Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  Then I remembered all the horrible things I’d said, the way I’d overreacted when he came to my door. Was he about to tell me? Was my refusal to help why he was captured? My gut clenched. I’d turned him away and now he was gone, pulled under the waves by evil mermen to a place called Natatoria. Why didn’t he make me listen? Was he afraid I wouldn’t understand? Am I that stubborn he wouldn’t even try?

  Heartsick, I moved to the window and touched the glass, desperate to touch his beautiful face instead, wanting to beg for forgiveness. He had to come back. If he never returned, the longing would slowly chip away at my soul, robbing me of my sanity.

  “Fin,” I whispered as I brought my fists to my face, wiping my tears with my sleeves. “I’m so sorry. Please come home.”

  I couldn’t stop the dread. I’d failed him.

  43 - FIN

  Somewhere else in the palace, Tatch was getting ready, too. Mom had rushed off to find her, leaving me alone in a guest room. Of course, there was a guard outside the door preventing me from following or trying to duck out early. The King assigned my sister guards as well, along with a female chaperone instructed to stay with her at all times since she’d incapacitated all the men in my escape.

  I clenched my hands to calm my nerves. Act happy. That was what my mother’s orders were, but this whole charade made my stomach roll. I’d not seen Lily since we’d almost kissed at Badger’s—a different time, a different me. The last thing I wanted to do was lead her on. Maybe I’d get a chance to let her off gently before the festival. Before we smiled and waved for all the mers to see.

  In front of the mirror, I pulled at the silly sleeveless vest I wore and laughed. Who’d made this monstrosity? A beauty school beginners sewing class disaster, no doubt—mine being the first victim.

  I turned to answer the knock at the door, expecting Mom, and tensed. Badger floated with Lily at his side instead. She’d never looked more beautiful in a long white gown.

  “Oh good, it fits you.” She smiled warmly, eyeing my attire. “You weren’t around to measure. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t think I’d have it ready in time.”

  I tugged on the bottom of my vest, glad I didn’t comment first. “Like a glove.”

  Mom and Dad were right. Arranged promisings were awkward. How was I supposed to act when I knew behind closed doors Lily’s parents wrote up a proposal like we were cattle and sent it to my Mom via courier for approval? How was that romantic?

  But to make things worse, Badger hovered behind Lily and beamed with pride, believing we’d be family soon. I took a deep breath and looked away. After the truth came out, he’d hate me for sure.

  “I think we best be gettin’ down to the festival,” Badge said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  “Good idea.” I moved ahead of them, wondering if I should take Lily’s hand or not, and decided the less attention I gave her the better.

  I’d only been to a festival once as a kid so I had no idea what awaited us. Back then, the couples swam in a long line and waved to the crowd. It lasted way too long and was a complete and total bore. I imagined this would be the same.

  The goon squad followed close behind and I caught Lily watching them and me with curious eyes. Part of me found her reaction comical. I guessed no one bothered to tell her she was engaged to a criminal.

  As we exited through the palace doors, a line of buggies that looked like cars in amusement park rides spread as far as the eye could see on the shiny golden street. Dowels protruded from each corner of the car; shells and other shiny crap decorated the outsides. Most of the cars already held anxiously awaiting couples. We followed suit and waited alongside the other mer couples to speak with the coordinator, a woman dressed entirely in purple.

  I craned my neck to find my sister, but neither Mom, Tatch, nor Azor were among the crowd.

  “Tatch?” I asked mentally. “Are you here somewhere?”

  No reply. Knowing her, she’d locked herself in a closet, refusing to come out.

  “What a lovely couple you two make!” the woman in purple said to us as she held a thin slab of rock covered with writing. “Your names?”

  “Finley and Lily.”

  “Elizabeth,” Lily corrected.

  I looked at her quizzically as the knot tightened in my stomach. We were complete strangers. How could she so easily want to form a lifelong bond together after only a few short visits?

