“Unless you have changed your mind?” She looked at Arianna.
Michael stared at each woman in turn. What an odd proposition. Though he was loathe to admit it, hadn’t Princess Ines, or rather Princess Renata, planned to marry him just recently?
“Have you changed your mind, Arianna?” Princess Renata asked again.
Arianna stared at the ground, her shoulders slumped forward.
“Either way,” Princess Renata said in a gentle voice, “the plan must commence. I would much rather it include you and your happiness.”
At this, Arianna’s head shot up, her eyes wide. “No, Aunt. He doesn’t have to be a part of this!” She spoke so fast her words jumbled together. “We can find another way—”
Princess Renata raised the triton and aimed it at Michael. A yellow burst lit the triton for one second before moving into his legs and up to his waist.
Michael fell back with a shout of agony. Excruciating pain greater than any he had known before bit at his flesh and bones.
“You have three days to change Arianna’s mind,” she said to him, nudging him with the edge of her triton and sending another jolt through his body. “In three days, the spell will be complete, and you will be a merman. That is not negotiable. What is negotiable, however, is her.” She pointed the triton at Arianna. “If you cannot get her to agree to marry you by the third day, I will marry you, and your forgetfulness will not be temporary. I will sing to you every morning and every night, and you and your kingdom will forever be in my grasp. Now,” Princess Renata turned and began to swim back toward the dining hall, “you know your motivation to convince her.”
Michael couldn’t respond. The pain was too great. His vision began filling with spots as he fell over on his side. Arianna called his name over and over again, but there was no way for him to call back.
He barely managed to pry his eyes open to look down at his legs. He could see no difference through his trousers, but the pure power jarring his body was proof enough that he was beginning to change.
In the distance, Michael heard a song. Then two or three joined in. But the pain was too much even for that. Soon, he couldn’t hear a thing.
44
Formidable Tides
Michael burned all night, despite the cool water around him. He hadn’t felt so feverish since he’d contracted the ague as a child. But as he’d discovered earlier that night, writhing and turning as he wished to do only pained his lower half more. The sponge bed, which had been so comfortable at one time, now only hurt his legs worse. Lying perfectly still and gritting his teeth seemed the only way to withstand the pain without passing out. Still, at least I know who I am this time, he tried to comfort himself.
The door behind him opened, and Renata leaned over him to place a new shell around his neck and take the old one off. This only intensified the pain as it sharpened all of his senses.
Renata sat on the vanity’s little stool. For a long time, she simply studied him, fingering the shell she had taken from his neck.
“I chose you for Arianna a long time ago because I knew you could make her happy,” she finally said. “I love my niece—”
“Enough to push her overboard into monster-infested waters?” Michael growled through clenched teeth.
“I knew she wouldn’t die.” Renata shrugged. “I’ve known her long enough to know that. I just didn’t think it would take her so long to show up at the palace. Back to what I was saying, however. I love my niece. I raised her, after all. But Arianna is strong willed, something I’m probably to blame for. I’ll admit that she was rather indulged as a child. Being denied a voice will bring that sort of sympathy.”
“Your point?”
Renata leaned forward on her elbows. “My niece does not know how to be happy without help.”
“And you want me to convince her that your happiness is right for her.”
“Convince her to marry you and to stop fighting me. Do this, and I will do two things. One, I will only use you as necessary. Two, I will not infect Arianna with the Sorthileige.”
“You would do that to your own niece?”
“I will do it to all my family! To protect them from monsters like your grandfather!”
“But my grandfather is dead,” Michael said. “You no longer need to worry—”
“Your grandfather turned the whole world against my people! He wasn’t satisfied to merely hunt them down in your waters. No, he sent hundreds of ships around the world to find them in every sea known to man.”
“But I’m not my grandfather!”
“Which is why you’re not dead yet.” She slammed the shell down on the vanity so hard that the shell broke. “But I will not allow my people to continue on as unprotected as they were. Soon they will all be stronger, and I will have my own bloodline wearing the Sun Crown, whether that’s through Arianna’s children or mine.”
Michael’s blood ran cold. “I will give you no children. I swear to you, woman—”
“You will have just as much opposition to it as you would have had last night.”
Michael wanted to object, but he couldn’t. Before Arianna’s song, if Renata had asked anything of him, he would have given it joyfully.
Michael swallowed. “Why do you think she’ll listen to me? Arianna does as she pleases.”
This time, Renata closed her eyes, and her voice was quiet. “Arianna has never looked at anyone the way she looks at you.” She opened her eyes. “You hear her.”
Michael laughed without humor. “Perhaps on certain occasions. But I certainly didn’t hear her when I needed to.” He glared at Renata. “You should try listening to her yourself.”
“For Arianna’s sake and the sake of my people, I don’t have that luxury. But you do.” She got up and swam toward the door, stopping when she was beside him. “I’m sending you and Arianna out on a tour of the city this morning. Arianna needs to see the beauty of her own people now that she can stand to live this deep. More than that, however, she needs to see why your union is so important,” her eyes darkened a shade, “to both of you.”
