But Lady Giana was already shaking her head. “Only the one who sang the song can undo it.” She paused. “Or the one who holds the triton.”
“And who has that now?” Michael tried to recall just how far they’d sailed after Arianna had fallen.
“No one. My father-in-law died two days ago. That’s why we were able to sneak in to see you now. Renata is busy with the funeral preparations for tonight. The triton will belong to whoever wins the contest tomorrow.”
Michael swallowed. “Who’s competing?”
“As of now? Only Renata.” Lady Giana floated up from the ground and moved toward the door. But she paused on the threshold. “Are you a praying man, Prince Michael?”
He nodded.
“Good. Then I suggest you begin now. Pray that the Maker shows us how to rein Renata in.”
“Wait!” Michael shoved his hand into his bed several times before finding the right hole. “The Maker answered at least one of my prayers.” He handed the conch to Lady Giana, then gave her a wry smile. “I don’t let my ears bleed for just nothing.”
Lady Giana gave him a long, strange look before rushing out the door with the conch, not even saying goodbye.
Michael lay back on his bed, and for the first time he could remember in a long time, he felt ready to rest.
39
Haunting Melodies
“Wait.” Arianna paused to swallow more nectar from the bulbous plant Mae held out to her. The way the thick green nectar slimed down her throat made her want to gag, but Arianna was forced to admit that it soothed her sore throat more than the salt water she was constantly drawing in and out. “What good does a voice do me when I still have no soulsong?” she asked when she was done. “This is child’s play compared to what she can do. Even with a voice, I stand no chance at beating Renata without a soulsong.”
“You’re doing splendidly.” Mae patted her arm. “Your progression is far superior to that of children, I assure you.”
“Even so,” Arianna paused to swallow more of the disgusting nectar, “children don’t find their koroses or their soulsongs until they’re fourteen years or more. I won’t find mine by tomorrow!”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try!” Mae yanked Arianna’s shoulders up and pressed her back straight again. “Now, show me your healing koros again.”
With a little sigh and the desire to say something sarcastic, Arianna began singing the healing scale once more.
Never, in all of her life, had Arianna thought she would ever tire of using her voice if she got one. But now that she was singing through all hours of the day and night, or had been in the two days since she’d found her voice, Arianna was ready for a few blissful hours of silence. You don’t do anything the easy way, do you? she thought to the Maker.
“Good. Now hold that note a little longer.”
“Mae!” a familiar voice cried from a distance, and Mae rolled her eyes a bit and shook her head with an affectionate smile.
“Piero, it might do you good one day not to alert the entire ocean whenever something has happened that concerns us.”
Piero stopped, panting, and looked around. “But we have no neighbors here.”
“Which is precisely why I picked this cave,” she said dryly. “What is the emergency now?”
“Sorry I’m late. The new height restrictions are making swimming more crowded below. But Lady Giana sought me out this morning.”
Arianna felt her pulse quicken. Her mother was near. She had known, of course, that her mother would be in the capital city. But hearing that Piero had seen her? It made Arianna ache.
“She gave me this,” Piero said, holding out a smooth, striped conch charm just a little smaller than Arianna’s thumbnail. “She said it was of the gravest concern, and that we were to do whatever was necessary to stop Renata from winning the contest.”
“My mother is a believer as well?” Arianna asked.
“If she wasn’t then, she is now.” Mae frowned as she took the conch. “It seems we’re not as well hidden as we thought.” She looked at the others. “We’ll need to take precautions in the future to keep our activity quieter. But in the meantime, let’s see what we can get from this.” She turned and headed into the corner of the cave. When Arianna hung back with Piero, however, as was her usual position, Mae turned and waved them in as well. “You’re a part of this now. You need to hear whatever is in this shell, too.”
Soon they and the rest of Mae’s followers were all squished around the conch charm, which had been placed on the ground. Mae instructed some of the younger members to block off the cave entrance and close the holes above them. Then she hung an algae lantern from the rock. Finally, she pulled the wax seal from the conch’s opening and stood back with everyone else to listen.
A familiar voice filled the room. The song was wordless, but even without her own soulsong, Arianna knew exactly what her aunt was saying.
General Orsini, the melody hummed in a minor tone, here are your instructions for the day after I take the crown. Memorize this message, as I will not have the opportunity or privacy to make another. My brother and his wife are suspicious already, and with my niece escaped, people will be talking. I have managed to garner enough drops of Sorthileige to infect my own family and peers first. Once they have been exposed, I will return to the Deeps and gather enough for our people to partake as well. We cannot tell them, of course. They will not understand until after they’ve been touched. For now, all we need to do is focus on my family and everyone that is loyal to them.
“Oh, Renata,” was all Arianna could whisper. “Why?”
But the song continued. We will not infect the Maricantan prince. I cannot have his physical appearance too altered, as he will be returning to the Maricantan throne soon and will continue until we have an heir and it is considered a normal time for him to pass. For now, I simply need your continued willingness to dedicate your Protectors and allegiance to me and to follow my future instructions to the letter. I will take care of the rest when I have the triton.
