Page 41 of Sea of Evil and Desire (The Deep Saga #1)

39

Morgana

I t was easier to cut through the cords binding the old merman with the silver tail now that my hands weren’t shaking. I withdrew the arrows that had pierced his wrists, but blood was spilling from the gashes they had left. My hands were coated and sticky, shimmering in the gloom. The merman drifted free from the wooden cross as I sliced the final bond, and a prickle caressed the back of my neck. Mer .

They had silently surrounded Edward, the Mer on the crossbars, and me.

These Mer were not like the ones I was trying to untie. Their tails were not made of assorted colors; they were a unanimous pearl. They all had muscular, green-tinged torsos and wore the same tarnished silver breastplates, finely carved, with thin spiraling lines. The plates covered only the upper halves of their chests and backs, leaving their rippling abs exposed.

The Mer guards—I assumed that was what they were—all had different faces. Some were lined and old, and others were young, yet the helmets made them uniform. Hewn from the same fine silver, they showed most of the men’s faces but reached a point in the middle of their foreheads. There was a crest, but where old-fashioned knights might have sported feathers, these guards had fronds of green seaweed that floated eerily above them in the current. Little silver cloaks, almost transparent, danced about their shoulders. Some had small holes and frays, suggesting they had seen many wars. If Mer could live for thousands of years, had some of these older guards seen one of the four great battles?

I was staring, as was Edward. His mouth was hanging open in the same way I imagined mine was. The guards pressed around us, their faces drawn in fierce yet inhumanly beautiful stares.

My gaze darted from the vials attached to the crossbars to the blood on our hands. They think we did this!

The guards moved closer, hemming us in. Some raised round silver shields, all identical. They bore the Symbol of the Ocean in their middle. These must be the guards of King Neptūnus V, ruler of the Atlantic Mer.

I looked for Jackie’s and Donahue’s bodies to point out the real criminals, and my stomach sank. They had both disappeared.

Glancing from one guard’s fierce, unyielding face to the next, I dropped my dagger and raised my hands in what I felt would surely translate to “I come in peace,” even in this world. Edward did the same. My gut twisted. Our outstretched palms glistened with Mer blood.

“W-we didn’t do this. We were trying to help,” I stammered, turning on the spot to offer a pleading look to as many of the guards as I could. One of them grabbed Edward under his armpits, and his companion drew a sword to his throat. Edward let out a noise of terror.

“Please, you’ve got to listen to us. We tried to save them!” I cried.

“You will come with us to the palace, and King Neptūnus will decide what to do with you murdering Drowned scum.” The bubbles from the guard’s mouth translated into English in my mind. His armor was decorated with blue gems instead of pearls, and his seaweed crest was fuller than his companions’. He must be the leader.

The merman’s fist closed around my upper arm, and he set his sword’s pointy edge against my throat. I didn’t wince. Somehow, I felt the Mer would respect strength.

“P-please,” I began again.

“Utter another word, and it will be your last, Drowned scum .” His face flickered, his beautiful green eyes momentarily transforming into pale globes and his mouth revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. I thought about the claws the merman who’d carried me out of Therme Skótos had grown. Would this guard grow those same claws if I pushed him too far?

“Alga, stay here with your men and release our kin from their degrading bonds.” My captor nodded to a strongly built merman on his right. “Then, take them to the Sanitatem and ensure they are seen. I will take the scum to the dungeons to await the king’s judgment.”

“Yes, Sir Korul.” The guard called Alga bowed his head to his leader, then moved toward the crosses with a flick of his pale tail.

Korul gave my hand a sharp twist, and a cry rose in my throat, but I swallowed it.

“Walk, scum !” he commanded, moving his sword from my throat to my back.

I had no choice but to stumble forward at the blade’s authority. I glanced to my left and saw Edward suffering the same treatment. It looked like we would make it to the castle after all, but not in the way we had expected.

The guards escorted us out of the dunes. The soft sand was replaced by jagged rocks, causing me to stumble, but I kept walking. A sudden stop could thrust Korul’s sword through my back.

The merman glided silently behind me on his tail of white pearl. Once, I tried to twist around to plead my case again, but he punished me with a stiff jab and a cold stare. There was blood on my back now; I could feel its sticky warmth every so often before the water claimed it.

Edward was faring worse than I was. He had fallen over four or five times, only to be grabbed roughly back up by his assailant and commanded to “Keep walking, scum .”

I suspected they had set this pace deliberately, taking pleasure in our struggle. I could have kept up if I’d been allowed to swim using my webs, but Korul’s blade forced me to walk.

When the scenery began changing again, I knew we must be approaching the castle. Things started to look groomed and purposeful. We proceeded down a sandy track, where long beds of colorful coral bloomed on either side and small circles of black pebbles hemmed in patches of seaweed.

The garden path guided us to a stone archway encrusted with barnacles and dotted with patches of fungi. On either side stood chipped statues resembling our guards, their stone-cold eyes glaring at me with the same resentment as my living captors’. Their carved tails coiled around the pillars, and above us, Runes of the Ocean etched a message into the archway. Beyond it stretched a bridge, also hewn from dark stone.

