“You do realize that my sister is the queen and should be treated with respect,” Jordan snaps.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but if someone steals my skin, then I think they do not deserve anything from me, certainly not respect!” Siera spits out. “If someone had taken your skin, you would feel the same, and you know it.”
“Do not attempt to speak for me,” he grumbles.
“If the queen did do this, it is unforgivable,” another selkie states. “Stealing another’s skin is a crime of the highest order against a selkie. To do so with the intent of sparking a war… The mermaid is right. Why did she go to such lengths? She could have ordered us to swim against the merfolk.”
“Would you have gone to war against us if she had asked?” I inquiry even though I’m afraid to hear the answer.
“I would like to think we would have at least questioned her about wanting such a thing,” the selkie says.
“You should not question your queen,” Jordan nearly shouts.
“Either you question your queen, or I will,” King Tullius demands. “If you want there to be the possibility of peace between us, then you will do this.”
“I swear by the tide, I will not rest until she is held accountable for her actions,” Siera says with so much conviction I fear for her safety. If her queen had been willing to steal Siera’s skin, might Queen Jamala be willing to steal Siera’s life too?
“Jordan, lead us to your sister,” Trenton demands.
“If you don’t,” still another selkie says, “then we’ll have to consider you an accomplice of the queen. Any wrongdoing she is found guilty of, you will be considered complicit in that same act and treated accordingly.”
“You cannot talk to me like this,” Jordan protests.
“Then you had better hope that your sister can explain herself,” Trenton says grimly.
The selkies lead him away, Jordan complaining all the while. Some of the others help their wounded, and several carry their dead. My heart hurts at the site.
Soon, only Siera lingers. “I apologize. I… I had no idea she took my skin. If I had… I would have fought in the first battle if I could’ve. They were fighting for me, fighting for a lie. She deceived us, and I worry for the sake of the selkies, but know this. I will have there be peace between us again if that is possible. I… I understand if you cannot trust us—”
“You can trust us,” Queen Kaia says firmly. “You can trust us so much that if things turn sour and you do not feel safe among your kind, you can come here. We will offer you both sanctuary and protection.”
Siera glances at the king.
“Yes, you will be safe here,” King Tullius says. “I will see to it myself. You cannot be held accountable for what happened as a result of ignorance, and I hope you will forgive me for my own harshness. Your queen, though…”
“She is not my queen.” Siera shudders. “Thank you for everything you did for me,” she tells me warmly. “The others told me that you visited the other kingdoms looking for my skin. I cannot thank you enough for believing in a selkie you never met, in caring enough to search, in loving peace so much that you gave of your time and energy for a cause for another.”
“The other kingdoms?” Adra asks. “Not the sea dragons.”
I wince.
Siera laughs. “Oh, I don’t know where all she went, but the other selkies did say that you went to the humans, the leviathans, and clearly the nixes.”
“The sirens too,” I murmur, so very grateful the selkies hadn’t followed me the entire time I searched the ocean. My secret remains my own. “Oh, and I spoke with a kelpie too.”
“You have a wonderful mermaid here,” Siera says.
I beam, but my smile fades after the selkie bids us all farewell and swims away. “My King…”
“You do not need to apologize,” he says gruffly.
“But I do! I was so very wrong.”
“To long for peace so much that you would stand up against even your king? No, Rillia. Siera has the right of it. You are a credit to mermaids.”
I gape at him. “If… If you say so, My king.”
He snorts. “Adra here tells me that you might prefer to work for HEX Unite after you graduate.”
“I might prefer that,” I say cautiously.
“Well, perhaps you could let me know what you do prefer once you have made up your mind.” The king nods and then glances around. “There is much to be cleaned, merfolk to be taken to the medical center… Adra, why don’t you and your friend go home?”
“But we can—” I start to protest, but a giant yawn cuts me off.
“Go and rest,” Queen Kaia urges.
“But—”
“Come on.” Adra tugs on my arm.
We swim off. Behind us, there’s already a bustle of activity as the merfolk move to help each other.
“Can you believe all of that?” I gush.
“It is rather unbelievable,” Adra says. “I wish Siera could be their queen.”
“Wouldn’t that be amazing? There will definitely be peace between the merfolk and the selkies if that happens. How long do you think there will be unrest internally for the selkies?”
“For however long it takes for them to get to the root of deception from Queen Jamala.” Adra shrugs. “You were gone for two days, Rillia.”
“Two whole days? No…” I shake my head. “That’s impossible.”
“Not impossible. Baltic was ready to take on the selkies himself. He thought you had been captured again.”
“Well, almost,” I admit.
Adra rubs her forehead. “Why am I not surprised to hear that?”
I giggle. “But all’s well that ends well.”
“Hmm. Does that include a meeting with a certain leviathan?” she asks, bumping her hip into mine.
I do a flip. Yes, I’m tired, but I’m also thrilled. Everything is going to turn out just fine for the merfolk. The selkies might have trouble for a while, but it will, at least, be confined to themselves.
Adra coughs slightly.
