“Tristan, all of us know the risks,” Kurt says. “We’re still
here.”
The conch horn blasts again.
“What the hell is up with this guy?” I ask. Come to think of it,
that horn’s been blasting since we got back on Monday. Sarabell knew
he was here when she came up to me at Luna Park, when we were out on
our date. I feel so used.
Thalia shrugs, setting the water bottle on the table. “If we were
on his land near the Galapagos, he would have to return the favor.”
“What, I go to him and make nice?” Then I think of the army I need
to form. Having Adaro as a temporary ally wouldn’t be the worst thing
in the world. “The last time we heard of him, we had just missed him
at the Vanishing Cove. Now he has the Staff of Eternity. Why hasn’t he
made himself known until now?”
Kurt buckles his sheath around his waist. “That’s precisely what
we are going to find out.”
A few weeks ago, on a day like this, I would’ve been sitting on
the lifeguard tower. I would be in my uniform-an orange Speedo with
orange trunks over that, which is the least flattering color on anyone
who isn’t a lifeguard. The circumference of towels below would be full
of girls baking in the sun, each asking stupid questions like, Hey,
Mr. Lifeguard, if I drown, will you give me CPR?
I’d even be playing along.
Today I’m on a political mission with Kurt as my ambassador. Hell,
before they explained it to me, I wasn’t sure what an ambassador
actually did. It helps having the girls along. Thalia said a champion
shouldn’t go anywhere without an entourage. I guess this is the
closest I’ll ever get to feeling like a rock star.
“Don’t pout,” Thalia whispers to me.
“I’m not pouting.” But I know I am. This is the way I felt when I
lost my first meet-helpless and angry and stupid because I hated the
idea that someone could be better than me. I press my hands on the
waterproof nylon of my backpack as a reassurance that I am the king’s
champion and I have the Scepter of the Earth. But then Adaro has the
staff. We’re equals, and I have to make him see that.
“Hey, Tristan,” Layla says dryly. “I’ll bet you twenty bucks you
can’t guess where on the beach Adaro is.”
“That seems like a perfect waste of bucks,” Kurt says.
“How come I didn’t get a celebration tent?”
They laugh, stepping off the boardwalk and onto the sand. Amid the
early beachgoers setting up camp with towels and blankets stained in
the wash, Adaro’s celebratory tent is glaring. All silks and
shimmering threads, the canopy shields him and his entourage from the
gray brightness of the day.
Kurt pulls me back, suddenly apprehensive. “Let me introduce you.”
“I’ve already been introduced! Remember that big ceremony on
Toliss with the introductions?”
He ignores me, stepping right in front of Adaro’s makeshift court.
He holds his hands at his back and bows his head with a smile. I don’t
want him to bow to anyone.
“Hello there!” Adaro says. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Hard to ignore all the conch-blowing action,” I say, eliciting a
nudge from Thalia.
“Adaro, son of Leomaris and champion of the Southern Seas,” Kurt
flourishes in my direction. “I present to you Tristan Hart, son of
David Hart and champion of King Karanos.”
Freaking Adaro with his shiny golden staff and wind-tossed black
hair. The white of his teeth is blinding against his cinnamon skin.
He’s loud and maybe a little drunk. He’s in full human mode, though
right at his ankles are a leftover spattering of red and yellow
scales. I realize they’re there on purpose, letting him wave his
family colors like a flag. So I let my blue scales surface on my
wrists.
He sits up, sloshing white slushie down his chest and abs, and
soaking the hem of his golden Speedo.
I start cough-laughing and Kurt gives me a few good smacks.
“I didn’t peg you for a piсa colada kind of guy,” I say.
“It’s a piсa colada kind of day!”
“Here we go,” Layla mutters behind me. Despite the tension in her
body, she keeps her chin up.
“It’s wonderful to see you!” Adaro opens his arms wide toward me.
Does he expect me to hug him? He pulls me into a bear hug, lifting me
way off the ground, then kissing me on each cheek. He looks Thalia and
Layla up and down with drunk golden eyes and kisses the back of their
hands. Then, looking down the beach, he does a double take. Gwen in a
long, white dress, stark against the grayness of the beach.
“I didn’t realize Princess Gwenivere was here,” Adaro whispers,
patting my back too long.
Her eyes twinkle the closer she gets, and she smiles, letting me
take her hand for a kiss. I hope she’s not still mad about this
morning. She bows to Adaro, offering congratulations, before joining
the others in the tent. Adaro drinks his piсa colada faster. “Is it
getting warm here?”
A mermaid close to him draws out a fan and starts batting it at
him.
“Please, sit!” Adaro gestures to his makeshift court. “Make room
for our welcome guests.”
Every princess, except for Sarabell, does as she’s asked. They
trade wicked glances, like they hope any moment Adaro and I will just
start going at it. Right, court politics. It’s not like I haven’t
played this game before. Angelo calls them “faux bros.” Guys from
other swim teams that we hang out with even though they’re our
competition.
“I must tell you,” Adaro says, taking a tiger-shell plate of
oysters and passing them down my way. “I’m not much for cold seas, but
this shore is rather charming. It’s like a parade of foot-fins! Look,
look at that one!”
A jogger passes by. He’s muscular and has a lion tattooed over his
chest. He lowers his sunglasses to get a better look at us but doesn’t
stop. I catch Sarabell gazing after him, and when she sees me staring,
she scoots away from me as if my very presence offends her.
“I should be congratulating you.” I try to match his enthusiasm,
but it’s hard to keep up with.
“And I you.” His golden eyes are happy and wet. He combs his hair
back coolly and opens his mouth, accepting the golden grape Princess
Violet of the loveliest purple hair feeds him.
I lean over to Kurt and whisper, “She got over you really
quickly.”
I don’t give him time to react. I lean forward to Adaro and ask,
“So what’s the story, man?”
“The story?”
“Yep, the story.” I take the tray from Sarabell, despite the
nagging looks from Kurt and Gwen as I do so, and suck down an oyster.
The salt wakens up my taste buds, and the meat is tender so I take
another. “Every adventure comes with a story.”
Gwen leans back and says, “Everyone knows how Tristan found the
quartz piece.”
Sarabell eyes me. “Yes, the youngest sightless oracle deemed you
worthy.”
My eye twitches when she says that, but I keep my smile frozen.
“Tell it, Addie,” Violet says. Her voice is like pressing the
belly of a doll that sings back to you.
Addie, I mouth to the bronze merman, who doesn’t like his
girlfriend’s nickname coming from me.
“Sit back, cousin. I will tell it,” says Sarabell. She stands with
her back to the water. Her skirts are the color of sunset, the
material sheer and threaded with gold. It has the effect of a great
flame. Her smile is wicked, marring the smooth, chiseled lines of her
face. “Our family is descended from one of the original kings of the
sea, Ellanos-he carried the staff. Wielded it to shape the caves
beneath the sea, the hidden places where we would seek shelter. It