Korul hustled me onto the bridge. It was slippery with algae, so I tried to step carefully. This didn’t bother the guards, who glided gracefully an inch above the slimy surface, forcing me to continue at their pace. The ravine stretched into the blackness below us. It was so deep that I couldn’t see the bottom—only darkness. I gulped. If I had to, I could use my webs to propel myself out of its depth, but Edward would fall to the bottom.

The dark chasm faded from my mind as the castle came into view. It rose above us in a magnificent mass of towers and glowing lights, seemingly sculpted from countless particles of sand. Some sparkled silver in the aquamarine light, making the entire structure shimmer as if it were alive with glitter.

I counted eight turrets. They spiraled naturally from different ledges at the castle’s sides, their points standing black against the jade surrounds. Little glowing windows were scattered here and there on the walls.

The bridge led us into the castle’s shadow, and the walkway was now crowded with small, sandy mounds—houses, I realized, as Mer slipped outside to watch us pass. So this was where the lesser folk lived.

The Mer eyed us coolly as we passed. One or two spat at us. Some had created sea gardens around their dwellings, and others used delicate seaweed to keep fish in nets. One house had a giant brown lobster tied to a leash at its front door.

Despite all this, my gaze returned to the dark castle. It was the most beautiful yet terrifying structure I had ever seen.

The mounds of the Mer village gradually thinned as we started up a winding track leading to the castle’s base. Perched atop a rocky mass, it loomed above us. Clumps of seaweed clung to the craggy edges as we twisted ever upward.

My legs were tired, and my back ached from where Korul’s sword continually poked at me. I was glad when we reached the entrance, even though it meant facing King Neptūnus and Prince Aigéan.

Above us was another archway, with Runes of the Ocean etched on its walls. On it, a bearded face with a large open mouth and eyes was carved. The arch led us to a final path, and a yellow glow emanated from a door at its end. Two guards in the same armor as the ones escorting us flanked it.

Korul grunted, urging me forward with his blade, and a fresh trickle of blood oozed from my back before it dissipated into the current. We marched past the guards, who ignored us and continued to stare out to sea. Long spears were clasped at their chests, and their seaweed clefts swayed in the water.

Upon entering the castle, I barely had time to look around. The floor was a polished gray stone, and two stairwells stretched in opposite directions, leading to multiple stories above. There were blown glass bulbs in different shapes and sizes along the walls. Above us, a giant chandelier twinkled.

That was all I saw before Korul growled, “To the dungeons,” and ushered us to a dark passage to the left of the entrance. We were escorted down slippery stone steps into the shadows. Edward was taking shaky breaths in the darkness behind me.

I twisted my neck to face Korul. I could barely see him in the gloom, but his pearl tail shone luminously. It made me think of my grandmother’s description of Taranis.

“Please,” I began again. I knew it was risky, but the alternative was getting locked away in this darkness.

“You will not talk to me,” he snarled, prodding my back.

“Aren’t you supposed to be magic? You should know that we are innocent. If it weren’t for us, your Mer friends might be dead!”

“How dare you talk about my friends! I have seen the faces of others you brutish Drowned have murdered.” The words rumbled into the darkness behind me.

“I’m not Drowned,” I bit back.

“You are going to pay nevertheless!” He gave me another prod. I winced, but I didn’t cry out.

“I—I know Abalone. She was my grandmother’s friend! We came to warn you,” I shrieked in desperation as the darkness festered around us.

“Do not speak of our queen!” Korul quaked, and I heard a slick slicing sound.

Claws. His claws had extended.

“Now, quiet before my blade slips.” His voice was icy.

I fell silent. Perhaps he had been romantically tied to one of the victims. The thought made me pity him, but that pity would not help me now.

There was light at the bottom of the stairwell, but my relief quickly disintegrated when I saw what it illuminated. The cells were dark and cut roughly into the rock. Broad metal bars thick with barnacles and algae shut off the enclosures. They creaked as Korul slid open the nearest ones by the stairs.

I stopped.

No, no, I can’t go in there.

If I could channel any of Siana Selich’s ancient power, now was the time. But how?

I scrunched up my eyes and upturned my wrists, making my hands into claws the way witches did in movies. Nothing .

I tried again, sensing a faint flicker of something deep within me, but it was beyond my grasp.

“Walk forward, scum,” Korul growled.

I remained paralyzed in the doorway.

Come on, come on, come on.

I closed my eyes and looked inward—something was there, flickering silver.

What the fuck do I do now?

I scrunched up my face again, clutching for whatever was slumbering within me, but doubt slithered in.

I can’t be magic. This is crazy.

If only my grandmother had trained me. I should have stayed on land and sought Louisa’s counsel before returning.

A jab from the sword at my back forced me into the dark cell. I fell onto the cold ground on all fours, and Edward tumbled in beside me. We quickly scrambled together and clung to each other in the darkness. The faint glimmer I’d felt within had vanished. I closed my eyes, searching for it, but whatever had briefly ignited was gone.

“Do you still wish to save the Mer?” Edward asked coolly from the gloom. He had been quiet for the entire journey.

“We will explain everything when we see the king.” I forced a smile, but I knew uncertainty permeated my voice. After the way the guards had treated us, I wasn’t sure what would happen.

I wondered if Edward was right and the Mer were best left to their own devices. How long would it be before they took us to the king? Edward would survive the wait, but I would need to surface to replenish my air at some point.