I shrug. “No, I haven’t talked to him yet.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“I would go and see him now, but I might want to sleep first. And clean up. Brush my hair.”
“Stall.”
“It’s not stalling! I’m exhausted!”
“You’re doing flips.”
“Adrenaline is rather amazing.”
We both laugh, and I break away to head home. I really am exhausted, and yes, maybe I am stalling a little too.
Chapter 15
The scent of barb-tailed dawn devfins wakes me. I swim out of my seaweed bed.
Dad hands me a fish. “You’ve had a busy time of it lately.”
“Maybe.” I devour the fish before adding, “I don’t know what you heard—”
“Everything. From the king himself.”
“Oh.”
“What you did was both brave and foolish.”
“That’s kind of my MO.”
Dad laughs. “It is. You sought the sirens, the leviathans, the kelpies?”
“Yes.”
“The sea dragons.”
It’s not a question.
“Not Quarigon.”
“Only because that is too far away. You went to Gondra, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” I admit. “Please don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad.”
“Oh, good.” I hesitate and side-eye him. “You aren’t livid, are you?”
That would be so like my dad: I’m not mad. I’m livid.
He laughs. “No, I’m not mad or livid or anything like that. I just want you to be safe. Do you think you can stick around in Hydria until it’s time for you to return to the academy?”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
So I do. Dad and I spend a lot of time together, fishing, swimming, exploring. My aunt and I pretend we’re sirens and take turns singing and even perform a duet for Dad. My friends and I have a lot of fun too, and it
’s one of the best breaks I’ve had in ages.
Once it’s time to return to the academy, I wave my friends ahead and spend a few hours with the nixes. Maya’s babies are so tiny and adorable! I can hardly believe she’s married and has kids already.
After some singing and dancing, I’m pretty much ready to head back. It’ll be easier to find Ezra on campus than to try to swim around all over the ocean—
“Rillia.”
As if my thoughts conjured him, he’s calling out my name in my mind, and I turn around to see a leviathan swim toward me.
“Ezra.” I can’t help grinning until I recall Lin.
“I heard that you came looking for me,” he says telepathically.
“Yes. Yes, I did.”
“Why didn’t you come back?’
“Why didn’t you come to me? Err, to Hydria?”
“I didn’t know how I would be received. Leviathans do tend to stick to themselves.”
I wince. “Does that mean…”
“Does that mean what?” he prompts.
Come on, Rillia. Don’t be a coward. You went to Gondra! You can talk to Ezra about how you feel.
Hoping he can’t read all of my thoughts, I clear my thoughts. Yes, yes, I’m stalling. I just don’t know how to phrase things, and I don’t want to blurt out the question on my mind—who is Lin? I mean, I have no claim on him, and he can spend time with whoever he wanted. I’d be lying, though, if I tried to say I stayed away for any other reason than being worried I would find out that Lin is his girlfriend.
“If you’re wondering if that means that we aren’t friends, that’s ridiculous.”
I giggle. “What’s ridiculous is seeing a leviathan smile.”
The sound of his laughing in my head puts me at ease.
I can do this.
I open my mouth to finally admit my feelings for him when the current shifts. Someone is coming, and I glance over my shoulder and still.
It’s a sea dragon.
Her approach is slow, wary almost, and the closer she comes, the more I recognize her as the one that struck me as familiar when I had been in their smaller kingdom.
“Forgive my intrusion,” she says, “but I have a question.”
I nod, unable to speak, paralyzed with worry. Did she see me before? Does my sea dragon look similar enough to my mermaid that she recognizes me?
“Are you… Are you Rillia?” she asks in a rush.
I nod again.
Nothing can prepare me for her reaction. She bursts into massive, body-shaking tears. “Did you… Are you…”
I gape at her, at her coloring, at my own tail…
“Are you the sea dragon who came to Gondra?” she asks in a rush.
Even her voice sounds like mine.
She can’t be my mom. She died, but maybe she’s still a relation.
“Are you my aunt?” I ask.
“Are you the sea dragon?” she counters.
I grin. “Are you really playing the I asked first card?”
The sea dragon laughs. “Yes?”
I have to laugh too since her response is almost another question.
I glance at Ezra. He’s moved over to the side, watching us without saying a word. What will he think?
Well, if we are to ever date, he’ll have to know the truth at some point.
“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I was the sea dragon.”
“Can I… Can I see?”
I nod and quickly shift into my sea dragon.
She begins to sob and hug me, and I hug back. It’s a little awkward, but it’s also so genuine.
I cough slightly. “And you are?”
“Oh, Rillia. I’m your mother.”
I gape at her. “No. No, my dad told me you died giving birth to me.”
“I nearly did, and if I had stayed by your father’s side, I would have. I had to return to my people to be healed.”
“You’ve been alive all of this time, and you never came back for us?” My elation is slowly turning into anger.
“Sea dragons and merfolk are enemies. Your father… He never knew that I was a sea dragon. It’s not easy… I fell in love with him right from the start, and if anyone had ever found out…”
“How did you hide what you were?” I demand.
