Page 79 of Goldilocks

Laurence’s expression brightened. “That’s true.” He cast Jasper a smile.

Jasper stared back, looking as uncomfortable now as he did at the beginning of the meal. His expression said he didn’t understand why there was any fuss being made about him.

A woman strode up to the table, holding a dark box. She set it on the table next to Goldilocks and bowed her head, retreating as quickly as she came. Goldilocks opened the box. Within was a dagger as small as Sam’s shucking knife and as brilliant a gold as Goldilocks’s scales.Exactlylike Goldilocks’s scales. Sam leaned in, studying the faint lines in the metal. It seemed to have been made of four scales, two to each side of the blade, one edge blunt, the other sharp. The hilt was golden too, warped gold marked with black symbols. They reminded Sam of the tattooed vines and thorns on Eric’s arms, and they tickled his brain in the same pleasant way.

“Are those your scales?” Sam asked.

A delicate chain of gold threaded through a hole in the hilt.

“Yes,” Goldilocks said. He undid the clasp of the chain and turned expectantly to Sam, holding both ends up.

“It’s for me?” Sam studied the edge. “It’s a little sharp for me to wear around my neck.”

“They are my scales,” Goldilocks explained with patience. “They will not cut you.”

Sam hesitated, but aware of Vi’s and Laurence’s and Jasper’s eyes, he leaned forward. He didn’t want to reject Goldilocks in front of everyone or turn down what might be a gesture more important than he realised. If it cut him, Sam could take it off later.

“If you encounter a ghoul again, which I hope you do not, use that knife,” Vi said. She watched Goldilocks secure the clasp at the back of Sam’s neck. “Merfolk scales can cut anything, and the enchantments I have inlaid into the handle will focus that power.”

The knife hung, settling just beneath the hollow of his throat. The scales were warm, like a stone that had been set next to a fire.

“Enchantments?” Laurence repeated, leaning across the table to peer at the knife. “Those symbols?”

“Yes.”

A million questions burned in Laurence’s eyes. “I’d love to learn more,” he said.

Goldilocks rubbed his fingers against the now healed bite mark he’d left on the back of Sam’s neck, a satisfied expression on his face.

“I inscribed them into the handle; they will undoubtedly destroy the metal once they activate, so if you must use it, make it count,” Vi added.

Sam thumbed the hilt. Knowing what he did now of her past, the gift felt far more meaningful to him. “Thank you, Vi.”

She inclined her head toward him, not acknowledging Laurence practically vibrating in his chair.

Sam caught Goldilocks’s eye and nudged his foot under the table.

“I will show Sam the rooms prepared for his sire,” Goldilocks said, and Sam warmed in unexpected pleasure that his merman read his intentions without a word. “Vi, if you would have the nurses join us there. Meet us at the boat.” Goldilocks addressed Jasper for the last remark, who nodded smartly. He seemed glad to have been given a task.

Sam followed Goldilocks through the villa to another large bedroom. This one didn’t have a pool cut into the middle, and instead large furs were spread across the floor, covering the stone slabs. Large windows faced the ocean, and soft curtains of pale green stretched from ceiling to floor along the outer wall. A huge bed was tucked into the side of the room, a desk opposite it, a chest of drawers and several empty shelves lined the wall. Through a door was a room of shelves. One shelf held blankets, and the others were bare, ready to be filled. A third attached room was a large bathing room, which led to a bathroom. There was no electricity that Sam could see – or had seen anywhere in the house – but the plumbing didn’t seem to be an issue. Sam figured that given the house had pools in every other room leading to the ocean, they had their water system figured out.

Sam cast a longer look at the bath as they passed it, remembering the steaming bath he’d had with Goldilocks the last time he was here. His dad always had showers; what would he think of bathing in this huge tub? And what would he think of the bed of soft furs and blankets? Of having someone constantly around for company?

A thread of guilt wormed its way into Sam. He’d spent so little time at home lately that his dad was often left totally alone for long stretches. Given that he couldn’t leave the house unaided, that meant he was isolated.

The idea of bringing his dad here became less and less ridiculous the longer he looked around the room. He thought of Vi’s straightforward practicality. Goldilocks’s certainty. Sam knew, without a doubt, that his dad would be well cared for here. And though a dozen small practical questions nipped at Sam’s mind, the question that he finally voiced was, “You said there would be nurses to interview?”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“I liked all of them,” Sam admitted. He sat on the storage crate against his cabin wall next to Goldilocks, watching as Jasper stowed a second sword into the below-deck storage. Sam was going to have to reiterate that Jasper wasn’t allowed to stab anyone on Sam’s property. Laurence was at the end of the stone pier talking to Bee and Dew, a book Vi had lent him tucked under one arm.

The nurses only had bits of broken English, so Goldilocks had translated both questions and answers. All seemed to be around Sam’s age, and none of them looked entirely human. The first nurse had feathered wings jutting from his back, larger than his own body, and specked like a thrush. The second had scaled skin, her ears pointed and webbed. Not like Goldilocks’s ears were pointed, but more like a fish’s fin, with three distinct spines flaring out and thin, webbed skin connecting them. The third looked human bar her eyes, every part jet black. It unnerved Sam until she cast a nervous smile at him, and Sam realised he was facing someone younger than himself.

Goldilocks relayed information to him about their experience, their methodology, their interests, and their specialities. All of them had at least some interest in birds and plants, with two of them showing Sam a personal journal containing sketches of plants and birds, with words written around them and small arrows connecting text to image. Sam couldn’t read any of it, but they were very detailed anatomical drawings. Sam almost wanted to keep the journals and study what they contained, seeing both fauna and flora were unfamiliar.

“Who did you like best?” Sam asked.

“They all are qualified. Vi recommended them as promising students from her workshops. The nymph might be the wisest choice if your sire’s temperament is volatile; all nymphs can calm the emotions of others somewhat. If he prefers birds, then he may like to study the avian’s wings as he is tended. The last has pixie blood. Rare to find, since fairies are extinct, and even though she is a mixed breed, there is enough of the old magic in her that her presence will have a natural healing effect on those in her proximity.” Goldilocks explained it all to Sam carefully, letting him soak it all in. “If you like them all equally, we can trial them and see who your sire prefers.”