“While I would love nothing more,” Michael said breathlessly as he tried to turn toward her on his bed, “I’m afraid my current condition makes me a less-than-fit riding partner.”
Renata began to hum, and immediately, Michael’s pain lessened. He let out a gusty breath as the stabbing subsided.
“I cannot erase it entirely. Your transformation must be yours to bear. But this will keep you until the ride is over.” With that, she clapped. The door was opened, and Arianna was escorted in by a stern guard wearing a blue sash across his chest.
Despite their current troubles, Michael couldn’t help noticing the graceful shape of Arianna’s mermaid figure. She had on another shiny fitted shirt, similar to the one she’d been wearing when he’d found her on the beach, though this one was blue. Unlike the other one, however, this shirt had a slight skirt attached so that it looked more like a short dress. Michael wondered if all of her clothes were like that, now that everyone knew Arianna could change forms.
Though she looked at the ground again, as seemed to be her habit, her shoulders were held resolutely. Regrettably, her hair was still in that knot on top of her head. As she was escorted in, Michael found himself longing to hear her voice again, as smooth as crystal and as clear as a flute. It sounded exactly as he had imagined it might. Only more beautiful.
As Renata explained her plans for their morning to Arianna, Arianna’s face remained impassive. It was a look Michael regretted knowing well.
Once Renata released them for their excursion, Arianna took his offered arm, but her fingers were stiff, and she stared straight ahead until they were seated in a sleigh behind two dolphins and a sleigh driver.
Michael tried to take stock of his situation as the sleigh began to move. If Arianna does not marry me, I will marry Renata and father her children, carrying out her every whim until the day I die. Arianna will be touched by the Sorthileige, and Renata will
use her as well. If I can convince Arianna to do Renata’s bidding and marry me . . . Michael paused. That would, of course, be his preferred option. And yet . . . she’ll be unhappy.
Torn, Michael gripped the sleigh seat and prayed for the answer to an impossible situation.
Despite the lengthy tour their ride proved to be as they wound through streets and over public centers such as play areas for the children or large city gardens, there were fewer chances for them to talk than he’d hoped. Their driver also turned out to be their guide. Each monument and street was given the same level of enthusiasm as a three-day-old cake might receive.
Arianna sat the same way she had from the start. Her posture was everything a princess should have, head erect, shoulders back, hands folded nicely in her lap. Only her eyes moved.
The capital city was wide, stretching between two sets of underwater mountains. In spite of Michael’s worries, he couldn’t find a single attribute of the city that wasn’t interesting. As with the palace, all the buildings were made of coral. Most of the coral was a pink orange, but a few buildings used other types as well. The structures were typically domed, and the larger houses looked much like a set of four or five colored bubbles mashed together. Though there were streets here, they weren’t smooth or even laid down flat. Rather, the streets seemed more like guides for the lines of merpeople and their animals—dolphins and turtles and the like—that floated above them.
The city filled the underwater valley, going all the way up to the Sea Palace, which sat at the highest point, looking over the rest of the buildings as they dipped down into a bowl shape below. There were thousands of homes, and in between clumps of dwellings sat circles of what looked like markets and public places.
Michael’s attention was soon drawn in particular to a group of children sitting in a circle on a bed of sea grass. A man sat in the circle with them, and was singing out a few notes at a time. The children echoed his notes. As the sleigh moved slowly by, each round of music changed by one note.
“What songs are they singing?” Michael asked.
The guide gave him a pained look over his shoulder. “They are called koroses.”
Michael looked at Arianna, and for the first time, she sighed and looked back at him. “The merpeople have four koroses. Growing, Nurturing, Healing, and Protection. All children are taught the basic four koroses.”
“Like the one you used on me?”
“Monument to the First Sea Crown,” their guide called back in a dull voice, waving his hand vaguely at a statue twice as tall as Michael.
Arianna didn’t even pretend to acknowledge the guide, and instead nodded. “When the children reach adolescence, however, they find that their voice has particular strength in one of the koroses. For example, my father is a Protector. My mother and sister are Healers.”
Michael studied her face. “What is yours?”
She waited a long time to answer. So long, in fact, that Michael wondered if she might not answer him at all.
“I don’t have one.” The impassivity was gone from her face now as she bit her lip. “I can sing all the basic koroses, but I don’t have a soulsong.” Her voice dipped lower. “I think that’s the reason Renata beat me so easily in the contest for the triton.”
“So . . . what do merpeople do with their koroses once they have them?”
Arianna pointed to a group of merpeople hovering over and around a dwelling dome that looked half-constructed. “Those builders are made up of Growers and Nurturers. The Growers sing songs to coax the coral to begin growing. The Nurturers sing to make it flourish. By using techniques they’ve developed and learned over the years, they can make the coral grow in different directions. To make a home, for instance.”
“What kind of work do the Healers do?”
