| |
The next day I found myself sitting at a table in a small, pretty garden on the eastern side of the city, sipping tea with four well-dressed, middle aged women and their daughters, who were all close to my own age.
I recognised one of the girls, a blonde named Fleur, as one of the many young women who had draped themselves all over Lukas the night of the wedding ball.
Today she wore a peach floral dress, which cinched at the waist and flared out at the hips and came down to just below her knees. She wore her caramel hair in soft curls, topped with a miniature hat with a tiny peach rose attached to it. It made me wonder how long it had taken to have everything brought in from the mainland. Frano had mentioned the much larger chutes they used for bringing in bulk items. But he also mentioned that the city was aiming to become self-sufficient within ten years.
‘Mother thinks he will ask for my hand in marriage very soon,’ the young woman gushed at me.
‘I’m sorry, who?’ I was so distracted by my troubles with Frano that I hadn’t been listening to a word the girl was saying.
‘Lukas of course,’ she frowned at me. ‘Don’t you know anything about your own brother in-law? It’s common knowledge that he’s been in love with me since we were children. I knew him when we lived on the mainland.’
I hid my surprise behind my teacup and took a long sip.
‘It’s true,’ said Fleur’s mother, Sandy. ‘Not that I’d chose that young man for my daughter, he’s not the first pick, but being the king’s brother and next in line to the throne...’ she turned to her women friends and added, ‘beggars can’t be choosers,’ and they all broke into hysterics.
Fleur groaned and swiped at the air with a delicate hand.
‘Ignore them, please. You must tell me anything that Lukas has ever said about me.’ She squealed and gripped my hand. ‘Imagine if I do marry, Lukas. It would mean that you and I would get to dine together every night alongside our husbands. We’d be like sisters.’
My heart warmed at Fleur’s enthusiasm. It was touching that she wanted my company even though she didn’t know me.
Sandy stood and snatched Fleur’s hand away from my arm.
‘Fleur, what a way to behave in the presence of the queen, no less. She may be only seventeen, like you, but she is a lady now, a queen, and must be addressed as so.’
I shook my head and smiled at Fleur and her frowning mother. ‘No, please, I don’t mind at all.’
In fact, I was going to ask Fleur to take a walk with me, to leave the ladies to their gossip, when a guard approached me and bent to whisper something in my ear.
‘Frano requests your company at once. He said it was urgent.’
I set my cup down and folded my napkin and glanced at each of the women.
‘Excuse me. I’m needed. I’m terribly sorry to cut short such a lovely morning tea.’
The ladies all rose from their seats and kissed me on both cheeks. Fleur gave me an extra-long hug and told me she’d be in touch.
The guard rushed me along, my pulse thudding in my ears. I prayed that it wasn’t bad news about Lukas.
I found Frano pacing the bedroom.
‘My brother is missing,’ he said, continuing to wear a path in the stone floor. ‘And it’s a dangerous time for him to have gone missing considering...’ he paused mid-sentence and met my gaze.
I came to his side.
‘If you’d tell me what you’re going through, what you’re so worried about, then I might be able to help, Frano.’
Frano groaned and continued pacing. The worn look on his features made me a little less angry at him since finding out about the compulsion. He genuinely cared for his brother.
Maybe it was time that we both came clean.
‘Frano, don’t hate me, but I know.’
Frano spun around to face me.
‘Know what?’
‘I snuck into the shuttle room, after you returned from Island 27. Because I was worried about you.’
Frano’s face remained impassive. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or surprised.
‘How did you get the key? I always lock it,’ he said.
I took a step back and rested a hand on the back of a dining room chair, running my fingers along the smooth, polished wood.
‘I took the key, from your neck while you slept. I needed to know why you were so... so distant. I wanted my husband back.’
Frano sighed. ‘Go on.’
‘I unlocked the shuttle rooms and found your backpack. And when I looked through it I found the shell. The golden one.’
Frano’s eyes widened a little.
‘So, you know. You heard the threat?’
I nodded and took a couple of steps to close the gap between us.
‘Who does the voice belong to, Frano? Who is threatening you?’
‘Not who, but what.’ Frano raked a hand through his hair. ‘A merman. The last of his kind. That body, the skeletal body in that cave. She was his merqueen. He is the king of a lost tribe.’
