The Wild Mermaid Read online

  Maestro watched her and Triton, but as nothing happened, he settled onto his back, his head lifted behind his hands. A watchful posture, one he was clearly familiar with. This wasn’t his first stay in the Queen’s dungeons.

  Meanwhile, Triton continued to stretch. Even in the dim light, his golden body and emerald eyes glinted. Occasionally he’d smile at her, and her heart would flutter under his attention. Triton was a lighthouse, a guardian calling her to safety—

  “That’s not safety,” she muttered to herself. Cora turned to the stone wall so she couldn’t see him. It helped a little.

  This was all Sarina’s fault, wasn’t it? Or at least, this newest predicament was. Sarina had been the one who’d brought her to Triton, and Cora had to assume Sarina knew it was for her death.

  But Sarina had never lied to Cora about who she was. She was a survivor who would do what she could to escape.

  Cora was less angry with her than she expected and even found herself wondering if Sarina really had gotten away. The idea…excited her. That a mortal could find their way out of Atlantis? It gave her hope.

  Queen Mari and her guards would discover Sarina’s absence soon enough. When Queen Mari learned Triton had manipulated both of her soloists, her anger with him would only deepen. Could that save Maestro? If only Cora know how to use the information she had… Maybe she really did have a fraction of power.

  Movement caught her eye, and she turned to see Triton swimming toward her. Maestro stiffened, and Cora’s heart raced. Triton stopped to stand a body’s length from her and, despite Maestro’s clear disapproval, Cora nodded her consent.

  “Darling,” Triton began, “from the day I first serenaded you, I promised you a life of blissful ignorance, and from that day, you gave yourself to me freely. Our union was beautiful, and your transformation was perfection. That was why I chose you to be my soloist.”

  Cora’s mouth opened and closed, failing to find words. Maestro huffed.

  “Alas, your beauty overcame me. You are my masterpiece and—forgive me—I couldn’t share you with Atlantis. I needed you for myself.”

  Cora’s eyes grew wide with the beauty of his compliments. This was exactly what she’d always wanted to hear from him.

  “I still can’t share you.” In one brisk motion, Triton leapt to his tailtip and closed the distance between them.

  He grabbed Cora’s shoulder, yanking her down, headfirst into the wall. For all his talk of beauty, he wanted her gone.

  Cora fought. She pushed back with her weakened tail, swimming against his pull. Too slow, too weak. Her head would strike the wall. He had her.

  Then—with a flurry of movement—Triton was gone.

  And without his grip on her, Cora’s fin grabbed water, slowing her momentum.

  Her cheek scraped against the stone and her head knocked against it. But all things considered, she was okay.

  She righted herself to find Maestro wrestling Triton.

  Maestro, the dull immortal with the clipped fin, was fighting the god-like Triton. Every instinct told her Triton would win.

  Yet, somehow, Maestro was taking charge. Easily.

  He leveraged himself against Triton’s every movement, maximizing his strength with placement. There was precision, a science to his motion.

  Soon, Maestro had Triton pinned under him. Maestro punched his face and blood pooled around Triton.

  Cora covered her mouth in horror.

  One of the guards peeked into the cell and then chatted with the other. The second guard took a curious peek, but the door stayed closed.

  “How dare you!” Maestro roared. “This is all your fault, you greedy flesh peddler. It wasn’t enough to be the Queen’s honored guest, was it? You had to take all of Cora for yourself!”

  “What do you know of the serenading art, you—you mortal-lover,” Triton spat. “Cora is the greatest mortal I’ve ever transformed. I had a right to her, and so I took it. The Queen will not punish me—not for using mortals the way she likes. But she’ll destroy you for protecting them.”

  Maestro struck him again.

  Triton cried out, and Cora’s heart leapt to hear his pain. Somehow, she resisted the urge to move toward him.

  Maestro whacked him a third time and the wailing stopped. Triton’s body grew limp as he hung in the water, blood pooling around him.

