“Pardon . . .”
I heard the whispers everywhere as we swam into the dining room where the trainees gathered to eat. The chamber was large enough to accommodate us all, though not large enough to be imposing.
“ . . . doesn’t know about . . .”
I swam through, ignoring the voices.
“What in Triton’s name is everyone talking about?” I said as I loaded up a seashell tray with food. Dane looked at the bundles of wrapped portions on my shell and laughed. I scowled at him. How could he be laughing under the circumstances?
“I have no idea. But I’m sure someone will tell us soon.”
I shrugged and followed him to a table.
Starla and Rip both swam toward us but didn’t sit. They floated there, staring at me with matching expressions. Kind of like I was a fish with two heads.
“Hi.”
Starla and Rip exchanged a glance.
“Are you okay?”
I gave Dane a look but he shook his head. No one knew about my late-night expedition. Failed expedition, I thought sourly.
“I think so? What is everyone talking about?”
“She doesn’t know,” Rip said in a low voice. Dane sat up suddenly, looking at them with renewed interest. So did I.
“Know what? Spit it out.”
Starla swam closer.
“Your half-sister has been pardoned. She’s . . .” Starla trialed off, wringing her hands in front of her.
“She’s joining the Academy,” Rip finished for her.
“Starting today,” Starla added helpfully.
“What? How could this be?” Dane burst out.
“They are training . . . spies? It’s supposed to be secret, but everyone knows. She had the highest marks for subterfuge. A few others were chosen.”
I would have made a smart comment about who I thought was up for the task but I was too busy staring.
Just then, the room went absolutely silent.
Wearing a training uniform and looking almost subdued, my sister had just swum into the dining chamber. She looked around cautiously and saw me. Our eyes locked as the memories flashed through my mind.
The attack on Beazil. The years of insults. The petty chores she loved to assign me. Her casual, day-to-day cruelty.
And then, if I looked past all of that, the early years when I had adored her, coddled her, and begged to take care of her.
Before everything changed.
I sighed and shrugged. There was nothing I could do about it, either way. I’d never forgive her for the attack on my familiar. But I wasn’t sure she deserved to live her long life in a dungeon either.
“Are you okay?” Starla asked. I looked at her and then at Rip and Dane.
“I’m glad she’s not going to be punished forever.”
“Wow, you’re a bigger Mer than I am,” Rip said.
“She wasn’t always bad. I remember her when she was just a sweet little Mer. You know?”
Dane nodded. Starla did too. Rip looked like he thought I was being way too forgiving, but he didn’t say anything.
“I just want her to stay away from me,” I said with a sigh. “Though I kind of doubt she will.”
“We’ve got your back, Tri,” Starla said. Dane and Rip nodded. I smiled, murmuring my thanks.
“Now, can we eat?”
The day passed in a blur. I was so tired. I was more or less treading water mentally through my Human and Merkind history classes. Thankfully, Annaruth collected me after lunch and gave me a sleeping potion. I was extremely relieved to skip that afternoon’s lessons with the General. I was definitely not up to fighting.
I sighed and glanced through my scrolls as I snuggled into my seashell-shaped bed. My chambers had gotten some getting used to, being fit for a Princess and all. But I had come to enjoy them.
And the sleeping nook, with its jeweled bed set on a platform, was actually kind of cozy.
Cozy. That’s funny.
I pulled my uniform off and dragged on a sleeping robe. I floated back onto the bed. I pulled my bag of school scrolls toward me, figuring I would review the lessons from that morning. I had taken notes, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t remember a thing.
That’s how zonked out I had been.
I had just started to unroll my Human History and Etiquette scroll when my eyes fluttered shut.
Soft lights flickered to life in my chamber as my eyes opened. They were enchanted to burn only when needed. It was one of my favorite things about living in the Palace.
Well, other than the food.
And my friends.
And having Beazil near and knowing he was protected.
And training to do something important for the future of Merkind, of course.
But the glowing orbs of light were in the top five, at least.
There was nothing there. No threat. No reason to fear.
I closed my eyes again, drifting easily back to sleep.
A moment later, I sat up, fully awake this time. Someone was outside my chambers. I could hear the sound of voices. Something had wakened me. I stared as the doorknob to my chamber turned this way and that.
“She thinks she’s too good to sleep in the barracks with the rest of us.”
I recognized that voice. It was Minka, one of my sister’s cronies. She’d barely made it through the Trials, and I wasn’t even sure what assignment she’d been given. Diplomat, maybe.
Or spy.
“She is really here? In the visiting Royal section of the Palace?”
My sister’s voice. I felt myself bristle at the insulting tone of her voice.
“People say she’s practically engaged to Prince Pollux,” Minka sneered. “She must be giving him whatever he wants.”
No answering giggle from my sister. No answer at all. A moment passed.
“I doubt she’ll keep his interest. She has nothing. No class. No finesse. She’ll bore him quickly, no matter what she does.”
Minka giggled at that.
“Let’s go back. It’s almost curfew, and I don’t want to get caught out by the watchers.”
“Okay,” my sister answered. And then there was silence.
I stared at the ceiling, with several unwelcome facts circulating through my mind.
- People think I’m engaged to Dane.
- People think I’m, um, intimate with Dane.
- I’m housed separately from the rest of the trainees.
- Everyone else sleeps in something called ‘the barracks.’
- Thalia is still my enemy. She still wants to hurt me.
Even after everything that had happened, it still hurt. A small part of me had hoped that she might have felt bad about what happened. That she had learned her lesson.
That she had stopped hating me so much.
I fought the sleep that threatened to reclaim me as long as I could. But the potion I had been given was too strong. I wondered idly how I had managed to wake at all as my eyelids drooped. There must have been some sort of caveat in the magic, allowing one to wake if someone came near.
I scribbled a note to myself in my study scroll so that I wouldn’t forget what I had overheard and fell asleep with the quill still in my hand.