Gigantic wings flapped, while dragon after dragon pushed toward the glass, trying to get a better view of their latest catch. I fought the primal urge to swim back into the house and curl up into a little ball.
The fear coursing through my body made it almost impossible for me to move. Dyna, on the other hand, showed no fear. She swam toward the center of the tank, waving both hands. She had a grin stretching from ear to ear.
Loud roars and flames erupted as the dragons took in the tiny mermaid.
“They love her,” whispered Mirna. “They are going to give her the best stuff.”
As I cowered behind Azure, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Cyrus stood with one arm across his body and the opposite hand in his hair. His hair was still wet, but he had changed into a fresh cloak.
I didn’t need to look at him for long to know that he wasn’t enjoying the ceremony. His clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows gave everything away.
“Go,” said Azure, as she pinched the back of my arm. “This is your last and only chance.”
My eyes went wide as the sting shot up my arm.
Forcing myself to swallow the fear from the imminent risk of death, I swam toward Dyna and began waving. First with one hand, then with both. I practiced the smile my mother encouraged me to wear on my face during times of stress. I raised a hand to my lips and blew a kiss.
My heart hammered in my chest as snouts bumped against the glass. They must have really liked that…
Glancing over my shoulder, a line of concern crossed my brow. Sunshine streamed in between the dragons’ massive bodies from three sides of the glass, but one remained much darker.
I continued to smile and blow kisses, but slowly started to spin in a circle. The dragons flapped their wings in a frenzy and continued to steam up the glass with their fiery breath. These vile creatures must think I’m trying to show off… As I finally turned toward the back, the place where Cyrus had been standing, my eyes landed on a dragon with pale green scales. His head drooped and instead of terrifying hunger in his eyes, he wore a forlorn expression on his face.
Gasping, I fought the urge to stare. The unusual dragon stood next to Cyrus, it looked like he was leaning against the landwalker. Cyrus had his arm draped over the sickly-looking dragon’s back. It looked like a sign of compassion, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Keep spinning,” hissed Azure.
I flinched and followed her directions. Why was Cyrus watching? I had literally just tried to end his life. I spun around again, still contemplating what was happening. Was he really comforting that dragon? What’s wrong with him? Why is he so pale? I continued to pretend I was in the annual royal parade. All I need is my crown and a shark-drawn carriage, I thought sarcastically.
After returning full circle, Azure swam toward me and grabbed my hand.
“Follow me,” she said under her breath, “And keep smiling.”
Without saying a word, I grinned until my face hurt and followed Azure back to the compound. Her blonde hair remained twisted into two braids that perfectly framed her heart-shaped face.
Dyna, who must have been escorted to the kitchen before me, sat on the edge of a stool. She tapped her fingers against the smooth marble counter. Poor mergirl; she looked like a nervous wreck.
“You both did great,” said Yazmine. She grinned and patted me on the back.
Dainese nodded. “They seemed very pleased.”
Dyna spun around to face Azure. “How long until we know?”
“Know what?” I said, sitting down next to Dyna.
“If they liked us,” said Dyna. She grabbed my chair and spun it toward her.
Yazmine nodded. “The dragons bring gobs of jewelry, fancy gemstones, and food to the viewings. If they liked you, they give the gifts to King Falcor. He keeps some of the items, but most of it is given to us.”
“I got this on my viewing day,” said Mirna, holding up a gold necklace with an emerald the size of her fist. Her blue eyes sparkled with pride.
I wanted to ask about Cyrus, but that seemed like a touchy subject to bring up when Azure was in the room. I bit my lip and decided to wait. Dainese would probably be the best to ask.
Mirna’s eyes lit up as a bell began to ring.
Yazmine swam to the door and reached out for the handle. “It’s time!”
“They’ve never come back this fast,” whispered Mirna.
Dainese tugged at a fallen strand of hair. She masked her emotions well, but I could tell that she was worried.
Azure motioned for Yazmine to swim back. “Let Dyna and Aria go out first. We will follow behind them.”
Dyna’s shoulders began to tremble.
“Don’t be scared,” I whispered into her ear. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “What if they didn’t like me? What if I’m not pretty enough…”
My heart ached for Dyna, but I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought that she was judging her self-worth on the opinion of dragons. “You’re beautiful, and you’re the bravest mergirl I have ever met.”
“Really?” she asked, her slumped shoulders rising.
“Of course.” It was the truth. Most mermaids I knew would have died of fright if they had been kidnapped by a dragon. “You’re handling this better than me. I’ve been a nervous wreck.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Do you really mean it?”
I slung my arm over her shoulder. “Of course I do!”
“Enough talking, you need to get out there now,” Azure barked.
Dyna flinched.
Yazmine swam forward and gave us both a squeeze. “You don’t want to keep them waiting. And don’t worry, you’ll do great!”
My lips trembled as I twisted the door handle. With a slight tug, I pulled it back, revealing the vast inside of the tank.
“No,” gasped Dyna. “It couldn’t be!”
“Wha—” but before I could finish my thought, I slapped a hand over my mouth and stifled a gasp.
