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We burst out of the arena and onto the Eramaean streets. I struggled the whole way, but Elias’ grip on my upper arm was strong enough to leave an imprint against my skin. He pulled me by his side forcefully and into the fray of bodies swimming through the streets.
I was hauled through traffic, passing by a speeding hippocampus pulling an ivory shell cart behind it. It nearly trampled us, rearing back at the last second, giving us just enough time to dodge it.
My heart was racing harder than it ever had before. I tried dragging my tail behind me, but my torn fin cramped unpleasantly, nearly crippling me into the silt. Elias, though, was having none of it, yanking me up whenever I fell down.
“Keep up!” he spat over his shoulder.
The anger in him was new. I hadn’t known the Black Blade long, but I didn’t associate what he was doing with who I thought he was. Maybe I was just a fool. Maybe I’d only seen what I’d wanted to see. Or maybe that had been his true self but when threatened, he would risk everything to get himself out of that situation.
Even me.
“Let me go!” I responded, clawing at his hand. I felt betrayed. Betrayed by the one mer in this whole city who I thought understood me more than anyone else. A sob threatened to rise in my chest, but I pushed it down. Tears would do no good now.
We swam hard, my chest heaving and every limb and muscle in my body aching. The pain in my fin was nearly unbearable. It throbbed incessantly, each pang a sharp warning that I should stop and rest.
We made it to the market. Like Lagoona, the stands and stalls were made up of all types of materials. From coral tables and kelp woven mantels to two-legger objects like sheets of metal or rotting wood. Vendors hawked their wares to the mer passing by, offering everything from fresh eel meat to an array of water fruits and greens.
I was pulled between the long aisle of stands, voices shouting all around me, blending together in one cacophony of confusion. But above the rising voices of the mer citizens there was one I recognized over all others.
“Halt!”
The voice was so commanding that Elias obeyed, but not without pulling me to his chest as he whipped around to face him.
Prince Kai.
The Draconian royal floated before us, his posture menacing, coiled tight and ready to spring forward. He looked so different, his features somehow changed. His face seemed elongated, teeth sharper, eyes blue instead of brown. Like the blood of dragons pulsed through him. Like all the whispers claimed him to be.
My heart pounded against my chest, and I was sure Elias could feel it on his hand as his palm pulled me closer. Meanwhile, Kai took in every movement, narrowing his eyes at the intimacy with which Elias held his palm against my chest.
“Release her, criminal,” Kai growled. His voice was a darkened threat, rasping like rocks were scraping along the back of his throat. “Now.”
I could feel Elias smirk against my hair, as if that were the kind of thing one could physically feel.
“I think not.”
I squirmed against him, which only served to have him tighten his grip around me, palm splaying wider on my chest, palm hovering over my breast. I gasped and tried to lurch forward, but he pulled me back.
Kai’s eyes darkened further as he drank in the movement. Activity around us seemed to fall away from me and there was nothing but this moment. Nothing but Elias and Kai, with me between the two. But our little party soon grew, because Captain Saber swam just behind him, along with a group of Eramean and Draconian guards and Kai’s stiff advisors.
My face heated at the sight of them and at the intimate way Elias was holding me. We were pressed so close together and I knew we probably looked like lovers.
Captain Saber dared to nudge Kai aside and point his sword. “Enough talking!”
“Captain Saber...” My breath hitched when he looked at me. The rage and fear there was frightening enough to have me shaking against Elias. The look in those aquamarine eyes screamed murder. I knew if he got ahold of Elias, the Black Blade would not make it out alive. Between the prince and the captain, there would be little else left of the mer but whispers and his blades.
Yes, I felt betrayed, but I did not want Elias to die. Death wasn’t something I’d wish on anyone. Not even my worst enemy.
Just as the thought swam through my mind, Captain Saber lurched forward, sword poised to strike at an angle. I wanted to close my eyes but was pulled back before I could. Elias twirled our bodies away from the tip of the blade, and in one quick movement, he grabbed the edge of a vendor’s table and flipped it.
Hundreds of water apples went flying through the water. The vendor screeched at Elias, but he ignored him, taking advantage of the distraction to pull me away, leaving behind a chaotic mess.
I chanced a glance over my shoulder. Kai made a move to lunge after us, but his advisors and guards reached him, pulling him back and away from the threat of Elias. He bucked and thrashed against their grip, holding an arm out as if he could reach me with the sheer force of his will.
I turned away from the sight before I could burst into tears. Not because I was afraid of what would happen to me, but because I wasn’t who Kai thought I was. I wasn’t the princess he was desperately trying to save, but a mermaid who just looked a lot like her.
We wove through crowds of vendors and buyers, Elias shoving them aside to get through. Some of them called out in a feeble attempt at protest. Others elbowed and shoved back. Limbs, hard and angry, slammed against my skin and temples. The pain tripped me up, but I found myself being hauled up again by Elias before I could truly fall.
We were close to exiting the market now. Beyond the fray of stalls and the stench of raw meat, there were coral reefs, houses, stores, hippocampi pulling carts, and an array of fish and merpeople.
Once we made it into the throes of traffic, I didn’t doubt Elias would camouflage the both of us.
His strokes became more urgent, his movements more commanding. He jerked my arm hard enough that my muscles cried out.
And then someone slammed into him from behind, knocking him face first into the silt. The force of the collision was enough to knock his grasp from my body and send me flying to the ground.
When the silt cloud around me settled and my eyes ceased to ache from the grains, I watched as Captain Saber turned Elias over and pummeled his fist into the side of his face. The sound chilled me to my core. The unbridled violence behind it. Too similar to the memories of how the guards treated deserters back in Lagoona, I cringed, hands flying to my mouth.
Elias defended himself, fists flying up. They were a blur of blows and grunts, facing each other off in a terrifying rage. I could only stare numbly as they battled. This seemed to be more than just the captain catching a criminal to the crown. This was personal, and I knew the captain wouldn’t stop until he had Elias’ blood.
They rolled through the silt, crashing into a stall, sending the heavy contents tumbling down from their table. Two-legger kitchenware rained around them.
When the fray cleared, it was to reveal Elias beneath Captain Saber. He thrashed against the larger mer’s heavy weight, but the captain was pure muscle and rage, pinning him down with his tail and arms. The captain’s hand went to his waist, unsheathing the sword there.
“No!” I cried aloud.
The captain ignored me and sneered down at Elias right before plunging the blade through the Black Blade’s flesh.