Page 114 of Midnightsong
“There was a merman that approached us.”
A merman.
“What did he look like?”
“Red tail. Like, bright red. He looked strong, intimidating. Tan skin.” Celia cleared her throat. “That was the first time I came in contact with him. That must have been a few months before.” She didn’t continue her sentence. “Anyway, that’s not important.” Her hands twisted in her lap, and she sniffled again. “O-on that day, he told me to come back at the turn of the tide so he could discreetly lead me to the queen. So, I did. And as usual, he gave me breath, and with him leading the guards away and watching my back, I ambushed her in her quarters from the entrance through their gardens. The guards didn’t question him when we went back to the surface.”
“Thank you for telling me. I believe that the merman who helped you took the throne from himself afterward. I was wondering for so long.” Angie squeezed at her knees., forcing her next words out. “The mer want you to pay for your crimes. Or they won’t stop this war.”
“Convenient.” Celia bit out.
Angie winced. “Kaden is king now. Maybe he can give you a lessened punishment.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Celia crossed her arms, her expression sour.
“He wants justice for his mother. It’s the only way he can appease the queendom and their allies. Even if he stops the war here, there’s no telling if the other queendoms will. I already mentioned my school. I saw teenagers being taken by mer on a beach. People are losing their homes, their lives—”
“I know!” Celia’s lower lip trembled. “But how can you ask me to turn myself in? They’ll kill me. I thought we were friends, and I confided in you, only for you to ask me to do this?” She stood straight. “I can’t believe this. No, absolutely not. You need to go.”
“But Celia–”
“No!” Celia said louder this time, and Angie got the hint.
Celia’s soft sobs rang in her ears as she stepped through the door.
A newsflash buzzed on her phone as soon as Angie buckled in her seatbelt. Her heart shriveled in on itself. Iciness seized her insides even though the heat was on full blast in the car.
MDRT had been deployed to the Pacific Northwest and Alaskan coasts.
Thwop-thwop-thwop noises filled the skies, and Angie stuck her head out the window.
MDRT helicopters soared overhead, heading for the open seas.
The fine hair on the back of Angie’s neck stood, and she slammed the gas pedal down and raced home.
Forty-Nine
Kaden
“Your Majesty. We should make ourway to the coronation hall.”
The councilor’s words trailed in one ear and out the other. Would he ever get used to being calledYour Majesty?
Kaden put his seaflute down, where he had finished talking to Angie before Oryma arrived. Told her he was now king. In turn, she told him about finding his mother’s killer, that she was trying to get the young woman to turn herself in. If only she could be at his coronation. There was nobody he would rather see.
“YourMajesty.” Her throaty voice came to him again, forcing his attention on her.
“Oh. Yes. The coronation hall.” He nibbled on his lower lip, following her as she swam out through the throne room’s doors.
They exited to the open sea and made a right turn into the opening adjacent to the throne room, and a flash of iridescence flickered in his peripheral vision.
He stopped and dragged his gaze upward. The opalescent shimmering of their barrier remained, but there were patches where the magic was fading.
Saeryn’s oracles must not be keeping the barrier up. Kaden looked at Oryma, whose fins swayed with the currents.
A prickly crustacean stared up at them from its spongy bed on the seafloor, waving golden claws in their direction and skittering backward. A golden king crab, as Angie would name them.
“I know I haven’t been crowned yet, but could you ensure the oracles are told to maintain the barrier?” Kaden swam away but took one more look behind him.
