Lashyla sent him a broad smile. “Handsome and agreeable. You are a rare catch, Aurelius.”
He frowned curiously. “Thanks, I think.”
As they followed Lashyla from their room, Aurelius noticed that there were two guards posted outside the door. Those guards now moved to trail behind the group. As they walked through the narrow halls of the city, Aurelius drew enough lusty stares from the mermaids they passed to wonder if those guards were meant to protect the mermaids from them, or
them
from the mermaids.
When they entered the galley, the first thing Aurelius noticed was the smell. The pervasive fishy odor in the city intensified to a smothering stench which made him want to gag. Fish and crustaceans crowded the tables and countertops where men stood gutting, deboning, and removing shells. The second thing Aurelius noticed was how the few men nearest Lashyla bowed low, while the rest stopped what they were doing to hang their heads deferentially.
Aurelius turned to her with eyebrows raised. “Are all mermaids greeted with such respect?”
She smiled back at him. “No, not
all
mermaids.”
“Only those as beautiful as you, then,” he said.
Her smile broadened, and he felt a warm rush of pleasure sweep through him. She reached up to cup his cheek, and that feel-good sensation intensified. “You’re so sweet.” Aurelius felt time begin to slow as he was buoyed along on a cloud of mind-numbing bliss. She held his gaze for what seemed like forever before her hand fell from his cheek and she turned away. Aurelius felt a slow return to himself, accompanied by a pang of loss and needy desire.
“Report to the master chef,” she said, pointing to a giant man with a dark beard and a meat cleaver. “He’ll give you all work to do. I must take my leave of you now until after dinner.” At the look of disappointment on Aurelius’s face, Lashyla added, “We’ll see one another again at the ring tonight.”
Aurelius nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”
She smiled and reached out to squeeze his hand. “Take care of yourself, Aurelius.” With that, she turned and strode from the room. His eyes followed her as she left, taking in her seductive curves with hungry eyes.
“Hey, you there!” A gruff voice forced Aurelius to look away. He saw the master chef waving his bloody cleaver at them. The chef turned and pointed with his blade to a long table piled high with fish. Men were clustered behind the mountains of seafood, busily gutting and deboning those fish. “Join the line!” the chef ordered.
They shuffled along to the end of the table and joined the men there deboning giant fillets of fish. The man nearest them passed three giant fillets down. One of them landed with a meaty splat in front of Reven. “Why go to all this trouble?” He nodded up the line to the ones gutting the fish and dropping the guts in a giant bin. “They’re throwing away all the best parts.”
Aurelius smiled and shook his head. He removed his flight gloves and tucked them into his belt before setting to work deboning the fillet before him. For his part, Gabrian spent a long moment sneering disdainfully at his fillet before he decided to sully his hands.
When Aurelius was done, he looked up just in time to see a man come by to take his fillet and add it to a tray already piled high with freshly deboned fish. He turned to the man next to him and asked for another fillet. That man passed three more down.
“Thanks . . .”
“New here, aren’t you?” the man asked, casting Aurelius a quick look.
“Very.”
“It shows. I’m Cardale,” he said, sticking out his hand. Aurelius eyed the man’s bloody, fish-covered hand a moment before he realized that his hands were just as dirty.
“Aurelius,” he replied, accepting the handshake.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have any trouble here, just watch your back around the other vestals.”
Aurelius frowned. “Why’s that?”
Cardale jerked his chin down the line. Aurelius followed the gesture, and for the first time he noticed how the other men were periodically looking up from what they were doing to scowl or glare at him.
“Why are they looking at me like that?” Aurelius whispered, breaking eye contact with a meaty giant of a man with hammers for fists and tree trunks for arms.
Cardale shrugged. “You’re competition. We’re all here for the same reason, because we have yet to win the attentions of a maiden.” Cardale caught his eye and looked him up and down once more. “I’ll bet you already have half a dozen maidens after you.”
Aurelius frowned. “Is that why they all stare at me as I walk past?”
