“Are there any other gods?” I ask.

  “Many, oh so many, and one day, if you ask nicely, I might tell you their names,” he teases. I could just imagine how much the masters would love having Nai telling them all the secrets of the gods.

  I know he is teasing me, but there is some kind of power in knowing someone’s name, and gods’ would be so much more. But I do not need to know it. “I’d rather you didn’t.” I take in a deep breath, the smell of salty water and sand is refreshing for all of a second. “How are we getting down to the mermaid city? I know we can’t swim to it and not drown, not without water dragons.”

  “The ship, my precious ship, is enchanted. Come on, I will show you.” He knocks his head to the side, his hand stroking along the wooden bannister as we go up to the wheel. He waves a hand at the wheel and crosses his arms, a tempting smirk on his lips as he waits for me to step closer.

  “Are you sure you aren’t the god of teasing?”

  His laugh surrounds me. “Only for you, Everly.”

  I shake my head, a small laugh escaping me as I step in front of the wheel. I close my hands around the wooden handles and eye the centre of the wheel, which has dozens of tiny little markings on it that look like no language I’ve ever seen before. The ship is still until Nai steps behind me, boxing me into the wheel with his body, and covers his hands over mine on the wheel. The ship jolts forward, hard enough to nearly make me slip, but Nai’s body keeps me up as we suddenly dive into the sea. I brace myself to be hit with water, closing my eyes and holding my breath, but nothing happens. After a second, I open my eyes and stare in wonder at the almost bubble-like sphere surrounding the ship. It’s clear, much like the magic around the mermaid city if I remember right, but this one is constantly moving like a wave that shimmers. I watch completely speechless at the fish that swim around us as we go deeper into the dark sea.

  “This is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” I mutter in wonder. The world I’ve lived in has always had magic and gods, but it is so different only hearing of magic versus actually seeing it.

  He rests his head next to mine, and for the first time, I don’t want to move away. “As are you.”

  I look back at Nai for a long moment. His gold eyes are so bright, and they perfectly reflect the water around us. Right now I believe he is the son of a god—he is too beautiful and enchanting not to be. I could see myself falling for him in a matter of moments, and he would take my heart like a gift to the gods themselves.

  I pretend love can’t be made overnight…that it takes work. Yet here I am, falling for a god.

  I don’t have magic. I’m half mermaid with no tail and no claim to anything in the sea. But maybe I have a claim to him. I sharply turn back just as the darkness of the sea parts for the city of Merida, just like I remember it. There’s a town full of castle-shaped buildings with white roofs, some parts have a bubble surrounding them, and others are fully in the water, but it all flows together like a dream. At the top of the tallest point is a star that draws my attention straight away. A beam of light from the surface has made its way down here and casts directly on the star. The half blue and half purple star is massive, and it lights up everything for miles so that the city can never be lost to the sea.

  Thousands of mermaids and different fish swim around the structures submerged in the water before going into the bubble areas, and most don’t wear much more than little bits of clothing. It doesn’t take long for us to attract all of their attention, and most of them are stopping. Guards with long silver spears that fork at the top swim towards the ship, but they bounce off the bubble shield surrounding us, and nothing stops us as we get closer to the city. I want to say I can ignore the nudity, but it’s hard to look around the city and avoid it.

  “Ready for a crash landing, Everly?” Nai asks around a laugh. “I haven’t had this much fun in forever.”

  “You’re mad!” I shout around a laugh that ends in a scream as he directs the ship right through the barrier of the city, and it crashes down the straight path right outside the palace. I hold onto the wheel for dear life as screams fill my ears, and the screech of the bottom of the boat as it slides across stone hurts my ears. But Nai only laughs the entire time as if we aren’t crashing his ship.

  Insane god. Actually, and figurately, insane.

  The tip of the ship smashes through the glass window before skidding to a halt, and the shield disappears as the ship makes itself comfy outside the palace.

  “We just broke their palace!” I whisper in frustration to Nai as he steps away from me but takes my hand in his. He only winks at me as the ship is filled with guards and they all point their spears at us.

  “Well, at the very least, they know we are here.”

  Chapter 7

  Everleigh

  The guards surround us as they lead us down from the ship and through the doors of the palace, where glass litters the sides and has been swept aside for us. The mermaid castle is beautiful and cold, yet in a desirable way that makes you ignore that cold feeling that settles deep in your chest. The sound of running water fills my ears, and it’s the only sound to get away from the silence in this place. Nai never lets the guards separate us, and even though they aren’t aware who he is, he gives off a presence that I can see shakes them into not pushing their luck, so I stick close to his side. A few of the guards stare at me with a look that suggests they remember me from my last visit here and they are not too happy about my return. I remember how King Damien has a strange way of connecting with all the mermaids and speaking into their heads. The guards talk with each other in their language, the foreign tongue difficult to make any sense of. Turning my gaze around the room, I see a not so friendly face in the corner, her body hidden in the shadows, but I remember her well. Kiaw led us here all that time ago and then came to see me as queen, and I sent her back with an answer that surely didn’t make things great for her.

