I want to hate him, and yet, I find I can’t. As arrogant and self-centered as he is, I know what it’s like to be trapped behind walls. I can’t help but feel his haughtiness is a side effect of his confined life rather than the reason for his imprisonment.
Swallowing down my annoyance, I choose my words carefully. “You will be.”
Triton’s eyebrow drops back down. “What do you mean, ‘will’?”
“Your father put conditions on your release,” Royce says, having gotten to his feet.
“What conditions?” Triton paces the length of the floor, his bare feet slapping against it.
“You’re to accompany us to see Dionysus,” Royce explains. “You’re supposed to lead us to Jipper, stay out of trouble, and prove to your father that you deserve a second chance.”
“He’s coming with us?” Hettie blurts out. “No, no way. Not after he sent that thing after us.”
Triton stops pacing and stares, eyes wide. “You had already killed one of my Temptresses, and you were sailing right for me. What else was I supposed to do?”
“Talk to us,” Hettie says.
“I don’t make a habit of talking with liars.” He pointedly looks at Royce. “I only allowed you to come so you could turn Grax back.”
“Liars?” Royce says. “We haven’t lied about anything.”
Triton scoffs. “Do you honestly think I’d ever believe my father would want me to go back to Jipper? He would never allow it.”
“It’s the truth,” I say.
“You’re lying. He would never—” He spins around toward the Temptresses, looking for support.
One of them shrugs as though she doesn’t know what to say, and the other nods. “We heard your father say as much.”
The watery walls around the room begin to boil again. Through them, a spiky black sea urchin flies in. Triton catches it in his bare hand, only to toss it right back through the wall.
He turns on us. “I bet he thought it was funny, didn’t he? He knows I can’t go there.” He storms over to his throne and sits down, jiggling his knee up and down. He stays there a few moments, brow creased in thought, before hopping up again. “I’d rather stay here and rot.”
“Your father offered you that option,” Royce says. “You can either help us or you can stay imprisoned forever.”
“He didn’t offer me a choice,” Triton shoots back. “He knew I’d never take his offer. Dionysus and I aren’t on the best of terms.”
“Our hope is you could go there and show your father that you’ve changed,” I say, keeping my voice even. As much I as I don’t want Triton and his moodiness lurking on the journey, he’s the best and now only chance I have of saving the kingdom.
He focuses his eyes on me. “Why do you think Dionysus gave your father the power to turn everything to gold? Do you think he really wanted to help your father? That he was just some benevolent traveler who swooped in to save your impoverished country?” He shakes his head. “He knows how humans react to power. He knew exactly what the power would do to your father, how it would destroy his life. And he wanted it to happen. He enjoyed watching it happen.” Triton hunches his shoulders forward, shaking his head. “If he knows why you are coming, and that I was responsible for getting you there, he’ll curse me before I even set foot on his cursed island. So turn Grax back”—he waves vaguely at the sea creature still frozen in the middle of the room—“and then get out.”
I steady myself, pulling on the diplomacy skills I’d read about—the ones I’d been trying unsuccessfully to model back at the palace. “With your knowledge of the way Dionysus thinks and our skills,” I say as I gesture to Royce, Rhat, and Hettie, “we can find a way to defeat him. And you can win your freedom.”
Triton rubs his temples. “The only way to beat him is to play his games. I’ve played his games before.” He lifts his eyes up again to take in the group. “When I was younger and more foolish, I loved to play his games. Each one was a personal challenge.”
Hettie rolls her eyes but thankfully keeps any thoughts to herself.
“After every game, I kept telling myself I understood his thinking better, so I’d beat him next time. I kept betting more and more. When I had nothing left, I bet him my father’s ocean. Can you imagine what would have happened if I’d lost?”
“How did you beat him?” Hettie questions.
