Waterfire Saga, Book Three: Dark Tide: A Deep Blue Novel (41 page)

And emotion. Love, longing, desire, regret—these things were bound into every stitch. I could feel them. I could feel
him
. McQueen was there, moving through those rooms.

I came to the last rooms, to collections inspired by the sea, and they blew me away. One dress looked as if it was cut from white waves, another like it was fashioned from seaweed. And overhead,
on a large screen, was an image of a young woman sinking slowly through water, her dress billowing around her.

Who was she? I didn’t know. All I knew is that I was spellbound by McQueen’s vision of the sea—a sea that was beautiful, but also treacherous and dark. I knew then that I had
to write a story about it.

I thought I was done with ghosts, but it turns out they weren’t done with me. Because to this day, I believe that Alexander McQueen sent me a gift.
Dark Tide
is for him, wherever
he may be, with gratitude for things rich and strange.

A
BBADON
an immense monster, created by Orfeo, then defeated and caged in the Antarctic waters

A
CHILLES
a brigantine, captained by Maffeio Aermore, that went down in 1793 near Cape Horn; now a shipwreck full of ghosts that protect the
Williwaw’s lair

A
LÍTHEIA
a twelve-foot, venomous sea spider made out of bronze combined with drops of Merrow’s blood. Bellogrim, the blacksmith god, forged
her, and the sea goddess, Neria, breathed life into her to protect the throne of Miromara from any pretenders.

A
LMA
the woman Orfeo loved; when she died, he went mad with grief

A
MARREFE
M
EI
F
OO
a pirate who attacked the
Demeter
, looking to steal the infanta’s blue
diamond

A
RMANDO
C
ONTORINI
the late duca di Venezia, leader of the Praedatori (aka Karkharias, the Shark)

A
RTEMESIA
Sera’s grandmother, a regina of Miromara who considered the Volnero family tainted and decreed that there would be no alliance with their
bloodline

A
STRID
K
OLFINNSDOTTIR
teenage daughter of Kolfinn, ruler of Ondalina

A
TLANTICA
the mer domain in the Atlantic Ocean; Becca’s home

A
TLANTIS
an ancient island paradise in the Mediterranean peopled with the ancestors of the mer. Six mages ruled the island wisely and well: Orfeo, Merrow,
Sycorax, Navi, Pyrrha, and Nyx. When the island was destroyed, Merrow saved the Atlanteans by calling on Neria to give them fins and tails.

A
VA
teenage mermaid from the Amazon River; she is blind but able to sense things

B
ABA
V
R
Ă
JA
the elder leader—or obârsie—of the Iele, river witches

B
ABY
Ava’s guide piranha

B
ACO
G
OGA
an eel-like merman; spy for Vallerio and Portia Volnero

B
ASTIAAN
, P
RINCIPE
C
ONSORTE
Regina Isabella’s husband and Serafina’s father

B
ECCA
Q
UICKFIN
a teenage mermaid from Atlantica

B
EDRIEËR
one of three trawlers that Rafe Mfeme owns

B
IANCA DI
R
EMORA
one of Lucia’s ladies-in-waiting

B
LACK
F
INS
members of a Cerulean resistance group

B
LACK PEARL
Orfeo’s talisman; given to him by Morsa

B
LACKCLAW DRAGON
one of the many types of dragons that breed in Matali and are the main source of the realm’s wealth; huge and powerful and used by
the military

B
LOODBIND
a spell in which blood from different mages is combined to form an unbreakable bond and allow them to share abilities

B
LOODSONG
blood drawn from one’s heart that contains memories and allows them to become visible to others

B
RITANNIA
a luxury ocean liner that went down in a storm in the Adriatic Sea; now a ghost ship

C
AMO
a songspell used to change appearance

C
ANTA MALUS
darksong, a poisonous gift to the mer from Morsa, in mockery of Neria’s gifts

C
ANTA PRAX
a plainsong spell

C
ANTA SANGUA
blood magic, an even more heinous violation than canta malus

C
ARCERON
the prison on Atlantis. The lock could only be opened by all six talismans. It is now located somewhere in the Southern Sea.

C
ASSIO
the sky god

C
ERULEA
the royal city in Miromara, where Serafina lived before it was attacked

C
IRRIAN
the language spoken by barnacles

C
ITADEL
a city carved out of an iceberg in which Ondalina’s admirals live with their families and top members of government

C
OMMODORA
second-in-command to Ondalina’s admiral; spymaster and in charge of the realm’s military

C
OMMOVEO
a songspell that can be used to push objects

C
ONCH
a shell in which recorded information is stored

C
ONVOCA
a songspell that can be used for summoning and communicating with people

C
URRENSEA
mer money; gold trocii (trocus, sing.), silver drupes, copper cowries; gold doubloons are black market currensea

D
AÍMONAS TIS
M
ORSA
demon of Morsa

D
ARKSONG
a powerful canta malus spell that causes harm, legal to use against enemies during wartime

D
EATH RIDERS
Traho’s soldiers, who ride on black hippokamps

D
EMETER
the ship that Maria Theresa, an infanta of Spain, was sailing on when it was lost in 1582 en route to France

D
EPTH SICKNESS
a dangerous and occasionally lethal condition caused by diving too deep; symptoms include headache, nausea, disorientation, hallucinations,
asphyxiation, and brain bleeding

D
ESIDERIO
Serafina’s older brother

D
OKIMÍ
Greek for
trial
; a ceremony in which the heir to the Miromaran throne has to prove that she is a true descendant of Merrow by
spilling blood for Alítheia, the sea spider. She must then songcast, make her betrothal vows, and swear to one day give the realm a daughter.