  “Here you are: Finley Samuel Helton and Elizabeth Katherine Oakley. Please report to carriage number twenty-five.”

  When I didn’t move, too stunned by the craziness of the whole charade, Lily grabbed my hand and pulled me towards our carriage.

  “Are you okay?” she murmured under her breath as we took our seats. Badger hovered off to the side, glancing from the car to the lady with the rock slab and back again.

  “I guess so. You?”

  She wrinkled up her brow, but continued to squeeze my hand. “I’m a little nervous.”

  Everything inside me wanted to take my hand back and refrain from skin contact, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

  “I’ll be back with ya in a moment, kids,” Badger said and left to talk to the lady in purple again.

  “This is coming about a little faster than I hoped,” Lily said quickly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like you and everything, but—it’s just—I don’t know you all that well yet.”

  I exhaled, relief washing over me like a cool shower. This was my perfect escape. We could announce a long engagement that hopefully would never come to fruition. “You’re right. We should get to know each other better first.”

  “What?” she asked and blinked back at me with a sudden frown. “You were the one who wanted to get promised right away.”

  “Me? No …” I backpedaled in my brain for a moment. The King said the families were coming to Mom asking me to become promised to their daughters, not the other way around. “How did you get this proposal?”

  “By letter. How else?”

  “What?” I jerked backward in my seat. “I’d never send a letter. I’d do it in person. I was told that you—”

  I clammed up as soon as Badger appeared no longer feeling safe to talk casually anymore.

  “Told what?” Lily demanded.

  I looked up towards Badge and Lily let go of my hand.

  “Aye. I’m supposed to be sittin’ with ya accordin’ to Purple Petunia over there. Sandy’s goin’ to have me hide fer not dressin’ the part,” he said as he settled into the seat behind us, tilting the carriage backward with his weight.

  “Uncle Badge, you look fine,” Lily said, flipping on the charm though I knew she was angry with me.

  Four goons came over and took up our buggy—two at the back and two in the front. I glared at them, unappreciative they kept such tight tabs on me. What was the purpose of the bracelet if I had to have guards too?

  “I don’t want some bloke towin’ me about,” Badger grumbled under his breath behind us.

  Lily turned and swatted his arm. “Shhh.”

  “Aye,” he barked and got out. He shooed one of the goons away and took up the back right corner. “I’m more fit to be carryin’ this jam jar than he is.”

  Lily threw her hands in the air and faced forward.

  At the blow of a horn, the parade was officially underway. All the mermen lifted the cars in unison and everyone cheered except us.

  “You could act a little happier about being promised to me,” Lily said through her teeth while forcing a smile.

  “I am.” I grabbed her hand to prove it.

  But she kept her hand limp when I tried to entwine my fingers with hers. Once the line proceeded away from the palace towards the town, Lily softened and waved to the cheering crowd. I tried to smile, but my lips pulled into a frown as I looked for Tatch again. They probably put her at the very end in some special float reserved for royalty.

  “I need to talk to you later,” I said as Lily blew kisses.

  “I
t’s a little late for talking, don’t you think?”

  True.

  I sighed. So much for acting happy. All I could wish for was the dumb parade to end soon and a private moment so I could just break things off. Forget the long engagement idea.

  Once we maneuvered around the last corner, the royal balcony finally came into view. My chest tightened when I spotted the royal couple—a sharp contrast. Queen Desiree appeared to be enjoying herself, while King Phaleon stayed stoic. But once he spotted our carriage, the corner of his lip lifted. I had news for him. His plan to grind my family into submission was about to come to a screeching halt. I’d never submit.

  “Smile,” Badger whispered behind us. “The King and Queen are watchin’ ye.”

  Lily eagerly waved at the royal family, but when I didn’t respond, she jabbed me in the side with her elbow. I finally raised my hand, but gave him an evil eye instead. Watching him birthed my deepest wish; that someone would overthrow him and set the people free of his overbearing command. Mers deserved to promise to the ones they loved without chaperones and parental interference, and they deserved to be given some credit and live where they wanted.

