“Lady Mer- I mean, Princess Fiora, I am so sorry. I know there is no excuse for this. I-”
He looked away from her, studying the room with an anguished expression.
“Gustave?”
Fiora gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. Had she just spoken out loud? That was impossible. Unless…
She looked down at her ring. The mysterious streak of gold on the pearl had disappeared. The gem glowed softly in the candlelight. Brighter than it ever had when her father’s love had powered the charm. The color looked different. A little warmer somehow. It had a coppery hue that was a similar color to her hair.
“I love you, Fiora.”
Gustave said the words in a rush as he grabbed her hands again.
“I know. I-”
Fiora meant to say more, but a spasm of pain took her breath away. Gustave’s eyes grew wide with concern as she gasped for air.
“Fiora, what’s wrong?”
“Why didn’t it work?”
Fiora’s voice carried a hint of magic that made the spilled wine tremble on the table. Why was she still in pain? Gustave loved her. His love had restored the pearl, which had restored her voice
But she had yet to break the mermaid’s enchantment.
“Why didn’t what work? What do you need?”
The shell. She needed the conch shell carved with the transformation song.
Fiora glanced around the room as if mere wishing could bring it back.
She blinked and stared at the table across the room.
A large conch shell sat in a pile of dark red liquid. Fiora sat up to reach for it, but her body trembled and she fell back to the bed in a wave of pain.
“The shell,” she whimpered.
Gustave looked from her to the shell, taking a moment to realize what she wanted. Then he stood to retrieve it for her.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Gustave and Fiora looked around the room, searching for the source of Elspeth’s voice. Then they saw her.
She was in the mirror. Not reflected in it. Actually in it. Something large and gray floated behind her. With a start, Fiora realized it wasn’t floating. It was being carried by massive hands that blended into the darkness.
Elspeth walked closer and slowly came into focus, as did the objects behind her. The gray thing was the statue of King Francois. The hands belonged to a hulking shape made of stone and shadow. It had stocky legs and massive arms that held the statue as if it weighed nothing at all. A horned head peeked from behind the stone as it walked.
“What is that smell?” Fiora asked.
She was in agony, and the smell wasn’t helping. Gustave wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“It will fade,” Elspeth said.
Then she stepped out of the mirror. Huge, clawed hands reached out after her and set the statue of King Francois into the cabin. Then the hulking shape pulled back and disappeared. A fresh sea breeze blew the stench away, but Fiora still tasted it in her mouth.
“Gustave, what are you doing in bed with another woman on our wedding night?”
Elspeth smiled and sang softly, her voice laced with magic. Fiora tensed and looked at Gustave. The spell was meant for him. Had Elspeth enchanted him somehow? Was that why he had abandoned her in the ballroom?
Gustave took Fiora’s hand and glared at Elspeth. Whatever hold the song had once had over him, it seemed powerless now. Elspeth scowled.
“Abandoning your bride so soon? What a shame.”
“What are you doing with my father?”
“I suppose I should have kept a closer eye on you, Fiora, but I honestly didn’t expect you to escape and kiss him. I was hoping you’d stab him like your aunt suggested. It would have made everything so much simpler.”
“You kissed me?”
Fiora laughed, amused that Gustave was more interested in the kissing than the stabbing. The laugh turned into a cough that sent spasms through her body. There wasn’t much time left before sunrise.
“The shell. Please.”
Her voice was little more than a whisper, but Gustave heard. He always heard. He reached for the shell, but Elspeth grabbed it and shook her head.
“I suppose I shouldn’t have left that lying around. Now then-”
Gustave lunged towards her and ripped the shell from her hands. Elspeth flung herself at him and clawed up his arm. Gustave sidestepped and pushed her away. Elspeth crashed to the floor in a tangle of bright hair and white silk.
Gustave handed the shell to Fiora then bowed to Elspeth.
“Apologies, my lady.”
“You! How dare you?”
While Elspeth struggled to untangle herself from her voluminous skirt, Fiora quickly read through the notes on the conch shell to make sure she knew how to sing the enchantment.
“You really should have stayed asleep, Your Majesty.”
Elspeth crawled across the floor and placed her palm against the mirror.
“Leander, are you there?”
“Of course, princess. What do you need?”
Fiora didn’t wait to see what Leander and Elspeth had planned. She removed her ring so it wouldn’t interfere with the song and tied it into a strand of her hair. Then she took a deep breath and began to sing. The magic of her voice filled the room as she followed the notes on the shell. Gustave watched in alarm as her singing turned into more of a desperate scream.
The pain in Fiora’s chest eased as magic coursed through her veins. Relief spread through her skin, then traveled deeper into her body. Her legs knit together, and her feet flattened into fins. Her formal gown covered most of her fin, but not the gills that appeared on her neck or the scales that appeared on her arms.
“Fiora?”
Gustave stared at her with wide eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” Fiora said. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
She sat up and flipped her tail over the edge of the bed. The sea beckoned to her through the window, sparkling with moonlight and the stars overhead. Her shimmering fin peeked out from under the gown. Gustave noticed it and swallowed. He seemed speechless.