  Maestro lifted himself from Triton’s body, his breathing loud and slow as he steadied himself.

  Cora pulled herself from her shock and swam to sit at the opposite side of the cell. She studied Maestro with a cautious eye, trying to understand what she’d just witnessed. She’d never expected that level of violence from him—another surprise.

  Maestro swam toward her and reached out a hand—to comfort her, to slap her? He touched her shoulder.

  Cora flinched.

  “I won’t hurt you,” he said.

  Cora shook her head no. She couldn’t speak.

  “I’m sorry I lost control.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Get some sleep.” Maestro swam to the third wall of the cell.

  Their silence began.

  Cora shifted, finding a position where she could watch both Maestro and Triton’s unconscious body. She knew Maestro was right, she needed sleep, but Cora couldn’t quite close her eyes.

  Soon she fell into a stupor—drifting in the space between sleepy haze and wakefulness. She shook herself awake whenever she drifted into dreams. She could see herself with someone standing on a beach, a human named…Kyla.

  Cora lingered in the hazy dream, trying to understand—it was important. Kyla was important. She grabbed at the idea, but the harder she focused, the further the knowledge drifted away.

  “Kyla?” she asked herself.

  A pulsing sense of something replied. It seemed far away, barely audible.

  Maybe it was her imagination; she could be going crazy. But maybe there was something within her, a comforting friend just beyond reach.

  She drifted into the half-sleep of migration, her eyes still open and muscles responsive. She searched for the source of the voice, unsure if she ever found it.

  Cora wanted Kyla to be real, needed to feel less alone, but wondered if her imagination was creating the illusion of hope.

  In time, the guards began to move and chatter outside. It was the rotation of the guards, a signal that morning must have come.

  Her fear was quick to return. Was it time for the Queen’s interrogations?

  “Is everything okay?” Maestro asked her.

  Cora stared at him. Of course she wasn’t okay.

  Maestro nodded. He seemed calmer than before, and she could almost forget the merman who’d abused Triton. Almost.

  “What did you do to Queen Mari? Why does she hate you?” she asked.

  “That’s not easy to answer.” He twisted his hands together. “The Queen and I have a long and involved history. But the short of it is that I experienced a significant change of heart several centuries ago.”

  “When she clipped your fin?”

  Maestro looked to his tail and swished it. “Indeed.” For the first time, she realized his scar was different than hers. While her tail had been surgically clipped and cauterized, Maestro’s had rough edges.

  “Does this have to do with Melusine?” she asked.

  “Ah, you’re catching on.”

  She considered pressing him, to learn what had happened, to discover the truth of Melusine and…her immortal?

  —Eee—

  A screeching sound terrorized her ears. It happened a second time. Maestro warily approached the door.

  Then Sarina’s was there, her face framed by the small window.

  Chapter Nine:

  Shrieks and Seahorses

  Sarina—her betrayer—could be her rescuer.

  The mermaid stared into the cell, her gaze sweeping over the scene. Sarina’s gaze lingered over Triton’s still body for a long second.

  Then she turned to Maestro and
frowned. She exhaled sharply—

  Maestro whirled into action, ramming himself against the door. He flung his hand through the window and grabbed Sarina’s throat. “Stop that!” he scolded.

  She began coughing and he let her go.

  “How did you learn deathbreath?” he demanded.

  “You’re faster than I expected,” Sarina managed between coughs.

  “Who taught that to you?”

  “I’d heard rumors and was smart enough to figure it out on my own. Okay?”

  Cora swam to the door, and by peeping through the window, she could see that their two guards were now floating lifelessly in the corridor.

  Deathbreath. Another form of magic, one that Sarina had learned to wield. Cora reevaluated the mermaid, weighing the power of her protection against her betrayal.

  Sarina pointed to Triton. “Is he alive?”

  “Unconscious. It’d take a lot more than that to kill someone with that much lifeforce.”

  Sarina humphed. “He was going to be my way out.”

  “You really trusted him?”

