by Ruhi Jain
She must be talking to somebody, maybe through the Sea’s version of a phone. Then her voice grew quiet. “A strand of hair?”
Brell was just deciding whether or not she should stay when-
“Gerta, did you run the test?”
Goosebumps appeared on Brell’s arms and she became aware of the danger she was in — the danger of exposing who she was. A chill ran down her spine.
“What do you mean it didn’t work?”
Brell was about to leave, to swim as far away as possible and then she heard the words which made her tremble.
“A human!” Figgie’s sharp voice had the quality of being strangled.
She broke out into a cold sweat. Needing to know all the information they had obtained, she pressed her ears to the door.
“The hair was of a human! You have to double check that. This information has to be kept a secret till you can tell Her Majesty.” There was a painful silence during which Brell felt her heart would explode.
“Okay. Okay. Sure. I’ll do that.”
She couldn’t take it any longer. Clutching her equipment, she swam away from Figgie’s office.
This was unbelievable. She didn’t think being in that garden would prove to be her undoing. If, supposing, Figgie found out that she was the human, God knows what would happen to her.
“What are you doing here?”
She jumped, not realising she’d made her way to the Dining Hall while distracted. “Hey Amanda.”
Her sleek black hair only brought out the darkness in her eyes, and her fingers were curled around a mop.
“Heya you.” She threw the mop on Brell’s face and she dodged it.
“What was that for!” she exclaimed.
Amanda grinned. “You becoming a light green shirt and not talking to me, like, at all.”
Brell threw the mop back at her and realised with a pang of guilt that she was right. “I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’ve been very busy.”
“Sure. Sure.” She flicked away her dark hair from her eyes and looked Brell up and down. “The shirt suits you,” she said in an unexpected soft tone.
“Thank you,” Brell said, a bit surprised. “Do you know where the castle dome is?”
“Yeah, it’s the place between the west and the east side of the castle. It’s a circular marble dome on the inside. Why?”
“It’s on my list. How big is yours?”
Amanda snorted. “I’ll show you,” and proceeded to produce a list as long as hers with a flourish. “That toad is just awful.”
Brell assumed she was talking about Figgie. “Does she always give so many chores on CreDay?”
“Always. Without fail. Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“Just, you know, passing time. Too exhausted to work.”
Amanda sighed. “I know that feeling all too well. Now get out of my way. You’re blocking the tables.” She flicked Brell with the mop again and gave her a playful shove.
Brell laughed and left, just then a thought crossed her mind which made her smile disappear. Would Amanda treat her with the same friendship if she knew that she was a human? Human. She looked down at her swishing purple tail with its clear fins and pictured it as two peachy legs. She longed to feel the ground beneath her feet, the soft dirt as it sunk in between her wiggly toes, the pull of her muscles as she walked and the wind whipping through her hair, tangling it. Swimming with a tail was like gliding. She didn’t feel it.
When she reached the dome, her eyes widened in amazement. She had never seen it because she had never looked up while passing from the east to the west side or vice versa.
The wide dome spanned over her head like a dragon spreading its wings. Intricate mosaic work with gems like ruby, emerald and sapphires bordered the dome, circling it like a stunning, sleepy snake. On the dome was painted a scene from what she guessed was the ancient times. There was a young woman with wavy black hair just like Brell’s, but that fell to her waist, wearing a vest that was lined with gold and studded with small gems. Her tail was dark plum in colour, with light golden shimmer visible even at a distance. A merman dressed similarly was seated next to her, with his muscular arm around her shoulder and his other arm holding a staff with a diamond, the size of a clenched fist, on top. Through the diamond, Brell could see the sea outside the castle and the merry sun that filtered through the water. Seaweed was carved at the base of the staff, climbing its way to the top and circling the diamond. Both man and woman were looking at a tiny infant that the woman cradled in her arms. The child’s eyes were closed and Brell found it to be a very peaceful scene. The figures were seated on a throne adorned with gems and around them were mermaids waiting upon them. It must have been the original Royal Family.
