The kraken’s eyelids drooped, and it sank towards the ravine.
“Gather around it!” Althea ordered. “Follow my lead.”
Fiora turned to swim towards her aunt, but something on the surface caught her eye. Splintered wood from the ship cast dark shadows against the waves, but there was something else.
Clouds cleared, and the last rays of the setting sun showed the silhouette of a human floating in the waves.
He must have fallen overboard, and Kathelin’s song had pulled the ship away before they could retrieve him.
Below Fiora, the kraken wriggled in the ravine as it fought sleep. The mermaids had regrouped into a dome over the creature. Under Althea’s direction, they were weaving the attack song and the lullaby together in a more organized fashion, creating a coherent enchantment that seemed to be working.
They didn’t need her help. Fiora turned away from the choir and swam as fast as she could towards the human.
He slipped beneath the waves as Fiora raced to meet him. Was she too late? Please, don’t be too late. She reached the man, wrapped her arms around his torso, and pulled him back to the surface. He was unconscious, but he gasped for air when they broke through the waves.
Thank goodness.
His ship was nowhere in sight. Kathelin must have sent it back to shore.
Something rumbled beneath them, and Fiora dragged the man through the water. It would be best to put some distance between them and the kraken just in case it woke up again.
He sputtered as she squeezed a little too tightly. Fiora adjusted her grip so she could see his face. She almost dropped him in surprise.
“King Gustave?”
The king did not respond.
Fiora wrapped her arms around him and swam harder. She tried not to think about the resentment she felt towards this man, but she couldn’t shake it. King Gustave had ruined her chances at the Princess Test by presenting evidence for Lina.
“I would be married by now if not for you,” she whispered. “I would be human.”
King Gustave did not respond. His face was limp, and he looked more pathetic than aggravating at the moment. Blood from a cut on his head trickled down his face and into his beard.
Fiora pushed away her anger about the Princess Test and focused on swimming. King Gustave wasn’t particularly heavy since he was floating, but it was hard to keep his head above water and move with any kind of speed. His clothes added to his bulk and dragged in the water.
So this was why mermaids didn’t wear clothing. Fiora considered removing some of the king’s clothes to make swimming easier, but that would be difficult to do while keeping his head above water.
Not to mention how awkward it would be if he woke up while she was doing it.
She gritted her teeth and kept pulling the king towards shore. The mermaid’s song faded into silence as she swam. Fiora swallowed the guilt she felt for leaving them. They had a full choir. One voice wouldn’t make a difference.
The cut on Gustave’s head left a trail of blood in the water. Hopefully that wouldn’t attract sharks or other predators.
Fiora stopped to rest and grimaced at the dark patch that formed around them. The king was losing a lot of blood.
He was still alive, wasn’t he? His skin was cold from being in the water. Was he breathing?
Please still be alive.
The water behind her flashed green then changed to a pulsing blue glow. Did that mean the merfolk had finally put the kraken back to sleep?
Why had it woken up in the first place?
Fiora swallowed. She was the only singer who had made a mistake. She had entered late and out of tune and allowed her human voice mix into the song.
Had that disturbed the music enough to wake the monster?
If so, that made her responsible for King Gustave’s death if he didn’t survive.
He had to survive.
Fiora sang the song of healing that Zoe had used to ease the pain from the oysters. Thank goodness those hateful shells had fallen off during the chaos of the attack. Tradition or not, she refused to wear them again.
Magic traveled through her voice and settled on Gustave’s wounds. The bleeding slowed as the cut healed. Fiora sang until the skin knit itself back together and closed the wound. There was still an enormous bruise on his head, but at least he wouldn’t lose any more blood.
King Gustave stirred and opened his eyes but didn’t seem to see her. He stared at the sky, not focusing on anything in particular. Moonlight shimmered on the waves around them, and stars twinkled overhead.
Fiora changed her song to a lullaby. Gustave closed his eyes and relaxed in her arms. As soon as he fell asleep, she kicked her tail, eager to reach land and put him back where he belonged. She swam towards the same beach she had visited earlier that day. It was close enough to Montaigne’s castle that she could fetch help for Gustave once he was safely on dry land.
She kept singing the lullaby, and he didn’t wake up again. Finally they reached the beach. Fiora pushed King Gustave as far as she could onto the sand.
It wasn’t far enough. His legs were still in the water. He would end up chilled that way and might be pulled to sea by a large wave.
Fiora pulled herself onto the sand, crawling on her belly in a truly undignified manner. She felt a sudden burst of sympathy for every fish she had ever seen flopping around on dry land.
When she had made it far enough up the beach, she grabbed King Gustave’s shoulders and pulled him towards her. He was much heavier now that he was out of the water. Fiora dug her tail into the sand to brace against his weight, but she still couldn’t drag him far enough. She sang a song and created a small wave to pull the king up the beach. When the water receded, he was safely out of the ocean.
Fiora sighed in relief and leaned over him to check for further injuries. The king’s eyes fluttered open. Fiora froze, as if he wouldn’t see her if she stayed perfectly still. What would she do if King Gustave recognized her as a mermaid?
