Silent Mermaid: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 5)

by Brittany Fichter

  She was going into the Deeps.

  48

  Plans and Peril

  The Protector on Arianna’s right let out a high, frantic note as she led them toward the murky waters, and the other echoed it with a shout for her to stop. Arianna just gritted her teeth as she plunged headfirst into the Deeps.

  The dark chasm opened up below her, and Arianna dove down into its shadows. Only when she had found a little crevice in the side of one of the sea cliffs, a good distance from the nearest visible vent, did Arianna stop swimming. As she pulled herself into the crevice, she listened to their distant voices from above.

  “Should we follow her?” the woman asked.

  “I am not going in,” the man said.

  “The Sea Crown will be very disappointed if she gets away.”

  “Then I will stay here and watch to see if she comes out, and you go tell the Sea Crown what happened.”

  Their voices drifted away, still arguing, and Arianna let herself lean back into the little hole. She couldn’t get too comfortable, however, as she could still hear fish and other larger creatures drifting past her hiding place. Her initial instinct was to wait for the first lull between passersby and then swim to the surface as fast as she could. She discarded the idea as soon as it was in her head, however, as she knew that was the fastest way to become infected by the Sorthileige. Without a way to see the columns of smoke, she could easily swim over a vent.

  Not that she could see any better down here. With each passing moment, the thin light grew thinner, and she was quickly becoming imprisoned in a darker night than she had ever thought possible.

  So this was it then. Michael would be subject to Renata’s every whim. Lucas would bleed out on a ship, and Arianna would die in the Deeps. Her family and kingdom would be slowly poisoned with a darkness that ate at their souls, minds, and bodies, and Maricanta would be ruled by the king who shared a bed with the woman who hated his people. Renata’s children would have his smile, the one that crinkled their eyes. Arianna felt a pang of jealousy and then one of agony. His children would have Renata’s heart.

  “Who wins?” she shouted, suddenly not caring who or what heard her. “Is this what you wanted?”

  The Maker didn’t answer her. He never did.

  “I just don’t understand!” she continued to shout up at the surface. “Why bring us so far? Why do you continue to dangle hope in front of our noses and then pull it just out of reach?” Invigorated by her sudden boost of courage, Arianna left her hole and began to swim aimlessly. If the Maker wanted her to swim into a column of smoke, she would have no choice in the matter anyhow.

  “And why let everyone think that I’m going to fulfill the prophecy? I haven’t been faithful to you. I’ve doubted. So much I’ve doubted.” She brushed some creature that passed by in the dark, but it only kept swimming. “Michael believed, though! He trusted you! And you’ve given him over to the creature on this planet that will hurt him most!”

  And how would you know that he trusted?

  Arianna stopped swimming. The words hadn’t been audible, but she had heard them in her head as clear as day. Whether it was her own mind or the Maker’s, she couldn’t tell. But the question was posed either way.

  “He told me,” she said breathlessly.

  Anyone can claim something. How did you know?

  “Because . . . because I saw it. For months I saw it. He loves you! And you’ve turned your back on him!”

  Why were you there to see it?

  Arianna was confused. Either her mind was moving in directions she was too tired to keep up with, or the Maker had his own agenda. “I saw it because I was . . .” she frowned, “with him.”

  The voice asked no more questions, but one question still remained. It was the question that had haunted her for her entire life.

  What if everything had been different?

  If her mother hadn’t been chased to the surface by that creature of the Deeps, Arianna would have grown up like all the other children, learning the four koroses and surrounded by friends. When the time came, she would have discovered her soulsong. Eventually, she would have found another soulsong that harmonized with hers. Rinaldo would never have needed to sacrifice himself for her. He would have competed for the triton, and Renata would have lost.

  Perhaps, the voice said.

  Perhaps Rinaldo wouldn’t have needed to sacrifice himself for her. But what if he had still been killed by the pirates? Then Arianna might still compete for the triton. But, Arianna thought to herself, she might have bested Renata in the competition because she would have had her soulsong. The following morning’s coronation would be hers rather than her aunt’s.

  Perhaps.

  Arianna nearly imagined another scenario, but it occurred to her that either way, there would never have been a reason for her to watch Michael or Lucy and Claire play out on the terrace because she would have never felt the call of the sun. She might have met Michael at a ball now and then when her family was invited above, but she never would have truly known him. Furthermore, Michael’s grandfather would never have taken his own life because there would have been no war, and he would still be king, meaning the pirates would still have a contract with the Sun Crown.

  Every time Arianna tried to find a new way to fix the world, more problems presented themselves. Each alternate history provided a few solutions, but offered more problems as well. Still, she was always brought to the conclusion that her connection to Michael, tenuous as it had always been, would never have existed. He would never have opened up to her. She would never have helped him save his people. She might never have been heard. And Arianna was learning now that having a voice never guaranteed that one would be heard.

  A flash flashed to her left so briefly that for a moment, Arianna thought she’d imagined it. Light hardly made it through the smoky water during the day, let alone at night. But just as she turned away, she saw it again, this time more clearly. One thin ray of light had managed to pierce the dark and touch the sandy floor of the Deeps. Arianna gawked. She could only see the bottom, but from where she floated, it looked quite a bit like . . . a moonbeam?