“I didn’t. That’s how I ended up here.” Triton looks away, staring through the walls to something only he can see. The sea urchin bursts through the wall again. Triton catches it, tossing it up and down in his palm before pitching it back out the wall again. “My father had to save me. I’d bet Dionysus that I could keep his island from rising with the sun the next morning. My father is the ruler of the ocean, and as his son, the ocean also listens to me. I was sure I could stop it from rising.
“So the next morning, I wove a seaweed net over the spot where the island would rise out of the waves. I placed a layer of sand atop it to be sure nothing would get through. But the island kept rising. I used up all my strength holding the water in place, trying to make it solid so the island couldn’t pass through.
“But I wasn’t strong enough. The peak broke through, and just as it did, my father showed up. With a wave of his trident, the island sunk back down.
“Dionysus claimed he’d won, that the island had risen. My father argued that only the tip broke through and not the entire island. After hours of shouting, Dionysus didn’t so much let me go as my father dragged me away and locked me in here.”
We all stare at each other, not sure what to say.
Royce clears his throat. “Poseidon did mention that you aren’t allowed to make any deals with Dionysus if you do come with us.”
Triton grunts. “I won’t be going.” The urchin makes a third appearance. Triton fiddles with the spikes, rolling the thing over and over again in his palms like Royce used to do with a coin from his father’s cursed pile of gold. He looks like a sullen child.
And I know the longer he wallows in self-pity, the less likely he is to agree—not to mention every moment he spends moping is another moment Dionysus could be advancing his plans against Lagonia.
I move around the golden sea creature and stride up the steps to Triton’s throne. I put my arm on his shoulder, pushing him backward. “Listen—you can either stay here alone for eternity with some bitter Temptresses and your sea monster. Or you can be part of our adventure and win your freedom.”
He looks down at my hand like he hadn’t expected me to be solid and real. Or maybe he’s surprised he hasn’t turned to gold at my touch.
“I know what it does to a person to be locked up,” I continue. “I know that you’re going to retreat deeper and deeper into your mind until you can’t find your way out. Is that what you want?” I take my hand away and straighten, letting my words sink in before I go on. “Is that how you want to fade from memory? As just another individual bested by Dionysus? Or do you want to be the one to finally bring him down? To pay him back for all those times you lost?” I feel a little guilty using that against him, but my kingdom’s counting on me. “We’re offering you the best chance at that, and your only chance at freedom. I doubt your father will ever give you this chance again.” I lower my voice, going in for the strongest emotional appeal I can think of. “Prove him wrong. Prove you can do what he thought you couldn’t.”
I pray I’ve found the right angle as I stare down at him, waiting for his response.
He doesn’t meet my gaze. He looks younger, more unsure than I thought possible for him. He studies the ocean, distorted outside the watery walls.
I bite the inside of my cheek, waiting.
Just when I think he’s never going to answer, without looking at me, he tosses the urchin back through the wall and says, “Even if I wanted to go, there’s no way to get you there too.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Zeus made the island nearly impossible to reach even for a god—and nearly impossible to le
ave. If anyone came for his son, Zeus wanted to be able to capture them there.” He straightens. “It’s an island that moves faster than anything else in the ocean. No ship can anchor to it without being ripped apart at that speed. No land creature and none of my father’s sea creatures can move fast enough to catch it—even Grax struggles, and he’s the fastest creature in the ocean. Even the waves I create to catch it barely reach it. I have to perfectly time my leap onto the island. Not to mention, if I can somehow propel you along with me, you’ll all die when the wave crashes into the island.” He throws up his hands. “And, if anything were to happen to me, you’d be stranded in the middle of the ocean when you tried to leave.”
Triton falls back and crosses his arms.
I stare back toward the others. They’re all looking to me. Because I’m supposed to be the one leading them. But nothing I read prepared me for trying to reach an uncatchable island.
And if no land or sea creature can make the journey, then how?
Air.
A creature that could fly.
I whip back around toward Triton, something Poseidon said tugging at my mind. “When was the last time you visited your half-siblings?”
CHAPTER 15
No,” Triton says. “It’s just as dangerous to go there as it is to go to Jipper.”
