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Small specks of light flickered through the water. They clung to my skin, the brightness a contrast to my shadows. The bioluminescent algae likely illuminated the smile that curved my mouth. Nothing could diminish my happiness right now. The thought was a flicker in my mind as I swiped the specks away, smearing them against my body until I glowed.
Damn.
A joke rose up in my throat at my own expense, but I pushed it back with a chuckle. My dark fins pushed against the breeze of the current, and I emerged from the alleyway and out into the bustling streets of Eramaea.
I hadn’t lied when I told her that I hid at the capitol to avoid detection. It was not because I was afraid of the soldiers. Fear had left me long ago in those moments when I’d been selected. When they’d called my name, the frightened young mer within me died. When I’d been thrown into a cage with others, I’d been born anew.
I’d worked from the shadows ever since. I wanted to help those who couldn’t help themselves. It was why I stayed on the poorer side of Eramaea. It was why those mer protected me and my reputation with a ferocity.
When their own monarchy betrayed them time and time again, it was no wonder they turned to criminals for protection. The royals liked to call me a villain. What they didn’t know was that villains were just heroes in disguise. Everyone thought themselves righteous and good here because of the blood they were born with.
I was scum, and I knew I was scum. No amount of jewels on my fingers or in my pockets could change the circumstances of my birth. Of where I came from. Yet I knew I was better than half the mer at the palace on principle alone.
They flipped their fins at the mer on the ground while I helped them swim up to heights they never thought possible.
I pushed through clusters of bodies, letting the crowd swallow me up when I felt the first tingle clawing down my spine. I wasn’t foolish enough to look over my shoulder and give anything away. Only a fool let their stalkers know that they knew they were being followed.
I was no fool.
I weaved through the crowds, disappearing into shadows, clinging to them like a sticky phantom. When I was sure I was out of sight, I paused, waiting. I was a patient mer, and though I couldn’t make out who it was who was following me, I knew the moment they were gone. The feeling of being watched abated and the adrenaline that had started to build eased.
This time, when I swam, I made sure to stick to the shadows. When I made it to the poorer side of the city, I was about to creep through the backs of houses and sneak into one when I felt that sensation once again.
A stirring in the water, a sensation down my spine.
This time, I started to turn and confront the problem, but I was too late.
Pain splintered through the back of my head. I was knocked forward, my fins flapping to try and right myself. I twisted, landing hard on my back in the silt. My blade was in my hand before I could blink, clashing against the sword of the royal guard looming over me.
A feral grin twisted my lips. The adrenaline was back, pumping through my blood, rushing like a fast-moving current. I rolled in the silt, pushing myself up and meeting the soldier. I studied his features in between parries. Slash, dodge, push. We fought with vigor, and I was confident I would win.
And that confidence was my downfall.
A moment later, I was surrounded. Soldiers burst from all sides and within moments, took me down. I grunted as the water was knocked from me, and I would have laughed if I’d been able to do so. The sound was stolen from me as fists and fins punched and kicked my face. The blade was wrenched from my grasp, my rings pulled from my fingertips. It didn’t matter how much I fought back; it was useless.
At least for the moment.
I was not one to believe in hopelessness. There was always a way to freedom.
Always.
And when the soldiers hauled me up between them, I chuckled as a soldier appeared in my blurred vision. I recognized him all too soon and couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of me.
“Quite far away from the princess, aren’t you?”
Captain Saber sneered at me as if I were the scum on his fins. Because how else would this well-groomed palace guard see me?
“Shut your mouth, criminal,” he snapped. His fists tightened and I knew he wanted to hit me, but he was too uptight for that. He would not strike me. Not abuse his power.
Pathetic dog fish.
“I don’t think I will.”
“Well, you do not have a choice. Not where you’re going.” He bent low so we were close. I wondered what he would do if I pressed my lips to his. How shocked he would be by the action. “Your days of hiding are over, Black Blade.”
I didn’t see the next blow coming.
Then there was nothing but darkness.