She had still done that, but Dowager Queen Bernadine seemed to be enjoying the scene very much.
Gustave looked from Fiora to his grandmother. He looked equally surprised at the praise. Fiora guessed the dowager queen was not easily impressed.
“What happened, Grandmother?” Gustave signed.
He didn’t say the words out loud. Doubtless this was meant to be a private conversation.
“Nothing of consequence. We’re simply sewing. How did your meeting with Marquis Corbeau go?”
Dowager Queen Bernadine looked a little smug as she signed.
Lady Annabelle, Kara, and Elaine watched the exchange for a moment then lost interest. Apparently they didn’t understand sign language. Some gestures were slightly different from the mermaids’ version, but Fiora was able to follow the conversation without difficulty.
“It’s rude not to speak aloud,” Collette signed silently. “Our guests will think you’re gossiping about them.”
“As if there was anything worth gossiping about there,” Dowager Queen Bernadine signed. “Elaine cares more about her book than any of us. Kara is too shy to contribute, and Annabelle is trying to prove herself a lady through gross incompetence in both needlework and conversation.”
Fiora snorted at this description. This didn’t require her voice, so it made a sound.
An extremely unladylike sound that filled the entire room.
Everyone turned to look at her. She froze.
“Do you understand sign language, girl?” Bernadine signed.
Fiora tried to keep her expression blank, but the dowager queen’s eyes gleamed with the joy of discovery.
“Where did you learn? Certainly not from your seagull friends. They don’t have hands.”
Fiora couldn’t help the flash of amusement in her eyes at the dowager queen’s words.
Blast it all.
“So you do understand?” Gustave spoke out loud in his enthusiasm. “You know sign language? That’s marvelous! Now you can tell us about yourself.”
Thomas resumed his translating duties for the dowager queen, who nodded her agreement.
“What’s your name?” Gustave continued. “Where do you come from?”
Fiora set down her sewing and raised shaky hands to answer. But what could she say? No lie would sufficiently explain how she came to be naked in the ocean on castle grounds.
The truth was equally improbable and even more dangerous.
“What’s going on?” Lady Annabelle asked. “Are you saying she can communicate with us but has chosen not to?”
Her voice sounded innocent, but her expression was predatory. She may not completely understand the situation, but Fiora’s discomfort was obvious. Annabelle had gained the upper hand over Fiora, and she knew it. They both knew it.
“I-”
Fiora signed the single word, and everyone leaned towards her waiting for the next.
There was nothing she could say that would help. Her thoughts were too scattered to even give them a fake name.
Fiora grabbed the shell from her lap and bolted from the room. Pain shot through her feet, and she realized too late that she had left her shoes hidden under her chair.
She ducked into the first empty hallway she found and paused to read the shell. As she had suspected, it was carved with a song. Zoe’s part from their royal quartet.
Such an enchantment was unlikely to have washed up on the beach. This was a message.
From Zoe?
Or was it a trap?
Fiora took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. Someone knew she was here.
She could run further inland, but they had tracked her here so easily that they would doubtless find her again. And even if they didn’t, she would always be looking over her shoulder, waiting until they did. She needed to face whoever had sent the shell on her own terms instead of letting them ambush her.
If it was Zoe, meeting her was probably safe enough.
Unless her cousin had told others.
There was only one way to find out.
Blast it all.
Fiora ran through the castle, ducking into corridors to avoid the guards, servants, and nobles that meandered through the halls. Finally, she found the door to the garden and hurried outside. Beds of flowers and manicured hedges gave way to sandy beaches at the garden’s edge.
Fiora ducked around a corner, hoping she was out of sight of the doorway by now. Something rustled in a nearby tree, and Fiora ducked down to avoid being detected.
“Squawk?”
Spot the seagull looked down at her.
“You.”
Fiora spoke the word even though it made no sound. Then she signed it for good measure. Spot hopped on the ground and pecked for crumbs.
Fiora held the shell towards the bird, hoping he might lead her to the place he had found it. But he had discovered an apple core under a bush and was no longer interested in Fiora.
Something splashed in the water.
A wave? Or something more?
Fiora followed the sound, ducking under trellises whenever possible to stay out of view from the castle windows overhead. Finally she reached a bench hidden by a wrought iron arch covered with climbing ivy. She sat on it, glad to give her feet a break, and dug her toes into the sand. She was close enough to the water to see anything unusual that happened, but not close enough that anyone could catch her by surprise.
Spot landed on the sand beside Fiora’s feet. A soft song drifted through the air, and a fish washed up on the beach. The seagull grabbed it and flew away.
Before Fiora could react, Zoe emerged from the water. The young mermaid beamed when she saw Fiora.
“Oh good, the bird found you.”
Fiora nodded and tossed the shell back to her cousin. Zoe caught it and tied it in her hair.