The song ended, but no one spoke for a long time. The light of the algae lantern made every face present look gray and drawn, but Arianna was sure they would look the same way in the direct light of the sun after having heard her aunt’s message.
“If my mother gave this to you,” Arianna finally turned to Piero, “surely she knows as well!”
But Piero was already shaking his head. “I’m afraid, Princess, that this kind of message can only be heard once.” He looked at the ground and folded his hands behind his back. “I accidentally broke a shell once while carrying a message for the late Sea Crown’s wife. I learned very quickly that not all songs can echo the way yours can.” He nodded at the shell that still hung around Arianna’s neck.
Arianna blushed. Did they know who still sang her to sleep every night?
Mae spoke before anyone else could comment. “What’s important is that it seems your aunt plans to infect all the merpeople with Sorthileige.” She fixed a critical eye on Arianna. “Would you happen to know why?”
Arianna chewed her lip as she thought. “When we were on the ship and she revealed her true identity to me, she said she believed we could free the merpeople from danger forever.” Arianna frowned. Even with the proof she had just heard from the shell, it seemed wrong to betray her aunt to these people.
“But why?” Mae asked.
“Those infected with the Sorthileige are strong,” Elda, another palace worker, said in her squeaky voice. “Even if their lives are shortened by the Sorthileige, their short lives make them incredibly hard to control.” She shuddered. “I work near the dungeons sometimes, where I can hear them.”
“That’s right,” someone else said. “Curiosity pushes them in, but the darkness follows them out.”
Everyone looked solemn. Arianna remembered only too well the foamy eyes of the merwoman and the screeches of the merman. Each had chosen to take Sorthileige by venturing into the Deeps. But the merpeople a
s a whole had not. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, and children. They would all be doomed to the darkness.
“But if it shortens their lives so significantly,” Arianna asked, “why would Renata wish to use it?”
“Full exposure to the Deeps leaves only a few days of life,” Bo said, scratching his chin. “But if given drop by drop . . . Well, that might be dragged on for years and years.”
“So if I don’t win the triton,” Arianna whispered, “she could use it to sentence our entire race to darkness.” When no one answered her, Arianna looked up to see all eyes watching her again. Not even Mae spoke. “What did Renata do?” she asked, still whispering. “I mean, before I was born?”
“Your aunt was one of the finest Protectors we had ever seen,” Bo said, glancing warily at Mae. “She guarded the seas at the southern end of our borders. You’re probably aware of this, Princess, but the Sea Crown is high king of all the seas. Not just the First Sea. This is merely the capital’s territory. Each territory has boundaries and its own ambassador. Your aunt worked at the far southern edge of our boundary where she fell in love with a Grower named Angelo. They were quickly engaged to be married, as unlike the humans, our people are allowed to marry whomever they choose, regardless of title or importance. Just before the wedding, however, they were attacked by a pirate ship.”
Bo sighed. “She did all she could to keep them hidden from the pirates, but the pirates were too strong.” He shook his gray head. “Angelo threw himself into their nets so she could be free.”
Mae took up the story. “When she went to a nearby naval vessel to plead for help, the sailors told her they were too busy to help find one merman.”
Arianna wanted to weep for her aunt.
“Instead of going to her father, however, Renata decided to take her vengeance into her own hands,” Mae continued. “She flew into a rage and rushed into the Deeps. By the time she was finished with the pirate ship, not a single sailor lived. She was too late, though, and she found that Angelo had died as well. But she was spurred on by what the Sorthileige had awakened inside her so she also sought out the naval ship. She sang a siren song to the sailors and had them all dead on the rocks as they tried to swim to her during a storm she had conjured.”
“But how did she live after touching the Sorthileige?” Arianna asked.
“Some say,” Mae said slowly, glancing at Bo, “that the enemy of the Maker likes to make deals with those who are bent on defying the Maker.”
“Then how come she was able to live with us?”
“Your father,” Mae said, “took pity on her, and begged the Sea Crown to spare her life, even though she had defied the law and murdered the sailors. When she didn’t turn, as others do who have touched the Sorthileige, your father was able to convince your grandfather that she must not have touched the Sorthileige at all.”
“Those who saw the spectacle, however, knew better,” Bo muttered.
And they wanted Arianna to go up against such power. Arianna could see all the obstacles flashing in her head. She’d only had a voice for two days. She had no real understanding of what the contest entailed. Renata knew her every fear and doubt. If things went poorly, Renata could make her pay by punishing everyone she loved.
And Arianna still had no soulsong.
What are you doing? she asked the Maker. You’ve given me my voice, but what good is it without a soulsong? If I fight her, I’m sure to lose. But then again, even if I don’t fight, won’t it all happen anyway?
With her prayer, a strange rock of conviction settled in her stomach. “Mae,” Arianna said in a shaky voice, “take me to the arena.”
40
Refusals
The swim to the arena was longer than Arianna had expected. Piero and Nereza accompanied them. Arianna had learned through eavesdropping that the cave was closer to the shore than the palace, but she hadn’t known there was nearly an hour’s swim between the two.