D
UCHI DI
V
ENEZIA
created by Merrow to protect the seas and its creatures from terragoggs

E
IS
G
EISTS
murderous spirits that dwell in cold water; created by Morsa, they are neither alive nor dead; they drag their victims
behind them until the flesh rots away and then eat the bones

E
KELSHMUTZ
one of the four goblin tribes

E
LISABETTA
C
ONTORINI
sister of Marco Contorini, the current duca di Venezia

E
LSKAN
an orca that Kolfinn bought for his wife Eyvör to ride

E
LYSIA
capital of Atlantis

E
VEKSION
the god of healing

E
YVÖR
wife of Admiral Kolfinn and mother to Ragnar and Astrid

F
EIMOR
F
A
E
AEMOR
a Viking chieftain who bought Orfeo’s black pearl from a fisherman

F
EUERKUMPEL
goblin miners, one of the Kobold tribes, who channel magma from deep seams under the North Sea in order to obtain lava for lighting and
heating

F
RAGOR LUX
a songspell to cast a light bomb (frag, abbr.)

F
RESHWATERS
the mer domain that encompasses rivers, lakes, and ponds

F
RYST
a clan of giant ice trolls that protects Ondalina’s Citadel

G
ÂNDAC
a bug that is planted near a person or thing that a songcaster wants to observe; it catches and holds the ochi spell

G
HOST SHIP
a shipwreck entwined with the life force of a human who died onboard; it does not rot or rust

G
OLD COIN
Pyrrha’s talisman, with an image of Neria on it

G
REAT
A
BYSS
a deep chasm in Qin where Sycorax’s talisman is believed to be located, and where Ling’s father disappeared
while exploring

G
ULDEMAR
the Meerteufel sea goblin tribe’s chieftain

H
AFGUFA
the kraken; according to legend, Meerteufel chieftains can call the creature forth in times of trouble

H
AGARLA
queen of the Razormouth dragons

H
ALL OF
S
IGHS
a long corridor in Vadus, the mirror realm, whose walls are covered in mirrors; every mirror has a corresponding one
in the terragogg world

H
IPPOKAMPS
creatures that are half horse, half serpent, with snakelike eyes

H
ÖLLEBLÄSER
goblin glassblowers, one of the Kobold tribes

H
OROK
the great coelacanth, Keeper of Souls, who takes the dead to the underworld, holding each soul in a white pearl

I
ELE
river witches

I
LLUMINATA
a songspell to create light

I
LLUSIO
a spell to create a disguise

I
NCANTARIUM
the room where the incanta—river witches—keep Abbadon at bay through chanting and waterfire

I
RON
repels magic

I
SABELLA
, L
A
S
ERENISSIMA
R
EGINA
Miromara’s former ruler; Serafina’s
mother

K
ARGJORD
a hilly, desolate barrens at the northernmost reaches of the Meerteufel’s realm; the Black Fins’ military training ground

K
HARIS
priestess of the death goddess Morsa

K
OBOLD
North Sea goblin tribes

K
OLFINN
Admiral of the arctic region, Ondalina; Astrid’s father

K
OLISSEO
a huge open-water stone theater in Miromara that dates back to Merrow’s time

L
AGOON
the waters off the human city of Venice, forbidden to merfolk

L
AVA GLOBE
a light source, lit by magma mined and refined into white lava by the Feuerkumpel

L
ING
a teenage mermaid from the realm of Qin; she is an omnivoxa

L
UCIA
V
OLNERO
once one of Serafina’s ladies-in-waiting, now a pretender to the Miromaran throne; a member of the Volnero, a
noble family as old—and nearly as powerful—as the Merrovingia

L
UDOVICO DI
M
ERROVINGIA
, P
RINCIPE
younger brother to both Vallerio and Isabella; a Miromaran exchanged with
Kolfinn’s sister as part of the permutavi; breeder of hippokamps and trainer of orcas used by Ondalina’s military

M
ACAPÁ
Ava’s home village in the Freshwaters realm

M
AELSTROM
a powerful whirlpool in the sea

M
AFFEIO
A
ERMORE
captain of the
Achilles
, a brigantine that went down in 1793 near Cape Horn

M
AHDI
crown prince of Matali; Serafina’s betrothed; cousin of Yazeed and Neela

M
ALIGNO
a creature made out of clay and animated by blood magic

M
ÅNENHONNØR
Ondalina’s moon festival

M
ÅNENKAGER
a cake, eaten during Månenhonnør, made of pressed krill and iced with ground mother-of-pearl, so it shines like the moon;
baked with a silver drupe coin in it for good luck

M
ARCO
C
ONTORINI
the current duca di Venezia; brother of Elisabetta

M
ARIA
T
HERESA
an infanta of Spain who was sailing to France on the
Demeter
in 1582 when it was attacked by a pirate,
Amarrefe Mei Foo

M
ARKUS
T
RAHO
, C
APTAIN
leader of the death riders

M
ARLIN
a Wave Warrior boat fitted with a saltwater tank to transport sick and wounded sea creatures

M
ATALI
the mer realm in the Indian Ocean; Neela’s home

M
ATALIN
from Matali

M
EDICA MAGUS
mer equivalent of doctor

M
EERTEUFEL
one of four goblin tribes

M
ERL
Mermish equivalent of
girl

M
ERMAID
’
S
T
EAR
another name for Neria’s Stone, the blue diamond, which Neria gave to Merrow