Fiora’s heart sank. She would have preferred to explain everything to him first, but there hadn’t been time.
And now she had to leave him.
But how exactly was she going to get into the water?
Before Fiora could decide the answer to that question, Elspeth began to sing. Leander’s voice rang through the mirror, joining her in a slow duet. Their voices blended together in perfect harmony, weaving human and mermaid song into a single spell.
But what spell were they weaving?
Fiora looked to Gustave to see if he knew.
But he wasn’t looking at her or Elspeth. He was staring at his feet.
Fiora followed his gaze and gasped.
Gustave’s feet had turned to stone. The spell climbed up his ankles, draining the color from his clothes as they transformed. Gustave tried to run. His knees jerked from side to side and his arms waved, but his feet stayed frozen in place.
“Gustave!”
Fiora tried to stand to help him and crashed to the floor. Blast it all, she had forgotten that she was a mermaid again. She flopped awkwardly, pulling herself towards him.
The ship lurched, and she rolled against Gustave’s legs.
They were solid stone. The enchantment spread to his knees, locking them in place, and continued to crawl up his thighs.
“I’ll stop her,” Fiora said.
She pushed with her tail, trying to crawl towards Elspeth. Her scales slid against her smooth silk skirt, and she stayed exactly where she was. Fiora gave up on that and grabbed the bedpost so she could pull herself instead.
Strong hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the air. Fiora found herself in Gustave’s arms, hugged against his chest. He smiled sadly at her, and his gray eyes shone with love.
“Good idea,” Fiora said. “Throw me at her so I can shut her up.”
She
placed her hands on Gustave’s chest, ready to push off for extra momentum so she could launch herself at Elspeth and wipe that smug smile off her sister’s face.
Gustave shook his head.
“Run, Fiora.”
Before she could protest, King Gustave twisted as far as he could and threw Fiora out the window.
68
Fiora flew through the window in a cascade of shattered glass and fluttering silk. Gustave swallowed as she hit the ocean and sank out of view. He hoped crashing through the window didn’t hurt her, but it had been the only way to get her away from Elspeth.
“Brave, Your Majesty, but we’ll find her.”
“Leave her alone.”
Gustave tried to stay calm and not to look down. Tried not to track the progress of the curse by the numbness spreading up his body. It had reached his waist now. Soon his lungs would turn to stone, and he wouldn’t be able to breathe.
He looked at his father. According to the enchanted ruby, King Francois was still alive even though he had been turned to stone.
Hopefully Elspeth was using the same enchantment on him. This wasn’t the end. He wasn’t dying.
Gustave closed his eyes and took one last breath before the numbness crept over his lungs.
He hoped he wasn’t dying.
He hoped Fiora swam away as fast as she could and didn’t look back.
Elspeth winked at him as the numbness reached his neck. She couldn’t say anything to gloat while she was singing, but she didn’t need to. She had won.
His mouth had turned to stone, so Gustave couldn’t say anything in return. He turned towards the shattered window, not wanting Elspeth’s smug face to be the last thing he saw before the curse took him completely.
Moonlight sparkled like diamonds on the ocean waves. Gustave studied the water, desperately trying to think of anything but the cold sensation crawling up his nose.
He loved Princess Fiora of Kell.
She was a mermaid.
Gustave didn’t know how that was possible, but he hoped she could swim fast enough to escape before Elspeth came after her.
Something flickered under the surface of the water. Fiora? Another mermaid? A kraken?
Gustave’s vision went dark.
69
Fiora barely had time to cover her face before she hit the window. The impact knocked her breath away and left tiny cuts all over her skin.
She flew through the air and crashed into the water. The force of her landing sent her sprawling out of control beneath the waves. Her dress tangled around her tail and made swimming impossible. Shards of glass sank into the water around her, sparkling like a shower of shooting stars.
“Fiora!”
Zoe sang her name and created a current that slowed Fiora’s descent and helped her regain her equilibrium. Fiora’s dark hair wrapped around her, and she brushed it away in a desperate attempt to untangle herself.
“We have to save him!”
She kicked her tail, trying to return to the surface.
To Gustave.
“Absolutely not,” Althea said. “You have already sacrificed enough for that human.”
Her aunt’s short hair made her look more severe than ever. Fiora pulled water through her gills, trying to calm herself. She pushed down the enormous skirt billowing around her, but it floated back up and obscured her view.
So this was why mermaids didn’t wear clothes.
“Elspeth and Leander turned Gustave into a statue. We have to save him!”
“What’s this about Leander?” Kathelin asked.
She flipped her short hair out of her face. It floated away from her head, framing her face in a sort of halo.
“He’s helping Elspeth. I’m not leaving Gustave.”
Fiora kicked her tail and darted towards the surface. The skirt streamed behind her. Althea sang and created a current to drag her back. Fiora countered it with her own song. Her magic wasn’t as strong as her aunt’s. Not even close. But between the singing and swimming as fast as she could, she managed to keep Althea from pulling her deeper.
Then another song filled the water, and something large and round glowed beneath them. Deep laughter rippled through the waves as a kraken tentacle wrapped around Althea.