There was something about the painting that drew her in and she wondered what it was. Finally, she realised it was the woman’s features. She looked so familiar that Brell actually wondered if she had seen this woman before. Then again, that thought was ridiculous. The whole dome was sparkling clean. It didn’t look like it even needed another cleaning for at least a year.
Hesitantly, she began spraying the white cleaner on it. When she had finished making the already shining dome even shinier, she sat back and appraised her work. For some unfathomable reason, she felt completely exhausted although it was still morning. The hair at the back of her neck suddenly stood up straight and she realised someone’s dark eyes were focused on her.
“Yes, ma’am?” she whirled around, facing Figgie. She made sure that her injured arm was behind her back.
Figgie, who was patrolling for her regular inspections, looked slightly dazed as she shook her head.
“There is a spot that you missed.” She pointed to one of the brightest, cleanest spot on the dome. Then she shook her head again.
Brell cleaned the area again and when she turned back, Figgie was gone.
Letting out a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding, she quickly left the equipment back in the storage cupboard. For now, she was safe. Figgie didn’t seem to know she was the human. Her eyes fell to the bracelet on her wrist and then to the crystals strung onto it; a single black, glistening crystal next to a grey one. Should she use it? No… it would arouse suspicion if Figgie didn’t remember anything about the human in the sea.
Pressing the bridge of her nose with her fingers, she closed her eyes, feeling tension build up in her chest. She shouldn’t be worrying so much. No, she should be. God, her mind felt like a whirlpool. Her whole body was aching and her head was bursting. The skin on her forehead blazed like a boiling kettle when she passed her hand over it.
“I have a fever.” She realised slowly, feeling a weight settle over her body. She swayed precariously.
And then she collapsed.
Chapter 29: The Rescue Plan
When Brell opened her eyes, she was confident that she was dead, and that scared her. All she saw was darkness, everywhere she looked. She felt oddly numb. She didn’t want to be dead. She wanted to see his face again… what was his name again? Timmy.
Then colour seeped into her vision; specks of yellow floated above her expanding till all she saw was dry, dirty yellow. Her tail felt raw. It hurt to move it.
“You better stay down,” a woman’s voice said. Déjà vu swept over her. Was she in Lily’s house? Twisting her aching neck, she saw not Lily, but a thin, wiry woman wearing an apron that must have been white at some point. She was in a small yellow room crammed with slender beds and the only other person in the room was a mermaid who lay quivering in one corner. The only door to the room was shut, making it suffocating and sickeningly sweet with the smell of antiseptic everywhere.
“Where am I?” Brell rasped, her throat dry and itchy. She was so tired; she just didn’t want to move.
The mermaid next to her placed a glass to her mouth. She had a thin tired face with sparse blond hair which were brown at the roots. “Drink,” she instructed, looking down at Brell with crystal black eyes. For no particular r
eason, it reminded her of the eyes of a snake, emotionless.
“What is it?” Brell tried to look down into the glass, but even her neck hurt.
“It’s going to help you heal.” The mermaid tipped the glass further, and she felt a warm sticky liquid on her lips. “Drink.”
Too tired to resist, she gulped it down, feeling warmth spread over her body.
“You’re in the sick ward,” the mermaid told her placing the glass on the desk next to her bed. “A royal messenger found you lying on the floor, with blood flowing from your forehead. What happened to you?”
Brell brushed her fingers over her forehead, feeling a cloth bandage on it. “I think I fainted,” she whispered.
“The messenger is waiting outside. Would you like to meet him?” the mermaid asked, pushing away the strands of hair from her face.
“Yes please,” she said inaudibly, really wanting to talk to Lukas. The mermaid left the room and in a few seconds she returned, with a merman behind her.
Even though the mermaid’s body covered the merman’s, Brell could figure something was wrong. The merman wasn’t Lukas.
