“Let’s go.” I tapped Brizo, and she dropped her tail.
The suitor stared with wide eyes and fisted hands as we took off. I laughed and threw my head back. My braids flowed behind me. I felt free if only for the moment.
“Princess Sarai,” the man called out, “please wait.”
“Speed up, Brizo,” I whispered to the mare. “Don’t let him catch up.”
We sped through the water. Unfortunately, the suitor’s seahorse was just as fast as my Brizo.
“I believe we got off to a bad start. Let me personally introduce myself. I am Sitario, Prince of the Eastern Sea,” he huffed when he finally caught up. “And as you know, one of your suitors.”
I looked at him for a second and turned my head back around. “That’s nice.”
A tense silence fell between us.
“Silence is golden in a mermaiden. In my lands, a female is bred to be seen, not heard,” he said proudly. “When I first saw you, I had my doubts, but it seems like you have been properly trained. I do have to mention your hair—”
I turned in my seat. “My hair?” I raised an eyebrow. “What is wrong with my hair?”
He looked at my head and back at my face. “It is too coarse and unruly. A queen is supposed to show control. How will my people fear you if you cannot control your own tresses?”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Did this male actually have an opinion on my hair? What made him feel entitled to an opinion?
“Here, in my lands, a woman is equal to a man. She is not bred to be anything. She simply is what she wishes to be. I am silent because you bore me.” I pulled my braids over my shoulder. “And my hair is my crown. Worth more than all the pearls in the sea. I am not controllable, so why would my hair be?”
His pale blue face contorted into something vicious. “I will break that attitude, girl. I will drain every bit of that energy of yours, and you will become as docile as that seamare.”
“You will not win,” I said without thinking. “And I will never marry you.”
“Your grandmother believes differently.” He slapped the side of his seahorse’s head when it tried to pull away.
“It is not up to her. It is up to me, and you, Sitario, you are lacking.”
I took off and ignored his call. This time, I didn’t stop until I found Father and my sisters. Everyone was obviously shocked to see me, but Etan welcomed me with a smile.
“What a sight, Princess,” he greeted. “Sitario, I see that you are feeling well. The headache that plagued you seems to be gone.”
Sitario scowled and lifted his chin. “Mind the business that pays you.”
He rode to the front of the party, a little ways behind Father but close enough to hear our conversation. I rolled my eyes and fell back. I wasn’t going to put up with his narcissistic attitude.
“So he gets your time, but I am not worthy of the honor?” Etan cocked his head to the side. “If he is what you want, I have no hope of winning your hand.” He leaned over and scratched beneath the gills of the fish that swam by his side.
“What type of fish is he?” I studied its fluorescent scales and eerie silver eyes. It had long transparent fins that gave it an elegant angelfish like appearance.
“Ah, so the fish draws her attention.” He shook his head. “Naga is a konsu. The only one of his kind.”
“I have never heard of such a fish.” I stared at them suspiciously. Where did he get such a fish, and how did he manage to train it? Where did the glow that radiated from its eyes come from? And why was it looking at me as if it could read my thoughts?
“The oceans are immense. I’m sure that there are plenty of fish you haven’t yet discovered.” He shrugged.
I couldn’t argue with the truth. The ocean was vast and always changing. Full of secrets and magic waiting to be discovered, but even I, in all my ignorance, could tell the fish wasn’t normal.
“Where do you come from?” I studied his features. His skin was a pretty brown, his face was strong and defined, and his eyes were wide and light gray in color. He had a high forehead, and his dark hair was cut low with ridges that resembled the gentle waves on a calm day. His chest was chiseled as if from stone and his stomach nicely toned. His tail was long, his scales various shades of gray and blue. And he also had a strange look to him, but I couldn’t point out exactly what it was.
“There is something about your eyes.” I swam closer. “You look familiar.”
He dipped his head. “Do you like my eyes?”
“They are nothing special,” I lied. There was something oddly familiar about him. The shape of his chin, the sharpness of his cheek. The curve of his lip. Maybe we’d crossed each other at a ball or at one of Father’s meetings. “Were you here for one of my moonday celebrations?”
I didn’t recognize the coloring of his tail, but something told me I had seen him before. But where?
“I was not, unfortunately. Travel from my kingdom is…difficult. I am from far away. From a place that seems an entire world away.”
“Does this place have a name?” I had to find where he came from. With a tail coloring like his, he was probably from somewhere cold, but the Queen of Fureesa was here with her sons. I had met them during the first dinner. He was not with them.
“The Nueva Vida Sea,” he said a little too quickly.
Just like with his fish, I hadn’t heard of such a sea. I stored the name away for later. A scholar had to know where his kingdom was located. “Tell me about this sea,” I pushed.
“You will see it when this is over. Words could never describe it.” The corners of his lips rose, but his smile didn’t reach his blank eyes. A frisson of unexplainable fear shot down my spine. “Tell me about your ocean. Is it always this warm?” He tried to steer the conversation away from himself.