8
“Look at all of this stuff,” squealed Dyna.
She pulled me through the door and toward a mountainous pile of gifts. Huge diamonds, massive rubies, strange foods that I had never laid eyes on, and larger items that I didn’t recognize. Almost everything that wasn’t edible was worth a small fortune under the sea.
At a loss for words, I continued to hold my hand over my mouth.
Dyna rapidly blinked in disbelief and her face turned white. “I- I- Is this all for us? Really? We get to keep it?”
“Thank them, now,” Azure barked.
Dyna jumped and her shoulders shot up to her ears.
I spun around. Azure’s eyes narrowed in on mine. “NOW,” she mouthed.
Grabbing Dyna’s hand, I swam back out the door and into the center of the tank. I could feel Azure watching us the entire time. When we got back and things settled down, I would ask to speak to her alone and tell her to back off. The mergirls in this glass prison might worship her, but I certainly didn’t and I would not put up with being talked to this way.
Dyna pulled her hand back so she could use both of them to blow kisses at all of the dragons.
The dragons immediately reacted with frenzied roars. The glass squeaked as their razor-sharp teeth grazed against it.
She grinned and continued to awe the scaled beasts.
As I looked out, hundreds of glowing eyes stared back at us. Red, green, and yellow, all with a vertical black slit. My lips started to tremble. “Eh, um, thank you,” I fumbled. Their wings flapped in the air, free and unencumbered by the restraints of the tank.
Azure coughed. I turned around and winced. Her expression hardened as she watched me struggle to retrieve words.
I thought back to the time my distant cousins had come to visit us. They had traveled from far away and had brought us exotic presents. I had only been little, but my mother’s speech welcoming them to our kingdom still stood out in my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I
cleared my throat. “Thank you, your Highness, for welcoming us into your kingdom.” I bowed and slowly rose, adding as much drama to my speech as possible. “We have been treated like royalty and are incredibly grateful for the generous gifts bestowed upon us today. Never have we laid eyes on such fine gifts. We will forever be in debt to your graciousness and hospitality.” I plastered on the biggest smile possible before bowing again.
Fire shot through the air and massive wings brushed against the glass.
They bought it. I clenched my teeth and continued to grin, waving my hands the entire time.
I shot a quick glance back toward the cube. Mirna hovered behind Azure and gave me a discrete thumbs up.
Much to my surprise, Dyna swam forward and opened her arms. “I’ve never owned anything nice. My family has struggled since we were expelled from the kingdom. Today, you have given me something I never expected to receive. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. I will forever be in your debt.”
For the second time in only a few minutes, fire exploded all around the tank. Dyna’s words must have really impressed the dragons. I couldn’t understand what any of them were saying, but the frenzied activity outside must have meant something good.
We both leaned forward, extended our arms, and bowed our heads one final time. We stayed there for several seconds, only causing the dragons to make a greater commotion. I wasn’t sure why, but they appeared to be completely enamored with us.
Mirna and the other mergirls swam out of the house with large buckets. They grinned and waved as they headed toward us.
Dainese shoved a basket into my hands. “Load your gifts. We need to bring everything into the house. Food goes in the green baskets and everything else in the black ones.”
I nodded and grabbed a handful of sapphires and carefully placed them in a black basket.
“What’s this?” asked Dyna, holding up a golden object with four arms, and strange thin cylinders sticking upward.
“It’s a chandelier,” said Azure. “Load it up.”
“Chandelier,” repeated Dyna. The word sounded foreign as it rolled off her tongue.
“They are hanging all over the castle,” said Mirna. “At least, that’s what Cyrus says.”
Azure shot her an icy look.
“Those,” Mirna said, ignoring Azure, “can hold fire.”
Dyna scrunched up her nose.
“Only above water,” said Mirna, gently placing it in one of the baskets. “It’s just a fancy decoration down here.”
Shaking her head, Dyna continued to pick up items that looked both familiar and strange. “Where do they get all of these gifts?”
“They are treasures left over from the landwalkers and the many of the precious stones are from deep inside the mountains,” said Mirna. “That’s what Cyrus told us.”
Cyrus again. He seemed to be a main topic of conversation among the mergirls in the tank.
“Yeah, the landwalkers that go into the mountains are called miners,” she added.
For being so young, she sure knew a lot about human life. Growing up in the tank must have been so difficult. I wonder how much she has forgotten or never had a chance to learn about life under the sea.
I thought back to my days in school. My mother had sent me to class with the other children living in the castle. One of my favorite memories from that time happened when she came in for story time.
She told a tale about two mermaids getting lost, deep at sea and far away from their families. Luckily, the mermaids were able to use their quick wit to escape prowling dragons, hungry sharks, and an army of landwalkers.
Riker, one of the little boys in my class, had become so upset, that my mother had stopped mid-story and wrapped him in her arms. She also let him hold a small ruby shaped heart. “It always gives me courage during troubling times,” she had told him. He clutched it in his little fingers and held it up to his heart.
By the end of the story, Riker had a big grin on his face. My mother had that impact on people. She was an amazing storyteller and the ultimate comforter. She had even let the little merboy keep the precious gemstone. Telling him to always pull it out and hold it close to his heart during difficult times.
