Everblue

by Brenda Pandos

  “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.

  “It’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 chaperons 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.

  a

  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 ceremon
y 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?

  So I just watched the water and waited from a distance.

  They had to return soon. They had to.

  45

  FIN

  Somehow, I’d fallen asleep. This was the last thing I wanted to do as I waited for the King to show up. I’d only closed my eyes for what seemed like a half a second when someone grabbed me and sliced something sharp across my arm.

  I looked up as a goon restrained me and another held a peculiar green plant against the cut. A tingling sensation began to trail through my limbs, taking with it all my fight.

  “He won’t be any trouble now,” the third goon, who held the knife, said to some unseen person behind him.

  I tried to stay upright, ready for my confrontation with the King, but slumped down, suddenly overcome with exhaustion. Through the doorway two tittering mermaids entered, carrying armloads of supplies and clothing. They came towards me, singing their sweet melodies. I forgot my anger and closed my eyes while they played with my hair and put different shirts on me. Off to the side I heard Mom interacting with someone as well.

  I remained drowsy and eventually opened my eyes. The mermaids were gone. I brushed my hands over the shirt they put on me, which glistened with hundreds of tiny black, polished stones. The weight draped the garment snuggly across my chest and arms.

  “I guess I’m all set to give up my life to Lily,” I said sleepily as I grinned to Mom.

  She looked like an angel with her hair pinned around her head, adorned with gems and shells. Only, she wasn’t smiling back. “That’s not funny. What about Ashlyn?”

&n
bsp; Ash’s beautiful face came to mind. “Oh, right.” I snorted. “Let’s go find her.”

  She looked back horrified and shook her head. “Finley, you have to fight what they’ve drugged you with. Drink in some water.”

  I swallowed a few gulps, then burped. She sat down, resting her forehead on her hand. Even though my inebriated state made everything seem trivial, I couldn’t deny her worry. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have the strength to care.

  “Aw, Mom,” I said and sat on the side of the chair, covering her shoulder with my arm. “It’ll be okay, just like you said.”

  She shimmied away and continued to knead her hands together when someone unlocked the door. The same goons who’d poisoned me motioned for us to exit the room. My heart, which should have started to pound, remained at a steady pace.

  They escorted us to a large ballroom in the center of the palace. I somewhat expected to see a mass of people, but found a small group of strangers in attendance—mostly females. The front of the room was typical of the décor of the rest of the palace: colorful sea anemones placed on marble columns were staggered between brilliant coral gardens. Vivid fish darted around the display. Definitely not lavishly decorated with items from all over the world, like the King said.

  Mom leaned into me and whispered. “I’m hoping for a miracle.”

  I looked at her and snickered. “Miracle? I think it’s a little too late.”

  “Just . . . just don’t kiss Lily, whatever you do.”

  I shrugged and let her pull me inside.

  “Welcome,” a mermatron at the door said. “And congratulations. I’m the promising coordinator. Maggie, you’ll wait here to be escorted once the ceremony starts and Finley, you’ll stand on the dais to the right of the King’s attendant. For now you can sit in a chair over there.”

  At the ends of her hot pink braids floating in the current, snake faces appeared and hissed at me.

  “Eeew,” I said and moved backwards.

  My mother grabbed my arm. “Finley. Stop it.”

  I wrinkled my face and shook my head—the snakes disappeared. All I remembered her say was that the King would be standing up front with us. “The King is promising us?” I asked.