Poseidon cast a gaze upon me. He ran his eyes over my form while I tried my best to cover my nakedness. A sullen frown settled on his face.
“Then you will care for her until she is fully grown,” he said.
“Aye, I will. Though it be four summers at the soonest. She’s a frail thing and may never mature.”
“I’m not frail!” I said then. “I’m as strong as you.”
The Queen laughed and the rest of the harem echoed the sound. Even the two human women managed to make a mocking noise similar to laughter.
“She has spirit, I will grant her that,” Queen Amphitrite said.
“You will grant her that and more, for she will eat at your table and learn our ways from your own sweet lips. And when she is my bride—” the King leaned nearer the Queen, his voice lowered but still loud enough for me to hear, “—her royal blood will unite us with our Selkie brothers. We’ve been enemies for too long with our distant kin.”
“And her human blood?”
His grin widened. “Her human blood will open doors that have been shut to us for centuries.”
For the first time, the Queen looked at me as if I had some value.
“Come, child,” she said. “Let my physician tend to your wounds.”
Triton: 17-years-old
A hush fell over Rìoghachd, our underground city, the moment I emerged from the sea with the Selkie in my arms. And that hush was followed by a hundred questions. Every corridor I walked contained some curious city dweller who beckoned me nearer. Who was she, why was she here, were we friends with the Selkies again, was she truly half-human? Then before long, another question was added: Had she really been chased here by the Unnamed Beast? None of us ever spoke the creature’s name—Hinquememem—even here in our underwater fortress.
My answers varied with my mood until finally, I had spun such a tangled web of lies that even I couldn’t remember the truth. It was hard to fathom the value in her. She was half-human, after all, and just a sprite. She had felt no more than a child when I held her in my arms.
I didn’t tell anyone, but the Selkie troubled my dreams. I saw her face in shadowed hallways, heard her voice when I walked through a crowded market. I pretended it didn’t bother me, but when I lost my appetite—that was when I knew I had to see her again.
So I went to my mother, the Queen’s, chambers and there I fashioned another lie.
“Father told me to watch over the Selkie,” I said, my head held high. I’d learned long ago that confidence was the best way to convince others of my sincerity. I gave my mother a stern gaze, my eyes narrowed suspiciously. “He fears you might harm her.”
Mother met me with her own gaze of mistrust.
“You may enter the Court of the Queens,” she said. “On one condition.”
According to our custom, I had to agree before I knew the condition. I nodded in acquiescence.
I prepared to enter the door to the royal harem—a place I’d been only three times in my life. But first, my mother grabbed me by the arm and whispered the terms to our arrangement. “The Selkie’s death is the only thing you may report to your father. All other foul treatment must be allowed.”
Once again, I nodded, already dreading what she might have done. One of my mother’s servants led me through a labyrinth of rocky corridors and down several flights of rough-hewn stairs to a prison-like cavern. There, behind a locked door, we finally reached the Selkie, who now wore the heavy shackles of a human slave, iron chains around her wrists, ankles, and throat. With a stern command, I ordered my mother’s servant away.
When the Selkie and I were alone, I pried her mouth open, glad to discover that she still had her tongue. Though she did try to bite my finger when it was between her teeth.
I grinned. She was a lively one, nothing like the other Selkies who had made their way here before.
“What is your name?” I asked.
She growled at me, as if she had forgotten how to speak.
“I saved your life in the Cave of Teeth. Should I take you back there and let you drown?”
She laughed. “Yes, please. At least out there, I would be both alive and free. Here, I die of neglect.”
I studied her form, slight though it was, and I realized that she had lost a considerable amount of weight since she arrived. She would never mature if this kept up.
“Why aren’t you eating?” I asked.
She lifted her chin. “What am I to do? Conjure food with magic?”
I cursed, low and deep.
My mother’s jealousy had gone too far. We didn’t treat wounded sharks this poorly. No sea creature, low born or high, deserved to be starved, not when the ocean had a bounty that could be freely shared.
I left the Selkie and went up to the Great Hall where I ordered one of my father’s servants to gather food and to follow me. In a short while, we were both in the Selkie’s small prison. There the manservant spread a blanket on the rocky cavern floor, covered it with bowls of seaweed soup and platters of tuna and crab. As soon as the servant left and the two of us were alone, the Selkie ran to the food and began to eat, so fast I wondered if she would make herself sick. I watched her, noting for the first time the unusual color of her eyes and the paleness of her human skin, how her hair had become a black matted tangle that hung to her waist. She needed a bath and most likely her hair would need to be cut. None of our combs would survive it.
“Riley,” she said after slurping down her third bowl of seaweed soup.
I raised my eyebrows.
“It’s my name.”
If I had expected her to thank me for feeding her, I was mistaken. She never thanked me, not once in all the time she was held captive by my parents. Though I later realized that I longed to hear her say the words.
I still do.
Although there was something else I longed to hear her say even more.
Riley:
We ate meals together often, this blue prince and I. He came to see me so frequently that I wondered whether he was a spy for his father or his mother.
