The Surface Breaks(13)
“You would trade a girl’s life so easily, would you, little one? For some man you don’t even know? And besides, what use would I have with a girl?” the Salka says. “It is not women that must atone for their sins.”
“You can’t have him,” I say again. “I am telling you now, Salka. I am Princess Muirgen, sixth daughter of the Sea King. I am betrothed to Zale, leader of our kingdom’s troops. And I command you to let this human go.”
I wrestle Oliver’s body away from the Salka, ignoring her promising war and destruction after me.
“Ceto!” she screams. “Ceto will hear of your actions. You will regret this.”
I ignore her. In this moment, I do not care for my own safety or what retribution the Rusalkas will seek for this flagrant transgression of our laws. I don’t care if my decision upends the uneasy truce we have brokered between our kingdom and the Sea Witch’s Shadowlands. All I care about is this man, the blessed weight of him in my arms as I drag him to safety. Oliver.
He must live.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Muirgen.” Human men will bring you nothing but pain.
“Muirgen.” Human men will bring you nothing but pain.
“Muirgen! I shall not tolerate such insolence from you, girl.”
An elbow to my ribs. “What?” I hiss at Arianna, rubbing my side. She tilts her head towards our father. He is sitting at the top of the mother-of-pearl dining table, glaring at me.
“What is it, Father?” My voice is strangled, even to my ears.
“I asked you a question, Muirgen,” he says. “And when I ask a question, I expect you to answer me immediately.”
“I’m sorry, Father,” I say. He looks at me strangely, and my skin prickles with dread. Does he know what happened? Does he know what I have done? “I was distracted.” I have been distracted these past two weeks, waiting for the Salkas’ response to me saving the human boy. Each day brings a silence that is increasingly unnerving. The peace between my father and the Sea Witch is brittle, fragile; hard fought for and easily dismantled. I have put us all in danger.
“And you haven’t touched your dinner,” he continues. “Did you not enjoy it?”
“It’s perfectly fine, Father. I’m just not hungry.”
“Muirgen is never hungry at the moment, Father,” Cosima says eagerly. “She has barely eaten anything in weeks. That’s not right, is it? Not when you do so much to provide for us.”
“Perhaps a loss of appetite might not be a bad thing,” my father says, looking pointedly at her empty plate. “We don’t want any suitors put off – or preferring another sister again, do we?”
“No, Father,” she says, pressing her lips together. She won’t cry, no matter how upset she is. Not in front of him.
“Well, I think it’s disgraceful,” Arianna says, taking another spoonful of greens. “Such a waste of food; it is most ungrateful of you, Muirgen. And think of all the mer-folk in the Outerlands, practically starving to death. As if it’s not bad enough that they live in constant fear of an attack from the Salkas.” She shudders at the thought. “You have no idea how much they would appreciate this dinner.”
“Sister.” Sophia is uncharacteristically cold. “Do not talk nonsense. The Salkas will never invade the Outerlands without the Sea Witch’s blessing – they fear her powers too much – and the Sea Witch is just as invested in the armistice as we are, if not more.” I shiver. Little do any of them know how I might have already ruined that armistice beyond repair.
Grandmother places a hand over Sophia’s, reminding my sister of her place. None of us speak after that; the room is so silent that all we can hear is the lapping of water against the sea-glass window.
“No, no,” Father says. “Let the girls speak. Such lively debate is … interesting.” He taps his fingers slowly against the table, one at a time. I repress a shudder. “You speak of the ‘starving’ mer-folk in the Outerlands, Arianna. I hope you are not insinuating that there are people within my kingdom who are not adequately provided for.”
“Of course not, Father,” she says cautiously. “Those in the Outerlands are most grateful for your support.”
The Sea King seems to be waiting for her to say something else, all of us holding our breath.
“A-a-as they should be,” Sophia rushes into the silence.
“And as for you, Sophia…” He smiles, and it’s sinister, that smile; he’s relishing this. Would he smile at me like that if he found out that I had saved a human life, risking the kingdom’s peace in order to do so? Risking all of our lives? Or would it be worse? Would he cut my tail off and hang my torso on the palace walls, call me a traitor to the crown? Banish me to the Outerlands, damn me to a life of famine and misery with the other undesirables? I don’t know. The only person who ever disobeyed the Sea King was my mother, and he didn’t need to punish her. The humans did that for him.
Human men will bring you nothing but pain.
“I’m sorry, Father,” Sophia says. The rest of us stare at our plates as if to pretend that none of this is happening. We are never brave in times like this; we are all too afraid that Father will direct his attention on to us instead.