The marriage of Dulcibella and Warden seemed to have opened a door, because betrothals were happening all over the town of Windward. Quincy and Rosa were downstairs right that moment, obtaining her parents' blessing.
"But I thought Rosa was going to run the inn. How can she do that if her husband is traveling the high seas most of the year? She isn't going to abandon the inn to travel with him, is she?" Merrigan cried. The odd, dropping sensation, she decided later, was from fear that Rosa and Quincy's marriage was doomed from the start.
"No." Miles chuckled and caught Elli up in his arms, spinning her around before putting her back on her feet and planting a kiss on her tiny, upturned nose. "Quincy is giving up the sea to stay here and run the inn with Rosa. I'm going to become his partner and take over the Fleetwind." He dropped to one knee, startling a squeak out of Elli and a groan from Merrigan. "And I hope you'll be willing to sail with me all the rest of my days, my love, my seafoam maiden." He kissed her hand, front and back.
Honestly, Merrigan thought to Bib, where do commoners learn such courtly gestures?
Still, she rather admired Miles for his gallantry. Then she pitied him when Elli just stood there, staring at him, her eyes getting bigger in proportion to the dimming of Miles' smile.
"But—I'm—Miles, you should know—Mara, what do I do?" Elli wailed, turning to Merrigan. She didn't free her hand of Miles' grip, and that had to be a good sign.
Bib flipped his pages open and revealed the knife lying there. It glistened. Merrigan did not want to know how the book had managed to shine the knife. It boggled her mind.
"Is that it?" Elli asked.
In unison with Miles.
She turned to stare at him.
"Yes, I know about the knife." He stood and kept her facing him. "I know you need it to regrow your hair and get your tail back. I know you're a mermaid."
"Well, you're one of the few observant, sensible people in this town," Merrigan muttered.
"Not really." He grinned and nodded to her. "Quincy told me, when he guessed I was—that we were—he told me if I broke your heart, he'd use my guts for bait. I could never make you stay on dry land. All my life, I've dreamed of going to sea, to hear the song of the waves. How can I take that away from you? But if I'm on the sea, if I'm a captain with my own ship ... well, we can be together whenever you come up into the air. Even if it's only one day in ten years, it'll be worth it."
"I take back what I said." Merrigan sighed but couldn't fight her grin. "You're a ninny just as much as she is. That is an entirely different curse and has nothing to do with mermaids."
"Elli, what I'm trying to say—"
"Yes," she squeaked, sounding more like a dolphin than ever. She grabbed hold of his collar, pulled herself up to his height, and kissed him until the gill slits opened in the sides of her neck.
Miles was red-faced and slightly dizzy-looking when Elli released him. Then he whooped and spun her around four times, until he ran into the side of Merrigan's bed and stumbled. He nearly dropped her and they both ended up giggling and clutching at each other, struggling to regain their balance.
Merrigan shuddered, feeling as if she might be ill. She wanted to laugh at them and scold them. She wanted to hug them and absorb some of their happiness. In the end, she settled for picking up the knife from Bib and holding it out to the two happy ninnies.
Elli burst into tears, snatched up the knife, and flung her arms around Merrigan. The air buzzed, then turned into a shimmering, chiming sound that dropped in the scale until it became the roar of a single enormous wave crashing down around them. When Elli released her and stepped back, Merrigan thoroughly expected to find both of them drenched. Instead, they were tangled in the squirming, growing curls of thick, glossy, sea-scented hair sprouting from Elli's head. In seconds, it fell around her like a cloak, and moved as if pulled by distant sea currents. She chuckled when Miles and Merrigan stared at her moving hair.
"You don't think we swim so fast just with our tails, do you?"
"I—well, I never really thought about it." Merrigan took a step back. As much as she liked Elli, there was something uncanny about her hair moving like that. It reminded her of tales of the gorgons, and she could easily envision that hair reaching out and strangling her, quite by accident. "What are you going to do now?"
"I think we should go swimming," Miles said.
Elli laughed like dolphins chattering, caught hold of his hand, and they dashed out of the room. Merrigan sank down on the side of her bed, feeling rather like a slowly deflating balloon. The smell of the meat pie filled the room, once the fresh sea scent of Elli had faded away. Somehow, it just wasn't very tempting, even though she was hungry. Merrigan shook her head, knowing it wouldn't do her any good to sit and feel sorry for herself.
"That's what it is. I'm feeling sorry for myself. I need to keep moving west, heading home." She sighed and stepped over to the table where Bib waited, softly glowing. "Well, Bib, it's just the two of us again. What do you suggest we do next?"
"Set yourself up as a dressmaker."
"I thought we already did that. And didn't you hear me? I want to keep moving closer to home." Home, she knew now, clearly meant her father's court, not Carlion.
"Once you finish your commitments to all those girls who want new dresses, I suggest