  “Leave us.” I follow his voice, like a lullaby I haven’t heard in a long time, to find King Damien of the Mermaids right in front of the group of guards. When I first met him not so long ago, I felt a strange connection that I know he felt too, and even now, my gaze snaps to his like no time has passed for us at all.

  I should hate him.

  Then he demanded my hand in marriage, forcing me into a decision I didn’t want, and after that, I made up my mind he would not get what he wanted because he demanded so.

  I am not a simple girl from an island anymore. The war sculpted and changed me into someone fit to be on the throne and do what is right for my people, and I have never believed for a moment a marriage to Damien would be it.

  It doesn’t matter to me that King Damien is the most captivating man—no, mermaid—I have ever seen. Deep blond locks of hair curl around the blue crystal crown on his firm, handsome face. Underneath a few strands of hair on his forehead lies a blue star tattoo that is the exact same colour as his eyes, and from the many books on mermaid culture, I’ve gathered it is a mark of a royal born mermaid. Given to them from the gods, much like changed ones. His strong jawline and bow lips only add to his appeal, making the king look more inviting than he is. A deep blue cloak falls from green crystal clips on his shoulders, a black shirt and trousers lie underneath, and he doesn’t wear shoes. Looking at Damien right now, I understand why people would follow a mermaid into the sea without a second thought about drowning. They have this captivating beauty about them, an otherworldly enchantment that lures you in.

  “Queen Everleigh of Calais...I heard you died,” he remarks, his tone cold. “Yet here you stand before me.”

  “You heard correctly. Death didn’t suit me, it seems,” I reply, and he almost smiles before turning to Nai.

  “It’s been a long time since I saw you, but for once we are equal. Did you foresee our meeting this time?” Damien asks, and Nai only inclines his head with a slow smile.

  “You know each other?” I demand to know, and Damien looks away, whereas Nai meets my gaze under his pirate hat. Gods, Cassandra would like him. Pirates have always been her area of expertise, and I was always scared of the sea.

  “Damien has a story to tell you of our meeting and how he secured his crown, but it is not mine to tell,” Nai softly tells me, and Damien finally looks back at me.

  “Do not ask me for stories when you have broken your word to me, Queen Everleigh,” he all but growls.

  “I never broke my word, I simply added conditions to it,” I reply, crossing my arms and glaring right back into his handsome eyes.

  “Spoken like a true queen,” Nai murmurs before he yawns despite the tension in the room. “Why don’t we get some rest and talk over dinner. We have travelled far to get here.”

  “Of course,” Damien tensely replies, his eyes fixed on mine as he looks to the left. Four guards come over and Nai goes off with two of them, not looking back once. “I have something of yours to show you later.”

  “What could you possibly have?” I ask, but he stays silent. I shake my head and walk to the guards, but he speaks once more.

  “You’ve been gone a year. Did you know that?” His question makes me pause. A year? It felt like no longer than a few days.

  “Who is on my throne?” I ask as I turn back, and his eyes seem to search mine, like he is testing whether my reaction is sincere.

  “Cassandra has taken the throne for her daughter until she comes of age,” he eventually tells me. “At least, that is the public knowledge. As we speak, Calais rebels against itself, and your changed one is struggling to keep the islands together in peace.”

  “She had a girl?” I softly whisper, filled with relief and love for a child I’ve not even met and for the knowledge that Cassandra is looking after my throne. I just wish I could tell her I’m alive and I will be back soon to help sort out my kingdom. I hope Cassandra hasn’t let the islands go back to the normal chaos they were once under, and if that has happened, I will find a way to fix it once again. “Can you send word I am alive?”

  I don’t think he is going to answer me as he turns away, watching the sea before him as his people swim around in freedom, in utter peace with themselves and the sea. “Are you going to keep your word and become my queen if I will still have you?”

  “Do you want an undead queen on your throne?” I sarcastically reply, because for some damn reason only the gods of Calais know, the idea of him not wanting my hand in marriage annoys me.

  He pauses, and the answer doesn’t come to me from his lips. He speaks into my head. “Always, since the moment I saw you. We will speak alone soon.”

  The king walks away, leaving me in the cold throne room with more questions than I could have ever expected but a strange warm feeling in my heart.

  Chapter 8

  Everleigh

  The delicate and spacious room I’m left in has an amazing view over the city of the mermaids, and I end up staring at them for hours on end, barely aware of the fact I need to do something other than watch a kingdom that is not my own. I watch the mermaid children play with the fish, the dolphins swimming around with dragons, and mermaid men that seem to have some control over them. Women stop in groups, laughing under the water, and their never-ending beauty makes me wonder what the world did right to have creatures like this that are beautiful. I need to figure out my next move and get back to the surface without being married to a mermaid king who doesn’t love me. Logically speaking, marrying him was never a problem. It’s my heart and the many things my mother told me as I grew up. She would tell me never to marry for anything short of true love, and I want that for myself. I want a family, a lifelong legacy of peace for the entirety of Calais, and that means the mermaids as well.

  The throne of the mermaids might not belong to me, but I feel like I’m meant to be at Damien’s side. Only if he would lower his guard and be real with me. I want us to be at least friends before marrying.

