Page 13 of Secrets Among the Tides
“There,” I held my arms out at my sides. “Do I look like the Princess now?” My words were meant to be sarcastic but they came out in a breathy whisper.
Captain Saber looked me up and down, gaze lingering at the bottom part of the tunic that covered most of my tail and then back up at my face. “Not at all.”
“Good.”
Before he could drill me about hurrying up, I turned to the overturned boat one last time. Emotion swelled in my chest, threatening to suffocate me, but I ignored it, pushed it down. I reached forward and placed my palm against the decaying wood and kept it there. Maybe I could draw its energy to take with me on my journey, if I held it long enough. But I didn’t need its energy. Not when the memory of it was there in my heart. And I’d come back. Once everything was set to rights, once they found the Princess, I’d come back to my home.
Hoisting my bag onto my shoulder, I turned to face Captain Saber. He was looking at me with the oddest expression but I ignored it and forced a tight smile to my lips. “I’m ready.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Tiberius
THE CAMP WAS NEARLY PACKED UP COMPLETELYand for that I was glad. I counted down the minutes until we could get out of this town and go back to the palace. It was urgent I speak with the Queen and King. It was urgent they meet Maisie and decide what was going to happen.
She swam beside me, her body tense as she took in the sight of the soldiers’ camp. Not much of a camp now that mostly everything had been taken down. Still, her eyes were wide and I wondered if that was with fear or delight.
I tried pushing away the image of her that surfaced. The image of her placing her palm against her little blue home, head bowed almost as if praying. When she’d turned around, there had been something in her eyes. Some raw sort of emotion that was hard to describe. I’d never seen anyone look the way she had. And it was unnerving.
I caught sight of the other mer selected. There’d been fifteen total. They were all packed together, huddling and trembling with fear. There’d been no escapees this time around. Good.
Maisie’s eyes went to them and stayed. I knew she would have to go to them, to feign as though she would be learning the basics of how to wield weapons. But I could not let her out of my sight. Not when she had such an important role to play for the kingdom.
“Stay with me,” I whispered softly to her. We had to draw as little attention as possible. It would be easier now that she was covered from head to tailfin. No sign of purple hair or scales. It was for the best. It wouldn’t do for the soldiers to ask questions later, to ask what had happened to the bright colored mer who had been selected for the war? I’d have to help fake her death later on. It wouldn’t be hard to do in the chaos of war. I could even forge military documents with her name on the training list. No one would remember her anyway. Not with everything else going on.
I supposed that was one of the benefits when you worked directly under the Queen and King of Thalassar.
She shot me a skeptical look. “Shouldn’t I be with the other selects?” she asked, equally quiet. “To make it more believable?”
“No.”
“But—”
“I said no.”
She grumbled something barely audible beneath her breath. I caught the words “tadpole” and “grumpy guppy”. Sighing, I continued forward, letting her trail after me. I could already tell this journey was going to be a long and frustrating one with her. She wouldn’t go easily or quietly for that matter. But soon that would all change. Once she went before the Queen and King, once they decided what to do with her, she would learn the ways of the courts she would temporarily be a part of.
We wove our way through the hustle of camp, determination in my stride. We would ride hippocampus’; some would pull carts with our tents and supplies behind us until we stopped for the night a town over. It would be days before we actually reached the palace.
I saw my own hippocampus being tended to by a cadet. He was being brushed down with an ivory comb, his large head hanging low with relaxation as it was passed through his strands of long, yellow hair. His ears were plastered behind his head, long serpentine tail curling and uncurling. The beast was massive, blue and yellow. His ears perked up when he saw me approach.
“Cadet.” I nodded my head and the cadet returned the gesture before taking a stroke back, giving me room to swim over to my beast and stroke his thickly corded neck. “Ready to journey home?” I asked him in a soft voice. He threw his head back and whinnied.
A small gasp had me tearing my gaze to look over at Maisie. She was holding her arms to her chest, staring with wide eyes at the large beast before her. It was only natural she seemed surprised. Lagoona was hardly a diverse place, their preferred method of transportation was on fin. When everything was in swimming distance of each other, there was no need for a majestic creature like a hippocampus. She’d probably never seen one up close before, even if the capital bred them.
“You’re excused, cadet.” The cadet bowed his head before swimming off to get to other duties. My eyes never once left Masie’s. I watched her closely, watched the wonder in the depths of her black eyes. “This is Geronimo,” I introduced, giving him a pat on his neck. “He will be our ride on the journey home.”
She startled, looking at me, a choked sound escaping her lips. “You can’t be serious, Captain.” She looked from me to Geronimo. “I’m not ridingthat.”
Geronimo, displeased with being calledthatstirred uneasily. I calmed him by rubbing my hand against his scaled skin. “Geronimo,” I clarified, eyes narrowing, “is quite safe, I assure you.”
She shook her head so vigorously, I worried that the hat would fall from her head, but it was steady. “I think not. I’ll just ride in the back of a cart.” Her head jerked in the direction of said carts, big scallop shells attached to thick rope.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I lectured. “Everyone is required to ride a hippocampus.”
Her eyes assessed Geronimo again, from his large head to his front paws and the long, thick tail that ended in a set of jagged looking spikes. I could practically hear her gulp. “I’m sorry, Captain.” She took an unsteady stroke back. “I—I don’t think I can—”
“Don’t worry yourself unnecessarily.” I grabbed Geronimo by the reins, tugging slightly at them. “New selects ride with officers and cadets until we get back to the palace. There they will learn sword fighting, war and how to mount a hippocampus. When training is finished, the Queen and King give new soldiers a hippocampus of their own.”