“But it could work?” I ask, hope cautiously welling within me.
He waves his hand around. “In theory.”
“And they’d be able to get us off the island too.”
Hettie clears her throat. “Care to let the rest of us in on this plan?”
“Pegasi,” I say. “They’re winged horses created from the sea.”
“But do you know what else you need to birth a pegasus?” Triton cuts in.
“Gorgon blood,” I reply.
“Exactly,” Triton says. “Gorgons, with their scaly bodies and heads full of snakes. Gorgons, where if you look them in the eyes, you turn to stone.” He shakes his head. “Even after a gorgon itself is dead, if one of those snakes bites you—you’ll die.”
“Charming,” Hettie mutters.
“But,” I counter, “I’ve read that Panacea’s potion would cure a bite or someone who has been turned to stone.” When I was turned back from being a golden statue as a child, I read about transformations and cures and every magical thing I could think of in hopes I could find a way to make my skin the way it once was. I spent a lot of time reading about gorgons, like Medusa, since they turn people to stone. I thought if Panacea could cure that, maybe her potion would work for me.
Triton rolls his eyes. “No one knows where Panacea keeps her potion. And I doubt we’d be able to find it in time. Once someone is bitten, they have only a few days at the most.”
“What about Hebe’s cup?” I add. Hebe was cupbearer to the gods. Any mortal who drank from one of her cups would be brought back to health. I’d seen pictures of a crystal-clear chalice with the different faces of the gods and goddesses circling it.
Triton rubs his temples and looks at me sidelong. “She is located where no mortal—or punished demigod like yours truly—can set foot.”
“Perhaps the Oracle—” I start to say.
“No,” Triton proclaims. “You can see that it’s impossible. Turn Grax back and leave me in peace.”
I cross my arms over my chest. I refuse to give up.
“If someone gets bitten,” I say, my eyes shooting up to find his, “I could turn them to gold to stop the poison from killing them until we could find the cure.” Of course, I’d do everything I could to prevent that from happening, but it’s the solution I need to get Triton to take us there.
Triton arches one eyebrow. “You really want me to take you to Gorgon Island, where hundreds of these creatures are slithering around waiting to trap victims in their muddy ponds?”
“Yes!”
“Humans are more foolish than I thought,” Triton mutters. But he looks up at me. “Fine, I’ll take you to Gorgon Island—but if you die, that’s on you. I’m only going so I can get out of this prison.” He waves his hand. “Now change Grax back so we can be on our way.”
I nearly fall off the throne steps, I’m so relieved.
I dash down and rip off my glove as I approach the sea monster. Only then do I hesitate. “I need your assurance it won’t attack us as soon as I turn it back.”
Triton rolls his eyes. “You humans are all so untrusting.”
“He did try to kill us,” Hettie chimes in, gesturing to her arm.
Triton waves his hand. Water shoots out of the wall and wraps around Hettie’s arm.
She screams, trying to swat it away.
Then, just as quickly as it came, it drops away into the floor and disappears.
Hettie yanks at her sleeve, pulling it up to reveal perfectly healed skin. She gapes at Triton.
“You can heal injuries?” Rhat marvels, looking at Hettie’s arm.
Triton shrugs. “Only things caused by the sea or its creatures.” He waves his hand. “And you’ll find all your other men have been healed from whatever injuries they had. Now release Grax.”
All eyes land on me. I take a steadying breath and reach forward. Instantly, my insides go cold. Every limb tingles. The gold flings itself around inside me, but that’s nothing compared to what the sea monster does.
It whips its tail around, nearly missing me as I duck under it. The beast stares right at me, its one eye unblinking. Then it lunges forward.
I scream and duck, hand at the ready so I can turn the creature back into a statue. But it doesn’t leap straight onto me like I’m expecting.
It leaps over me. I turn to see it has pinned Triton to his throne, and the creature’s long tongue lolls out, sliding up and down Triton’s face.
“Off, off,” Triton says, laughing.
