Page 11 of Surfaces
“You’ll die soon. Alone. Drowning in mediocrity.”
Their voices compounded in my mind, layering themselves into a steady drumbeat and I was lost to the real world for a moment.
Until Illia snorted again. That sound drew me out of my own head and allowed me to focus my glare back onto him and his ridiculous spiky hair. If only he knew what a pig was and how much he sounded like one. “Kof’s right. You’re more naive than anything else.”
The squi-shifter shuffled his feet uncomfortably, clearly not a fan of being called out. “That’s not exactly what I said.”
“Is that why you’re leaving then?” I asked Kof gently, turning to him instead of dealing with the siren who was likely to make my blood boil. “It’s all right. Tournaments can seem exciting from the outside, just as castles can. But they’re full of faults, just like anything else.”
Illia rolled his eyes, once again trying to dominate the conversation. “Faults? That’s an understatement, like comparing a man-of-war jelly to a sea anemone. If your castle was as faulty as your reign thus far it would be a pile of shards right now.”
“Thank you for that constructive criticism,” I purred, “but you haven’t truly seen me rule yet, so I believe that your conclusion is a bit premature.”
Simultaneously, Felipe’s spear lowered, tip pointed in Illia’s direction as my guard growled, “Watch your tone, finless.”
“You can’t touch me, spearhead. Not as a contestant.”
“You’re still a competitor?” Felipe put on a falsely shocked face. “I thought you came here to quit so you could go hide in your hole like the gormless sea cucumber you are.”
“Radford, I’ll need back that token I gave you.” I tried to break up the budding argument with a distraction. Clearly, discussion was getting us nowhere and we needed to move on.
The hermit crab shifter nodded and reached up to unclasp the necklace from his neck.
“She gave you a token?” the squi-shifter burst out indignantly as he turned to stare at Radford. “I knew I was the bottom of the heap! Giving out favors—” he muttered under his breath when Felipe swam a few feet forward, ready for a fight on my behalf.
Felipe’s protectiveness felt like a shield countering all the hostility directed at me from the other side of the table. In fact, it felt like a bit more than a shield. It felt like affection. I bit down on a smile, smacked away the giddiness that filled me at Felipe’s gesture, and then subtly took a moment to study my hands beneath my cloak. They were still frightful, but at this point, I didn’t care.
I held my hand out toward Radford, palm up, muscles exposed, waiting calmly for him to return the necklace. My movement instantly killed the argument that was building as all eyes went right to my fingertips.
If only enchanting people was as easy as terrifying them.
Illia’s eyes grew round, the pale-eyed siren’s eyes bugged out even further, and the squi-shifter’s jaw unhinged.
Hesitantly, Radford reached forward and dropped the necklace I’d given him into my palm. The chain was warm in my hand, the seahorse charm on it heavy. I curled my fingers deliberately around it, giving the men one more opportunity to gawk, to wonder exactly what kind of inhuman monster they were facing, before pulling my hand slowly back underneath my cloak.
I could see clearly in the eyes of all the competitors that they thought they’d made the right choice. Their thoughts practically shouted out their horror and relief.
Assholes.
How sad for them that they wouldn’t get to leave as soon as they wanted. I had to speak slowly and deliberately to keep any smugness out of my tone as I asked a question that I was quite certain these men would later hate me for. But they deserved it after their brutish claims.
“Well now, you all came here to quit the Okeanos tournament, without actually losing. Is that correct?”
Each one of the four men nodded.
“No. I need verbal confirmation.” I coached.
A chorus of low-toned “ayes” reached my ears. Even Illia was subdued in his response, perhaps because he thought he was getting what he wanted.
It might have been my imagination, but it felt as if the whole room suddenly heated a few degrees. Perhaps their nerves increased their body heat and warmed the water, but I had a sneaking suspicion that wasn’t the case.`
For a moment, I scraped my teeth over my tongue, wondering if I should have asked that question. It was a bit cruel of me since I knew so much more than them. I’d grown up taking lessons from a castle mage, despite my utter lack of affinity for magic then. I knew how magical contracts worked. They didn’t even know they had signed one.
As if I’d timed it purposely, one of my castle mages, a middle-aged balding merman with a bright yellow tail burst into the room at just that moment. His tail flapped rapidly back and forth like a kite torn between two winds, wrenched one way and then the next. It didn’t stop when he entered the room. In fact, he grabbed the door frame so that he wouldn’t shoot like a projectile straight through the room. Then he struggled to reach into a pouch at his waist with one hand. He dug out a tiny white seashell, whispered a word or two, and touched the shell to his fin to calm it down. Every eye watched as his tail fin slowed gradually and then drooped like a wilting flower.
“Majesty.” My mage dropped his hands from the door frame and gave a courtly bow, tucking one arm to his bare stomach and the other behind him. Then he popped upright, and his yellow eyebrows lowered as his gaze turned to the four men positioned on the opposite side of the table. “Weaklings.” He gave them a grin. “Ugo told me you fools think you can just leave the tournament.”
I cleared my throat, hoping to keep this matter a bit more civil, at least until we could ensure these men would keep the matter quiet. “Felipe, you can stay if you like, but will you shut the door again?”