Or if, maybe, he was my friend.
The third option seemed impossible, so I treated him poorly every chance I got. After the first meal, when I was so close to starvation that I didn’t care whether I lived or died, I refused to eat until he had eaten first.
Let him perish from poison scallops.
But he only laughed at me. Like all the Blue Men had done back in the bay.
“I don’t come down here to feast,” he said, biting hard into a brown crab, his teeth cracking the shell and his tongue finding the soft pink flesh inside.
As soon as he swallowed, I grabbed another brown crab and gnawed into it myself.
“I know. You’re here to laugh at the Selkie,” I said between bites.
“No,” he said, leaning back on the rock, hands behind his head. “Though I would like to know your secrets.”
“You mean where my people live, so you can raid our cities?” I stopped eating only long enough to down a flask of sweet, freshwater. Everyone else in this underwater kingdom drank saltwater. But I had never developed a taste for it.
He sighed. “If we were going to steal, there’s plenty of gold in Glasgow and Edinburgh. We wouldn’t need to swim to the other side of the world for Neptune’s baubles of ruby and sapphire.”
I shrugged, digging my fingers into a small cake made from honey and grain, closing my eyes as I chewed. I didn’t want to look at him, not if he was here to trick me. It was hard enough to ignore how handsome he was, how his smile seemed to light up my prison cave.
How his words often sounded true.
I refused to dwell on his kindness or his trickery. I only wanted to be set free.
Earlier, when his head was turned, I had dropped one of the serving spoons onto the cave floor and buried it beneath a thin layer of sand. I now had a small arsenal of knife-sharp shells, two silver spoons, a large lobster claw, and a pair of rocks that were perfect for grinding any of these items
into weapons. If I could get enough time alone, away from the palace guards and this Prince of Nothing, I might be able to pick the locks on my shackles.
Then when everyone was asleep, I could sneak up the stairs and find my way out of Rìoghachd, the most wretched place on earth. I never should have come here, expecting anyone to help me. I was better off back in the grotto slums of the Selkie High Court. There, they had beaten me regularly, to make sure I never attempted to take my rightful place beside my cousins. But at least I never went hungry—
“There are spies everywhere,” Triton said, his tone warning me of some unseen danger.
My gaze flicked toward him and my heart began to beat louder, harder, faster. It was as if he knew I planned to escape.
“Spies like you,” I said, forcing my voice to remain even and calm.
“Like me.” He gave me a smile. “Except, I can be trusted to keep all of your secrets. My mother, on the other hand, has guards and slaves and sister-wives, all loyal to her.” He leaned a fraction closer to me, lowering his voice. “But you know all of that already. What you don’t know is the fact that my mother, the Queen, has an army of tiny sea creatures hidden in the rocks and crevices throughout the kingdom. They report to her daily.”
He paused, watching the expression on my face.
“So?”
He leaned back on his elbows, staring up the rocky ceiling. “So, only someone who can truly command the creatures of the sea would be able to escape undetected. Even then, that someone would need help.”
I could command sea creatures and we both knew it. I narrowed my eyes. Was he offering to help me or trying to find out my plans?
“My father would be very angry if you tried to leave us,” he said. His blue skin shimmered in the soft light. “But my mother...” He paused as if contemplating her feelings. We both knew the truth.
The Queen would be happy to see me gone.
She wouldn’t care whether I escaped or died. Either would be fine with her.
I took a chance, a big chance, and leaned closer to him and letting my lips part in a slow grin. Maybe I could trust him enough to let him help me.
Although I would never trust him with my heart.
“Perhaps we should give your mother a gift,” I whispered. “Something that would make her very, very happy.”
He closed his eyes and when he smiled, I saw dimples. It was a dangerous grin, for I knew his teeth were sharp and his speech was full of lies.
I also knew that we were growing more alike with each passing day.
“Perhaps we should,” he said. “Only trust me when I say this—if you find your cell door mysteriously left unlocked some evening, it is a trap.”
And that was when I leaned so close that I felt the heat from his body.
I kissed him.
For a few minutes, I forgot that I was a prisoner in an underground cave with no friends and no way of escape. And I almost believed that he cared about me.
Triton:
The palace corridors felt cold and hollow, my footsteps echoed off polished granite walls. From time to time, a familiar face nodded and spoke a greeting, but I never heard their words.
I felt like I was caught in a whirlpool.
Because no matter how far I walked, I couldn’t shake off the warmth of Riley’s kiss.
It didn’t make sense. She wasn’t my type. She was too young and too feisty and too much like me. I hated to admit it, but I preferred girls who were easy to manipulate and who weren’t all that bright.
Riley was neither one of those.
The sooner I got her out of Rìoghachd, the better. Then I could get back to my regular life. I pulled my shoulders back as I picked up my pace, walking faster, remembering how I used to spend my days and nights. Gambling with Sea Warriors who sank and plundered human ships. Taking midnight strolls through Scottish villages where the girls didn’t notice my blue skin. Dining at the King’s table from golden plates and drinking salty seawine from diamond-embellished goblets.
