flora wishes to see you.”
I gape at her. The queen of the merpeople wants to see me? Other than the fact that sh
e is one of the most important people in the ocean, Damarian dumped her for me. Maybe she wants to have my head.
Words tumble out of my mouth—I have no idea what. A whole lot of gibberish.
Zarya giggles as she circles me. “Do not fear. Flora is pleasant.”
Yeah, as long as you don’t steal her fiancé.
My hands wring together. “Why does she want to see me?”
“She has learned of your arrival,” Kiandra says.
And probably wants to give me a piece of her mind.
“It is rude to keep her waiting.” Kiandra holds out her hand. “It is all right.”
I swallow, get out of the bed, and follow Kiandra out of the room. Little Zarya swims at my side, smiling widely. I return it. I know she will be my next favorite person.
“Every time I visit the palace, Queen Flora presents me with a new gift,” Zarya says, her blue eyes shining. She pouts. “But Mother says I am not invited this morning.”
“I’m sure she’ll invite you soon,” I tell her.
Syd and Syndin are playing on the floor of the main room. They lift identical faces as we pass. Zarya holds her head high, like she won a prize for swimming near me. Despite the anxiety pumping through my body, I laugh.
As we near the exit to the cave, they both get up from the floor and follow us. When we reach the exit, a merman with a violet tail floats before us. Right next to him is a hammerhead shark. The merman bends his head.
“He will escort you to the palace,” Kiandra says.
I nod, my throat dry.
Zarya wraps her tail around me. “I shall eagerly await your return, Cassie!”
This kid is too cute. I know she doesn’t know what it means, but I wrap my arms around her and kiss her cheek. “I will eagerly await returning to you.”
She beams.
I look at her brothers. “The same to you.”
They smile, too.
I stroke Zarya’s head and face the Violet. “I’m ready.”
He nods, then bends his head to Kiandra in a farewell. “Swim at my side,” he instructs me.
I do as he says. The hammerhead shark swims right next to me, its eyes scanning the area. I look back at Damarian’s house. Zarya waves before doing a few somersaults. The twins copy her. They’re almost like dolphins at a show. Kiandra brings them inside.
Many Sapphires are swimming around, some talking, some eating, little ones playing. As we pass them, they each raise curious eyes at me. I’m not sure if it’s because of me or if it’s because I’m being escorted by one of the palace Guards. I think it’s because of me.
The Violet’s eyes are surveying the area, too. He doesn’t look different from the Sapphires, other than his tail and hair. It’s dark brown. He and the shark move in similar ways, as if they’re communicating with one another.
I see the rocks in the distance, where Fiske and I swam through to enter the Sapphire colony. My heart picks up its pace as we draw nearer. I feel safe in the Sapphire colony. I’m not sure if I should, since it’s possible there are spies here just like there was at the palace, but being with Damarian’s family made me feel protected.
The shark goes through the gap first. The Guard motions for me to go next. Before I do, I take one last look at the Sapphire colony, Damarian’s home. The home I desperately want to be my own, too, if things weren’t so screwed up.
“Sapphire,” the merman says.
I snap out of it and swim through the opening. The shark is waiting right outside, its intent eyes on me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this. My whole life I’ve been taught to fear them, and with what happened to Kayla, I don’t know if I can ever be comfortable around them.
“Sapphire,” the Guard says again.
I swim to his side. Out here, there’s a mix of merpeople again. The Diamonds’ tails are the color of glass and they have dark red hair. The Rubies have red tails and angelic white hair. Every single merperson has the same color eyes, the color of the ocean.
Like the Sapphires, they stare at me, their mouth agape. Some even point.
My pace has slowed. The Guard looks impatient. Shaking my head, I speed up and try to keep up with him. He makes a left and advances toward another cave, one almost identical to the Sapphire’s.
“We are approaching Eteria,” he tells me. “Our capital city.”
My chest feels like ice. Like before, the hammerhead enters the opening first, followed by me and then the Violet. When we emerge from it, my breath catches in my throat. A beautiful palace stands a few hundred feet away, covered in sapphire crystals. I stare at it for a moment, my eyebrows furrowed. Why is it covered in sapphire crystals? Then it hits me. The kingdom used to belong to the Sapphires.
Hundreds of large sharks swim around, great whites and hammerheads. It makes sense, since the king is a Sapphire and the queen is a Violet.
The Guard swims toward it. I freeze in my place. I’m not ready. I don’t know what to think. My body shakes with nerves.
“Sapphire,” he says again.
