Page 62 of Wicching Hour

By the time I’d stopped gawking at our escorts, the green light was closer and taking on a form. It looked like an old-timey gas streetlight.

The whales, orcas, and rays had pulled away from us at some point when I couldn’t see, leaving only the merfolk who followed us past the green light, down into a narrow crevasse.

I began to worry I was going to get squished between two rock walls, but we made it through the narrow break. It opened into a gigantic underwater cavern with many narrow cave entrances.

Clinging to the rock walls were every variety of coral and sponge. Brightly colored anemones dotted the carpet of red and purple algae. A bloom of blood red jellyfish bobbed along the outside edge, and everywhere I looked, merfolk were swimming in and out of caves, some stopping to watch us, others carrying on.

Dad led us to the largest cave opening that glowed in the dark, murky water. Something pale caught my eyes and I looked up. A goblin shark swam above us and out the narrow opening between rock walls. When I looked down, I saw an octopus scuttling along the ocean floor, following us toward the glowing cave opening.

We swooped under the lip of the cave and then up, emerging into a pocket of air. Dad climbed out, pulling me along with him. We stood in a huge torchlit cave filled with beautiful antique furniture. Paintings that should have been in museums hung on the rocky walls.

A willowy woman with light blue skin and long green hair moved forward. Bowing deeply, she said, “Welcome back, my lord.”

When she rose, my father wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Cerene, this is my daughter Arwyn.”

Cerene’s eyes widened and she dropped into another deep bow. “My lady, we are honored to have you with us.”

“Thank you very much.” I looked around. The underwater cave looked like a sitting room in Versailles. “Where did all of this come from?”

Dad waved a hand as though it were nothing. “Shipwrecks. My people find all sorts of treasures that they like to bring me.” He blew out a breath and made his way between large pieces of ornate furniture. “Come. We can sit over here.”

Worried I’d ruin the fine silks with my wet clothes, I scanned myself and realized he’d already dried us. I reached up to feel my hair. It always suffered the most from drying spells. It was still shiny and soft. He’d have to teach me how to do that. It’d save me hours.

“May I bring you and your daughter refreshments, my lord?” Cerene asked.

He nodded, gesturing to a velvet settee. “Can you also ask Mythis to come report his findings?”

“Of course, my lord,” she bowed again and moved into the back of the cave, disappearing in the dark.

Where was the light coming from in here?

“There are lanterns set throughout. They’re brighter than usual, as you seemed to be having trouble seeing in the dark.” Once again, he answered my unspoken question.

“Can you hear my thoughts?”

He nodded. “Of course. As can you. You’ve chosen to erect mental walls. I have not.”

“Doesn’t the constant noise, the negative thoughts, the judgments get to you?” They’d made me crazy before I’d learned to build the walls.

He began to shake his head and then said, “I see the problem. You’re granting everyone the same level of importance in your thoughts.” His hand fisted on his thigh. “This is something I could have taught you when you were young. Why in the realms would we want to know the thoughts of every being? You need to filter, to teach your brain who to focus on and who to ignore.

“You do the same with your vision. Do you pay attention to every single person you see in a day or does your brain assign the vast majority to a background role, while you focus on the ones who matter to you, the ones who spark your interest? The same can be done with thoughts. They can blend into background until you focus on the one or ones who interest you.”

I leaned forward. “I would love to learn how to do that.”

He gave a nod. His expression was stern, but his eyes betrayed his pleasure. “Then I shall teach you.”

A man walked in. He looked like an elf but would probably need to be some kind of water fae to live down here. Dad watched him, eyebrows drawn together a moment before he quickly rose and bowed, pulling me along with him. I mirrored the bow as best I could, unsure of what was happening. I’d thought he was sending for one of his guards. He’d asked for a report but now he was standing and bowing.

The elf was tall and thin, with long white hair, pale purple eyes, an elven sword on one hip, and a dagger on the other. He glided silently across the large cavern. Blinking, I tried to make sense of how his form shimmered in and out of sight, as he appeared to be covering more ground than his strides would indicate. Everything about the elf seemed just a hair off.

My father’s boot tapped the side of mine, and I remembered that he, and perhaps this elf, could hear my thoughts. Thinking of nothing proved to be quite difficult, so I focused on the large indigo opal on the elf’s finger. For some reason, it made me think of my cousin Sam Quinn.

“So,” he began, “this is your daughter.”

“It is,” Dad said, his head bowed again.

I looked up into his luminous eyes and saw mischief. I grinned, feeling no malice from him—or her. This was a glamour, and they had a feminine feel. I had no idea who was behind it, but they weren’t who I was looking at.

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