“Hi there.” His voice was deep and rich.
Brell searched his face curiously. He had perfect, sharp features with intelligent eyes and short cut spiky brown hair. There was something about his face which felt off; unnatural.
“My name’s Dilan,” he said, smiling at her. “I found you on the floor below the dome. The nurse says you fainted.”
Brell nodded, and pushed back the lump in her throat. It hurt. Everything hurt. “Thank you,” she said but her throat was so bad that it just sounded like she coughed. Then she cleared her throat and said slightly loudly, “Don’t feel obliged in any way to stay with me.”
“Actually, I was just about to go. What’s your name, again?” he asked casually.
She didn’t hesitate to answer him. “Susan. It was nice to meet you Dilan, even though the circumstances that forced us to meet were a bit unusual.”
“Not at all.” He smiled again, and a chill ran down Brell’s spine. “The pleasure is all mine.” And then he left, leaving her in that dull, faded room.
Brell asked the mermaid next to her, “When can I get out of here?”
“When you heal. Now sleep.”
Brell turned away from her and reach out to Callum through her Dreign. A sharp pain briefly cut through her head and she gasped, breaking the connection.
“Are you all right?” the mermaid asked her, gently tapping her shoulder.
“Yeah. Yes,” Brell gasped. “Yes.”
Then she felt Callum calling her.
“Callum?”
“Brell, are you okay?”
“No. Yes. Wait.” She hadn’t realised that she had said the words aloud until the mermaid tapped her again.
“Do you want another glass?”
“No, no thank you. I’ll sleep.” She added to Callum, “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“And you have no idea what I’ve just heard,” he said, his voice sounding strained.“Did you feel a pain in your head?”
“Yes, it’s because I fainted in the middle of work, and banged my head against the floor.”
“What! You fainted? Why?”
“You think I know?”
“The pain is not because of your head, it’s because we both tried to communicate with each other at the same time. It causes a clash of the signals we send, and that clash hurts the brain. But forget about that now, tell me som —”
“Callum, what did you just hear?”
“I’m getting to that. I’m on my way back from Corfer. We stopped at the Grand View Hotel on the way and one member of the Sacri met me there: Meaken.”
Brell stiffened; her hand weakly clenched into a fist. “What did she tell you about Timmy?”
“She has found a way to save him on CreDay.”
Hope burst in her chest. “Tell me.”
“On CreDay one of your duties will be to clean the area below the stage on which Zeldae will be standing. I’ve arranged it that way. While you’re there, swim to the area below the back stage. There will be a small ‘X’ marked on the ceiling somewhere at the far back. Cut a hole there, just big enough for you. Then put the cut piece back in with a little bit of glue.”
“How will I cut it in the first place?”
“With magic. Create the glue with magic too. Once you have finished this you’ll have to wait till the evening. That is when the eclipse will take place. At exactly six o’ clock, you have to reach the bottom of the stage. Lukas would have knocked out the guards just for a little while. He will accompany you through the hole to the backstage. He will try to incapacitate the guards there while you will go on stage. All this will happen at the beginning of the event so that Zeldae is caught unawares. The closer we get to the eclipse, the stronger she gets.
The moment you get on stage, crack the black crystal and the smoke will momentarily blind everyone and protect you from magic. Your brother will be hung on ropes and —”
“On ropes?” she gasped, traumatized. “Who is inhumane enough to hang a child on ropes?”
“Brell,” he said quietly. “You forget we are not human.”
“What’s the rest of the plan?” she wearily pulled the scratchy brown blanket up to her chin and tried to forget where she was.
“You will have to cut him loose and get him out through the hole. Lukas will be waiting for you at the bottom and he will open a Meander for all three of you for Lily’s place. From there, you go home.”
“There is no place like home,” Brell said dryly. “There never was.”
Callum sensibly kept quiet, and Brell ran through the plan in her mind, memorizing it.