“The Sixth Sea Monument,” their guide droned from the front of the sleigh, gesturing slightly with his hand to the large pile of stones they were passing.
“They do the obvious, such as healing injuries that merpeople might suffer. Sometimes they heal coral buildings that have been damaged in some way. Many occupations can use more than one type of koros. Of course, only Protectors guard our borders for creatures that escape the Deeps. Or they watch for pirates. But most of the other koroses can be applied to many different callings.”
“How do you know so much if you lived away from the city most of your life?”
A weariness crossed her face. “You learn much when all you can do is listen.”
They stopped at the edge of what looked like the largest market in the city. Michael could only estimate that there were over a hundred shops in the circular clearing. Their driver left the sleigh to make a purchase. Wishing to see her truly smile again, Michael leaned over and whispered, “Is there a koros for putting people to sleep?”
Arianna followed his gaze to their guide, and the shadow of a smile breezed over her face. “He is also a Protector.”
“Then why is he working inside the palace?”
“He protects the interests of my aunt.” Arianna’s smile hardened.
Michael turned and studied the slim merman once more as their guide settled back into the sleigh. His graying hair was pulled back into a tight tail at the back of his head. Though he’d been the most loutish guide Michael had ever heard, there had been nothing alarming about him at first. But now Michael could see why Arianna was being so selective with her words. Several shells hung from the man’s waist, and Michael suddenly wondered if he was using the shells to trap their words the way Renata had trapped her song in the shell he’d stolen.
His pondering was interrupted when a little mermaid who looked to be near Lucy’s age swam right into Michael. Her mother grabbed her and pulled her away, scolding her severely.
“Why is everyone swimming so low?” Michael asked as he looked around and realized just how very crowded the water around them was growing.
“The pirates are getting bolder.” The guide cracked the dolphin’s reins.
“They’re attacking Gemmaqua?” Arianna leaned forward.
The guide gave a stiff shrug. “Just before he died, the late Sea Crown cancelled all upper-level activities. After four abductions, it was all anyone could think to do.” Then, as he stopped the sleigh again, he called back in a monotone, “The new Sea Crown says you may wander the market for a bit. But stay where I can find you.” He fixed his eyes on Arianna. “It wouldn’t do to have the new Sea Crown’s niece being lost on her first day now, would it?”
“Of course not.” Arianna met his cold smile with one of her own before turning and leading Michael away.
Michael tried to keep up, but he was quickly learning that walking underwater was much slower than it had ever been on land, particularly as his legs were unusually stiff. It also irked him that Arianna had to wait for him like she often stopped for Lucy. But perhaps he could use their slow progress to his advantage.
“Your aunt told me something today before you arrived,” he said as he reached for her arm, leaning on her as though he needed her assistance to walk, their faces suddenly just inches apart.
“And what would that be?” She didn’t push him away, but she didn’t lean very far forward either.
“If you don’t marry me, she plans to use the Sorthileige on you.”
Arianna stopped and her blue eyes widened infinitesimally. “She wouldn’t dare.” She straightened her shoulders and scowled. “She should know better than to try that.”
Michael stopped behind a stall where they were at least a little hidden and pulled her back with him. “Arianna, she wants you,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know what it is that she wants, but she wants you just as much as she wants me, if not more.”
“How do you know that?”
“I haven’t spent my life around politicians to learn nothing.”
Arianna glowered at him, but said nothing. Finally, she folded her arms and glared at the ground. “What does it matter to you?”
“Arianna, I .
. . How can you say that?”
At this, her face flamed and her eyes burned. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, her eyes were drawn to something above him.
Michael turned and followed her gaze up to see a large shadow floating on the distant surface. It was impossible to be sure, but he was fairly certain he was seeing colors correctly, at least. “Is that ship’s underside white with a red stripe up the middle?” he asked, squinting.
“Yes. Why?”
“Lucas.” He shook his head. Leave it to his foolish baby brother to try and get himself killed as well. When Michael turned to Arianna, however, her face was suddenly glowing.
“That’s Lucas’s ship?” Her voice went up.
“That’s our flagship.” He sighed. “I was afraid he would follow.”
At this, Arianna began to turn away from him, but Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
She looked at him as though he were daft. “I’m going to speak with Lucas. She hasn’t gotten to him yet.”
“Hold on. If we’ve just now seen the ship from the most populated part of the city, don’t you think Renata and her . . . Protectors saw it the moment it approached? I’ll bet that they’re already on the ship with their charms, telling him their version of the story.”
“You’re the one always saying the Maker has a purpose.” She huffed. “And I believe that there is a purpose in my seeing the ship!”
Michael frowned at her. “The Maker’s purposes don’t give you an excuse to be a fool.”
“It’s a sunny day. They’d never venture up in the direct sun. I’m safe until twilight at least. Besides,” she glared at his hand holding her arm. “I’m good at being invisible. I’ve been so all my life.” With that, she tried to swim away again, but he held on.
Silent Mermaid: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 5) Page 28