The Mermaid's Madness (45 page)

Read The Mermaid's Madness Online

Authors: Jim C. Hines

Another set of hands took her, and then she was racing across the water.
She heard Lannadae’s voice say, “I’ve got her.” Snow was shouting something, but Danielle couldn’t make out the words.
Moments later, the bonds squeezing Danielle’s chest eased. Her head pounded, and she gasped for breath. Slowly, her vision cleared. Lannadae and Talia held her as she coughed. They floated in the water, surrounded by humans and undine both. “Lannadae?”
“Quiet,” said Snow. She sat behind Danielle, balanced on a floating isle of ice. “Don’t try to talk yet.”
Danielle turned her head until she spotted the ship. The
Phillipa
lay on her side. Her masts rose at a low angle from the water, and debris littered the waves. Most of the crew clung to the rigging or bobbed along on bits of flotsam. Fighting another bout of coughing, she asked, “What happened?”
“The merbitch sent her rot-eaten air spirits against us.” Captain Hephyra stood on the starboard side of the ship, balanced on the hull. “They struck hard, pushing us off-kilter. We held steady, but once the cargo shifted, there was no saving her.” Hephyra was more somber than Danielle had ever seen her.
“How long?” asked Danielle.
“More water rushes into the hull with each swell,” Talia said, pointing. “The
Phillipa
is more watertight than most, but I suspect she’ll sink before the sun lifts above the horizon.”
“Snow, can you—”
“I’m not the one with a hundred trapped souls to serve me,” Snow said. “I tried to freeze the water as it rushed inward, but there was too much.” She lowered her voice. “Hephyra will survive for a while. Weeks, maybe even months before her tree finally dies. But she’ll be trapped here.”
“Do me a favor, Talia,” Hephyra shouted. “The next time you see the fairy queen, punch that uptight bitch in the mouth for me.”
Danielle looked around. Her chest still hurt with each breath. “Where’s Beatrice?”
“Safe.” Snow used her hands as paddles, turning her frozen island about to point toward the front of the ship. “Hephyra ripped the cutter free with her bare hands and helped Beatrice into the boat. We should get you in there as well.”
“What then?” Danielle asked. Morveren’s ship had already shrunk in the distance, appearing no larger than a toy. The undine had formed a loose ring around the
Phillipa
and her surviving crew. If they chose, they could drag every last human down with hardly any effort. From the wary looks on the men’s faces, they knew it too. She rubbed her bracelet. “I should call Armand. I need to warn him.”
Warn him that she had failed. That Morveren had escaped and would soon control Lirea and the undine. How many more ships would they sink because of that failure? How many undine would die for refusing to join them?
“I never should have rescued her from that island,” Danielle whispered.
“Don’t be stupid.” Snow splashed ice water in Danielle’s face. “If we’re about to die, I do not want to spend my last moments listening to you wallow in guilt.”
Lannadae bobbed to the surface between them. “You’re not about to die. Not right now, at least.”
Danielle grabbed one of Lannadae’s hands. “Thank you for saving me. I’m glad you’re safe.”
Lannadae beamed. “I sang the true story of Morveren, how her magic allowed a human to corrupt our queen, and how the princesses Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty fought to save Lirea from Morveren’s power.”
Talia’s fingers tightened on Danielle’s arm. “You told them
that
, did you?”
“Would you like me to sing it to you?” Lannadae asked.
“Does that mean they’ll help us?” Danielle interrupted before Talia could answer.
“Not exactly.” Lannadae gave a well-practiced shrug that looked almost natural. “They agreed to not kill you. And they believe I should have the chance to tell my story to the queen.”
“That’s a start,” said Snow.
It wasn’t enough. Lannadae’s influence had kept them alive for now, but Lirea would order them killed the moment she saw them. Danielle squeezed Lannadae’s hand. “You did wonderfully. I’m proud of you.”
“I’ll have that mermaid’s head on a pike,” Varisto yelled, paddling toward them. He and the other Hiladi survivors of the Hiladi shipwreck clung to an open trunk. Clothes floated on the waves nearby. Snow’s clothes, now that Danielle looked more closely. To a passing glance, the shirts looked uncomfortably like bodies.
Varisto was bleeding from a cut to his arm but otherwise appeared unharmed. He looked around, and his bravado faded. “What do we do now?”
Was he asking
her
? Danielle clutched her bracelet. Even if Armand sent every ship in the fleet, they would never arrive in time to stop Morveren. Most of the crew would likely drown before help arrived.
“Come on.” Talia and Lannadae took Danielle’s arms and pulled her toward the cutter.
“You should have killed her, Talia.” Danielle gripped their arms. “You would have stopped Morveren and Lirea both.”
“You’re saying you’d rather be dead?” Talia scowled and shoved Danielle into the boat.
Beatrice pushed herself to one side to make room. The benches had been removed, and the queen lay at the front of the boat, her back sloped upward with the curve of the bottom. Stub the cat was curled in her lap, drenched but purring.
Danielle looked back at Talia. “You know what I’m saying.”
“You’re right, I should have.” Talia grunted and grabbed the side of the cutter, helping Danielle climb on. “That’s what I get for spending so much time with overly sentimental princesses.”
From here, Danielle could see the exposed underside of the
Phillipa
. A network of long, pale tendrils lay limp against the hull. Roots, she realized.
“I can’t drown out here,” Varisto said. He sounded like he was talking to himself as much as anyone else. “Gustan’s shade would never let me rest if I died trying to save him. I’m
not
spending the next life listening to him gloat.”
Danielle grimaced as she pulled herself upright. Her chest and stomach burned from the effort. “Lannadae! Tell your people we need them to take us to Hilad. The kelpies might be fast enough—”