But the king’s eyes held no recognition. He seemed dazed as he stared at her, his gray eyes unfocused. When he tried to sit up, his face contorted in pain.
“Stay down,” Fiora said.
The king obeyed, and Fiora sang again. There was no point in dragging His Majesty halfway through the ocean only to leave him on the beach in agony.
She was by no means an accomplished healer, but her singing seemed to make Gustave feel better. His eyes closed, and his features relaxed.
“Hello?”
Fiora looked up. Someone had emerged from the trees and was running towards them. She pushed away from King Gustave and rolled down the beach. She hit the water with a splash and dove under the waves. Then she hid behind a rock and watched.
A woman ran to the injured king. She wore a black cloak and hood that hid her face from Fiora’s view. She knelt over Gustave and seemed to be speaking to him. Fiora frowned as the woman pulled something from her cloak. What if she harmed King Gustave? Fiora still felt responsible for him.
King Gustave woke up and said something in response, but Fiora couldn’t quite make out the words. She leaned further around the rock, trying to see what was happening.
Voices rang out from further up the beach, and flickering torches lit the darkness. Someone was coming from the castle. Fiora swam down the shore, following the sound. When she was as close as she could get without leaving the water, she picked up a rock and threw it at a tree.
“Did you hear that?” someone called.
The voices drew nearer. Fiora threw more rocks, leading the search party down the beach towards Gustave.
“Gustave, are you there?”
The speaker came around the corner and gasped.
“Oh, I’ve found him! Everyone, I found him!”
Fiora recognized Gustave’s sister, Collette, and sighed in relief. The princess would take care of her brother. Fiora hid behind a rock and watched a small crowd gather around Gustave.
The woman in the
cloak had disappeared.
King Gustave recovered consciousness and stammered a reply to the multitude of questions being hurled at him. Judging from the crowd’s responses, he wasn’t making much sense. Collette took control and directed the guards to carry her brother back to the castle. Satisfied that Gustave was safe, Fiora dove beneath the waves and swam into the open ocean.
12
There was singing. A woman’s voice coming from all directions at once. It sounded familiar, but Gustave couldn’t remember where he had heard it before. Her song surrounded him and filled his senses. He opened his eyes, but water blurred his vision.
Liquid copper floated around him. He reached for it but found he couldn’t move. Someone held him tight.
Gustave struggled against the arms that restrained him, and his vision blurred again. He closed his eyes and focused on the singing. There was healing in the music. It settled on the places the kraken had bruised and eased the pain.
The kraken. He had been attacked by a kraken.
In a cave in Santelle, and it had knocked a rock loose that cut his head. But the throbbing from that wound faded as he listened to the singing.
And that wasn’t quite right. He had been attacked by a kraken again, recently. There had been music and light and a chaotic ocean.
Something solid pressed against Gustave’s back. Solid and dry.
He reached down and dug his fingers into sand.
The singing stopped as hands clasped his shoulders and dragged him further up the beach. Gustave opened his eyes and saw two sapphires framed by a starry sky.
No, they were eyes. Bright, beautiful blue eyes in a woman’s face. She seemed familiar somehow. Brilliant red strands of hair blew in the wind, obscuring the woman so Gustave couldn’t see her well enough to distinguish her features.
He tried to sit up for a better look, but the world blurred as he moved.
“Stay down.”
Gustave obeyed, and she started singing again. The music banished the dark spots in his vision and eased the throbbing in his head.
“Hello?” a new voice called out.
The woman’s blue eyes widened in surprise, and she disappeared from his view. Gustave heard a splash, then footsteps. Then the angel was back, her hair more golden than red now that it was dry.
How had she dried it so fast? Had her eyes always had that tint of green?
She held a sparkling golden gem over Gustave’s heart. It glowed as she whispered words he couldn’t quite make out, and his chest filled with warmth like a newly kindled fire. He smiled at the woman.
“I love you.”
Why had he said that? He didn’t even know her.
But he meant it from the bottom of his heart. She had saved him. She must be a good person. The warmth in his chest grew hotter, as if confirming his love.
“Good.”
She sounded bored with the whole thing. What had Gustave done to upset her? That would never do. He couldn’t let his lady be upset. He squinted, trying to make out her face, but the night was dark and the woman wore a hood. When had she put on that cloak? Was she cold?
If she was cold, it was his fault. He should have offered her his coat.
He wasn’t wearing a coat, and he was cold and wet himself. How had that happened? He tried to remember, but the warmth in his chest distracted him.
He loved her.
Voices rang through the night, and the woman disappeared into the darkness. Gustave struggled to sit up, but a wave of dizziness forced him back to the sand. He coughed up a bit of sea water and stared at the sky. The warmth in his chest turned heavy and held him down as it settled into his skin and slowly spread through his body.
“Gustave, are you there?”
This was a different voice, but one he knew well. Why did he know that voice?
“Oh, I’ve found him! Everyone, I found him!”
Collette. The name floated into his mind, although he couldn’t quite remember why he knew it. He tried to focus, but the warmth in his chest had spread to his head. It wrapped his thoughts in a lovely warm cloud, reminding him that only his love mattered.