Taking a deep breath, I swim up to him, and we move closer to the entrance of the castle.
He stops a few feet away, his eyes on it. “The palace is not what it was,” he says. “Days ago, it would be bustling with activity.” His eyes meet mine. “Ever since the attack, many are afraid to leave the palace.”
Tears choke up my throat. “I’m sorry.”
I don’t know if he knows what I’m sorry about, if he knows I’m the cause of all of this. He shakes his head and motions for me to go in. There is no door here, just an opening like by the Sapphire colony, but there are sharks guarding it. Every single one of them fastens their eyes on me.
The interior of the castle is beautiful. It’s made out of different shades of sapphire crystals. Manta rays swim around, carrying fish and other seafood on their backs. As they pass some merpeople, they take a fish off. It’s like they’re waiters. There are openings on the higher levels—rooms. The merpeople here are Violets and Sapphires, though I see one Ruby tail. And just like outside, there are many hammerheads and great whites swimming around.
The Guard nods to a few other merpeople as we pass. He leads me to an opening in the back, to a large room that has many Guards and sharks. In the distance, I see two thrones, again made out of sapphire crystals. Someone is sitting on one of the thrones. Queen Flora. Two large hammerhead sharks flank her on each side. Like in the main room, manta rays with food on their backs swim around.
She’s in the middle of talking to a tall Sapphire with the broadest chest I’ve ever seen and another Sapphire—Syren. As soon as she sees me, her mouth closes and she pins her gaze on me. They stay there as we move closer, until we’re standing right in front of her.
She’s beautiful, with long dark brown hair sweeping behind her. She looks different from the other Violets I’ve seen. She’s glowing. I remember Kiander glowing in the same manner when he visited my house after he became king. She doesn’t look any older than me. A tiara sits on her head. It looks like it’s made out of sapphire, violet, ruby, emerald, and diamond crystals.
“Your Highness,” the Violet Guard says, spreading his arms out and raising them over his head, then bringing them together. He lowers his head.
Syren and the other Sapphire do the same. Queen Flora narrows her eyes at me. Oh, right. I spread and raise my arms and lower my head, trying to copy the way they’re doing it. My arms are shaky and my head drops too fast. I probably look like a clumsy mess.
The mermen lift their heads and lower their arms. The Guard gestures to me. “I present Cassie Price of the humans.”
I wince when her eyes flash with anger. They study my face inch by inch, then lower to the rest of my body, examining every part of me. “Approach me, Cassie Price of the humans,” she orders. Her voice is prettier than the other mermaids I’ve encountered.
The Sapphires move aside. Again, I’m a clumsy mess as I move closer to her.
“Bow,” Syren whispers.
> Again? I do, and hopefully this time I have more grace.
Flora leans back in her chair, her gaze never leaving my face. “You have traveled far,” she says. “From the human land.”
My mouth is dry. I lick my lips. “Yeah.”
Her eyes narrow. “Why have you come to the sea?”
I glance at Syren. He’s floating next to me with his arms folded. I focus my attention on the queen. “I sensed Damarian was in trouble. I came to rescue him.”
With her eyes still narrowed, she says, “You risked your life and the lives of my kind. You have entered our waters after your mate cautioned you not to do so. Did you not think his family would formulate a plan to rescue him?”
“Yeah, but—”
“Did you bring humans with you?”
“What? No—”
“How many of them are aware you are here?”
I can’t lie to her. “One.”
She sits up. “You have told a human?”
“But she’s very trustworthy.”
She scoffs. “No human is to be trusted.”
I look away. I don’t want to stand in front of her as she craps on my race, but she’s the queen of the merpeople and I need to respect her. “She’s been my best friend since I was a kid—a fry. I promise you that you can trust her.”
She eyes me for a few seconds before turning to the Sapphires and the Violet. “I would like to speak to Cassie Price in private.”
I gulp.
The Violet bows his head. “I beg your pardon, my queen, but I would like to remain here.”
She waves her hand. “I shall be all right. Cassie Price and I have a lot to discuss.”
All three of them lower their heads and retreat. I want to call after them and beg them not to leave me alone with her. But I tell myself to relax. She won’t hurt me.
Once they’re gone, Flora gets up from her throne and swims closer to me. I involuntarily falter back. That seems to intrigue her. “Are you frightened of me?” she asks.
I play with my hair. “No. I mean…yeah, I guess.”
Her face that’s been so serious suddenly lights up as she laughs. “Why?”
“I’m scared you’ll hurt me.”
“Whatever for?”