  As she drew closer, she realized that she was looking through a small hole that led from her side of the Deeps to another open area on the other side of a towering wall of rock. The hole was so small that she nearly had to scrape the seafloor with her stomach in order to get through. But when she emerged on the other side, Arianna gasped.

  “This is impossible,” she whispered.

  Arianna found herself at the bottom of a gigantic cove teeming with life. The space was round, and large enough to nearly fit the Sea Palace’s dining hall inside. Its walls rose almost to the ocean’s surface, and its waters were perfectly clear, letting the distant moonlight float all the way down to the seafloor. Ocean life of all kinds thrived around her. Sea stars, blue, yellow, purple, pink, red, and green fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, clams, turtles, dolphins, and even sharks slipped silently past one another as though they hadn’t a care in the world.

  “Impossible,” she whispered again. The cove was filled with creatures that shouldn’t even live in the Second Sea. Many of them belonged miles away. And yet, here they were in front of her. None of their eyes were black. None of them made sudden moves to attack others. It was a paradise in the middle of the ocean’s most notorious nightmare. How could such a contradiction exist?

  Suddenly, unbidden, Arianna recalled the words of the prophecy.

  Child of sun,

  Child of sea,

  Destined to silence,

  Destined to sing.

  One nature to rule,

  One nature to fight,

  Only when owned can two peoples unite.

  The underwater cove and all of its peaceful creatures shouldn’t have existed. Arianna shouldn’t have been born with legs and fins. But the cove was all around her, and Arianna was a child of two natures, whether she wanted to be or not.

  She closed her eye
s. Michael’s betrayal still hurt, and the pain of Rinaldo’s death wouldn’t ever be completely healed. But this . . . maybe this was the first answer to her long list of whys.

  For a reason she couldn’t explain, the cove simply existed. And it was beautiful. And for the first time in her life, Arianna realized that so was she.

  Arianna had long doubted Mae’s methods, but she had still tried to use them when she didn’t know what else to do. Now, however, Arianna thought about her two natures. She closed her eyes and pictured the water, cool and soothing as it ebbed and flowed in its familiar rhythmic motion. Then she pictured the sun. Holding them together in her mind, Arianna sang. And when her song was done, she looked up at the moonlight and whispered to the Maker,

  “I understand.”

  49

  Bitter Fates

  Michael’s head pounded, hurting almost as much as his legs. Prying his eyes open, he glanced down to see that a blanket made of living sea flora had been spread over his lower half. He started to pull it off, but then thought better of it. It was night outside, so if memory served him correctly . . . his transformation would be complete tomorrow.

  He had the sudden urge to be sick.

  A short melody was sung just outside his door. The lock slid open, and Renata swam in to seat herself at his feet. In the light of the algae lanterns, he could see that the black veins stretched down to her chin now, and the whites of her eyes were beginning to disappear. As frightening as she was, however, her usual air of confidence was gone. Instead, her shoulders slouched, and she stared at the ground for a long time clasping and unclasping her hands.

  “Plans have changed,” she finally said in a low voice.

  “What?” Michael croaked. Even his throat felt terrible.

  “Today was a test for you and Arianna. You did your part well. Unfortunately, she chose another path, which means you and I will be wed tomorrow, at sunrise when your transformation is complete.”

  Michael racked his memory. What had they done earlier that day? What test had Arianna failed?

  “I will give you some privacy to tell Arianna yourself.” Renata left her chair and began to swim for the door.

  “She’s here?”

  Renata nodded at the window. The netting that had covered it that morning had since been removed. “She always uses the windows.” Renata smiled sadly.

  Then she was gone, and Michael was left alone to try and remember what had happened earlier that day. But for the life of him, he could recall nothing.

  I don’t understand, he told the Maker. Why does Renata get to have her way? You’re letting her spread darkness all around the world. Why?

  But there was no reply, and Michael’s pain soon had him on his back again. When he realized that he could no longer move his legs by themselves, he propped himself up on his elbows. Shaking with the effort, he pulled back the corner of the blanket.

  Where his legs had lain even when he’d awakened that morning, there was now only a tail. Horrified, he poked it. The thin scales were sticky and almost the color of an unripe banana. A few spots were darker, more of a blue than the others. Disgusted, Michael threw the blanket back over his legs and lay down once again.

  He floated in and out of consciousness until he heard a light thump on his wall. When he opened his eyes, Arianna was perched on the balcony, her triumphant smile lighting the room. That smile cleared his head just enough for him to smile weakly back. He tried to pull himself up, but she rushed to his side and pushed him back down.

  “Michael, I found—”

  “Later.”

  “What?”

  “Tell me later.” He pushed himself up into a sitting position despite her protests. “I need you to tell me what I did well.”

  She stared. “I don’t understand.”

  “Renata said I did something well today. But you failed the test. What did she mean?”

  She drew back slightly.

  “Arianna,” he reached out and took her slim hand in his, though his own hand shook as though he had aged fifty years. “I need to know what I did.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she mumbled.

