Orphan's Blade (23 page)

“There is nowhere to cast anchor.” Brax looked more annoyed than fearful.

“There won’t be.” Valoria stared in awe. “The island is only meant to lure ships close. No man has set foot in the jungle. ’Tis rumored there are underground channels that weave through the island where the mermaids take refuge during storms.”

“Horred’s grave!” Nathaniel jerked back from the edge of the boat.

“What is it?” Brax grumbled.

Unease crossed Nathaniel’s face. “I thought I saw something.”

Doubt clouded Valoria’s mind, pulling her confidence apart. She gripped her harp to her chest and plucked a few strings to calm herself. They were here to save Ebonvale. They needed the blue fire and they had something decent to trade. But, she couldn’t help but feel vulnerable and foolish, like a little girl who’d strayed too far from home.

“The mermaids can’t touch you if you stay in the boat.” She scanned the water. The crashing waves churned up pieces of shell and rock, and it was difficult to see what lay under the surface.

“There!” Brax pointed to the right by his side of the boat. “A tail like an eel.”

“Over there!” Nathaniel pointed in the other direction. “A clump of kelp appeared and disappeared.”

“Do not fall prey to their tricks.” Valoria warned. She raised her voice. “Mermaids of the Sapphire Isles, we are here to trade.”

The water bubbled around them. A pinkish fin slapped the surface. Webbed hands rose up, reaching up the sides of the boat.

“Valoria…” Nathaniel backed to the middle. “What do we do?”

She thought back to the songs. Was there a hierarchy among them? She shouted over the water. “We’ve come to see your leader.”

When she turned back, Brax was leaning over the edge of the boat, staring at something in the water.

“Brax!” Valoria reached over and pulled on his arm. It was like trying to move a bull. “Nathaniel, help me.”

“Helena’s sword!” Nathaniel moved and grabbed Brax’s other arm.

Brax’s eyes glazed over, as if he saw beyond the water to a place he longed to go. She’d never seen him so melancholy, and it scared her more than the mermaids in the water. He muttered under his breath. “It cannot be.”

Her fingernails dug into his skin. “Pull him back!”

“I’m trying.” Nathaniel gritted his teeth and kicked against the side of the boat.

A face emerged from the depths below. Eyes black as ink with no pupils stared up at them as hair-like kelp lilted around cheeks frilled with gills. Blue lips opened to reveal uneven, pin shaped teeth.

“The creature is hideous.” Nathaniel gasped with shock. “Brax, come to your senses.”

“He doesn’t see the mermaid. She’s showing him what he wants to see.” No matter how hard Valoria yanked, Brax leaned closer and closer to the surface.

The mermaid reached up with both webbed hands. Valoria’s stomach lurched as Brax reached toward her. Their hands met, and in the blink of an eye, she pulled Brax under. Valoria fell forward with him, but Nathaniel caught her with both his arms around her waist. Brax’s leather shirt slipped through Valoria’s fingers. She fought wildly as Nathaniel pulled her back into the boat.

“No!” Shock and disbelief rattled her to the core. Another wave crashed, sending bubbles around their boat. When the water cleared, there was nothing there. “He’s gone!”

She fought against Nathaniel, her whole body shaking. This was all her fault. She’d brought the rightful heir to the throne to his death. Desperation came over her as she reached over the boat. She’d have to go in after him.

“No, Valoria.” Nathaniel pulled her back. With one arm he held her against him, and with the other, he ripped the velvet bag from his pocket. “Bring him back, or you’ll never see your precious pearls of wisdom again.”

“They don’t want to trade.” Tears stung Valoria’s eyes as she crumpled into his chest. “I was wrong.”

“I do not believe it.” Nathaniel had such faith in his voice, it gave her a small thread of hope. He turned back to the waters around them. “Our companion for the pearls.”

The water bubbled up again, and a mermaid crawled onto a rock a few feet away with quick and fluid movements reminding Valoria of an eel. She was smaller than the average person, her body thin and wiry like a starving child. Her skin shone a translucent white, her hair dark and slimy. She raised a webbed hand, and the water stilled around them. Even the waves eased.

“Your tricks do not work on me.” Nathaniel shouted and drew his sword. “If you refuse, I’ll slice a dozen mermaid heads off before they pull me under.”