  From the edge of the balcony, I spotted Chauncey floating over and he whispered something in the King’s ear. Whatever he said wiped the smirk right off the King’s face, his glare finding me. Normally I would have reveled in anything that annoyed King Phaleon, but this time I had a feeling it had something to do with Tatch and why she wasn’t at the parade.

  ***

  When the parade ended, Badger didn’t speak to me and immediately took Lily home. I was ushered back to the palace by the same annoying goon squad.

  “Get comfortable,” the scrawnier one said before he shut the door and bolted it on the other side.

  Comfortable? All that was in the room was a mirror, a table and four ornate chairs carved from rock. Why were they still holding me hostage when I had the bracelet on? Dread choked me as I noticed bars covered the windows, making my guest room a renovated jail cell—a new addition while I was at the parade. Nice.

  From outside I heard people chatter excitedly about their upcoming futures together. I wondered what Lily told her parents about how I behaved today. I could only hope the ceremonies wouldn’t be for a while with all the Queen’s lavish plans. Far enough away for us to escape.

  I awaited news from someone about what happened with my mom and sister, continuing to telepathically call for Tatch without any return response. My plans when I got out weren’t complicated: free Tatch, get the bracelet off, and escape Natatoria with my family. How, was a different question.

  Could someone get word to Dad instead? Besides Badger, I didn’t know who I could trust to help me. I was a pawn in a game the King controlled. He probably reveled in what was to come—Dad’s not so joyous homecoming filled with news that not one, but both of his kids were promised in his absence. Nice reward for risking your life, leaving your family, and doing a secret job to help the King. Another insult to an injury Dad didn’t inflict so long ago.

  The bolt on the door unlatched. I stood upright.

  “Son,” Mom said and rushed to me, hugging my neck tightly.

  “Mom?”

  She wouldn’t stop hugging me and then I realized she was crying.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m sorry, Fin,” she said, her face pained. “I’m trying to be strong. Your sister—she fell apart today and refused to go to the parade. We did everything we could to convince her. I even secretly told her the plan to escape, but she’d wouldn’t fake like she supported this. Once the King heard she wouldn’t cooperate, he got very upset.”

  I stared into my mother’s ashen face and my dorsal fin flexed. “What did he do?”

  She looked up at me sadly—nothing but failure behind her eyes. “He’s arranged a private ceremony for you and your sister. You’ll be promised tomorrow.”

  “No,” I said, backing up as if I was cornered. “I won’t do it. Lily doesn’t even want to. The King tricked her parents. She said I’d asked for her hand by a letter, but you said they asked you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing any of us can do. The King firmly believes if the two of you are promised, you won’t cause him anymore grief.”

  “But I’m already promised!” I yelled.

  “Shhh, I know.” She pushed her hands downward. “This is such a mess. They sedated your sister, then she couldn’t stay awake to attend.”

  “Really?” I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “I can’t believe this is all happening.”

  She pressed her palms over her eyes. “This is all my fault.”

  I put my arm over her shoulder, suppressing the urge to tear apart the room instead. “It’s not your fault. It’s going to be okay, Mom. Like you said earlier, things could be worse. We still have time. I’ll figure out something.”

  “Without your dad, I don’t know how.”

  The fire in her eyes from the night before had extinguished, lighting anger inside me. I’d been looking at this whole situation like a child. What could Dad do that I couldn’t? I was a man. It was time I started acting like one.

  I swam to the door and pounded on it.

  “I want to see the King,” I demanded to the goon.

  He looked at me with amusement. “Okay,” he said before shutting the door.

  I wedged my fin into the door jam and pushed it back open. “I’m serious. I want to see him tonight.”

  He gave me a wild smile; one tooth was missing. “Whatever ya say, Captain.”

