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I guess this is where we say good-bye, Kona told me as we hit the very edges of the forest.
I guess it is. I started to hug him to say thanks, but stopped when I saw the look on his face. I smiled sadly and gave him a little wave, which he returned. Then he said something to his guards, and a group of them veered off with him toward selkie lands.
I watched until they disappeared from view, then turned to find twelve of Kona’s guards watching me with impassive eyes. I nearly burst into tears all over again when I realized he’d left the majority of his guards with me. He might be furious, but he was still protecting me.
Knowing that made me feel a million times worse.
With a grimace, I turned back toward the kelp forest and began to swim. My new home was waiting and I wasn’t going to disappoint the city’s inhabitants. I’d been there and done that more than enough in the last forty-eight hours. It was time to change my luck.
Chapter 14
We hit Coral Straits about an hour later, just as I’d anticipated. Kona’s guards asked if I wanted them to stay after we hit the outskirts of the mercity, but I told them they could go. It was obvious they were a lot more worried about Kona than they were me, and I figured there must be a reason. If there had been some threat against him that I didn’t know about, I definitely wanted them to be protecting him.
They left me once the guards who stood along the edges of the newly constructed city walls had allowed me in. I watched them leave, then started to make my way through the streets leading toward the center of the city. The outlying streets were quiet, which wasn’t a surprise. Most people lived and worked closer to what I thought of as downtown, where Hailana’s underwater castle and government headquarters were.
But the empty streets didn’t change as I got closer in, and I found myself actively looking for people. I wanted to take Kona’s advice, wanted to find out how everyone was dealing with Hailana’s death, but there was no one around to ask. The few people I did see either turned away or swam quickly inside when they saw me.
It wasn’t the greeting I was expecting, so by the time I was on the same street as the castle, my stomach was clenched in fear. Warning tingles worked their way down my back, and I was desperately afraid that something awful had happened here. Something even worse than Hailana’s death.
When I got to the castle, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Kona and his guards had set a brutal pace for the swim and that, combined with leaving Mark and my family behind, had worn me out completely. For a minute I contemplated hiding in my room—I’d had one here since I first became mermaid—and just going to bed and pulling the covers over my head until I could stomach the idea of facing my new life and responsibilities.
That wouldn’t get done what needed to be done, though, so I shelved the idea until after I’d handled what Kona suggested. I still wanted to freshen up, however. I’d been in the same bikini top for two days and my hair was a tangled mess—I wanted to at least groom myself before seeking out Hailana’s Council. Plus, I needed to grab a sarong to wear in Council Chambers. It was the rule, whether you had legs or a tail, like I did at the moment.
But when I got to the main castle door, the on-duty guards—all of whom I knew pretty well—prevented me from passing. Instead, the head guard, Bali, informed me that the merKing would like to see me.
My confusion must have shown on my face—Hailana wasn’t married and never had been. Nor did she have any children, so the idea that Coral Straits suddenly had a merKing was absurd in the extreme.
Except no one seemed to think it was absurd. Suddenly, it became difficult for me to hold on to my own incredulity, especially when everyone was staring at me like I was a stranger. Or worse, an enemy.
Bali escorted me to Hailana’s throne room. I started to thank him for his help, but a quick look at his face told me he was more than an escort. He was a guard. And not one who was there for my protection.
Bali, what is going on? When I left here, we’d been friends, albeit cautious ones because Bali was always so concerned about not violating behavior protocols. I couldn’t care less about those kinds of protocols—I was raised as a surf bum, after all—and I was always trying to get Bali to loosen up. In return, he was always trying to maintain what he thought was a proper distance from the merQueen-elect.
Still, we’d talked to each other, even joked around a little. But looking at him now, it was like that relationship had never existed. He wouldn’t even look at me.
I tried again. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when Hailana passed away. Her death must have been awful for all of you.
Still no reaction, not even a blink. If this was what I would have to deal with now that I was merQueen, I was unimpressed. I thought assuming Hailana’s throne would make things easier for me, but so far things were weirder than they’d ever been. And more awkward. Not to mention a little frightening.
Sublimating my confusion, I gritted my teeth and did what I thought a good merQueen would do. I tried again. After all, it wasn’t like I could afford to give up. Not now. Kona’s words about listening to my people were running through my head on a continuous loop. I didn’t think he’d anticipated this flat-out refusal to talk to me from the people who were supposed to be my subjects—I know I hadn’t. But that didn’t mean I was going to give up. I couldn’t.
So instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to ask, Do you have any thoughts on Hailana’s funeral? You were one of her most trusted guards and I would very much like your input. I expect to have her funeral pyre on her island, but I’m open to other suggestions. What do you think—
He did look at me then, though his eyes were remote and his face was set in stone. The new merKing already took care of the funeral. MerQueen Hailana was burned two days ago, her ashes scattered to the four corners of the Pacific yesterday morning at dawn.
For a moment all I could do was stare at him with my mouth open. I don’t understand.
He didn’t respond, just kept swimming down the cavernous hallway that led to the throne room.
Fury—sharp, seething, undeniable—slammed through me. Bali! When I said his name this time, it was in a voice loaded with command, a voice I hadn’t used before but that somehow came naturally in this instant.
He froze and for the first time since I’d gotten to the castle, I saw a flicker of emotion cross his face. It looked like guilt, but it was there and gone so quickly that I couldn’t be sure.
Yes? I noticed that he hadn’t called me by my name, or what I’d already begun to think of as my title. Usually he was so circumspect that the omission was glaring, especially now that my shock at my very chilly reception had worn off.
What is going on? I demanded.
His mouth flattened into a near-snarl. I am not at liberty to say.
What does that even mean? I am merQueen-elect and I’m asking you a question. You need to answer me.
With all due respect, I don’t believe you are merQueen-elect anymore. But again, it is not my right to explain.
As his words sank in, I had one moment of absolute joy, utter relief. If I wasn’t merQueen, my life didn’t have to change. I could find Tiamat, defeat her once and for all, and then go home. Back to Mark and the family I’d all but disinherited.
But following quickly in the wake of my relief was an overwhelming sense of suspicion. Hailana and the Council had made their wishes clear on numerous occasions—I was to be the merQueen after her demise. Everyone knew this, including Bali. So what had happened in the last eight days to change all that?