Valoria stared up at Nathaniel in awe. His strength at such a dire hour surprised her. She’d never seen him so fierce and determined.

“Why trade for that which is rightfully mine?” The mermaid spoke with a deep throaty voice, forming the words awkwardly in her toothy mouth. Her gills wheezed and dripped water down her chest. A starfish clung to her shoulder. Barnacles covered her body, opening their mouths to gulp the air.

Nathaniel pointed the end of his sword at her heart. “If he dies, your kingdom dies with him.”

She clicked her tongue, and the water bubbled beneath her tattered fin. Three mermaids lifted Brax to the surface. His skin was pale, his chest unmoving. Small, red scratch marks drew across his forehead and right cheek.

Terror seized Valoria. She gripped the side of the boat, her hands trembling. Was Brax dead?

Nathaniel’s face slackened, but he did not lose his ground. “Return him to us.”

“Why so important?” The mermaid stroked Brax’s jaw.

Valoria’s chest tightened. Would Nathaniel dare to tell her the truth?

Nathaniel straightened and spoke as if she’d offended the gods themselves. “He is the future king of Ebonvale. He came to return what is rightfully yours in exchange for your aid.”

A guttural sound came from her throat. “King of Ebonvale stole our pearls.” Water dripped from her black lips. “Why help him?”

“Because if you do not, the sea will die. The undead will march on Ebonvale, and spread through the continent until nothing lives. Have you seen an undead?” He paused as the question sunk in. “They are relentless and they do not need to breath. They will march into your waters and turn your own people against you.”

She swayed and her gills puffed. “This man can stop them?”

“With your blue fire, he can.”

Her black eyes narrowed. “You offer us another treaty?”

“I offer you a chance to survive.” Nathaniel’s tone was even and calm as if he knew he had her beat.

Valoria tightened her grip on the boat, praying the mermaid believed him. She straightened and the mermaid’s black eyes focused on her. “My people have made a treaty with Ebonvale for our protection as well. You hold my betrothed, the man who will unite Ebonvale with the minstrels of the House of Song. If you kill him, you have us to answer to as well. But if you allow him to live and give us what we need, you will make another ally.”

The mermaid tilted her head up, scrutinizing her. She glanced at Valoria’s harp, at the calluses on the tips of her fingers, and then her auburn hair. Did she look as hideous to the mermaid as the mermaid looked to her?

The mermaid raised a hand, and another mermaid leaned over Brax and covered his mouth with her own. When she lifted her head, Brax gasped in air. He coughed as water rose up from his lips.

Valoria breathed with relief. She could not dwell on the truth of the matter, that he’d fallen prey to the mermaids’ advances, that he did not love her. She would deal with that knowledge later. For now, she had to settle for the fact he was alive.

Three mermaids carried Brax to the boat and dumped him over the side. Still coughing, he crawled to a sitting position as Valoria spread a blanket over his shoulders. His lips were blue. She touched him and gasped as her fingers turned to ice. It was as if his inner fire had burned out.

Nathaniel threw the velvet pouch into the water. It sunk into the depths. “And the blue fire?”

A webbed hand reached from the surface by the boat. The webbing unfurled to reveal a glass bottle stopped with a snail shell. Inside, a blue substance glimmered and swirled.

Valoria’s heart quickened as Nathaniel leaned over the boat’s edge and reached for the vial. She reminded herself he was not susceptible to the mermaids’ spell. He had a love in his heart. Blanca. Now the truth was clear and it ate away at her insides like acid fire.

Nathaniel took the bottle and studied it in the light. “This is enough?”

“One drop will burn lake.” The mermaid lowered herself waist deep in the water. Her tail undulated in the waves.

His eyes widened. “Why do you have something so powerful, it could be your demise?”

“We stole it from enemy.” She’d slipped in up to her neck. Fins along her sides unfurled around her like wings.

“Thank you.” Nathaniel bowed his head.

“Thank us by saving the world.” She disappeared under the sea.

Facing Truths

Valoria’s arms burned as she paddled with Nathaniel back to Amok’s ship. Brax huddled in the back under the blanket, his eyes staring at the horizon with a blank expression. He hadn’t uttered a single word since they’d left the Sapphire Isles. Perhaps the mermaids had tricked them into bringing home a ghost.