  “The best you could offer me was a kind retirement,” Sarina said. “If it helps, he’d ordered Isain to kill me rather than finish his end of our bargain.”

  “And you killed her with the death curse?”

  Sarina shrugged her confirmation. “And now I’m stuck swimming around this labyrinthine castle. It’s only chance that brought me here. I overheard the guards talking about their prisoners and figured I might seek revenge… But it looks like you got to Triton first.”

  Sarina turned to leave the cell.

  “Take me with you,” Cora said, surprising herself as she lunged, reaching her hand out of the window. “The guards must have the key.”

  Sarina laughed and shook her head. “You’re dead weight, little fry.”

  “If you take her, I’ll help you hide,” Maestro quickly added.

  “I don’t want to hide. I want out.”

  “Be realistic. It’s early morning. You’ve lost your chance to leave the castle tonight. We need to hide, and I know a place.”

  Sarina scowled.

  “You just brought down two guards,” Maestro continued. “And I don’t know who else you’ve hurt in your grand escape, but I imagine the Queen will be very angry when she finds you. Now, if you unlock our cell, I have a plan to take myself and Cora to safety. I can take you with us.”

  She paused for a long moment. “All right. But I won’t be indebted to you. I break you out of these dungeons, and in exchange, you help me get out of here.”

  “Then we’ve no time to waste.”

  Sarina nodded and swam to the guard’s body, quickly finding the key. There was a click and the door opened.

  Maestro rushed outside and ushered the bodies of the guards inside the cell. Sarina locked the door behind them and tucked the key in her satchel.

  “This way.” He began swimming down the corridor.

  Sarina seemed irritated that Maestro had taken charge but followed after.

  As Cora began to swim, she realized it was her first time attempting it alone since her fin had been clipped. The injury no longer hurt, but she still hadn’t adjusted to swimming without the power of her former tail.

  She’d been a strong swimmer, and fortunately, her muscles were still powerful from the long migration. She flopped her fin to one side and flew it to the other, undulating much wider than was necessary.

  Maestro was already outswimming her, and while she knew he’d wait for her, she understood the need for speed. Cora had to learn to swim with her clipped fin now.

  She decreased the size of her kick and saw an improvement. She repeated the motion, again and again, teaching it to her body.

  She chased after Maestro and Sarina, moving as quickly as she could. In spite of it all, a part of her doubted any of this would really matter. They were all clipped, and any guard would be able to swim them down.

  Their only security lay in secrecy. No one shouted in the dungeons. Cora hoped it would be a long time before anyone noticed the havoc they’d left behind.

  For the most part, the dungeons were deserted. Sometimes a patrol would pass, but they weren’t incredibly observant, weren’t prepared for anything to be out of place, and they could be avoided by hiding behind corners.

  More voices. Cora darted into a shadow. But the sound didn’t move on as the others had. These guards were standing at position, not patrolling.

  Maestro peered around a corner, swam back, and signaled for Sarina and Cora to join him in a darkened alcove.

  “The Queen’s absolutely furious,” the merman guard said. “Triton’s always been a touch melodramatic, but to try and steal the soloist?”

  “You know what I heard?” the mermaid asked. “I heard that they found that old soloist missing this morning!”

  The merman laughed. “This is going to be an entertaining week. I love to see Queen Mari’s wrath—when it isn’t aimed at me!”

  Their babbling continued, oblivious to the three of them hidden around the corner, covered by a shroud of darkness.

  Maestro spoke with a hushed voice. “They are posted outside a vertical corridor. It connects to the palace apartments. If we get past them, we can climb to the highest levels of the castle where the guards’ apartments are. That is where we need to go, and this is the fastest way.”

  “We need to incapacitate them?” Sarina asked.

  “Yes.”

  Sarina didn’t seem bothered. Instead, she reached for something and then held out her palm to show what she’d grabbed: physic. “While we’re here, you need to take this.” She offered it to Cora.

  Cora paused.

  “Why do you have that?” Maestro hissed, realization dawning on his face. “Triton gave that to you, didn’t he?”

