* * *
A few hours later, Serena wakes to water lapping at the wall just a few inches down from her sleeping cove. She stretches, knuckles and toes hitting solid rock. She rolls over, fingers brushing over rock to find her tools before they can float away. The unstoppable tide moves in, crawling into her cove and lifting her out of bed. Cold envelopes her legs and the smell of salt and bitter seaweed assaults her senses, waking Serena better than the prick of a stingray. She crosses her legs, melding them together tighter and tighter until fins are formed. Her gills emerge, and she dips into icy ocean water.
A flash of light brown scales outside her cave catches her attention and she remembers Ervin spent the night watching over her. Serena stows her tools back in the dry box, and swims through her cave opening. Not one, but two guards stand duty. Serena bows her head toward Ervin.
Instead of bowing to return the courtesy, Ervin brings his trident to attention. The three-horned, golden weapon catches a flare of sunlight filtered through the sea.
I see we have disposed of the pleasantries. The gills along Serena's neck flare.
The second guard member moves in front of her. Offering an apologetic smile, he lowers his trident instead of bringing it to attention. Narrowing her eyes, Serena crosses her arms. She finds it hard to trust someone who offers her a smile so readily, especially when offered by Second in Command to the King's Guard. With his lips slightly parted in that lingering smile, not to mention his ranking in Society, his time is surely better spent with any other maiden.
He cocks his head sideways then nods, motioning up to the surface. Serena follows reluctantly, rising just until the tops of her shoulders emerge.
"If only we could speak underwater," he says.
"Some creatures can," Serena says. "The intelligent ones, anyway." She wants to swallow her words as soon as they leave her mouth.
"Are you claiming the Painted Maidens to be…unintelligent, Serena Moon-Shadow?" His sea-green eyes twinkle like those of a playful seal.
She glances beneath the glass surface of the water, Ervin is choosing to stay below. "Why are you here, Kai Forest?"
"Kai will do just as well, Serena." He runs one hand through ash-blonde hair, water droplets clinging to the end of long tendrils.
"As you say," says Serena.
He flashes her a smile again. "What I mean to say is, there is no need to be so formal. I am to be one of your escorts." In a culture full of rigid ceremonies and proper traditions, Kai has a reputation for breaking the humorless, stone-faced bearing common in guard members. Serena was always intrigued by his antics, but from a distance. He makes the drab, elongated Assembly sessions bearable by making faces in court—or performing an exaggerated swagger while on patrol just to elicit the smile of a brooding maiden.
"Escort me where, exactly?" Serena asks.
"Not to your Caste Master, for sure. The king said it was a conflict of interest. Ready?" he glances out at the open ocean, a flicker of a spark in his eye as though some great adventure awaits.
"No classes?" Serena manages to return the smile. "Escort away." It would do her and Zayla well to not have to see each other today.
Serena dips below the surface to follow Kai, and Ervin takes his place beside her. She keeps glancing at Ervin’s fins as they swim. There are scars, more than she remembers during their time growing up. He was not very coordinated to begin with, his extra weight more often than not dragging him down. Orphaned Undine are fed well, of which Ervin took full advantage until his Choosing. Now, his frame is wider and muscles wrap around his arms, chest, and abdomen.
The awkward movement of his tail is still there. His swish to the left is slightly crooked and he has to compensate on the right just to maintain depth. The King's Guard can't change everything about him. Serena moves to his left side, swimming close. This way, Ervin is forced to keep his tail movement on that side narrow—and correct.
Serena looks at him sideways, a wry smile on her face, but Ervin keeps his eyes steady forward.
Circling the island to the remote western side that lays bare to the Pacific Ocean, Serena understands where they are headed.
The archives.
A cycle of bioluminescent glow bursts through her hair, and her fins turn jittery.
The history of the Undine is kept in a large cave carved underneath the western Canadian continent. Books, both recent and centuries old, stack the shelves, far out of reach from the salty clutches of high tide. Suddenly, Zayla's accusations don’t seem so bad, if it means Serena gets to spend the next few days here.
In front of her, Kai angles for a deep and quick descent. The only entrance to the archives is a tight, constricted passageway, so narrow in places even the thinnest Undine have difficulty maneuvering their fins. Pure speed and brute force is the only way to get through; the passageway has been known to leave its mark on travelers.
Gesturing for Ervin to go next, Serena waits after he disappears into the murky tunnel. There is a chance he might get stuck and will need a push through from behind.
She counts to ten, then follows. Streamlining her scales, Serena uses a strong surge of the undercurrent to gain speed. The passageway is dark, but Serena has long since memorized the intricacies of the corridor. Right shoulder up and back here, duck the head there, slow down for the sharp curve ahead. In one rare instance where space allows, Serena moves her hands in front of her, preparing to push Ervin's wedged body.
To complete the last section, Serena picks up speed. The dim glow of the inside cavern comes into view and she realizes Ervin is not stuck at all. She spreads her fins wide, but it does not slow her down in time. She bursts through the surface, emerging almost all the way to her tail. Water sprays, coating the walls and blurring the light. Serena struggles to maintain vertical balance as she bobs twice. Settling, she treads at the surface as seawater drips off the mirror that reflects sunlight through a small tunnel above, lighting the archive's entrance once again.
Ervin and Kai both stand on the ledge. They have already transformed, their scales gone, donning the required robes in order to enter the archives. The rough material scratches bare skin, but it helps absorb any excess water his body still might have.
Kai smiles down at Serena. "Show off."
Next to him, Ervin is frowning. Serena returns the scowl, then looks at Kai's legs, bare from the knee down. It is an uncommon sight in Society. She blushes, turning her head away.
"What's the matter?" Kai asks. "Never seen legs before?"
"Of course I have." Her words are short and clipped—harsher than she intended. "It's just…I’ve never seen your legs before."
Serena swims to the ledge, ready to pull herself out. She glances up at Kai and admires his creamy skin wrapped around his bulging calf muscle. A lone, crystal-clear drop of water slides down the side.
Serena looks up as Kai clears his throat. He raises an eyebrow.
Tightening her grip on the rocky ledge, Serena fights back the flush in her cheeks as she refocuses her eyes in front of her. She retracts her own scales; all of them, and feels the cold of the ocean seeping between her toes.
"Do you mind turning around?" she asks.
Bare legs are reserved for nights of the full moon, and only for members who are chosen for mating—something that has not been done in a very long time. Ankles and calves can lead one's thoughts to what transformations take place higher, between the legs.
Serena shakes her head. She brings forth scales up and down her legs, then retracts them again. The slight pain helps to distract her thoughts.
Ervin tosses a robe over to Serena and it pools into folds of material on the damp floor. He and Kai turn around to slip on the padded boots provided for walking amongst the archives.
Pulling herself the rest of the way out, Serena’s feet touch hard rock. She takes two long strides to the remaining robes and quickly slips on a dry one. She usually goes through these motions alone, so having company is uncomfortable. Turning, she
ties the sash around her when she realizes Kai is staring. Her hands drop, and she slips on her own boots.
"I assume you are to escort me inside," she says, gesturing to the arched entrance.
Kai closes his mouth, nods, and leads the way.