My mom swims back and transforms into a human. She has tiny slits on her neck. Gills.
“I’m a sea dragon shifter,” she explains, “and to say I never came back for you isn’t fair.”
Her beautiful features twist with sadness. Her hair is just as dark as mine, her eyes also hooded, her skin just as pale. If it weren’t for the crow’s feet by her eyes, she could pass as my older sister instead of my mother.
“If you came back, then why didn’t you stay? I’m so confused.”
“Your father moved on,” she says stiffly.
“No, he didn’t.”
“Rillia, please. You don’t have to shelter me. I saw the merwoman go into your coral house—my coral house. I waited for her to leave, but she didn’t, not until the next day.”
I frown. “You saw my aunt. Aunt Mishell.”
“No, I would’ve recognized her…” Mom shakes her head, but I can tell she’s thinking. “It had been dark, and I never did see her face…”
“She moved in a few years ago after her husband died,” I explain. “Did you… Did you only come by recently?”
“After five years ago,” my mom says sadly. “It took years for me to recover. I had to relearn how to swim and how to shift. According to the sea dragon healers, my body somehow almost ended up paralyzed, even my heart. My recovery had been nothing short of a miracle, they said, even with the aid of their magic.”
“Wow.” My mind is blown. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry? Don’t be! I just wish I hadn’t had to leave you and Dillon. So much wasted time…”
I change back to my mermaid and grab her hand. “Come on.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take you to Dad.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I wanted to see you, to let you know that I think you’re amazing and wonderful and to tell you I love you, but—”
“Do you still love Dad?” I demand.
She doesn’t have to say a word. Her love shines in her eyes.
“Then come on. You’ve waited long enough.”
Mom blinks a few times. “I… I was so afraid you would hate me if you ever learned what I was. I never even dreamed it was possible that you could be a mermaid shifter. I never thought it possible!”
“I’m the first as far as I know,” I say lightly.
“And then I thought I saw a sea dragon who looked like you, with your tail coloring. I only saw you for a brief few seconds before I basically died. How I managed to swim away and return to the sea dragons, I don’t know. I honestly can’t remember. When I saw you, as a sea dragon, I dared to dream, dared to hope…”
I wipe my face, unable to wash away my tears since the ocean’s already doing that. My gaze connects with Ezra.
“Go on,” I urge him. “I’ll be an hour or so behind you.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I nod.
Mom clears her throat. “Forgive my manners. Rillia, why don’t you introduce me to your boyfriend?”
I don’t care if my face doesn’t normally color when I blush. It has to be at least pink right now. “Ah…”
“I’m Ezra,” he says smoothly. “It’s very nice to meet you, but I leave you two to it. I’ll see you back at the academy, Rillia.”
I can’t even look at him as I awkwardly wave. Swiftly, I grab my mom’s arm, and we hightail it back to my coral house. At the door, Mom hesitates.
“Don’t be a coward,” I tell her.
“I always tell myself that,” she murmurs, “especially when I would have to go through therapy.”
I giggle. “I do, too, sometimes.”
Before she can stall, I guide her forward. My aunt isn’t in sight, b
ut my dad is, and he drops the fish he had been holding.
“Rilletta,” Dad says, blinking several times. “Is that… Is it really you? But how?”
He doesn’t give her a chance to answer. He dives toward her, embracing her, and they’re both talking over each other. I don’t have the heart to interrupt, so I turn to leave.
“Rillia,” Mom calls out.
“Yes, Mom?”
She bursts into tears and waves me over for a three-way embrace.
It’s more like four hours that I’m behind Ezra by the time I make it back to campus. Leaving Mom had been so very hard, but I promised I would come back every weekend that I could. Normally, that’s frowned upon, but after everything I did swimming across the ocean countless times, I’m more than willing to risk punishment over spending extra time with my mom.
It’s clear already that my parents have reconciled. It’s as if zero time has passed, and their love never waned. It never left with the tide. I’m so very glad now that Dad never moved on. Maybe, deep down, he somehow knew Mom was still alive.
I exit the pond. It’s normally never this empty, but a lot of people have parties the night we come back from break, so I assume that’s where everyone is.
“Only an hour behind me.”
I jump and whirl around to see Ezra leaning against a tree.
“You haven’t been waiting there this entire time, have you?” I ask.
“Of course not.” He laughs gently. He pushes off the tree and walks toward me.
“I, ah, I hope it wasn’t too awkward when my mom called you my boyfriend.”
“I just think it’s amazing that she’s alive and that she found you.”
I stare at the grass. “It’s incredible, isn’t it?”
“It is.” He lifts my chin and smiles. “It would be incredible…”
Please say ‘to be your boyfriend.’ Please!
“…to be both a merfolk and a sea dragon,” he continues.
“Incredible’s one word for it,” I mumble.
He chuckles.
“What’s so funny?”
“It would also be incredible to be your boyfriend.” He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Were you reading my mind?” I accuse.
“Would you be angry if I was?”
“Yes?”
We both laugh.
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