The mermaid’s song ended abruptly as the kraken squeezed her and cut off her air. The current holding Fiora disappeared, and she shot towards the surface. She broke through with a splash and wiped away the hair that plastered her face.
A song rang out from Elspeth’s shattered window. Fiora swam closer. Gustave looked down at her, and for a moment she thought that he had escaped the curse.
Then he glinted in the moonlight, and Fiora’s heart sank. Gustave was made of stone. He had been looking out to sea when he was transformed.
Looking for her?
A scream rippled through the water, and Fiora swallowed. The mermaids were in trouble.
“I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t know if Gustave could hear her. She hoped he couldn’t see her abandoning him as she dove beneath the waves.
Kraken tentacles had wrapped around Althea, Kathelin, and Zoe. The mermaids wriggled and sang, but the enormous creature ignored them. Fiora swam deeper, dodging wayward tentacles as she moved.
Leander floated near the kraken’s head, silhouetted against its enormous glowing eye. He held a small mirror that reflected the light. As he sang, another voice accompanied him in a duet.
Fiora listened for a moment and recognized the voice as Elspeth’s.
Why was her sister working with Leander?
“Well, the little mermaid returns,” Leander said.
He stopped singing, but Elspeth’s song continued to echo through the mirror. The kraken tightened its grip on the three mermaids.
“What are you doing, Leander?”
He shrugged.
“All part of the plan. I-”
“For the love of everything, don’t explain the plan!” a new voice said through the mirror.
It was a woman’s voice, shrill with frustration. She sounded like the same woman who had spoken to Leander in the gardens, but it was difficult to say for sure. Perhaps she had been speaking to him through one of the mirrors in the mirror garden.
“Who are you?” Fiora asked.
“A friend.”
The woman sounded like she was trying very hard to keep herself calm. The kraken shifted, and Leander resumed his song to hold it in place.
“I can help you, Fiora,” the woman in the mirror continued.
“How do you know who I am?”
“I can help you find a place to belong. Help you understand your magic.”
“Like you helped Elspeth and Leander?”
“Yes, exactly. Go back to the ship, and Elspeth can explain everything.”
“Let my family go and then we’ll talk.”
“Oh no, dear. They’ve interfered too much. Besides, they’re not special. Not like you are.”
“Why am I special?”
The voice didn’t answer.
Zoe whimpered in pain, and Fiora turned to look at the mermaids. The kraken tentacles had wrapped around them, constricting like large snakes and squeezing their life away. Kathelin looked concerned, and Althea looked angry. Zoe’s face was twisted in agony and panic as she tried to shake herself loose. She met Fiora’s gaze, a silent plea for help in her eyes.
Fiora gritted her teeth. She had to do something!
But what?
Zoe shrieked as the tentacle tightened again. The kraken seemed to have picked her as the easiest prey.
Leander and Elspeth’s song swelled through the water. How often had they practiced together? Their magic intertwined until it seemed that they sang with one voice.
One voice. Both mermaid and human.
Fiora’s eyes widened. What had Elaine said about breaking curses?
Sometimes, you had to break them with the same kind of magic that caused them.
Althea and Kathelin let out a d
esperate burst of song, trying to free Zoe. It was filled with powerful magic, but the kraken ignored them. The mermaids slumped in defeat, as if they had put their last bit of strength into the music.
Their mermaid magic couldn’t stop the kraken, because Leander was singing with Elspeth. A human.
Fiora’s eyes widened as everything came into focus. Even the power of the Kraken Heart and an entire mermaid choir hadn’t been enough to stop the kraken when it awoke and attacked Gustave’s ship before.
But she had. Her voice had halted the attack.
Was this why Elspeth and the others had been so determined to silence her? Why they had stolen the shell and tried to kill her?
“What’s happening down there, Leander?” the voice in the mirror said. “Is she going to join us?”
“I doubt it. She doesn’t look very cooperative.”
“Then take care of her,” the voice said with a sigh. “Take her alive if you can.”
Leander grinned. The gleam in his eyes said he wasn’t going to try too hard to follow that order.
He altered his song, Elspeth followed his lead. A kraken tentacle shot towards Fiora.
She countered with a melody of her own. The tentacle swerved and just missed her. It created a current in the water that caught her skirt like a sail and pushed her back.
Fiora regained her balance and began to sing.
Her voice rang through the water. Her strange, unique voice. Neither mermaid nor human.
For the first time in her life, Fiora let herself be both. She didn’t worry what she sounded like or if it was right. She simply let her full voice ring through the water exactly as it was.
The kraken loosened its grip on the mermaids.
Althea pushed free first. She shrieked with rage and launched herself at Leander. His song ended in a muffled grunt as she crashed into him. The mirror dropped from his hand and drifted to the ocean floor.
Elspeth’s voice faded as the mirror sank. Kathelin shook free and turned her attention to helping Zoe. The young mermaid’s face was pale, and she floated limply in her mother’s arms.
Kathelin gave Fiora an anguished look, then carried Zoe away, singing a song of healing as she sped through the water.
Princess of Mermaids Page 36