“They’re searching the ocean for you. I’ve almost convinced Grandmother that you didn’t wake the kraken on purpose. I told her that I lost focus and sang a wrong note.”
“Zoe, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“But maybe it’s true. What else could explain the kraken waking?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, but I did sing a few notes out of tune. You can’t take the blame for this. You’ll ruin your chances of joining a choir.”
“I’d rather have you home than sing in a choir. I told you I would fix everything. Why did you leave before I could?”
To Fiora’s surprise, Zoe’s eyes filled with tears. It seemed mermaids could cry after all.
Fiora swallowed. She hated to involve Zoe further, but if the mermaid was determined to interfere, she should know what she was dealing with.
“While I was hiding in the statue garden, I overheard Leander plotting with someone to kill me.”
Zoe gasped. When she tried to speak, her questions ran into each other and came out as sputtering.
“I don’t know who it was. There was a lady and someone with a deep voice that made the ground rumble.”
“Like it did before the kraken woke up? Do you think Leander was responsible for that?”
“Why would Leander wake a kraken?”
Zoe frowned.
“I’m sure there could be a reason,” she said after clearly failing to think of one.
Fiora wished she had any idea what that reason could be, but Leander was a trusted member of the royal guard.
“If Leander truly believes I woke the kraken on purpose, he might see it as his duty to eliminate me to protect the queen.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Zoe said. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Maybe I can find something useful.”
“Zoe, no. That’s dangerous.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Fiora sighed silently. She doubted Zoe was capable of being careful. Maybe if she had another mission to distract her, she would forget about following Leander.
“Zoe, could you do something for me?”
“Of course!”
“I used an enchantment
on a conch shell to transform myself into a human. There’s a second shell with more information about the song in the library. Could you bring it to me?”
“So you didn’t use your pearl ring?”
Fiora held out her hand to show the dull pearl. The young mermaid brightened.
“You said it was a conch shell? I can find it and bring it to you tomorrow. Unless you find love before then and don’t need it.”
“I’m unlikely to find love so quickly, Zoe. That isn’t how it works.”
“Are you sure? I’ve been using that golden ball you hid in the library to learn more about the human world. The princess and the frog fell in love rather quickly.”
Fiora had no idea what Zoe was talking about, and she had too much on her mind to ask further questions.
“So you’ll bring the shell tomorrow?”
Zoe nodded.
“I’ll give your pet seagull a message for you when I’m here.”
“He’s not a pet. He’s a pest.”
A sound interrupted them. Footsteps coming closer.
“Hello?” Gustave’s voice called. “Are you there, miss?”
“You should go. He’ll find us soon.”
Zoe ducked lower in the water.
“Is that a human man? Are you trying to win his love so you can use the pearl ring instead of the enchantment?”
Fiora raised an eyebrow. Of all the escape plans she had considered, winning Gustave’s affection was not one of them.
“No, I’m not trying to make him love me.”
“Do you love him?”
“No.”
Zoe smiled.
“Then you should return to the ocean as soon as possible. I miss you, Fiora.”
The young mermaid dove beneath the waves and didn’t resurface. Fiora stared at the water, unsure what to feel. No one had ever wanted her before. No one had ever missed her when she left.
Or maybe they had, and she had simply failed to notice.
24
Gustave sprinted through the castle, cursing himself for not following the woman the moment she fled. He had been too surprised to react when she bolted from the room, and now he had lost her.
Servants pointed down the hallways when they saw him. He assumed this meant that the lady had passed that way. There was no time to stop for questions.
After a few false trails, he found himself outside. Gustave stood in the doorway and searched the garden. No sign of the woman. No sign of anything out of the ordinary except a rather dirty seagull eating a fish on the shore.
Well, it was a start.
Gustave walked slowly through the garden, checking likely hiding spots as he made his way towards the water.
Why did everything always come back to the sea?
He heard voices. A woman speaking. His heart raced. Could she speak after all? What if she was the one who had saved him and was simply too shy to say so?
“Hello? Are you there, miss?”
Silence.
Gustave jogged towards the place he had heard the voice. Maybe it was someone else. But if that was the case, perhaps she had seen the woman.
He reached a trellis and rounded the corner slowly, hoping not to scare whoever was hiding behind the ivy.
The woman sat on the bench staring at the ocean. She flinched when she saw Gustave but didn’t run. She didn’t look like she had the energy to go any further.
“I’m sorry,” Gustave said
Then he signed the words for good measure. Maybe she was deaf as well?
She stared at him for a long moment. Gustave stood as still as he could, trying not to scare her further. He didn’t want her to run again.
Finally, she sighed and relaxed a little.
“I understand speech and sign language,” she signed.
“Why did you run when we asked you about it?”
They were beyond the bounds of propriety at this point. He might as well just ask.