“Keeps me on a tight schedule on days when I sell at the market,” Mae chuckled as they swam over dozens of little reefs on their way.
“Why haven’t you been selling lately?” Arianna asked.
“When you fell out of the sky, Princess, it all stopped. I’ve enough supplies to keep me for a while longer, and many of our friends are kind enough to bring meals and supplies now and then.” She turned and fixed her eyes on Arianna. They burned with excitement. “We’ve been waiting for you, Princess.”
Though Arianna knew the sentiment was meant to be comforting, she only found that it made her want to squirm even more. They were getting too close to the palace to speak, however, so she let the comment go and tried to focus on their surroundings.
When the Sea Palace came into view, Arianna gasped. I can see why they say you gave the plans to the builders, she thought to the Maker. Millions of coral arms were woven together to form a chaotic yet elegant rainbow of walls, towers, and balconies galore, twice as tall as the Sun Palace. Each wall was made from cylinders of coral squeezed together into a stack of majestic towers that sparkled like a multicolored gem.
Hundreds of merpeople swam in and out of the palace, forming lines that wound in and out like delicate arms dancing to a living, breathing rhythm. Some carried food or supplies while others carried only themselves. Many of the ladies wore camicetts of ornate fabrics Arianna had never seen before. Many also had jewels and shells curled into their hair. And though the men didn’t wear camicetts, their brightly colored sashes were decorated just as fully as the women’s. Thousands of songs floated through the streets that surrounded the palace, and hundreds more joined them from within the building. Despite their individual songs, however, each of the four koroses was audible, and they all wove together to create an intricate harmony.
It was the rhythm of life. Arianna felt her heart rise and her throat close with unexpected emotion as her body yearned to fall into a dance that felt just as natural as breathing the air ever had.
“Welcome home.”
Arianna turned to see Mae giving her a kind smile.
With more conviction than she’d ever had before, Arianna took the woman’s outstretched hand, and they continued their journey past the palace and north of the city. And though Arianna thought she would never be surprised again after seeing the palace, she was wrong.
Large enough to swallow the palace twice over, the arena rose up into a round bowl that surrounded a simple flat stage at the bottom of its center. Rather than coral, however, this structure was made completely of stone.
“It was all one great mountain when they began,” Piero said, his voice nearly squeaking. “And it’s still standing hundreds of years later!”
As soon as they had crested the edge, Arianna eagerly started down to examine the pearlescent stage at the bottom of the arena, but Nereza grabbed her by the arm and jerked her back. They all settled behind a bench on the back row.
“Ow!” Arianna rubbed her arm, but Nereza only put her finger to her lips and peeked out over the bench. Arianna followed her gaze to see what she had missed before. Dozens of merpeople dotted the stands. The arena was so large that Arianna hadn’t even noticed them at first.
“Preparing for tomorrow,” Piero whispered.
“Merpeople from all over the world are coming to see this spectacle,” Mae added. “Some even make it from the southern kingdoms and the far east. These stands will be packed to the brim.”
Arianna’s stomach turned as she thought about being showcased in front of so many people. Particularly as she was likely to come out the loser. “So how exactly will this happen?” she asked.
“You’ll present yourself to the court tomorrow when they announce the contestants. Once the validity of all contestants’ claims to the Sea Crown has been confirmed, everyone will move out here. When you and Renata are both on that stage, the triton will be thrown into the Deeps. Your—”
“Why do we have to compete in the Deeps?” Arianna shivered. “It seems a hard enough task just to win.”
&nb
sp; “Only the Sea Crown can guide humans over the Deeps—either he or those he grants a special blessing to. If you’re going to guide others through it, you should know how to survive it.” Mae sniffed. “Now, as I was saying, your job will be to find the triton, using each of the four koroses at least once. If the triton goes with you, then it has decided that you are the most prepared to accept the crown, and you will return to the arena to show everyone.” Mae peered at Arianna. “You are ready to accept the crown, aren’t you?”
“Of course.” Arianna squeaked. “What happens then?”
“After you return here and are proclaimed the winner, you will still need to watch your back for the three days hence. You will hold the triton, but it won’t officially belong to you until you’re coronated on the third day, at the coronation ceremony.”
After scanning the arena again, Mae swam up and over the arena itself. The others followed. Once they were on the arena’s north side, Mae pointed to a place several hundred fathoms away.
Arianna strained to make out what she was looking at. “All I can see is that murky spot.”
“Those are the Deeps. Remember, they exist over underwater chasms, canyons that cut into the earth. This particular one runs from east to west, then branches out several hundred fathoms to the west. You will race for the Deeps as fast as you can. Once inside, you’ll call out to the triton to try and find it, using all four koroses. Renata will try and distract you, and you her as well. There will be—”
“Wait,” Arianna said. “How exactly do we distract one another?”
Piero looked uncomfortable. “Well, according to the rules, you’re not supposed to injure one another, just use your koroses to create obstacles of sorts, but—”
“But there will be no one there to enforce such rules,” Mae interrupted. “No one to keep you safe. You will be utterly alone with her. Utterly alone.”
Silent Mermaid: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 5) Page 24