CHAPTER ONE
Merletta’s eyes snapped open as she felt the first tentative ray of sunlight touch her face. How had time passed so quickly? She glanced around at the still-dark expanse of water, the surface stretching endlessly in all directions, its undulating motion soothing and familiar.
She righted herself in the water. As much as she usually enjoyed floating on her back until the sun’s warmth could touch every inch of her skin, this was no time to get distracted.
This was it. At long last, this was the day.
She glanced upward out of long-held habit. The stars were disappearing as the first streaks of orange reached out from the horizon. Drawing in one final lungful of air, Merletta dove below the surface in a fluid movement.
Instantly, she felt the back of her throat close over. Water passed smoothly in and out of her mouth as she drew it in. The breath she needed filtered through the natural barrier in her throat, but the water itself didn’t flow down. It was strange to remember that the sensation of switching between breathing air and breathing water had once felt uncomfortable, even alarming. Now it was as effortless as swimming.
The world below the surface was still dark, but it provided no challenge to Merletta. Her sharp eyes cut through the gloom as she swam the familiar route toward the kelp farms. She hadn’t gone far this morning. It was too important a day to get lost in explorations.
She could actually see the start of the uncultivated kelp forest that lay just beyond the farms when that indefinable sense told her she wasn’t alone in the water. Twisting quickly, she felt her heart stutter at the sight of the predator stalking her in the gloom.
The shark was big, and the jagged scar across its gills on one side showed it was a survivor. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted that although it was far from the largest she’d seen, it was much too large to be this close to the city.
But there was no time for contemplation. The creature realized she’d seen it, and it charged, not giving her time to collect herself. Merletta fought the instinct to swim away, knowing it would catch her. She waited until it was close before dashing toward it, flicking her tail with all her might as she propelled herself underneath the beast. The shark, confused by her bold movement, was too slow to turn in time, and shot past her before twisting in the water to face her again.
Merletta curled her fist, cursing herself for being so unprepared. If only she had her crude stone weapon—but she hadn’t brought anything with her on this expedition. She hadn’t thought she’d be far enough outside the city to run into trouble of this kind. Knowing her only hope was to incapacitate the creature long enough to get away, she focused her attention between its eyes. The muscles in her arm tensed in determination—whether or not she managed to survive the encounter, this shark wouldn’t be the first creature to discover that she was stronger than she looked.
“This is my fifth week on dawn patrol. I think I’m being punished.”
Merletta stiffened as the grumbling voice reached her through the gloom of the early morning water.
“Ah, quit your complaining. Someone’s got to do dawn patrol.”
The murmur of several voices added to the first, and Merletta, her eyes still on the shark, saw the creature hesitate. She knew that sharks had excellent hearing, and it would certainly have heard the patrol. And it probably knew from experience that unlike her, the guards would be armed and in a group.
After a moment’s indecision, the creature turned and disappeared into the dim distance, heading away from the kelp forest.
Merletta barely had a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. The voices were drawing closer, and her heart began to race with a different kind of fear. She couldn’t get caught by a guard patrol out beyond the kelp farms. Not today.
Propelling herself forward with all her might, she crossed the last stretch of open water in moments and dove into the cover of the kelp forest. She swam several lengths into it before pausing, forcing herself to hold still and listen for the patrol. When they passed by, not far from her hiding place, she tried to keep herself motionless. Her body swayed in the gentle current, in rhythm with the towers of kelp around her.
The plants brushed against her, and it took her a moment to recognize the sensation on her skin of a different type of touch. Jerking in alarm, she barely smothered a shout as the jellyfish trailed along her arm before branching off and disappearing between the fronds of kelp.
Merletta shuddered, her heart once again racing, even as the voices of the patrol became quieter, passing into the distance. She had always been nervous of jellyfish, since being stung during one of her earliest unsanctioned expeditions outside the borders of the triple kingdoms. It had been a difficult—and painful—struggle to conceal the telling injury from everyone at the home.
With the patrol now out of sight and hearing, Merletta turned homeward with a flick of her tail. Passing without incident through the kelp farms, where the workers weren’t yet abroad for the day’s labors, she entered the city of Tilssted. The sight of a new dwelling under construction, only half carved from a rocky shelf that jutted into the farm itself, made her frown. They couldn’t keep encroaching on the kelp farms like this. The triple kingdoms all relied on the farms for food, but none more so than Tilssted, where fancier fare was hard to come by.
The charity home wasn’t far inside the boundary. Merletta moved quickly through the outer neighborhood, not sparing a glance for the buildings cut crudely from the rocky mound on which Tilssted was built.
When she reached the charity home, she didn’t pause, swimming silently around the side of the building until she reached a narrow opening halfway up the structure. It was good she was leaving. It was getting harder to squeeze through with every passing year. Peering carefully inside, she exhaled in relief when she saw that everyone was still asleep. She was about to slip inside when a quiet voice drew her up.
“Really, Mer? Even today?”
Merletta turned, grinning at the golden-haired mermaid hovering in the shadows near the building, even as she chastised herself for failing to observe that she had an audience. She shouldn’t be surprised, she reflected. Letitia had always been the only one to ever notice—or care—what Merletta was up to.
“Especially today,” she whispered back. “I’m leaving straight after breakfast, and who knows when I’ll get another chance?”
Letitia looked worried, but Merletta brushed off her friend’s concern.
“What are you doing here, Tish?” she asked cheerfully. “You’ve already escaped this place.”
“This is your big day,” her friend said simply. “I’m going to come with you.”
Merletta looked up in surprise. “You remembered,” she said warmly. “You’re as kind as ever, Tish, but you don’t have to come with me.”