  Sarina nodded.

  Maestro frowned but turned to Cora. “Sarina’s right. You need your next dose. It’s been long enough since your last one, and it’s time to start regular dosages.”

  “What happens if I skip?” She usually slept after taking physic.

  “Without it you’ll revert to the mermaid you were before,” Maestro explained. “How fast that’ll happen varies. Hours to days.”

  “Take it,” Sarina shoved the pill toward Cora. “You need your wits about you. I need you to have your wits about you.”

  Cora held the marble between her fingers, and Sarina knocked her knuckle against it. “To mortality,” Sarina cheered.

  “To mortality,” Cora agreed, bringing it to her mouth and pinching it until its sweet flavor fill her mouth. Did it remind her of…strawberries?

  Cora’s heart raced, and her vision filled with darkness. She swayed on her fin but didn’t fall. She inhaled and exhaled, waiting for the moment to pass.

  Maestro and Sarina watched as Cora steadied herself. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “I can do this.”

  Maestro still made them wait another minute, and during that time, he and Sarina concocted their plan.

  Once her vision had cleared, Maestro and Sarina began by swimming to the hallway’s end, pausing before the corner. Cora followed, staying a little further behind as they’d instructed.

  Maestro and Sarina rounded the corner together, sprinting down the hallway and toward the guards.

  Suddenly, the shrieking sound Cora had heard before pierced her ears. Her whole body vibrated in response to the terrible noise that made her bones ache. Sarina’s deathbreath, if everything had gone according to plan.

  Cora edged forward and peered around the corner. One guard, Sarina’s target, had already collapsed.

  Maestro struck the second guard at the place where spine met tail, and she collapsed on the floor.

  Cora froze with awe, fear, and hope.

  But there was no time for reactions. She raced down the hallway and peeked up the vertical shaft.

  The corridor was reserved for courtiers, and as Maestro had predicted, it was empty this early in the morning. Few woul
d be awake, and most who were would be taking breakfast in their rooms.

  “All clear,” Maestro said. “We need to go up eleven or twelve floors, I think.”

  “Is it eleven or twelve?” Sarina complained.

  “I’ll know it.”

  Cora looked up again. It seemed like a long way up. There was no one in the corridor, yet it appeared exposed. Just swim as fast as possible.

  “Let’s go,” Cora whispered. She shifted to her tailtip and pushed into the corridor. She began to swim.

  She took the lead, but just for a moment before Sarina sprinted ahead. Maestro stayed behind, hovering at Cora’s elbow, ready with an assist.

  She looked upward and toward their goal. The corridor seemed very tall, and she was already tired.

  Cora’s gaze wandered to Sarina, and she realized something was different. Was that a wrinkle on her face? A tinge of gray in her hair?

  By the time they’d climbed a few levels, Cora’s muscles were already complaining. Her tail was flopping, no longer flitting. She moved with thick, heavy thudding kicks.

  Maestro’s grip at her elbow became stronger as he helped her to maintain speed.

  This was her escape, her moment to fend for herself, her time to be tough, but her body was failing her every request. She pressed on.

  “Eight,” Maestro counted. Nearly there.

  Cora was looking up when two figures entered the corridor. One was smaller, a merchild. They swam downward.

  “What color seahorse do you think I should pick?” the merchild asked their companion.

  “Well, I don’t know. You do know the song, don’t you?” The mer responded.

  The merchild did. “Pink seahorses sing for the purple-hearted, while blue plays for the green,” they singsonged.

  “Over here,” Maestro swam aside, lingering on a platform landing, one of many. They hid in the back, in shadows that hid their clipped fins. Now that Cora knew to look, she saw the Queen’s palace had shadows everywhere.

  The merchild swam past them without a glance, but the mer eyed them warily.

  “Excuse me,” the mer called. “What business do you have here?” Suspicion was apparent in their gaze.

  Maestro looked up and nodded. “We work for the Queen. As you may have heard, there was an incident last night. We’re investigating.”