disagree. “I can’t exactly go back to the way everything was, can I?
Now that I know what I am. How do I just sit in class and joke with
the boys?”
“How are you supposed to be a champion? The only time you’ve ever
fought is when Angelo and Jerry want to reenact WWF.” She’s sitting up
now. Her voice goes up a few octaves when she’s stressed.
“Come here.” I pull her close to me so her head is on my chest and
her hand is over my heart. I’m not as sure as I sound. Can she tell?
“Tristan,” she whispers. “The day of the storm, I cried from the
moment the wave hit you till the moment I found you. Please don’t
leave me like that again.”
I hold my breath, because it’s what I’ve wanted to hear from her
since the moment I came back. My Layla, my girl. She’s always been
there; I just never saw her the way I do now. I kiss her forehead and
feel her body soften against mine as she sinks into sleep.
•••
First I think it’s a trick of the light. There are so many moving
shadows in this room that I can’t tell. But then I see it moving. A
hooded figure past the entrance to my room.
As gently as I can, I pull myself off the bed without waking
Layla. I part the curtain, my eyes adjusting to the low light. I take
slow steps and listen. The figure is walking quickly, and I can tell
it’s a girl-her hood swishes in the wind. Maybe she’s trying to hide
from something. Maybe she needs my help.
The tunnel makes a break to the right into a room covered with
floating orbs of lights. There’s a pool like the one in my
grandfather’s chamber, but bigger. The rock around it forms a perfect
circle. Leaning over the pool is the hooded girl. Her slender hand
holds something silver and dips it in the water.
She sees me and gasps, jerks her hand back, and covers her face
with her cloak. She runs to an opening to the left.
“Wait!” My voice echoes off the stalactites. I turn to the pool,
where the silvery head of a fish floats to the surface. The water is
clear and bright, as though there’s a light all the way at the bottom.
The blood around the torn flesh of the fish head taints the water with
blood, but the trail thins out quickly.
Maybe she was feeding Atticus. But why would she need to hide and
run from me? I can see a gray shape behind my reflection again. This
time it isn’t the sea horse. I trace my hand on my chest where she cut
me once before, only I thought it was a dream. I can’t force myself to
move. The dark melody of her voice vibrates through the water and
fills the emptiness of the room. I can see her face, the white of her
eyes, her cruel razor-sharp smile. She grips the bottom half of the
fish and waves it at me, blood trailing from its end like dripping
paint. I take one more step back and feel something hit me hard on my
skull.
She licks her lips, and then there is darkness.
I wake up in my bed with the taste of iron on my tongue. My
chambers are bright with floating butterflies. One lands on my arm,
and I swat it away. It leaves a sticky neon trail.
“Morning, sire,” someone says. She’s the color of orchids with
slick silver scales covering her breasts. Her hair is braided and
twisted with shells, piled atop her head.
“Who are you?”
She bows. “Hannah. I’ve come to deliver your armor.”
I feel the back of my head. There’s nothing there. Yet I know I
didn’t dream being hit hard.
Hannah holds up a gladiator outfit like the guard was wearing the
day before. I think I’ll pass, but I say thank you anyway. She bows
low and gives me her white smile. I jump back when I notice how sharp
her teeth are.
“I’m sorry, sire.” She stands back up. Her teeth are fine. It’s
me. The dreams have started again. I have to talk to my grandfather.
Maybe he knows the deal with this sea witch and can tell me I’m not
crazy.
“No, no, it’s me. I’m just a little jumpy.” I take the clothes
from her and set them on the bed.
“You’ll be fine,” she says warmly. “My mother used to be your
mother’s handmaiden. She really loved her. Your mother was a kind
princess, the loveliest of them all. Not like these other girls.”
I laugh at that. “Thanks. Have you seen-”
“She’s getting fitted for something a little more fitting for the
tournament announcement.”
“Right. Good.” I don’t know how to tell her to go away. “I’m just
going to get dressed.”
She looks startled, as though I’ve just caught her doing something
she shouldn’t be doing. And that’s undressing me with her eyes. I know
that look. I give it to girls all the time. Hannah bows again and this
time winks at me. “Are you sure you won’t be needing any help?”
I cough into my hand.
“I’m sure Lord Sea will be fine, Hannah.” Kurt saves me. He stands
at the entryway wearing a chain-link metal skirt. His violet scales
decorate his forearms.
Hannah bows her head low as she walks past Kurt.
“Unless you want her to stay,” Kurt says with a mischievous grin.
“Really, I’d like to live another day.” I go over to the pool of
water and splash the cold and salty water on my face.
“What’s that you got there, Kurty?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Just trying something new.”
Kurt holds a long wooden box with moss growing over it, looking
like he went to the bottom of the sea and dug it out of a pirate
wreck. Really, he shouldn’t have. “I am to give you this as a symbol
of your house. It will let the court see you are the true heir of the
king.”
I set the box on my bed. “You haven’t seen Layla, have you?”
“She’s got a new dress,” he answers.
“Yeah, I heard that. But where is she?”
“You asked if I saw her, not where she was.” He can’t keep the
smirk off his face. “Come, open it. There won’t be any food left if
you don’t hurry up, and then you have to be judged-I mean,
presented-before court officially.”
“You know, you could be a little nicer to me.” I flip the lid
open. “Now that I’m going to be a champion and all.” I’m expecting the
thing to either blow up or glow. Everything seems to glow on this
island.
“Holy-”
“It’s been handed down in your family. Only a son of Triton can
touch it.”
Nestled in the box is a dagger about two feet long with a
double-edged blade that catches the light of the room. The handle is
dusty gold with swirling black pearl as an emblem. I can sense it
humming. It’s not the smelling thing; it’s something else-like feeling
power that’s as old as the earth. The way I felt the power of the
trident without even touching it.
“What happens if someone else touches it?”
“It burns them,” Kurt says casually. “Now, here’s a shoulder strap
to sheath it. Look how nicely it matches your new armor.”
I think I might let him hold my new dagger just for fun.
•••
The hush over the court reminds me of the silence during a meet,
just before I dive. Bodies rustle against each other, lips whisper
behind cupped hands.
Here, the sun is shining. My stomach rumbles because I missed the
seaweed buffet while I tried the armor on. It’s only a skirt
underlined with leather so you can shift into your tail without
ripping your clothes. Even without a mirror, I decided to change back
into my cargo shorts.
Kurt crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at me with annoyance
as I take my place beside the king. Beside him is Layla in her new