  I want love, even in these impossible waters we swim in.

  Many mermaids swim past the waters of the castle, never coming close enough for me to see their faces, but the outlines of their bodies let me know how good they are at swimming, and thankfully some of them have rags of clothes covering them. Not all of them though. I wonder about how much the mermaids rely on Damien, and how he couldn’t leave to come to me. How would it work if he wanted to live here? I need to be on the throne in Calais, and he needs to be here. It would be impossible for us to be in love and for our marriage to be anything but words and vows. I’m jolted out of my thoughts when someone knocks on the pearl coloured door to the bedroom, and I finally turn around.

  “Come in,” I shout out, and two women come into the room, thankfully dressed. One has long red hair that curls around her shoulders and matches the unusual red tone to her orange eyes. She has a black dress on that is shimmering with every step and really looks like magic made it exist. The other woman has deep, rich brown hair that is cut short, brown eyes that remind me of Cassandra’s, and a strange purple fabric wrap over her body as she stumbles in. Almost like she has just learnt how to walk.

  “Queen Everleigh of Calais, we have come to dress you and prepare you for the meal,” the red-haired woman states with a coy smile. I instantly don’t like her directness, and something about her makes me tense.

  “Where are the dresses?” I ask, crossing my arms and lifting my chin.

  “In the closet, of course.” She waves a hand to one of the two doors. “And next to the closet is the bathroom for us to bathe you.”

  “Thank you for the information. Now you may leave. I do not need nor want your help,” I answer and turn back around, expecting them to leave. I hear the door open and one pair of steps walk out, but when I don’t hear a second, I tense up further. My body is fully on alert as I tilt my head to the side, and the red-haired woman is watching me with her hand on the door.

  A somewhat peculiar smile falls on her painted red lips, and she tilts her head to the side. “Goodbye, Queen Everleigh.” I watch the strange woman for a long pause until she finally leaves the room, taking the tension with her. I have a funny feeling I have more enemies in the sea than I knew I did.

  I walk to the bedroom door, flipping the latch lock on before going to the bathroom. I find a large tub that is shaped like a shell, and after a few moments, I find a tap to turn that lets water fall into the tub from a gap near the top. After searching for a moment, I find soap bottles and towels, and I leave them near the side of the tub. Hooking my fingers into the top of my dress, I push it off and stare at myself in the mirrors on the other side of the room. I am covered in dust, my blonde hair is a mess of waves and out of control, but my eyes still hold strong, reminding me of who I am. Reminding me that I’ve fought in a war and this will be no different. I will fight my way back home and never let anyone take my life from me again.

  After a long bath and a good scrub of my hair, I get out and towel dry my hair the best I can before heading back to my room. The wardrobe turns its own glowing light orb on the second I walk into the room, much like many of the rooms do down here. I count ten dresses, all of which seem my size, and I wonder how long Damien has had them here.

  And which one he wanted me to marry him in. I push the dresses aside, admiring how beautiful they are but not seeing one I like until I get to the last dress. It is dark blue like the sea and has a deep V-line, and the top is shaped like the letter A. I touch the top of the dress which feels like velvet, and the bottom half is lacy in many layers but a lighter colour. In the lace are tiny little white stars, so it makes the dress look like the very night sky I love so much. I find a hairbrush and sort my hair out before loosely plaiting it and twisting a few locks so they fall around my face before getting the dress on. Just as I’m doing up the lace on the side, my door is knocked again, and I finish my dress before going to it. I unlock the latch and open the door, not making the mistake to invite whoever it is in without looking.

  “You need not lock your doors in my castle. No one would dare harm you because of me,” Damien states as I open the door, and he stares. I feel his gaze slowly roll over my body and back up to my eyes as I try to stay still and look right back. “You look more enchanting than the sea, and I’ve loved the sea’s beauty since before I can remember.”

  I think that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and I haven’t got a clue what to say back. What would Cassandra say? She must have been good at compliments, and I really never have been. Back on Onaya, the island I once came from, I thought I loved a man who used to always tell me I was beautiful, but he was killed before we could ever have become more. Then I met Tyrion, but he always kept me at a distance. My friend but never more, never what I wanted us to be.

  “Thank you. Is it time for the meal?” I ask, and he clears his throat, holding out his hand for me to take. After a moment’s pause, I slide my hand into his, and I nearly jump at the pure heat he gives off. I almost forgot mermaids feel like touching the suns above us. He folds my hand into his elbow as he leads me out of the room, the heat from his body soothing me. I don’t have shoes on, the cold tiles reminding me with every step, and it feels strange as my bare feet touch the silver floors. We head down the pathway that leads outside onto a long bridge that is made out of smooth coral, and the bright pink is striking. The bridge leads to another tower that curls up into the sea, but Damien stops us in the middle of the bridge and looks out over the city with me at his side.

  “Everleigh—”

  “Those close to me call me Everly,” I interrupt him, and he smirks at me for a moment before he seems to remember something and goes back to being stern. I wonder if deep down under everything, Damien is kind and has a sense of humour.

 

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