“You know what happened to my brother, don’t you?”
“Of course, Lukas told me.” His voice was suddenly very strained.
“I hate her so much for doing this. Only a monster would want to harm a little boy.”
He was extremely silent for a few minutes. When he spoke, the words resounded with shame. How odd. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything. When exactly is CreDay?” she asked. “Oh wait, what date is today?”
“Today is September 18th. CreDay is on October 3rd.”
“Okay.” Brell closed her eyes and tried to remember and forget at the same time.
“I have faith in you,” he said suddenly. “I know this is tough, Brell. And I know your brother’s life here is at stake. But something tells me you are going to be fine.”
She sighed loudly, “Thank you. Can you somehow contact Lukas?”
“I think I can. Why?”
If she told him about what Figgie had discovered, she knew he’d get furious, so she deflected.
“I just want to tell him something important.”
“Where are you now?”
“The sick ward. It’s yellow and cramped and stinks.”
“I’ll tell Lukas.” He paused, distracted. He was listening to another conversation taking place. “Valery is such a spoilt brat. She just demanded a new wardrobe by the time she comes back.”
She almost smiled, hearing such an outburst from him. “We can always rely on Valery to entertain us.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I ask you something? If Lukas hates Zeldae so much, why does he work for her?”
“He had been planning something against Zeldae but never had the means to execute it. Now, through the rebel group, he does. As for me, it’s good company to have on the inside.” He paused, then said, “I’ve got to go, Brell. Feel better.”
After that, she tried to sleep. Fretting over what would happen two weeks from now would be of no use. But the plan had so many flaws. Like how would she get to the stage at exactly six or how would she cut Timmy loose in just a few seconds! Or… she sighed, giving up; the list was endless.
“Susan Morris.”
Brell’s eyes flew open in alarm and she moved to her side too fast; her head ached
and her vision darkened momentarily.
Figgie was looking at her with cynical eyes. “How did she end up in the sick ward, Lola?” Figgie turned to the mermaid next to her, the nurse.
Lola looked at Figgie with tired, exhausted eyes. “She fainted in the dome and split her head. When Dilan brought her here, she was in pain so I gave her a sedative but …” she frowned. “It hasn’t worked.”
Brell’s eyes flickered from Lola’s confused face to Figgie’s contemplative one. She kept a calm, composed mask on her face to hide her terror. Of course! The sedative would only work on mermaids, not humans.
“Are you in pain?”
“Yes.”
“Then resume work tomorrow. Your chores will be doubled,” Figgie said bluntly, as if it was everyday she told an injured mermaid to do double work, and swam out.
Brell glanced at Lola, who was still staring at the sedative in confusion. “If someone comes to meet me and I’m asleep, please wake me up.”
She nodded and Brell shifted to her side again. This time she went to sleep for real, extremely tired. Her dreams were invaded by the cool, calm face of Zeldae.
*
She was in the dining room again and all the royals were enjoying dinner while she was serving one of the messengers. The chandelier tinkled mischievously and then suddenly came falling down. She tried to swim away from it, but something was holding her in place, trapping her against her will below the falling chandelier. She watched it coming closer and closer helplessly. She screamed once, twice, thrice… each second watching it hurtling towards her. To kill her. To crush her. And just as it was an inch away from her, white gas enveloped her, covering her, smothering her, isolating her in its icy cold mist. It slowly turned black, and she began choking on it.
She was alone now, or so she thought. Zeldae’s terrifying voice cut through the mist, chuckling loudly. “You human …” she sneered and Brell felt a sharp pain run down her spine. “The day will come when I shall Rip. You. Apart!” The last three words were screamed at her, and Brell felt pain; pain everywhere. “Your runny red blood shall satisfy my —”
“Susan! Wake up!” Someone’s frantic voice pulled her over the surface of her nightmare. It was so realistic. The nightmare. But the pain was real. Pain that had spread all over her arms and legs.