  I drifted back, alarmed at the craziness in his eyes. Why did he call me Captain? Disturbed, I moved back to my seat and watched mom knead her hands. Once the King showed up, I’d let him know that Lily didn’t want to be with me after all, that my father’s word still stood. Dad said we’d get to choose and neither of us had.

  Even if I had to tell him my sister and I wanted to be turned into a human, I would. We still had rights as citizens of Natatoria, and King Phaleon’s rash decisions were breaking the law.

  44 - ASH

  Though I was safely in my grandmother’s room, subconsciously the water seemed to suck me under and hold me there. My family went about their business, coming and going, as they needed. I couldn’t participate. Guilt made me watch the lake out the window and wait.

  The appointment earlier with the psychologist didn’t help either.

  “How are you?” the older woman with glasses and white curly hair asked.

  “Fine,” I said and cracked a fake smile.

  “Great. So what brings you here?”

  “My mom,” I said with a snicker. “You just talked to her. Remember?”

  “That I did. So why did she bring you?”

  “So you’ll fix me—they all think I’m suffering from post traumatic stress.”

  “And are you?” She tilted her head and smiled.

  I looked away from her probing eyes and stared at the sand garden on her coffee table. The sand reminded me of Fin and how he was trapped in Natatoria because of me. I bit my lip until it bled to keep from crying. “Heck if I know.”

  “Do you know what post traumatic stress is?”

  “I Googled it.”

  “And what did Google say?”

  “That you get all weird after a stressful or life threatening event. But really, it was no big deal.”

  She shifted in her chair but remained pleasant—shooting a knowing smile. I wondered if the mention of “merpeople” would wipe it off.

  “Why don’t I tell you what I know about post traumatic stress and you tell me if that’s what’s going on?”

  “Whatever,” I said flippantly.

  She ignored my rude reply and went on to tell me about how the traumatic events are like a strand of pearls. After the event, your brain doesn’t know how to deal with the information so it’s like someone has snipped the string, the thoughts bouncing in your mind. All your brain knows to do is replay the events over and over to try and put
the strand back together again. Eventually, over time, you complete the necklace and put away the memories. Sometimes though, your brain gets stuck and the pearls keep bouncing.

  “Nope. Not me. I guess I’m normal then.”

  She nodded and hummed. I wanted to rip the pencil from her hand and chuck it out the window.

  “Have you been to the water since the accident?”

  “Of course I have.” The night Fin and Tatchi were abducted. I felt my lip quiver.

  “And how’d that go?”

  Pearls were an understatement. Super balls from the incident bounced around instead, smacking my temples as if it was a bull’s eye. If I was having PTSD, it wasn’t because I almost drowned in the lake, but rather that my friends were taken and I let it happen. “It was water. That wet cold stuff that will take your life if you try to swim in it right now.”

  “I see. Fear of the water seems to make you angry.” She wrote something on a small white notepad.

  She ripped off the paper and handed it to me. I assumed after seeing I wasn’t going to cooperate, it was a prescription for some meds to dope me up, so I’d comply with my mother’s wishes. An address and phone number was all she’d scrawled across the top.

  “This is the number of a support group for teens going through stressful situations. I highly suggest you go and just listen to the stories.”

  I shoved the slip of paper into my pocket and creased my forehead. A hundred dollars an hour got me an address and phone number? Mom was going to love that one.

  “Am I free to go?”

  “Not quite I’m afraid. We still have forty-five more minutes.”

  I sighed and stared at the sand again.

  She pried for the rest of the time, but I gave her nothing.

  Earlier today, when spying on Fin and Tatchi’s house, I noticed it appeared vacant. The traffic going in and out abruptly stopped after the abduction at the beach. Too late to demand answers. Though I doubted Fin’s alluring cousin, who ended up being one of the bad guys, would have told me anything anyway.

  My heart hammered knowing the enemy had been so close and I’d almost put myself at risk by going over and trying to talk to him again. Were all merpeople weird and hypnotic like that?