I sighed, trying to ignore the familiar thickening I felt in my throat, which was always a precursor to a flood of tears.
“They gave you so much,” said Yazmine in disbelief. “I’ve never seen so many presents.”
Dainese remained quiet as she packed up her green basket.
Something unspoken had passed between the two oldest girls.
What were these girls hiding? Something was going unsaid, but what?
After several trips, we managed to pile the lot in the middle of a spacious room just off the bedroom.
“So,” I said cautiously, “what do we do with all of this stuff?”
“Well,” said Yazmine, “We eat the food, decorate the house, and wear the jewelry.”
There was a matter-of-factness to her voice that sent chills down my spine. She was so young, but so used to this routine. Her fear of the dragons had disappeared. She saw them as heroes, not villains.
She frowned. “I mean, it’s yours, but we usually share.”
I nodded. “Oh, yeah. Of course. That makes sense.”
Dyna held up a bright yellow stone hanging from a silver chain. “Azure, you should wear this! It matches your tail perfectly.”
The oldest mergirl’s face lit up. “Really?”
Holding it out, Dyna grinned. “It’s really pretty.”
Azure’s icy demeanor from earlier melted as Dyna secured the necklace around her delicate neck.
“That was the right move,” whispered Mirna.
“Huh?” I replied.
She bumped my shoulder. “You better give her something nice too.”
“Why?” I didn’t care about any of the gifts. They were nice, but I didn’t plan on staying down here long enough to enjoy them. I would be escaping soon. Not sure how or when, but soon.
“She’s in charge,” responded Mirna in a hushed voice. “And, until you arrived, she was also the oldest.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. In charge? Yeah right! The dragons are the ones in charge.
I bent down and pulled out a ring with a purple stone. “Azure, this would look pretty on you too.”
Her megawatt smile dimmed slightly. The ring wasn’t nearly as impressive as the necklace Dyna had given her.
Azure slid the ring down her ring finger on her right hand. “Thanks, Aria. That was very sweet of you.”
I hadn’t helped my situation. She clearly expected something bigger. Is she threatened because I’m a few years older than her? She couldn’t know about who I really am…
I studied her as she looked around the room. She seemed to be taking a mental tally of all of the visible items. What did she receive for her reveal day? Was it more or less? Was that what was making her angry?
An icy sensation snaked down my spine and settled in my stomach.
Keeping Azure happy would be important, but I also had to keep her from finding out anything about the real me. Maybe I could figure out what the deal was with her and Cyrus? Any possible leverage I could get my hands on would be helpful.
“She’s gone,” gasped Mirna. “She isn’t in any of the rooms!”
Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I sat up in bed and looked around the room.
Dainese frantically ran her fingers through her hair. Her face had taken on an ashen tone.
Yazmine and Mirna huddled together on Dyna’s bed.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice heavy with sleep.
With tears streaming down her face, she tore back a sheet on one of the spare beds. “Azure. She’s missing!”
I shook my head and tried to process the information. Azure was missing. Had she just gotten up and gone for a swim? No, the tank was big, but we could see all corners of the enclosure. Maybe she went to meet Cyrus somewhere? Did the dragon king summon
her?
“Did you check the entire tank?” I asked, swinging my tail out of bed.
Dainese nodded. “She isn’t out there and she isn’t in here. She’s gone!”
The walls of the room seemed to shrink down around us.
“Do you think the dragons took her?” I asked, peeking out one of the windows. The space beyond the tank was dark and the lights on the bottom were still dim. If they were watching us or flying nearby, I couldn’t tell.
Mirna’s red and swollen eyes went wide. “Shhhh!”
Yazmine pointed to a small black square in the corner of the room. She swam to my side and pressed on my shoulder. “They can hear us.”
A chill snaked through my body as my jaw fell open. We’re under surveillance? Like when father has his guards discretely follow merfolk on the chance that they might overhear something treasonous? “How does it work?”
“It’s a magical little box, that works under the water or above land. They can hear us on this one, but others allow them to see us as well,” Yazmine said.
My hands began to tremble as I took in the troubling information. It’s bad enough they can see us when we’re out in the tank… Now they can hear us in here?
The youngest mergirl leaned forward and whispered into my ear, “She isn’t the first to go missing.”
9
I chewed on my thumb nail, a habit I hadn’t indulged in for years. My mother tried everything under the sea to get me to stop. I finally quit cold tuna when she offered to take me to the outer boundaries to explore.
The day had been special. We had packed two lunches and brought a few extra kelp bars in case we got extra hungry. Everything had been perfect and incredibly special, but the most memorable part was seeing a twenty-foot-long shark.
Mother had called the shark a “great white.” I nearly threw up my seaweed salad when the silent killer glided in front of us with row after row of razor sharp teeth and black soulless eyes.
I remember gripping my mother’s right hand as she held a spear in her left. “He won’t bother us,” she said in a reassuring voice. “We share this sea with many different types of creatures. You must not fear them. We must co-exist peacefully.”
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