Cardale let out a short laugh, but there was a bitter edge to it. “Of course. You won’t be here long, but watch the other vestals. They’ll find some way to arrange an
accident
for you if they can.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“The man is right, Aurelius,” Gabrian cut in. “You must watch your step here.”
“If they do not watch theirs, I will skin them while they sleep,” Reven added with a growl.
Cardale looked the wolfman up and down. “You will make a good mate, too. A few maidens may take you just for your value in a challenge.”
Reven bared his teeth. “Let them try. I alone decide who shall be my mate.”
Cardale shook his head. “You'll come around, but don’t worry; you two are the lucky ones. Guys like me, we’ll be working as slaves for the rest of our lives, until we’re too old to be of use, that is. Then we’ll be thrown into the ring.”
Aurelius frowned. “What do you mean?”
Cardale looked up with a bitter smile. “What maiden is going to pick me?”
For the first time Aurelius really saw the young man working beside him: he was unusually short and skinny with a freckly skin and thinning copper hair, not much of a catch by physical standards, but he seemed nice enough.
“I’m sure someone will—”
Cardale cut him off with a quick shake of his head. “No, I’ve been a vestal for over eight years. If a maiden were going to pick me, she’d have done so by now. I’m destined for this.” He gestured to the galley around them. “Doing the work that none of the mermates will.”
“So these men are all waiting for maidens?” Aurelius asked.
“Yeah,” Cardale answered. “Some have been waiting for years like me. They won’t get picked. A few of the lucky ones are big and strong enough that they might be picked just to guard against rival maidens.”
“Guard against rival maidens?”
“The maidens compete as well. Once a year a maiden can challenge another for one of her mates. That’s why the smart ones mate with at least one man who’s big and strong enough to discourage challenges.”
“And the men have to fight these challenges?”
Cardale shrugged. “If someone refuses to fight for his maiden he will be declared
unfaithful
and sent into the ring anyway.”
“Why do the men put up with this?”
“They don’t have a choice, and besides, most of the mermates are so in love with their maidens that they’ll do anything for them.”
“Well, count me out,” Aurelius said. “I’m just here to look for someone and once I find him, I’ll be on my way.”
Cardale’s only reply was silence. Eventually Aurelius became aware of Cardale staring at him, and he met the smaller man’s gaze. “What?”
“Hasn’t anyone told you?”
“Told me what?”
“You can’t
leave
Meria. They’ll kill you if you try. You’re here for life, Aurelius.”
Lashyla waited patiently for her mother to stop admiring the glowing orb lying on a pedestal by her window. As time wore on, she grew impatient and walked up beside her mother. “What is that?” Lashyla asked, gazing down upon the iridescent ball.
The queen shook her head. “I do not know. The old one who calls himself Gabrian brought it and tried to hide it from me.”
“Which Gabrian?”
“The first one.”
“Ah,” Lashyla nodded. “Then he was lying about who he was?”
“Yes, he may well be a gremlin king. He has been sent to the ring, but Ringmaster Thorin is having him tortured to reveal the secret of this trinket.”
“Has he revealed anything?”
The queen turned from the window with a frown. “He seems to be mad. No matter how much we torture him, he insists that he is not who he seems to be, that his name is Martanel and he’s a member of the royal guard. Strange is it not? Why would he concoct such a foolish story?”
“I do not know, Mother.”
“Well, never mind that. Have you managed to discover whether or not Aurelius is really an elder?”
“No, so far it would seem that you were misinformed.”
The queen arched an eyebrow. “Then you are blind, daughter. Keep testing him and he will reveal himself.”
Lashyla frowned. “If you’re so certain that he’s an elder, why not mate with him now? It will be easier for you to claim him before he is revealed to the other maidens.”
“Yes, but in just a few days it will be a year since my last challenge. I do not want to mate with Aurelius only to risk losing him in my next challenge.”
“I thought you weren’t afraid of challengers because Thorin is undefeatable?”
The queen smiled. “I’m not afraid, daughter, merely cautious. If anyone were to win Aurelius from me, they’d have him for at least a year. If he
is
indeed an elder, that amount of time could easily be enough for the victor to use him to steal the throne from me.”