I pictured the merfolk swimming in the tanks on the walls of Kraja’s room.
‘His entire tribe were taken and killed by Kraja’s people. In revenge, his queen, because she had lost her son to Kraja – her son Nuptan shunned his heritage and became human to be with Kraja - used her strongest weapon. Her siren song. Even though using it on all of Kraja’s people weakened her to death.’
I took Frano’s hand in mine and we both crossed the room to sit down on the edge of the bed.
‘The merfolk’s deadliest weapon is their siren song, their ‘song of fire and ice’. It lures its victim with promises of fiery, passionate love, but finishes you with a chill so icy it freezes your heart.’
‘Was he trying to kill us that day, on Island 27?’
Frano stared across the room, his eyes glassy and faraway.
‘The merking was merely demonstrating his power. He wanted to be known to us.’
‘What does he want?’ I asked, my pulse throbbing in my ears.
‘He wants a mate, a companion. Male or female, it does not matter. Merfolk need to be with another or they die of sadness.’ Frano gave my hand a squeeze and turned to face me. ‘He wants you.’
I shivered. Horrified.
‘What did you tell him?’
Frano stared at me, his eyes dark and shiny with tears.
‘I told him no, Nada. Of course I told him no. The deal is off.’
I froze.
‘What deal?’
Frano squeezed my hand so tightly it hurt.
‘I’m sorry, Nada. I’m sorry. I lured you here, six weeks ago, in the hopes of trading you for the lives of my people.’
I yanked my hand out of Frano’s grasp. Though I wanted to get as far away as possible from him, I found I couldn’t move. I was frozen with the shock of Frano’s confession.
‘So, everything was a lie?’ I said, my voice hoarse. ‘That night you showed up in my bay...’ I put a hand to my mouth. My mother. Had Frano lied about my mother?
‘I’m sorry, Nada. But I did not know you then and I was desperate. You said you loved the sea so I thought perhaps you were the most suitable mate for a merking. I thought you’d be happy living in the sea for the rest of your life.’
‘Did you lie about my mother? Did she really run out on me?’
Frano sucked in a deep breath and then shook his head. ‘No. I took you from her. She didn’t know. She was preparing my bed when we left. I gave her the impression I was spending the night and would be on my way the following day.’
I couldn’t think straight. My mother was out there, worried sick, looking for me.
‘How could you do this to me?’ I put a hand to my throat and swallowed down my revulsion. Everything. Everything had been a lie and now my mother didn’t know where I was, and a merking was out there, waiting to take me as his life partner.
My blood ran cold.
Lukas.
Lukas was out there, on Island 27. If the merking saw him, he’d most likely take him for his own.
‘Give me your key,’ I demanded, my hand outstretched.
Frano sighed and took off his neckless and let the key slide into my palm.
‘I don’t blame you for wanting to go home. I would too.’ Frano stood and gripped my shoulders. ‘But know this, Nada. I have been in love with you since the night we spent on Island 27. I was supposed to hand you over to the merking that morning. But after getting to know you, I refused. There was no way I was going to give you up as a sacrifice. I wanted you for myself. To hell with the merking.’
I shook myself free of Frano’s grasp and unlocked the door to the shuttle room.
‘But the merking will destroy the entire city if he doesn’t get what he wants,’ I called over my shoulder as I ran down the brightly lit corridor.
Frano ran ahead and blocked my entry.
‘I have been wracking my brain for an answer, Nada. Even trying to see if I can create a mermaid for him. That’s how much I love you.’ He shook his head. ‘But I can’t do it. I’ve tried but I can’t do it quickly enough.’
I believed him, but couldn’t forgive him. I had to make sure that Lukas was safe and well before I could even think about forgiving Frano for what he had done to me.
‘Don’t follow me in the chute, Frano. I need to do this alone. I’m not going home. I want to go to Island 27. I want you to key in the coordinates and send me on my way. But stay away until I return.’
He nodded and stepped aside to allow me into the shuttle room.
After strapping me into the shuttle, he pressed the coordinates.
‘I do love you, Nada. Believe me,’ he said, his eyes blazing with need.
‘I believe you,’ I said, sliding a pair of goggles over my eyes. ‘Now let me go.’
He closed the hatch and I pulled the leaver and shot off down the tunnel of light, screaming, and wondering if I’d ever see Frano or the city of Marin again.