Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(95)

“They know, children,” Horok said. He turned his gaze to Becca. “Abigail and Matthew know, too. Only the body dies. Love lives on.”

And then, with a slow swish of his powerful tail, he swam away.

“Abigail and Matthew?” Ling asked, taking Becca’s hand. “Your parents?”

Becca nodded. Ava put an arm around her. Astrid joined them, taking Becca’s hand. Sera put an arm around Astrid. Neela took Sera’s hand and looped her arm around Ava. They were bloodied and scarred, but the circle of their sisterhood was unbroken.

“Orfeo got what he wanted in the end,” Astrid said, as they all watched Horok disappear. “He’ll finally be reunited with his beloved Alma.”

Sera wanted to thank her friends, to tell them what they meant to her, and how much she loved them, but her heart was so full of emotion, she couldn’t speak. Instead, she took a deep breath and began to sing.


How can I tell you, mages’ daughters,

My bloodbound sisters of the water,

Noble, brave, true as the seas,

Exactly what you mean to me?

Remember when it all began?

The call insistent, waves on sand

Summoned in a night’s dark dream,

By one who wasn’t what she seemed.

Fierce in aspect, kind of heart,

She showed us Orfeo’s dark art:

A monster made of fear and rage,

Now buried in an icy cage.

She told us one would set it free,

Then made a bold, impassioned plea:

Fight this evil, save the waters,

Work together, mages’ daughters.

Become as one, then save the seas?

Both seemed impossible to me.

Be brave, said she. Be smart, be swift,

But with this burden came a gift:

Five other mermaids, true and strong,

Who sometimes didn’t get along.

Back in those caves, we didn’t know,

How much we’d help one another grow.

We’d suffered losses, cried bitter tears.

We’d hidden hurts, and hopes, and fears.

But slowly we began to trust,

In ourselves, one another, all of us.

What doesn’t kill you, leaves you broken.

Like loss and anger, grief unspoken.

But the spell of friendship, deep and real,

Can help a battered heart to heal.

Friendships forged when times are bright,

Will not withstand a sea-fret slight,

But bonds that form through strife and pain,

Will weather gales and hurricanes,

Only the gods can truly say

What happens when each goes her way,

But I know until my own life’s end,

I’ll call you sister, fighter, friend.

One heart, one mind, one soul are we,

My bloodbound sisters of the sea.



The last notes of Sera’s sea spell rose in the water.

Clear and bright.

Perfect and true.

Shining and real.

Then gone.





“YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL. Are you ready?”

Sera nodded. She smiled at Mahdi, so handsome in his jacket of light blue sea silk, and took his arm.

He led her through the Grand Hall and out of the palace. “Nervous?” he asked.

“About the ceremony? No. About your breathing, yes.”

She’d heard a hitch in his chest. She was sure of it.

“I’m fine,” Mahdi said. “The doctors said I could do this. Don’t worry so much, Sera.”

“How can I not?”

“Because I’m not in a coma anymore!” he replied, cheerfully exasperated with her.

Sera bit her lip. He tended to get frustrated if she, or anyone else, fussed over him too much. He was eager to be up and about. To resume his duties. He was getting stronger every day, but still—she worried. She couldn’t help it. She’d come so close to losing him that everything scared her now. She was worried if he was pale, or flushed. If he looked tired. If he didn’t eat enough. If he sneezed or coughed.

She’d come home from the Southern Sea to find him sitting up and conscious. It was the happiest day of her life. She’d hugged him and kissed him and cried tears of joy.

But he wasn’t out of the kelp forest yet. He still had a long current ahead of him. His recovery had been slow and full of setbacks, but now, nine months later, he was up and about most of the day, though his doctors insisted that he rest after lunch. He would return to Matali to rule soon, when he was stronger.

They continued on their way out of the palace and into the town, with Alítheia following them—until they arrived at the scuola superiore.

Sera wasn’t wearing a fine gown, or any sumptuous garments of state today. Instead she was dressed in plain robes of black sea silk—scholar’s robes. This morning, for a few hours, she could forget that she was the regina and be just another seventeen-year-old mermaid who was about to be a proud graduate, along with the hundred-odd other students in her class.

Sera’s schooling had been interrupted by an invasion of her realm, and by bloody battles against Vallerio, Orfeo, and Abbadon, but ever since she’d returned home from the Southern Sea, she’d made her studies a priority.

Mahdi swam with her to the front rows of the school’s auditorium.