  “Arianna.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed. “You stabbed Lucas.” Then she placed her head in her other hand and her shoulders sagged.

  All of the pain disappeared along with Michael’s disgust for his new body. His disgust with himself, however, was soaring up to the stars.

  “That’s what the siren song does,” she said quietly. “It wears off now and then. You might recall a certain acquaintance or remember a little about your life before, but until it’s truly broken or you’re miles from the ocean, she will have you in her grasp forever. I tried to stop you, I promise.”

  “Is he—”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I just wish I could think!” he exploded, shooting up out of the bed. “My head has been stuffed with fog, and I can’t even think enough to remember killing my own brother!” His new fins refused to keep him suspended in the water, and he floated back down as sobs wracked his body. It dawned on Michael that this would be the way he would live for the rest of his life. He would rule his people with Renata’s fist. She would eventually order him to love her. He would be ordered to kill for her whenever it suited her. And if Arianna proved to be too difficult, he would eventually go after her, too.

  “There must be something I can do!” He grasped Arianna’s arms and searched her face desperately. “You can’t shoulder the entire burden yourself. It’s not fair! There must be something . . .” As the words left his lips, however, he knew immediately what it was. He stopped and looked down at the strap wrapped around his bare chest. On it hung a knife.

  “She’ll never let you get close enough to use it.”

  He looked up to see Arianna wearing a sad smile. But he just shook his head. “I won’t be using it on her.”

  She pursed her lips for a moment, then her eyes grew wide. “No!”

  “Arianna,” he leaned forward, trying to ignore the burning it caused his waist. “I will take my own life before I allow her to use me against you or anyone else.”

  “But you said you would never be like your grandfather! You promised!”

  “He took his own life to avoid living,” Michael whispered. “I would give mine to make sure you live yours.” Only as he said this did Michael realize what Arianna was wearing. A hunger too deep for words wrenched his soul as he took in the pearl-white gown that should have been used to make her his.

  It might have, had he not been such a determined fool to begin with.

  She still shook her head, though she was weeping now, too. “Give me time! I found my soulsong! I can fight her! If I can only get the triton before she’s coronated, we stand a chance!”

  A familiar hum sounded at the door, and before Michael could reply, Renata and a dozen Protectors filed in. Singing a low dirge, the Protectors gathered around Arianna. An unseen force pulled her hands out of his, and shackles were immediately placed around her wrists.

  “Give me a chance, Michael!” she screamed at him. “Please!”

  “That’s enough, Arianna,” Renata said over the songs and Arianna’s pleas. “You’ve had time to say your goodbyes. Now it’s time to go.”

  But Arianna continued to thrash against her captors. “Promise me you’ll wait!”

  Till sunrise, my love, he thought as they gagged her and pulled her away, still screaming his name through the cloth over her mouth. You have until sunrise.

  50

  Worth the Cost

  Arianna stared at the wall of her prison cell, determined not to look at her aunt. Everyone had gone but Renata, who had floated at the bars for an hour now, begging Arianna to look at her.

  Still, ignoring her aunt only kept her from Arianna’s actual eyes. In her mind’s eye Arianna still saw Renata order Michael to kiss her, to hold her, to touch her. His warm hazel eyes would behold her with adoration the way they had once looked at Arianna on
the Sun Palace’s terrace.

  Is his only other course of action death? She asked the Maker. No. She shook her head to herself. She had to get him before sunrise. Then she could use her soulsong where it would actually do some good. Which meant she needed to get rid of her aunt if she was ever to leave the hateful iron bars or the dark stone room behind her. Which meant she needed to lose her gag and shackles as well.

  “This is for your own good,” Renata was saying wistfully. “For all of us!” She smiled tentatively when Arianna finally made eye contact. “I tried to make you happy! I really did! Believe me, I don’t want to go through with this nonsense tomorrow morning any more than you do.”

  “Yes,” Arianna mumbled through her gag, “I’m sure marrying a young, handsome prince is quite difficult indeed.”

  Somehow her aunt understood her muffled retort. “Stealing happiness from the child I love is the most difficult thing I have ever done!” Renata snapped. Then she sighed. “But the changes are necessary. When all of our people are stronger, we will find peace.” Her expression hardened. “It’s only fair to warn you, however, that when someone offers you assistance, which I’m sure they will, just remember that I am the Sea Crown now.” She held the triton up. “And as soon as I am crowned, anyone who seeks to thwart my measures will die. Just keep that in mind.”

  You’re not the Sea Crown yet, Arianna wanted to shout back. But she knew better than to speak the words aloud. Renata was turning toward the door. The sooner she was gone, the better. And Renata did leave, but not without humming a few lines from her soulsong and sealing the lock to Arianna’s cell and then the dungeon itself.

  When Arianna was sure she was alone, she closed her eyes and imagined the sun and the sea. She could feel the song bend and sway as it fell from her throat, moving cautiously as though it hadn’t moved in years. Like fingers, the song slid into the lock. Up and down she moved her voice, making it higher and lower, even using different keys as she strained to open the lock.