Page 34 of A Merman's Tail
Taya laughed. “No. I’m much older than that, though your father learned well off your grandfather, who learned off his father before him. It’s an age old torture that the royal lines have been taught. Ask Wily.”
My brother cringed and nodded. “Father taught me the same method. It’s traditional in every sense of the word. Traitors and enemies are punished this way so they are forever recognized as one.”
Ethan snorted. “Well aren’t you a bunch of lovely fucking people? I think I had the right idea of killing you bastards.”
Wily shrugged. “As far as Father was concerned, it was survival of the strongest.”
“Grandfather let this happen?” I asked with wide eyes. I’d always thought that he’d be against such cruelty because I’d never known him as anything but kind, especially to his grandchildren.
Pru made a noise and blanched. “Grandfather encouraged it. He’s not as we thought.”
Wily swam closer, his tail flicking in irritation. “We need to get you out of here, Lyric. Both of you. Father will come back in for more torture soon enough. He won’t let you go unless you give this human up.”
“And by give up the human, he means your father is going to kill him,” Taya said, before pausing for a second and then continuing. “Actually, your father is one of the cruelest kings I’ve seen in my lifetime. He wouldn’t kill your human. He’d demand you do it.”
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand against the rusted bars and winced as something sharp dug into the heel of my palm. When I glanced down at it I saw another cut had sliced the bottom of my hand, and more blood drifted up and through the water.
“You’ve learned the human language, haven’t you?” Wily said with a frown. “What does fuck mean?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I growled. “You need to get us out of here.”
“Why do you think we brought Taya?” Wily glanced at Ethan from the corner of his eye. “If we do this, Lyric, you must never come back to Atlantia, or even try to find us again. Promise me that you’ll stay far away.”
“Why should we? Ethan and I deserve our revenge.”
“You will not get it,” Taya said, shaking his head. “The merfolk have an advantage down here. We’re stronger.”
“You could give us the same strength,” I said, but Taya gave me an unimpressed purse of his lips.
“Dark magic doesn’t work as a give, give, give method, Lyric. After a while, it’ll ask for something in return. Giving the dark world your voice was my offer for changing you into a human. As it is, I’ve already taken too much today and not given back. The darkness will come for its reward.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Ethan asked, swimming closer.
“It means that Taya will pay for helping you.” Wily sighed. “This is the last time we can help. If you come back again, Lyric, there’s nothing we can do for you.”
“Is this how it’ll always be? Father taking the lives of humans and torturing. Having his own people so afraid of him that they won’t speak up.”
Pru exhaled and reached for me, touching my hand. “It’s how he’s always been. We’ve been naïve to it until now.”
“Look what he’s done to my human,” I hissed, waving at Ethan.
“I will fix the bruising,” Taya said, holding up a hand to Wily when he opened his mouth. He smiled sadly at my brother. “It’s the least I can do.” His gaze switched to me again. “But I cannot heal the scars. They were made with a blade calledArya. Dark magic given to the royal line centuries ago. Whatever cuts that blade makes are undoable.”
“How?” Pru asked, obviously surprised by the information himself.
Taya shrugged. “Aryawas born from dark magic long before I was. Stories have said that it came from an evil witch who lived in the same cave as I do, who was killed by the darkness after creatingAryaand not giving anything in return. One does not always understand the way dark magic works.”
“Why do you use it then?” Wily flinched when Taya gave him a sharp glance, and obviously it’d been a conversation they had before.
“We don’t have time for this,” Taya hissed. “Your father and his guards can come back anytime. We need to get them out of here now.”
He didn’t wait for any of us to say anything before his hands were moving in the water in familiar circles. I tilted my head to tell Ethan to get back, and we swam away from the front bars of our cells. Taya worked his magic, and soon the rusted steel creaked and bent until it broke and shattered to pieces.
Ethan swam out first, and Taya grabbed his arm.
“Let me fix the bruising.”
I shifted closer as the witch used his magic again. I didn’t miss the way Wily’s hand reached for Taya, almost as though he wanted to stop him, before he snatched it back again. A few seconds later, Ethan’s bruises receded and the freshness of his cuts healed until they were scars. By the time he was done, Taya was panting, his face flushed a bright red.
