SEVENTEEN
I COULD HAVE SPENT DAYS, if not weeks, exploring Saltmist. It was labyrinthine on a level even Shadowed Hills couldn’t match, since Shadowed Hills has to at least pretend to believe in gravity. Saltmist had ballrooms where every wall was a dance floor, dining halls where the tables hung suspended on ropes of kelp that also served as a living salad bar, and passageways set in what I couldn’t help regarding as “the floor” or “the ceiling.” Even the air-filled areas were built with little regard for mundane architecture, following plans that seemed as much borrowed from sailing ships and Viking feast halls as they were from the medieval castles I’m used to seeing.
The fae were as strange as their surroundings. Merfolk with sea horse tails stuck close to the floor in the underwater areas. They seemed to fill a role similar to the Hobs back home, since they were almost all engaged in some form of housework or repair, and most didn’t look up when we swam past them. Cephali were in evidence in both the wet and dry areas, usually armed and hanging from the ceiling. According to Dianda, they served as the Ducal guard, save for a few, like Helmi, who had gone into private service.
“She’s upset about the boys because she loves them, but also because they represent her failure,” said Dianda. “She’s supposed to guard them. Someone hurt them while she was watching. That isn’t acceptable to the Cephali.”
“So her honor is at stake?”
“Her life.” Dianda’s lips thinned. “If they aren’t found, her family will kill her as a form of apology to our household.”
I stared at her. “And you’ll
“This is the Undersea,” she said. “We do things differently here.”
I was starting to figure out just how differently.
After the third time I’d made the transition between air and water, it started to feel almost natural. I didn’t really have to think about going from legs to tail, or back again; it just happened, my body changing to suit the environment it was in. The green dress didn’t change with me, and clung to my skin like seaweed whenever we had to get out of the water and walk. It didn’t drip as much as my jeans had. I didn’t worry about it.
We eventually wound up back in the round aquarium-room, surrounded by that impossible Summerlands sea. The whale-mermaid and her hippocampi charges were gone, replaced by three of the sea horse-fae and a whole school of undersea children. They were a wild assortment of fins, tails, and tentacles as they chased each other around and through the kelp and coral. Dianda and Patrick looked at them with undisguised longing, not seeming to care that I was still there, still watching them.
Connor put a hand on my shoulder. I tilted my head back, asking, “Can you get me to the surface?”
“If you think you can follow.” He glanced to the webbing between my fingers. “How much longer is this supposed to last?”
“Not long enough for me to be comfortable staying here. I don’t want to drown on my way back to the surface.”
“Anceline and her brothers will escort you,” said Dianda, abruptly turning away from the wall. “Connor, your services are needed here for the time being.”
“What?” His eyes widened. “Your Grace, I—”
“I would be honored to be escorted by Anceline and her brothers,” I said, cutting him off. If Dianda was keeping Connor with her, it was because she wanted to grill him on Rayseline. That was something that needed to happen as soon as possible, for everybody’s sake. “There’s just one thing.”
Dianda blinked. Apparently, she wasn’t expecting me to make requests. “What?”
“Can I please have my clothes back?”
“Of course.” Dianda’s expression softened. “You may keep the dress. Consider it a souvenir.”
“Sort of an ‘I went to the lost city of Atlantis, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt’ thing, right?” I asked.
Dianda looked at me blankly. “Atlantis isn’t lost. It’s about an eight-day swim from here.”
Right. “If Connor is staying here, how would you like me to send word of my findings? I won’t be able to come back after the spell wears off, and I don’t know if the Luidaeg will mix me another one.”
“I’ll release him before the deadline. Failing that . . .” She dug a hand into the pocket of her skirt, producing three tiny glass bottles with cork stoppers and bits of rolled-up parchment inside. They looked like the sort of “genuine pirate treasures” you can buy six for a dollar in the shops along Fisherman’s Wharf. “If you throw one of these into the water, it will find me.”
“Handy.” I tucked the bottles under my knife belt, which held them fast. “I promise, we’re going to work on this as fast as we can.”
“You’d best.”
Patrick put a hand on her shoulder, almost mirroring the way Connor was standing next to me. “Connor, why don’t you show October to the exit pool? Helmi will meet you there, and can lead October out to meet Anceline and the others.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” said Connor. He stepped away from me and bowed to the Lordens. “Where can I find you once she’s gone?”
“Meet us in the receiving hall,” said Dianda.
“I appreciate your hospitality,” I said, and curtsied, directing the gesture to both of them. As I straightened, I added, “I’ll bring your sons home.”
“Please,” said Dianda. Nothing more than that; everything else had already been said. She and Patrick turned and walked away, leaving me alone with Connor.
I sighed. “I can’t wait to be back on dry land.”
“I can’t wait to be there with you.” Connor touched my cheek. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
He led me along the above-water path through the knowe. We passed Merrow in their human forms, Cephali making their way along floor, walls, and ceiling with equal ease, and Selkie after Selkie. I even glimpsed a few of the ward-weaving Asrai—tiny, silver-haired people who could have passed for children, if not for the decades I could see reflected in their eyes. None of them gave us a second glance. I was in the company of a Selkie, I looked like a Merrow, and clearly I belonged.
It was becoming more and more apparent how Rayseline had been able to do what she did. For all Patrick’s comments about the Undersea adopting mortal technology, they were still living in a time when Faerie was simpler. Back when humans didn’t encroach on our land, and when our halls were full, because we had the bodies to fill them. These days, people know everyone who lives in their fiefdom, because there just aren’t that many of us left. The Undersea didn’t have that problem. Instead, they got its opposite.
When there are too many people to know them all on sight, you can have strangers. And strangers can do bad things.
Helmi was waiting by the entrance pool. She had my clothes, shoes, and leather jacket—all still dripping— held primly at arm’s length. “These are yours,” she said, as soon as I was close enough to take them from her. “I’m to take you to meet Anceline outside the hall. If you’ll come with me?”
“Just a second.” I dug the bottles from Dianda out of my knife belt before unzipping the jacket’s breast pocket and dropping them inside, along with the bottle containing the needle from Peter’s room. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would prevent me from losing them during the trip back to the surface.
After a pause, I put the cold, wet jacket back on, shivering as the heavy leather hit my shoulders. I could buy new jeans if I had to. My jacket was something I couldn’t replace.
Connor watched me pull the cuffs of my jacket tight around my wrists before leaning in to kiss me, pinning my sopping-wet clothes between us. I didn’t care. Kissing him was worth a little chill.
Pulling back, he asked, “You good?”
“I’m good.” I hugged my dripping clothing. “Call the apartment if you need anything. One of us will be there. I may not be, but—”
“I love you. Now go. And be safe.”
“I’ll try,” I said. Then I turned, and jumped feet-first into the water.
Helmi was waiting for me in the mouth of the tunnel connecting the entrance pool to the rest of the palace by the time I had my fins back on. Her tentacles were wound around an anchor-post to hold her in place. When I swam toward her, she let go, and beckoned for me to follow her.