“Will he recover?” Valoria whispered to Nathaniel, even though she doubted Brax would hear or care.

“He’s had a tough blow.” Concern crossed Nathaniel’s warm eyes. “But he’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever known.” Nathaniel nodded to himself. “He’ll come back. Give him time.”

Give him time. The queen had asked her to promise as much. Valoria had given Brax time—days, weeks, almost a month. Hadn’t she given him enough?

She knew the answer to that question. She had to give him as much time as he needed, whether it took days, months, or years. Or a lifetime. A rock fell in her stomach.

Valoria studied Nathaniel’s perfect features. “You are fortunate to have such a love as to prevent the mermaids from reaching you.” The words escaped her mouth before she’d had time to think upon them.

Nathaniel jerked as if startled. “Fortunate is not the word I would use.”

Valoria snapped her head up in confusion. Who would curse love?

“Ahoy maties!” Amok shouted from the bow of The Manta’s Tail. “Bring the boat about and I’ll lift ye up.”

They secured the boat to the moorings, and chains clinked as Amok turned the wheel and lifted them from the sea. Valoria wanted to pursue their conversation further, but Nathaniel turned away, watching the chains rise and fall around them.

Amok’s wrinkled face peered over the railing. His eyes widened when he saw Brax. “Looks like someone had a fall.”

Valoria cast him a glare that advised against further comments on the matter. Even though Brax had teased her and made her feel like the lowest form of princess in Ebonvale, she would not have someone treat him with disrespect.

Amok turned to Nathaniel. “Did you find what ye were looking for?”

Nathaniel nodded, providing no other explanation. “Help me take Axel to his room.”

Amok positioned himself under one shoulder, while Nathaniel positioned himself under the other and they walked Brax across the deck and into the belly of the ship. Valoria followed them, wishing she could help more.

They dropped him onto his bed. Nathaniel retrieved a bowl of soup from the pantry as Amok went above deck to chart the course home.

Valoria pulled a chair next to his bed. “I’ll stay with him.”

Nathaniel nodded as if it was the more logical choice, handing her the bowl. “I’ll be above deck making sure we don’t run into any more mythological creatures.”

She nodded and held a dampened cloth to Brax’s forehead. If they did, they’d be in poor shape to fight with their boat falling apart and their best warrior down. Valoria wasn’t even sure she had the energy to play her harp.

After Nathaniel left, she brought a spoonful of soup to Brax’s lips. He ignored her, gazing out the window to the waves. She’d never seen this downcast side of him before, and she suspected he didn’t show it often.

“You have to eat to regain your strength.” She lifted the spoon again, but his lips wouldn’t part.

“I thought it was real.” His voice was soft and hoarse, as if he were waking from a long sleep.

“What?” She dropped the spoon. “You thought what was real?”

“In the water.” His voice trailed off, his gaze still locked on the sea.

Here was a chance to glimpse his soul, to truly know him, yet he would not share himself. Valoria resisted the urge to push him. “It does not matter now. Have some soup.”

He turned toward her, seeing her for the first time. “It does matter. I have failed you.”

He had. She could not avoid the ugly truth. He did not love her. There was something in the water he wanted more, the key to his heart. She’d never have it. But, did he truly have the key to hers? He’d failed her as much as she’d failed him.

“Here.” She dug in her cloak and brought out his flask. “You need this more than I.”

Brax closed her fingers over the flask. “’Twas a gift. You must keep it.”

“It does not belong to me.” Nor did his heart.

“It will someday.”

But would it, truly? She did not have the courage to ask. Instead, she set the flask on the bed beside him. “But not today.” She pushed the soup closer to him. “Eat. You’ll need your energy for the battle to come.”

“I cannot eat until I have your forgiveness.”

Had the mermaids shown him
her
heart, she’d be the one asking for forgiveness, not him. She gave him the spoon. “There is nothing to forgive.”

* * * *

Nathaniel joined Amok at the wheel. Twilight spread across the horizon, and the first stars of the night peaked through the dull canopy. “How long until we reach shore?”

“The wind is in our favor.” Amok winked. “With this northwesterly gale, I can skirt the Sea of Urchins and have you back in Shaletown in three days.”

Three days. Nathaniel hadn’t thought he’d be eager to return, but the quest had taken longer than anticipated, so he welcomed any way to speed their course.