“Well, I will trust your judgment, Mother.”
“As well you should. Now, if you have nothing further to discuss, I must go for my afternoon swim.”
“Begging your patience, Mother, there
is
one other matter.”
The queen raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“This Aurelius. He is the man I found in Telan. The one who nearly followed me into the sea.”
The queen covered her shock with a smile. “Then you feel you have some claim to him?”
“Yes.” Lashyla hung her head deferentially to hide her burgeoning smile. Her mother would have to let her have Aurelius now. She couldn’t interfere with a courtship without issuing a challenge, and she wouldn’t challenge her own daughter and heir to the throne.
“Perhaps you’ve forgotten what you told me, daughter.” Lashyla looked up with a quizzical expression. “He didn’t want you. Aurelius didn’t follow you to Meria; he came on his own.” The queen walked up to her daughter with a small, pitying smile. “You cannot mate with a man unless he is consenting, my sweet. Nonconsensual mating carries the penalty of death. I do hope you will not force me to produce another heir. It would be a great inconvenience to me.”
Lashyla covered her shock with a solemn frown. “Of course, you are right, Mother. I had forgotten that.”
The queen took her daughter’s hand between both of hers. “Don’t worry. Soon you will find a worthy mate. It is hard when one is so beautiful to find another of equal value, but you will.”
Lashyla smiled to hide her irritation. “Thank you for your encouragement, Mother. I don’t wish to disturb you further; I will see you at dinner,” she said, bowing. Suddenly remembering something, she turned from the entrance of the queen’s bedchambers. “Oh, I invited Aurelius and his companions to join us to watch tonight's challenge. I hope that will be acceptable?”
“Of course. I will be most pleased to see him again.”
Lashyla nodded and then left the room before her annoyance could show through the thin veneer of her smile. Aurelius would be hers; her mother simply didn’t know it yet. By allowing Lashyla to act as though she were courting him, her mother was giving her the opportunity she needed to win his heart. Before long he would consent to mate with her, and then her mother would have no choice but to accept the pairing.
She wouldn’t challenge her own daughter, least of all when the only man Lashyla could call upon to answer the challenge would be Aurelius himself. He would never best Thorin in the ring, and the queen wouldn’t risk losing a real live elder.
Now Lashyla smiled genuinely. Aurelius would be
hers
, and hers alone.
* * *
Aurelius gaped at Cardale. “You mean we’re prisoners here?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No!” Aurelius looked to Gabrian. “Is this true?”
The old wizard smiled. “Of course.”
“You knew that and you brought us here anyway?”
“There is more at stake than your freedom, boy.”
Aurelius gritted his teeth and grabbed Gabrian roughly. “I ought to beat you senseless.”
“Unhand me before you hurt yourself.”
Reven growled warningly at Gabrian.
Suddenly a large trident-bearing guard appeared between them. “Is there a problem here?”
Aurelius eyed the man’s rippling muscles and let Gabrian go with a shove. “No,” he said, forcing a smile for the guard. “Of course not.”
“Violence amongst the vestals is
strictly
prohibited,” the guard said, jabbing a finger in Aurelius’s chest. With that, he walked away.
“You need to be more careful,” Cardale whispered from Aurelius’s side. “If you start a fight with someone here, that’s all the excuse they’ll need to cut you up.
“What?” Aurelius asked, turning to the little man beside him.
“They don’t have to win the fight, just make you ugly enough that none of the maidens will want you. We aren’t punished for self-defense, so they can do whatever they want if you throw the first punch.”
Aurelius frowned and went back to deboning fish. “I’ll keep that in mind.” They passed a moment in silence before Aurelius thought to ask, “Hasn’t anyone tried to escape?”
Cardale shrugged. “The mermates and eligible vestals don’t want to. Only the old vestals like me ever try.”
When Cardale didn’t go on, Aurelius prompted him, “And?”
