Page 13 of Of Song and Scepter
Finally, a faint line of light appears above us, stretching across the ocean. A dark group of merfolk cluster near the Intercurrent's entrance, awaiting our arrival.
I nod toward them. “You ready for this?”
Odissa rolls her eyes. “Of course, dimwit,” she says. “I’ve been studying. Follow my lead and stay quiet. You are a handmaid, remember, so act like one.”
As we swim closer to the Intercurrent, my pulse quickens. I concentrate on the speed of my gills, forcing them to slow their pace. I’ve faced dredgebeasts in the Drink. A little fast water and social trauma is nothing compared to that.
The Coral escort comprises ten stern-looking, mermaid guards—nine males, one female. The array of colors represented in their scales alone surpasses the amount of color I’ve seen on any mermaid in my life. While the mermaids in the Abyss are mostly muted shades of gray or blue, these mermaids are pink and yellow and green and orange, all displayed in varying striped or spotted patterns. They’re beautiful. Angelic, graceful, and soft.
Around their chests, they wear matching whitesteel armor, emblazoned with the curly crest of their court. They each hold whitesteel tridents. The female swims forward. Red and white stripes curl around her limbs and face. Her red hair is slicked into a tight bun. Her appearance is sharper than the rest, more menacing despite her smaller size. She carries a long knife belted to her waist, which she grasps lightly, as she angles her tail and bows in greeting.
“Your Highness. Captain Nara at your service,” she says.
Odissa extends her hand, and the captain grasps it lightly, bowing to kiss her knuckles. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain.” Odissa’s voice is smooth confidence, void of any trace of her usual disdain for the world at large. “I pray you have not been waiting long.”
“It’s a long journey from the deep,” Nara says. The captain pauses, raking her eyes over Odissa as if searching for errors. My gills slow as my panic rises. Can this female’s astute gaze sense our ruse?
At last, she smiles and nods. “We are pleased to see you arrive safely, Your Highness. Come.” She gestures to the rushing stream of water. “We have arranged a transport for you.”
Nara’s mouth settles in a hard line, flat and unreadable. Her brow is equally unflustered. She raises her hand, and a fleetwhale exits the current. The great blue fish’s head parts the roaring water, slipping out with a pump of its flat, wide tail. It backpedals its fins, slowing its speed and rearing its head as the driver perched atop its head pulls hard on its harness tethers.
The fleetwhale stops so that I am level with its large, black eye. Its eyelid clicks shut once, before reopening, fixed on me. In the inky depths of its eye, I find an intelligent soul, searching me just as I am observing it. I offer the creature a small smile, and it blinks again.
“Enna, darling,” the princess’s voice calls. I turn to see Odissa perched on the whale, as one of the guards attaches her harness to one of the many straps running in circumferent stripes down the creature’s back.
Captain Nara stares at me, gesturing for me to join. I kick my tail, propelling toward the whale. A male soldier with a soft, spotted face catches my harness and pulls me to an attachment point. His hands brush my hips lightly.
My spines rise from their sheaths. My fangs lengthen at the threat. Rigidness seizes my posture, and a hiss escapes through my lips.
The soldier freezes, removing his fingers from my skin. “Apologies, my lady,” he says. “I only mean to connect the tether.”
A cloud of bubbles floats between us as my tail stirs the water. “I can knot my own tether, thank you,” I manage through clenched teeth.
“Are you sure, my lady? It’s my duty to be of assistance.”
I twist to face him, and he backpedals. His eyes are calm and steady, seemingly unaffected by my outburst. He raises his hands in innocence, like he didn’t just invade my personal space. Like I’m the one at fault here.
Over his shoulder, I can see Odissa, whose eyes are dark and commanding, as if she’s trying to bend me to her will with only her thoughts. Her message is clear—a handmaiden shouldn’t be acting like this. I am jeopardizing the mission.
I close my eyes, but even the shutter of my eyelids is not enough to soothe my nerves. Slowly, I force my gills to still through sheer will. I open my eyes and give a curt nod to the soldier.
“Certainly,” I say. With quick hands, he tethers me in, careful to avoid touching my skin. Then, he secures himself to the attachment in front of me, giving me a view of the back of his shaved, red head.
The female captain ties herself in front of Odissa, giving me a curious sideways glance. “On your mark, driver,” she shouts. The driver barks a command. Then, with a lurch, the fleetwhale dives into the rushing current.
The water tugs us forward with a speed that propels my heart. The fish lets out a low whine, pumping its tail. My tether shifts with its movements, but I am otherwise secured. We hang suspended in the tube-like current, the fish paddling calmly as the water whisks us forward at a velocity I never thought possible. Around us, more fleetwhales swim, each carrying their own loads. Little paddledrakes dart in and out of the current, maneuvering their broad, hard shells to weave between the larger fish.
Meanwhile, the ocean passes around us, leaving behind everything I once knew. A knot forms in my stomach as I stare down, straining my eyes as if I might see the dark expanse of the Drink below. But there’s nothing but clear blue water in any direction, every particle and plankton highlighted by the sunlight streaming down from the surface. I’m exposed and vulnerable, even under the protection of the large fleetwhale.The water is too thin. The pressure, too soft. The light, too bright.
The only thing interesting to look at is the back of the soldier’s head. I count the blue dots on his shaved scalp, making pictures and patterns from the chaotic arrangements. At one point, he grinds his teeth, and a blood-vessel pops out along his skull, like a rope running its length.
We float in silence long enough for the waters to darken, then lighten again. The rhythmic swish and flex of the fleetwhale’s muscles lulls me into a shallow sleep filled with disorienting dreams.
***
Captain Nara clears herthroat, stirring me from my restless reverie. “Welcome to Coral, Your Highness,” she says, smiling over her shoulder at Odissa.
The water has brightened into a pure shade of turquoise, uncomfortably warm. Dread pools in my stomach. We are not trained for court. I know too little of its customs to fit in properly here. Of all the tasks Odissa has given me, this is the worst. This is a fool’s errand, and I am no fool.