“Yes.” I put some distance between us and allowed his weak distraction. “The temperature drops, but not by much. Our winters aren’t cold enough for us to hibernate like those in the eastern seas.”
“Do you enjoy living here? How do you feel about leaving all this behind?”
No one had really asked me how I felt or cared. I had always known I would be married and sent off to some far ocean; it had been ingrained in our minds since we were children. I’d never thought much about it until I met the man with the golden voice.
“I love my home. Everyone has been nothing but kind to me. I will miss my family, of course, but a change in scenery is overdue. There are some things I need to leave behind, physically leaving may help.” My voice shook at the thought of leaving all I knew behind.
It was something I had to do so I could grow. My family was holding me back. My fear of their opinion kept me from doing what I wanted to do and seeing what I wanted to see.
“That is understandable.” He nodded. “Leaving one’s family is always a difficult decision to make, one that not only affects you, but the ones around you. On the other hand, a new environment can help one flourish,” he said softly. “I will do my best to make you feel at home.”
I laughed. “You are so sure of yourself.”
“I have to be.” His tone grew serious. “You are the answer to my prayers. I need you.”
“You need my voice,” I corrected. He was like all the other males who demanded my attention. They all came here looking to acquire my magic and seemed to forget I came with it.
“Your voice is lovely, but it isn’t what I came for. I came for you.”
“How could you want me if you know nothing about me?” The words hit me hard. The double standard behind them struck a nerve I didn’t know existed.
“I just do.” He shrugged.
We watched a dole of turtles swim by before joining the rest of the party. We ate lunch as a group and returned to the castle together.
I rode beside Father, who bragged about the kraken and his power over the mighty creature. I had never seen the thing, and sometimes, I doubted it even existed, but the suitors seemed excited by the idea.
> I rolled my eyes and slowed my mare. “Leeches,” I sniffed at the group.
“I heard you like to garden,” I overheard a suitor ask Caressa.
“I do occasionally.” The lie easily slipped from her lips. She shot me a warning look as they swam by.
“Do you garden?” Etan joined me.
“Yes.” I sighed. “But I am no expert. The coral naturally grows and fends for itself.” I made sure that the fish remained in the gardens and that the kelp didn’t overrun the beds. The gardens didn’t need my help, they were self sufficient.
“We have many gardens at home. I’m sure you will love them, too.”
He was being so nice it made me gag. He was kind and handsome, but he didn’t attract me in any way. I didn’t want him to feel as if I was interested.
“I know that we tend to marry young, but I don’t agree with that custom.” I cut straight to the point. “I don’t want a husband.”
“I know, and I am in no rush.” He ran a hand over his head as if he were brushing away hair.
The motion roused my suspicions. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?” I took a closer look at his hair. It was obvious by the uneven curls that he’d hacked it off.
“Maybe we met in our dreams. Astral project—”
“Sarai,” Father said, interrupting my snooping. “I need you and your sisters to join me in my chambers.”
I dismounted Brizo and handed a servant her reigns. She neighed and put her snout in his hand, looking for a gift she knew she’d earned.
The man laughed and patted her cheek. “You shall get yer treat. Be patient,” he cooed as he led her off.
“I shall see you at dinner?” Etan looked at me with shining eyes and a sly smile on his lips.
“Yes. I will be there.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “I look forward to it.” He bowed and led his stallion to the guest stall.
“Come, Sarai,” Calethea called. “Father is waiting.”
I peeled my eyes from Etan's finely muscled back and looked at my sister. My face felt hot, and I couldn’t fix my tongue to speak.
Caressa frowned and placed the back of her hand against my forehead. “Are you ill? You look horrible,” she said loudly enough for all to hear.
“I’m fine!” I pushed her hand away. “Let’s go before Father sends someone for us. You know how he gets.”
I looked at Etan one last time and tried to picture him with longer hair. “By the goddess,” I whispered beneath my breath.
I didn’t know why it took me so long to see it, but now it was impossible to unsee. Etan was the walker from the ship.
∞∞∞
“Time is running out,” Father announced as we swam into his chamber. “Everyone is waiting on your decisions.” He waited for Calethea to close the door before continuing his speech. “A king should know how to rule with a calm mind, and if a problem arises between his subjects, he should know how to handle it justly. Tomorrow, each one of you and your suitors will sit together and address the concerns of the merfolk. I will watch along with your grandmother and inner council.”
A full day in one spot, dealing with the petty drama that should have been handled between both parties like adults. A day I could have spent spying.
I knew with all my heart that Etan was the walker, but I had no way to prove it. I had to find out why he was here and how he’d managed to switch his legs out for a tail. He could be my way out.
“Father—” I raised my hand as if I was asking a question during a lesson.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “No, you may not skip out, Sarai. This is a way to see if they are capable of ruling beside you.”
“Sitario doesn’t believe in women ruling. He said that I was meant to be seen, not heard,” I argued. “There is no point in me participating.”
My stomach turned at the thought of sitting beside him for a day. I had never seen a man as nasty as Sitario. How did you live underwater and manage to look dirty?
