Page 50 of A Forgery of Fate

“He has thin ears, that Lord Elang,” Mama went on, ignoring me. “A good thing. It means he will listen to his wife, and your marriage will be a harmonious one.”

Any retort I could have come up with died on my lips.Find yourself someone with thin ears,Mama used to tell my sisters and me when we were young and Baba didn’t listen to her.Your baba’s thick ones will be the end of us someday.

“What’s the matter, Tru?” asked Fal, who saw how my expression had gone grave.

A lump was swelling in my throat. I couldn’t tell them what I’d learned about Baba—that he was possibly alive, the Dragon King’s captive. It’d be cruel to give false hope.

“Nothing,” I said, waving them off. I turned to my mother. “Thank you, Mama. I am grateful for your blessing.”

Mama’s mood was bright. “Let’s get you changed. I can’t believe you went to Lord Elang looking likethat.At least brush your hair next time. I swear you’d go to your wedding in trousers if not for your sisters and me.”

“Dragon’s luck, phoenix’s fortitude,” Fal murmured in my ear as Mama prattled on. She didn’t believe in superstitions any more than I did, but worry knit into her brow. She squeezed my hand. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

As Elang had promised, the servants soon returned to the estate grounds. My sisters and I went to the garden to greet them. First were the turtles; they crawled out of the pond,then stood on their hind legs like humans and began to work on decorating the garden. Then came something that made Nomi’s eyes bulge.

She pointed excitedly at the water. “Are those—”

“The pack arrives,” Shani muttered. She tossed one of Elang’s gardening trowels into her mouth, crunching loudly. “I loathe merfolk.”

Nomi had stopped listening. She rushed toward the pond for a better view.

They were beautiful creatures, even from afar. They swam with the elegance of eagles flying, their tails shimmering behind them. One by one, they hoisted themselves onto land, drinking from the gourd-like vials around their necks. A turtle waited on them, passing out clothes while the merfolk’s tails transformed into human legs.

Nomi’s face glowed with wonder. “I didn’t know that merfolk could become human.”

“They usually can’t,” replied Shani. “Elang’anmi makes a potion so they can mingle among humans and find work in the city. Only lasts a few hours, then the lot of them come stampeding back to the pond. It’s a daily disorder.”

“They work in Gangsun?” Nomi mused. “I wonder if I’ve ever met one.”

I wondered too. From every angle, their upper halvesdidlook human. Long black hair, bony shoulders, and mushroom noses. But if you looked closely, their ears were long and pointed, and their pupils were edged like diamonds.

“Did you know merfolk have twice as many nerves in their hair as we do in our fingers?” Nomi was babbling. “That’s where they store all their magic—and secrets. They never cut it.”

“Never?” said Falina, twisting to look.

“We can ask. Oh, should we? Fal, why don’t you go talk to them.”

“Me? Have Tru ask. She’s the one they’re staring at.”

It was true. While my sisters and I were whispering about the merfolk, they were murmuring and pointing—at me.

“You must excuse them,” spoke a mellow voice from my left. “They’re curious about the new lady of the Westerly Seas.”

I whirled but saw no one…except a giant turtle with yellow-brown spots on her cheeks and the brightest green eyes I’d ever seen.

“Did you…” I hesitated, feeling more shy than foolish. “Did you speak to me?”

The turtle’s lips stretched into the warm semblance of a smile. “Most creatures from Ai’long are different from what you know,” she replied. “My name is Mailoh. I am in charge of Lord Elang’s household, and it will be my deepest honor to prepare you for the rites tomorrow. Please, come with me.”

I hesitated. My sisters were preoccupied with the merfolk: Nomi was interrogating a boy her age about whether his kind really cried pearls instead of tears, and Fal was helping a pair of mermaids arrange flowers. They wouldn’t missme.

“All right.” I followed Mailoh. The turtle padded circumspectly into my chambers, dipping her head beneath the door frame. Behind her were two smaller turtles, each carrying a trunk on their back.

“Your robes and headdress,” explained Mailoh, though I hadn’t asked. “Shall we begin?”

“But the wedding’s tomorrow,” I said.

Shani had come too, and she perched on my arm, talons biting into my skin. “Turtles are slow on land,” she said witha sniff. “It’s going to take them all day and night to wash and wax your hair, scrub your skin, and slough off all the dirt—”

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