“I can’t command them,” Lannadae said, swimming up beside her. “Lirea named me traitor. To follow my orders is to commit treason. I’m too young, and my scent isn’t strong enough to break Lirea’s hold.”
“You said they listened to you,” Danielle protested.
“Because we were helping to fight Morveren, another traitor. You’re asking them to escort us into the heart of the tribe.”
Danielle looked around at the undine floating on the surface. “You saw Morveren’s ship!” she shouted, fighting tears. “You have to know Morveren will destroy your queen. Is this what you want? Will you obey Lirea’s orders even if it enslaves you to a witch who devours the souls of her enemies?”
“They
can’t
disobey,” Snow said softly. “Do you remember what happened when we swam through their waters last time?”
“Yes,” Danielle said, her face hot. “What does that—”
“The scent Lannadae and Morveren talk about is a kind of love potion. Given time, I might be able to counter it, but . . .”
“But some of the undine did leave Lirea,” Danielle protested. “They joined Morveren.”
“Who probably used magic to help them resist Lirea. You remember the song she sang on the
Phillipa
, back when Lirea attacked?”
“When she almost killed us?” asked Talia.
“Morveren is skilled enough to sing two spells at once, and nobody would have known.” Snow rubbed her hands together, blowing on them for warmth. “I think she was calling to her followers, severing Lirea’s hold on them. I’ll keep trying to do the same, but you and Talia might want to start coming up with another plan.”
Danielle realized Snow was close to passing out. Her face was bloodless, her movements stiff with pain. She had already fought Morveren’s air spirits and broken the spell that nearly killed Danielle.
“Stop,” Danielle whispered. “You need to rest before you kill yourself.”
Snow started to shake her head, but the movement made her gasp.
Danielle looked at Beatrice. “What do I do?”
“You have to stop Morveren,” Bea said gently. “You know that.”
Danielle searched for Morveren’s ship, but it had already disappeared from view. She turned to watch the kelpies circling. Raising her voice, she called out, “I surrender myself to Lirea. I helped to shelter Lannadae. Bring me to your queen to face justice.”
Talia yanked the side of the boat, nearly dumping Danielle into the water. “What are you doing?”
“Can you think of another way to reach Morveren in time?” Danielle asked. Talia’s jaw tightened, and she shoved away from the boat.
“Me too!” Snow’s eyes were closed, but her voice was firm. “I’m the one who prepared Lannadae’s cave for the winter. I even read her stories.”
“I sheltered her too,” Talia said grudgingly. In a lower voice, she added, “Brilliant plan, Highness.”
“Do you have a better one?” Danielle asked.
“As prince of the Hiladi Empire, I demand you capture me as well!” Varisto bellowed.
Danielle still had a hard time reading undine expressions, but their confusion was clear. They swam together to confer, gesturing and pointing at the humans.
Danielle didn’t wait. Taking advantage of the confusion, she whispered to the kelpies, who swam closer in response to the urgency of her summons. Moments later their heads disappeared into the water.
Beatrice grabbed the sides as the cutter rocked with the waves. “What are you doing?”
“Watch.” Danielle pointed toward the
Phillipa
. “Hold tight, Captain!”
“To what?” Hephyra shouted. The ship shuddered as the first kelpie pressed his head against the hull. Hephyra staggered backward. Two more kelpies joined the first, straining to right the ship.
At first, they simply pushed the
Phillipa
sideways through the water. Danielle ordered two of the kelpies around to the opposite side to brace the bottom as the rest lifted. Whatever else happened, she would at least save this crew.
Slowly, the ship began to right herself.
“Harder!” Hephyra crowed. “Put your fins into it!”
Water poured from the deck and the portholes. Hephyra danced along the hull, whooping as the
Phillipa
rose higher.
“Overbalance her to starboard,” Hephyra yelled. “We need to shift the weight back to center. Easy, now. Not too far.”
Waves shoved the crew back as the kelpies rocked the ship to and fro. Their fins and tails sent small vortices dancing over the water. Danielle did her best to coordinate the kelpies’ efforts, tilting the ship as Hephyra raced about the deck.
“That’s good enough for now.” Hephyra began tossing ropes down from the deck. The ship sat much lower in the water than before, but she appeared stable for the moment. “What are you lot waiting for? Get up here and man the pumps! The rest of you get below and secure that mess. If I sink, I swear to the gods I’ll take every last one of you with me!”
“She still won’t be seaworthy for days,” Beatrice said. “Even with all of Hephyra’s magic.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Lannadae bobbed in the water, her pride obvious even to Danielle. “They’ve agreed to capture us. We’re going to Hilad.”
CHAPTER 17
T
HE KELPIES RACED THROUGH THE WATER toward the black wall ahead. Some of the undine had fallen behind, unable to match the kelpies’ speed. If Danielle’s silent urgings had increased that speed, so much the better.
“This is fun!” Snow still appeared wan and weak, but she was smiling. She lay with her feet through one of the loops of the kelpie’s harness, clinging to another loop. “Danielle, can we get a kelpie for the palace?”
“If we do, I’m not feeding it,” Talia said.
Danielle’s stomach clenched as they neared the coast. Even from this distance, Morveren’s song was strong enough to make her shudder. Danielle knew little of magic, but even she could hear the power in that voice. Morveren sang a chorus of anger and despair. Danielle could almost hear the individual souls Morveren was using to feed her power.

Other books

American Ace by Marilyn Nelson
John Dies at the End by David Wong
Venom by Nikki Tate
Lucy's Tricks and Treats by Ilene Cooper
The Secret by A. Taylor, Taryn
Light Switch by Lauren Gallagher
The Dead Beat by Doug Johnstone