knives sharpening. The three-pronged fork crackles with thin fissures
of lightning at its tips. Its handle fits into a long staff made of
braided gold. The bottom is a long and jagged spear that appears to be
made of quartz or some kind of cloudy glass; it has a brass handle.
Each piece hovers in the air over the lake. They each spin in their
own contained tornado until the force is too much and they’re sucked
down into the lake. Down, down, down into the blackness of the bottom.
My grandfather dusts his hands and sits back on his throne. He
glows a little less than before. The effect isn’t instant, but it’s
noticeable to me.
“Where have they gone?” someone gasps.
“Each piece has been sent to an oracle. There are five remaining
sea oracles on this plane. The champion who retrieves the trident
rules this throne.”
“What if no one champion gathers all three?” Adaro asks.
The Sea King leans forward slowly. “Those with a single piece will
return here, and a final duel will occur.”
So much for not having to fight the guys directly.
“What is today?” Grandfather turns to the green boy, who whispers
in Grandfather’s ear. “Ah. The next full moon is just over a fortnight
away. Leave at sundown and return with your findings at the next full
moon, or not at all.”
“But sire,” the herald of the West speaks up, “the oracles shift
their locations every so many years. Their last known locations may
have changed.”
“I never said it would be easy,” the king says with a tiny wink.
“You all have excellent resources at your disposal.”
Wait a minute. I don’t have a strategy. I don’t have resources.
What was my grandfather thinking? What am I thinking?
Before I can say anything, my grandfather pats me on the back as
if he’s done it a million times before. “Now, let the festivities
continue.”
It’s still daylight, but the sun is sinking, allowing the pale
blue sky to burst with the first signs of pink and yellow.
Kurt is at my side. We sit alone watching our companions eat and
drink the strange new flavors, dive into the cool water, and laugh.
“Congratulations.”
“Where the hell have you been all day? Shaking hands and kissing
babies?”
He looks a bit embarrassed. “I’ve been asked to give accounts on
what your character is like.”
“Did you tell them I took you to the mall and fed you swine,
because that’s what I do to all the merpeople who come out of my
faucet?”
“I was gracious, I promise.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“I believe you already have.”
“Don’t hang around Marty so much. You’re starting to joke like
him. But seriously. What’s a fortnight?”
Kurt laughs, actually laughs. “Fourteen days.”
“How was I supposed to know?”
“The important thing is that you know now. You must also know the
king would like to speak to us privately before we leave.”
“Is he going to give me a cloak of invisibility or something
useful? I mean, all I’ve got is you and Thalia. If I can get her to
sit still for more than a second.”
He doesn’t acknowledge me. Not just because I’m being a smart-ass,
but because Elias is standing in front of Layla and Marty with his
finger pointing in their faces. When he yells, he spits. The music
stops, and everyone drops their instruments, their food, their
turtle-shell Frisbees to hear what the yelling is about. Marty stands
in front of Layla to block her and shoves Elias right on the chest.
Elias shoves him back, sending him splashing into the lake.
We rush over to them.
Kurt becomes all political etiquette and calm. I pull out my
dagger. “What seems to be the problem?”
Elias points at my friends. “These humans have stolen from me.”
“Do not forget that she is my sister and of the court. The boy is
of the alliance, and the girl-the girl belongs to Tristan-who is a
champion-” As well-spoken as he is, Kurt really does seem to be making
all of it up.
Layla stands but wobbles. “I don’t belong to anyone,” she says
indignantly. “This is the twenty-first century.”
Elias is the first to laugh. “There! She denies being his.
Therefore, she is a thief.”
“I am not!” She’s drunk. She’s drunk, and now she’s going to get
herself killed.
“They’ve stolen drink from my family’s tent.”
Thalia gets in between Elias and her brother, holding a long, thin
glass full of bubbly green liquid. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it
was champagne with green food coloring, like we tried to do last St.
Patrick’s Day. “ This is of the court, not just for you and yours.”
“The human girl is not of the court, which makes her a thief.
Guards!”
The guards trot around us. “Whoa, whoa! Easy.” I look to my
grandfather, but he shakes his head as if he can’t help me. “Is there
a different way to resolve this?”
Kurt leans in to my ear and whispers, “Elias is very influential.
He’ll argue his way into having her beheaded. Your grandfather is no
longer truly Sea King, and other than some loyalty, he doesn’t have
the same power he did before giving up the trident. Elias knows that.”
“You’re not so scary.” Layla presses her finger on Elias’s bare
chest.
“This is ridiculous,” Elias says, exasperated because the guards
can’t move in on her and the king can’t take sides.
“I can take you,” Layla says again.
“ Shut up ,” I say between gritted teeth. “Do you have a death
wish? I can’t save you.”
“Since when do you save me ?” She turns back to Elias. “I
challenge you to a race. Little ole human me versus big ole
champion-of-the-wicked-East you.”
The crowd eggs them on. It’s like I’m watching a fight break out
in the cafeteria because someone stared at someone else too long.
Elias turns to the king. “She is a disgrace to our people, and the
only way is to punish her.”
“I wouldn’t think a guy your size would be afraid of little me.”
Leave it to Layla, standing up to guys three times her size. When I
was in middle school-tall but really skinny-the ninth-graders picked
on me, and Layla once kicked a kid in his shins with her little
cowgirl boots. That’s when I knew I couldn’t live without her. But
this isn’t a junior-high bully we can just run away from. This is a
holier-than-thou merman who doesn’t like either of us breathing the
same air as him.
“I take your challenge as an insult. Disgraceful. The champion of
the king brings humans among us. He does not deserve to be champion.”
Every other word is laced with a kind of hatred I don’t recognize.
People usually like me. I mean, I’m a pretty nice guy.
“He cannot help bringing humans among us,” Grandfather says, “as
he is half human himself.”
I realize he’s just made a joke, and so does everyone else. He may
not have his trident, but he’s still seen as king, and the crowd
laughs at his joke. See, my grandfather is a pretty nice guy too.
“I’ve seen her swim, sire,” Kurt says, his face turning red
suddenly. “She is exceptional, even for a human.”
Layla crosses her arms and bobs her head at me.
“You have a courageous heart,” my grandfather commends her. “But
it is also a foolish heart. If you lose, you will be set on a sailboat
without an escort to face the sea on your own. Should you win, you
will be an honorary member of this court. No harm can come to you by
my people.”