“It’s too far to the surface to swim, and even if you made it, the mermaids would follow you and bring you back. The punishment for desertion is death.”
Aurelius shook his head. “Why? What do they care if someone escapes?”
“They don’t want anyone to know about their underwater city. They’ve guarded it from unwanted visitors for hundreds of years. There are rumors of its existence, long passed into legend, but even the existence of mermaids is considered a myth.”
“Well, that seems heartless.”
“I wouldn’t complain if I were you. Being stuck down here’s not so bad for guys who look like you.”
“How’s that?”
Cardale looked up with a grin. “You’ll have every maiden in this city before long. Every year a new one will try to steal you away from your mate, and no one will want to risk you in the ring, so they’ll use their other mates to defend their claim on you.”
“I’ll
have
every maiden in the city?”
“They’ll all want to mate with you, and eventually they’ll get it right.”
“What? Why?”
“Because your offspring will be the most beautiful of all.”
“That’s what all this is about? Having good-looking kids?”
“Part of it. There’s nothing mermaids prize more than beauty. They’ll never be able to get enough of you. Like I said, you’re lucky.”
“I’m lucky because every woman—mermaid . . . whatever they are—in this city is going to force me to have sex with her and give her pretty little kids? Sorry, that’s not my definition of lucky.”
Cardale laughed. “Oh, they won’t force you. Forced mating is punishable by death. Every mating must have at least two witnesses and must be consensual to result in a pairing.”
“Two witnesses? You’re joking.”
The little man shook his head. “Not at all. With so much competition for the most handsome mates, the maidens have to be sure that a mating actually did take place and that it was legitimate, otherwise they’d all be forcing one another’s mates to lie with them and thus make their claims. There would be half a dozen challenges every day if that were the case.”
“Wait, so you mean a mermaid must first mate with another maiden’s husband before she can offer a challenge for him, and then she sends one of her existing husbands to fight for him?”
“That’s right.”
Aurelius slowly shook his head. “This just gets sicker and sicker.”
“Every culture takes some getting used to.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this one.”
“Well, at least it’s better than the trolls’ “
Aurelius was about to ask what Cardale meant by that when the rusty bulkhead door to the galley opened with a screech and a pale mermaid with lustrous blonde hair entered, followed by another with olive skin and black hair. Every eye in the room turned to them and lingered expectantly. Aurelius found his own gaze trapped by those maidens, their trim, athletic figures and revealing clothes left little to the imagination, but had his imagination working overtime all the same.
Those two maidens spent a moment scanning the room before the blonde one spoke: “Where is the one called Aurelius?”
Aurelius frowned, wondering whether or not he should reveal himself. He had just decided to remain safely anonymous when he heard Cardale shout out beside him, “Here he is!”
Aurelius turned an icy look on the smaller man. “What’s the matter with you?” he hissed.
“Relax, I’m doing you a favor,” Cadale whispered back. “These two are your first suitors. Not bad, right? But take it slow; you hold out and you’ll have your pick of the entire city.”
Aurelius could only gape at Cardale as those two mermaids wove through the room to greet him.
“Hello, Aurelius,” the one with olive skin purred while stroking his arm. He looked up to see that her eyes were a deep, startling green, and like all the women’s eyes they seemed to glow faintly in the dim, phosphorescent light.
The blonde maiden came up on the other side of him and stroked his cheek. “This work is beneath you, Aurelius. Come with me and we’ll have some fun.” Her lavender-blue eyes sparkled with barely contained mischief as she licked her ruby lips. Those lips glistened darkly in the blue-green light, beckoning him closer.
The dark-haired maiden shot the blonde one a dirty look and then pressed herself firmly against Aurelius’s side, her head nuzzling his. Suddenly, all conscious thought vanished. Aurelius felt a spreading warmth and a heady dizziness that felt almost akin to being drunk. “I . . .” he trailed off, suddenly confused as the blonde pressed against him from the other side. She was breathing warmly in his ear as she whispered, “I’ll lie with you every night, Aurelius, if only you’ll consent to lie with me tonight.”