Instead of answering, the woman limped to the edge of the beach and sat on a low seawall. She pulled her skirt up to her knees and dangled her bare feet in the water. Some of the tension in her face eased. Gustave watched her for a moment, then kicked his shoes off, rolled up his trousers to his ankles, and joined her. There was something soothing about waves lapping against your skin. It cleared his head until he almost remembered where he had seen her before.
Questions hadn’t helped, so Gustave remained silent. The woman seemed deep in thought and content to simply sit there. Gustave took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he sat on the beach and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.
When he opened his eyes, the woman was watching him. She raised her hands as if to sign something then lowered them again.
“You’re sure you can’t speak?” Gustave said. “I thought I heard someone speaking a moment ago.”
She glared at him, not needing words or signs to communicate that she found his question extremely stupid.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s just, I’m looking for someone who sings. I heard a voice in the garden and thought it might be you.”
“I’m sure Lady Annabelle would be happy to sing for you. All you need to do is ask.”
Gustave winced, then noticed the gleam in her eyes.
“You’re mocking me.”
She shrugged.
“There are hundreds of people in your kingdom who could sing for you. Why are you so determined to find this particular woman? Who is she?”
Gustave considered the question a moment, trying to form the story in a way that wouldn’t sound crazy.
“I was in a shipwreck yesterday and washed up on the beach. Someone dragged me out of the water and sang to me. I’d like to thank her for saving my life.”
I love her. The words almost came out on their own, but Gustave managed to hold them in. He had a lifetime of practice keeping his thoughts to himself. It was only in the past few days that he had become careless and unpredictable in what he said.
He searched her eyes for doubt or disbelief but found only curiosity. He traced the faint scar in his hairline and continued the story.
“My ship was attacked by kraken. I was washed overboard and somehow floated to shore. I don’t remember much of that. Just a voice and a woman.”
And magic.
“Why were you sailing? Where were you going?”
She pulled her feet out of the water, stared at them for a moment, then submerged them again.
Maybe it was because she was using sign language, but Gustave felt no judgment from her question. It had been a long time since someone simply asked him something without any sort of accusation or expectation accompanying their words.
“My father went missing almost a year ago. This magic ring is supposed to track him. I thought I could use it to find him, but it led me to the middle of the ocean instead. Then kraken attacked.”
“I’m sorry about your father.”
And she did look sorry. She met Gustave’s gaze with a sort of sad understanding in her eyes.
“You’ve lost someone?”
She nodded.
“My mother died when I was young. No one has ever told me exactly what happened to her. I think not knowing is worse than anything the truth could be.”
Her expression darkened at whatever memories thoughts of her mother brought up. Gustave studied her face, desperate to know more about her.
“I understand the sentiment. If I knew my father was dead, I could move on. I could grieve and heal. But I can’t leave him alone to an unknown fate.”
The woman placed her hand over his and squeezed his fingers.
“Of course you can’t.”
She had to let go of his hand to make the signs, and Gustave wished she didn’t. He wanted to return the gesture and take her hand to comfort her, but that would leave her effectively mute. Instead, he placed his hand near her on the wall. Just in case she wanted to hold his hand again.
Sadly, she didn’t.
“Your mother died when you were young?” she signed. “I think I remember hearing that.”
Gustave nodded and made a mental note that she must not be from Montaigne. Any citizen would know for certain when the queen had died and how it had happened.
“What about your father?” Gustave asked. “The rest of your family?”
The woman pursed her lips together.
“They want nothing to do with me.”
“Why not?”
She shook her head and stared at the ocean.
Gustave couldn’t help wondering if her family had treated her badly because she was mute. But surely a father wouldn’t abandon his daughter simply because she couldn’t speak. Someone had taught her sign language. Someone had taken her in.
And then someone had left her in the ocean with literally nothing.
There was something so familiar about her. Some mystery he felt the need to solve.
Maybe she was cursed. Under some magical influence less obvious than being transformed into a talking frog. Could a curse steal someone’s voice?
Or their clothes or memories?
He thought back to his misadventures with Stefan and Carina. Prince Stefan’s curse had come with a set of rules. Things he couldn’t talk about without severe consequences.
Perhaps this girl’s curse meant she couldn’t talk at all. Or that she couldn’t answer certain questions. Even with sign language.
Gustave had researched curses as thoroughly as he could when his father disappeared. Their effects and conditions varied, but most didn’t allow the person under the enchantment to admit they were cursed.
So it would be pointless to ask her. She might run again if he tried to pry.
Or he would look extremely insensitive for assuming that a physical disability must be the work of dark magic. Perhaps she was simply mute.
But if it was magic…
There were as many ways to break curses as there were curses themselves. Princess Carina had set Prince Stefan free with a kiss and recommended that Gustave do the same if he ever needed to break an enchantment.
Gustave’s eyes settled on the woman’s lips. She had a nice mouth. Even if it was scowling at him in confusion right now.
Princess of Mermaids Page 14