“When he sees that you are different, he will change his mind,” Caressa said smugly. “A strong female is capable of changing even the most stubborn male.”
“Stubborn isn’t the word I would use to describe Sitario. He is a pile of—”
“Watch your mouth.” Father slammed his hand against the stone table. “You will do as you’re told.”
I shut my mouth and listened to the rest of the conversation. Calethea bragged about a certain suitor who claimed to possess his own pod of killer whales. Caressa simpered over the suitor who promised her a castle beside an underwater river.
They were shallow. All they worried about were their titles and treasures. Didn’t they see that they were being bought? All those promises meant nothing when the ones who made them wanted to use you. If we couldn’t sing, we wouldn’t even be going through any of this.
When Father was done, he dismissed all but me. “Come sit with me.” He patted the empty seat beside him. As I did, he sighed and pulled off his crown. “I worry about you. You are so…different. You don’t listen like your sisters. You like to ask questions and experience things for yourself. You have a hard head, but that makes a soft tail.” He tightened his grip. “You’re so stubborn, Sarai.”
“I like when things make sense. What you’re making me do doesn’t make sense.” I pulled the crown from his hands and placed it on the table.
“Things don’t have to make sense all the time. Some things just are, and you have to accept it. I need you to understand that everything I have done and will do is for your protection.” He grabbed my hands.
I looked down at our conjoined fingers. My hands looked so small compared to his. Like a child’s. “Even take innocent hearts?”
He refused to meet my eyes. “No lives are innocent when they threaten my family,” he spoke to the sand. “I did what I had to do.”
“He did nothing!” I pulled my hands away. “I was the one who went to him. I chose to save him.” I pointed at my chest.
“He was looking for you or one of your sisters. He was looking for a mermaiden, one who didn’t think twice before putting her family in danger,” he growled.
One who was stupid enough to fall into a trap.
He didn’t have to say it out loud for me to hear what he was trying to say. He still saw me as a simpleminded maiden. It didn’t matter that I was stronger than him.
“I can’t be here anymore. I don’t want to be married and sent to another sea with a man I will never love. I want to travel and see the world in its entirety.”
“Love?” Father raised from his seat with a vicious look on his face. “Do you think you will find love on the surface? Walkers only care about themselves. They are selfish and full of greed.”
“It’s not about the walkers!” I screamed. “It’s about me. When I saw him up there on the surface, I felt things I never felt before. For the first time in my life, I felt alive. I had a soul.”
I didn’t know what I had to say to make him understand. The walker woke something inside of me that fateful day. It was like being given a treat and having it snatched away before you could have a taste. I longed to see where he came from. I wanted to learn more about his people.
“A soul?” He placed the palm of his hand against his forehead. “Is this what all this is about? A soul? A man sings like a woman and you believe you are a child of the earth?”
He sat down beside me and placed a heavy hand over mine. “Souls were given to walkers because they were made of earth and didn’t feel. Walkers spend their lives fighting an internal battle of good and evil. They believe they go to the underworld if they are not fit, their soul to be tortured for eternity. Is that what you want?”
“No, Father,” I said, defeated. Arguing with him was like arguing with the wall. I could scream all night and day, but nothing would change. He wouldn’t understand.
“Good girl. Now stop worrying about silly things. You have a long happy life ahead of you. Don’t let your curiosit
y take that from you.”
“Yes, Father.” I plastered a fake smile on my face.
“Good, now tell me about your new song. The court is raving about it.”
∞∞∞
The long line of merfolk seemed to never end. Stolen urchins, missing payments, one broken agreement after another. Each time a new group arrived, Sitario would glare at the party and curse their simplemindedness.
Most left feeling frustrated or demeaned.
I was the one who had to make all the decisions, and I had to make sure it was fair. By midday, my head was pounding and my hands ached from where my nails had dug into my palms.
“Lunch break,” Grandmother’s voice rang out. “Sarai, can you come here?” she asked oh so sweetly.
“What was that?” she hissed as soon as she had me in the empty hall. “You over-spoke your partner. You didn’t take his opinion into consideration.”
I blinked twice. Was she blind and deaf? She was in the room the entire time. Did she not see the terrible way Sitario treated our subjects?
“He didn’t care about our folk. He looked down on them as if they were nothing but trash.”
“It won’t be our subjects that he rules. It will be his. And if he treats them that way, so be it. You need to be his wife, be what he needs you to be.” She shook me by my shoulder. “Think, child. Use that brain of yours.”
It seemed like I was the only one using my brain these days. Everyone was so busy trying to impress our visitors that they didn’t notice how horrible more than half of them were.
“You want me to change how I am to appease him? I don’t even like Sitario.” I placed my hands on my hips.
“He is our best chance at an alliance. He offers warriors and gold that we can use to feed and protect our kingdom.” She looked at me as if I had turned into a sea slug. “Don’t be selfish.”
Another title to add to the list. Sarai, Princess of Rotan, embarrassment, stupid, and selfish. How beautiful.
“I am going back to lunch. If I have to put up with this, at least I won’t be hungry.” I brushed past her and went back into the hall.
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