Everything about my life had been off-kilter since that wretched Selkie arrived.
It felt empty.
I hated it.
I tried to remember the last girl I’d been with, whether her skin had been dark blue or pale pink. Had it been the cook’s daughter with the star-shaped mole on her cheek or that shepherd lass with red hair and freckles?
Meanwhile, the corridors dimmed as they twisted and grew more narrow, the granite here rough-hewn and centuries old. This path led to the Talla Na Cloinne, the private quarters where all the princes and princesses lived, tucked away in an old section of the palace. We were kept hidden as much as possible. Legends claimed it was to keep us safe, since we were heirs to the throne. The reality was the fewer outsiders who knew about us, the fewer people who would ask questions when some of the King’s children went missing.
We went missing on a regular basis.
Those of us who weren’t considered worthy to rule were killed off. Those who weren’t pretty or handsome enough, who weren’t clever or strong or dangerous enough weren’t eligible for breeding future Na Fir Ghorm rulers.
Every time I walked through these corridors it felt like I was surrounded by ghosts—children who had died at the hand of their own fathers. Rumors claimed these bairns were always murdered at midnight and that the poor children were drugged beforehand by a Cailleach, a Sea Witch. If this was true, it was the only merciful part of the ritual.
An unwelcome chill shivered down my spine. I didn’t want ghosts for company tonight.
I wanted to be alone.
I wanted nothing more than a quiet evening, sitting before a hearth of moonstones and conch shells, staring at the candlelight reflections. I needed to gather my thoughts and figure out what I should do next.
Before my emotions made the decision for me.
So when I heard soft footsteps behind me, I thought it was merely the echo of my own steps.
I was wrong.
A voice rang out, soft, yet accusing, calling my name. It was a girl, close to my age, and she must have been following me throughout the palace.
“Where have you been, Triton?” she asked, accusingly. “Were you with that Selkie again? I haven’t seen you in weeks! Don’t you care about me? Don’t you love me anymore?”
It could have been any number of blue girls or human girls, since there were plenty I’d feigned affections for over the past several years. But it wasn’t. I did actually love and care about this girl.
I turned around.
It was my sister.
Isbeil.
Though I barely recognized her. She was a shadow of who she should have been. There should have been a broad, teasing grin on her lips and her thick blue-green hair should have been braided and pinned up with tiny shells. She should have worn a traditional embroidered, betrothal gown, and there should have been detailed Na Fir Ghorm bridal tattoos on her arms.
Instead, she looked ill. Her skin was dry and peeling, as if she hadn’t been in the ocean for weeks, her lips cracked and bleeding, her long turquoise hair brittle and dull.
But the worst part of it all was her lifeless expression, the dark circles beneath her eyes, and her frail appearance.
She wasn’t eating.
Or sleeping.
Or swimming.
She would die soon.
“Isbeil! How dare you take such poor care of yourself!” I said, though the harsh words stung my mouth and I immediately regretted saying them. “You are betrothed to Prince Donnan. What would Father say if he saw you like this?”
She glared at me.
“How dare you?” she asked. “Haven’t I confided in you? Haven’t we been the closest of friends since we were small children?”
I nodded. Sometimes she had been my only friend.
“Don’t you remember when you were ten years old? You were so frightened that Father was going to murder you in your sleep that I hid you in a grotto for three weeks—”
“I rem
ember,” I answered, perplexed. Why was she so angry with me? What had I done to her?
“And who held your hand when the winter storms shook our palace, who prayed with you during the famine, who sang songs of comfort to you when two of our sisters went missing?”
“It was you, Isbeil, it was always you. I’m sorry. Please tell me what’s wrong,” I said. “Are you sick? Should I call for a Sea Witch?”
She shook her head, her hands trembling. I led her to my chambers and brought her inside. Once she sat before the hearth, I lit the candles and brought her a soft, warm blanket made from sealskins.
“I cannot marry him. I can’t,” she mumbled. “How many times have I confessed this to you—”
“All this is because of a boy?” I asked. “True, Donnan’s a young, simple-minded lad, but you’ll be able to rule in his stead, easily. You will be a Queen who can do whatever she wants. I know his kingdom is small, but it’s not far away. We can still visit each other often.”
She stared at me, her eyes like fire and ice.
“You don’t see it.”
“See what?”
“Father will rule in his stead. Donnan’s kingdom will become part of this kingdom. After I’ve had a bairn or two, Donnan and I will probably both mysteriously die or disappear or be eaten by basking sharks.”
“Basking sharks don’t have teeth. At least, not teeth large enough to hurt anyone.”
“Hence the meaning of mysterious death.”
I leaned back in my chair, frowning. This was like a game of wits. I wasn’t sure what my sister wanted.
She sighed and rolled her eyes—both very human gestures. That was when I remembered the bulk of her whispered confidences. There was another boy, a Scottish lad with black hair and sea-green eyes, his ivory skin sprinkled with brown freckles. Ian? Finnegan? He was a sailor, I think. I do remember her telling me that he was human.
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