“It’s his pet?” Hettie says, making some sort of accompanying gagging noise.
The creature rubs its snout against Triton’s leg. Triton absently scratches its head before he hops down the steps. “Are we going or not?”
He strides past us toward the entryway.
I transfer the gold to a nearby seashell and slip it into my pocket to give to Phipps later.
Outside, the rest of the crew waits on the reef.
Triton hesitates a moment, unsure what will happen when he crosses over the threshold. But he squares his shoulders and plunges forward onto the bridge.
Once out of the palace, his confidence grows. He raises his arms up, watching the breeze blow across his arms. He smiles and saunters over to the reef.
Grax bursts through the palace wall, sending water in every direction. Triton stands on the reef, eyes closed, enjoying the moment.
“Who’s this?” Phipps asks.
He and Lenny must’ve been playing some sort of game they just invented, because Phipps has another sailor bent over on all fours acting as a table while he scatters little pieces of coral and takes bets on which side will land upward.
At our appearance, Lenny sweeps the coral bits into a pile and Phipps whips them away into his pocket.
Triton’s eyes snap open. “I am Prince Triton, son of Poseidon, Prince of the Tides, Sovereign of the Sea, Commander of the Currents, more courageous than any sea creature.” His eyes narrow, and he looks down his nose. “And I don’t care who you are.”
Phipps scoffs and puffs out his chest. “I’m Phipps, King of Games, Swindler of Secrets, Sovereign of Schemes—”
Triton turns to me, incredulous, and cuts him off. “This is the crew you brought to go up against Dionysus?”
“They’re worth ten men each,” Royce supplies.
“Cute,” Triton scoffs. “You brought men to a fight of gods. Let see how that turns out for you.”
I swallow, knowing he’s right. That I could be leading these men to their deaths. But if I don’t at least try to fight, the vision the Oracle showed me will come true. And I can’t let Lagonia be destroyed—or the world. Besides, I’m still clinging to the idea that
what I’d said to Poseidon is true—the Oracle sent us here because we could win.
“How long will it take to get to Dionysus?” I ask Triton to show I’m not backing down.
Triton shrugs and stares out over the horizon. “It’s about a two-day walk to Gorgon Island.”
“Walk?” Hettie asks. She stares out over the waves like she’s missing some obvious path.
Triton peers down at her as if he smelled something rank. “You don’t expect me to ride in one of your human ships, do you? Prince Triton, son of Poseidon, Prince of the Tides, Sovereign of the Sea, Commander of the Currents, more courageous than any sea creature, does not ride over the ocean in a boat.”
“What about those waves you were talking about?” I ask. “Couldn’t we ride on one of them to save time?” I stare up at the sun. We have less than four days until Dionysus arrives at the shores of Lagonia with an army at his back.
“I had a hard enough time not drowning you in my seaweed. Not to mention the rocky shoreline that stretches for miles around the island. Walking is much easier.” He waves his hands, and the waves part, forming a watery staircase leading down into the depths of the ocean.
Without waiting for the rest of us, Triton ambles down the staircase.
I sigh and start down the steps into the ocean’s abyss.
CHAPTER 16
When we finally reach the bottom of the stairs, my legs ache. It felt like we were descending for hours. And though I’d never been scared of the ocean, looking down into the distorted depths and seeing dark shadows and blurry outlines made my skin crawl the whole way down. Not to mention I’m still dripping wet from my journey to Poseidon’s palace, and it’ll take hours to dry off in the darkness at the bottom of the ocean. If I dry at all.
The salty smell is so overwhelming, I’m surprised salt crystals aren’t falling around me like snow.
Sand squelches beneath my feet as I survey the scene. Some sort of air bubble has cleared a decent amount of space on the ocean floor. Blackness presses around us as the ocean looms overhead, blocking out any view of the surface. There’s an eerie silence, as if the water swallows all the noises we make. Little ripples appear where fish and other larger creatures touch the edges of the air pocket.
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