Where had she gone? He had finally found the right woman, and now she had gone. He needed to find her again so he could propose and set a wedding date.
Then Collette’s face appeared over him, and Gustave remembered she was his sister. His mind cleared, and memories rushed back as she hugged him. Tears of joy streamed down her face, and Gustave smiled weakly.
“I’m fine.”
“Captain Whist returned without you. He said you’d been attacked by a kraken. Oh, Gustave!”
Kraken. That was why he was wet. He had been attacked by a kraken.
And someone had saved him by singing to him.
And whoever she was, he loved her.
A crowd of soldiers, courtiers, and sailors surrounded him, and Gustave lost Collette in a blur of people and questions. Then two soldiers picked him up and carried him off the beach, ignoring his protests as he searched the dark woods for his mysterious savior.
When they reached the castle, Dowager Queen Bernadine took one look at her grandson and ordered him to bed. Gustave made a token protest as the doctor checked him over and tucked him in, but he fell asleep as soon as they left him alone.
He dreamed of a song with words he didn’t understand. It was cool and refreshing like summer rain, and strands of copper floated around him. Then a warm fire built in his chest, and the rain evaporated to golden mist.
13
Sunlight woke Fiora. Not the full, golden sun of land. This was underwater light dancing in silvery beams refracted by waves, and it pulled her back to consciousness gradually. She slid out from the grotto and stretched. Her tail was stiff from sleeping curled up in a ball, and she checked the edge of her fin. The oysters had left dark bruises, but the pain was mostly gone.
Thank goodness for that at least.
Memories of yesterday floated slowly into Fiora’s mind like bubbles rising to the ocean’s surface. The choir. The kraken. King Gustave. She had been too tired to swim all the way back to the city last night, so she had slept in the statue garden instead.
Ugh. She regretted that decision as she massaged the tension out of her neck. She had spent several nights there as a child, but she had apparently outgrown this particular nook while she was away.
Fiora ducked back into the grotto and peeked out to make sure the statue garden was empty. It was. Well, empty of mermaids, at least. There were plenty of stone humans to keep her company.
Fiora swam up to her favorite statue. This garden felt safe and familiar. Mostly because of him.
The statue was a human boy, about ten years old. He had fallen from a ship when she was the same age, and she had helped Kathelin place him above the grotto in the garden that summer.
He looked ordinary, and that was Fiora’s favorite thing about him. Amid the glitz and sparkle of the mermaid gardens, he seemed real. He wore simple clothes and held something in his hand. Whatever it was, it had broken off when he fell from the ship and never been recovered. His expression was open and friendly, ready to listen even if he couldn’t answer.
Fiora pulled water through her gills in a deep breath and smiled at the statue.
“I’m glad you survived the kraken attacks.”
He smiled back at her.
“We were supposed to be safe now that we have the Kraken Heart, but one woke up and attacked last night. It think- I think I might have caused it.”
Why couldn’t she have paid attention? Her late entry and out of tune note had been the only flaw in the performance.
Perhaps the problem wasn’t her voice or her human heritage. Maybe it was just her in general.
“I don’t belong here.”
She had always known that deep down, but saying it out loud made it real. It brought back memories of terrified screams and waving tentacles. King Gustave’s pale face. He could have died. Others on the ship might have been injured.
Had any merfolk been hurt?
Fiora closed her eyes to push away the thought. Then she opened them and studied the statue to distract herself. Talking to him had been comforting when she was a child. When she became human and joined her father, she had searched every crowd for his face, certain that they would be friends in real life if they ever met.
But she had never found him, and the boy that had once seemed like a friend now looked like a mere child. She had changed, and he had not.
“I’m not that different,” Fiora muttered.
He seemed to agree. It was somewhat comforting, which made Fiora feel even more pathetic.
She hummed a tune, tentatively at first, then with more confidence when her magic responded normally and nothing exploded.
Water swirled around the statue, brushing sand off the stone until he gleamed in the silvery light. She swished her tail and curtsied, feeling a little better now that she had put something in order.
“I don’t suppose you did anything interesting while I was away?”
Of course he didn’t answer. Fiora sighed.
“I didn’t do much either. I trained to be a princess then went to parties and tried to catch a husband. I needed love to stay human, but I couldn’t find it. You might be the only human that actually likes me.”
The boy simply smiled back at her. Fiora pushed water out of her gills in a sigh. This had been much more comforting when she was young. Now she just felt crazy for talking to a rock.
The kraken attack had kicked up a lot of debris, covering the statues in a thin layer of white sand that almost looked like snow. Fiora swam through the garden, singing softly and brushing the statues clean. She told herself she wasn’t delaying her return to the summer city. She was setting things right as best she could.
The statue Leander had delivered yesterday had fallen to its side, as had several other new additions. Fiora chose the nearest one and pushed it upright. Once it was secure, she hummed and created a current to pull sand from the statue’s intricate beard. The hair seemed to ripple in the water. For a moment, it seemed the statue was alive and looking at her.
Princess of Mermaids Page 7