The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER TWENTY

It was dark, maybe blue. Or purple.

≈You look fine. It will fade in time.≈

Above Armida, standing on the wall, was a Terran. A Terran who had nursed her, brought her back from death, but Armida had never formed an accurate impression until now. She was tall, slender, with coppery, curly hair.

≈Thank you for your help. I will be forever grateful.≈

The Terran walked the rim back to the beach, where she waded into the surf, gesturing for Armida to approach. ≈Don't leave the water. But come closer to where we can see each other.≈

Armida discovered the Terran had found a spot where the seafloor dipped and then rose abruptly, creating a divot where Armida rested safely, keeping her gills and her body wet.

Wait. She used her mindpath. And how did she know of the risk of land, of air?

≈I cannot speak. Not without a change I do not want to make.≈

The Terran nodded. ≈We shall both use our mindpaths, Armida.≈

Concentrating her gaze, Armida considered the possibilities. Here was a Terran who had familiarity with merfolk, yet no Terran had a mindpath. Perhaps she was something else altogether. ≈How did you learn my name? Who are you? What are you?≈

≈I am Cassia of Thalassa. But I have not seen my home in too long.≈

Armida paddled away. ≈You are not Terran? If you are a mermaid, why have you stayed on the shore? Why have you kept me here instead of deeper, away from possible Terran discovery?≈

Cassia's face was stern. She crossed her arms; her frown hardened. ≈That you are alive and safe is enough. Had I wanted, I could have sold you as a monstrosity to the Hellenics—the land dwellers here.≈ After a pause, it seemed she might cry. ≈If you must know...≈ Her voice softened. ≈And I suppose you must—I escaped a raid. More than a year ago, they slaughtered our elder mermen. Mermaids were killed or taken captive. I had little choice. Go to land to live as a Hellenic or die. That I can never return to mer form was the price I paid.≈

The truth of Cassia's despair scratched through Armida's mindpath. To give up the ocean unwillingly was unimaginable. Cassia's loneliness matched Armida's.

And what of Thalassa? What danger would there be from above and below?

After a hesitation, Armida swam as close as she dared to see better the reaction Cassia would have to her question. ≈Before escaping, were you acquainted with a merman named Erastus?≈

Cassia collapsed to her hands and knees. It was the answer Armida needed.

At last, Cassia lifted her head. ≈He is my brother. My twin. How have you heard his name?≈

Armida's mind spun with ways to answer the question without revealing Erastus as an enemy. Not that she presented a menace to his life. Yet.

≈Armida? Did you hear me?≈

≈I met him when he visited my home in Marea.≈ Armida offered no details to be amassed as weapons.

≈And how was he? Healthy?≈

≈He seemed so.≈ But Armida doubted the mental state of any merfolk willing to abduct a mermaid and a pup. He might have been involved in the Thalassan raid. Had he aided Cassia or had she been running from him? Did Thalassa intentionally violate the peace between their colonies? Armida's next words were carefully chosen. ≈He did not speak much of Thalassa except to praise its beauty.≈

≈He was not present during the raid. His bond-mate Nyx died in his arms a few days after he returned. I feared he might destroy himself with grief.≈

And Delfina and Paolo were at his mercy, if he had any in him. Armida feared he was unbalanced despite presenting as a confident ambassador, untroubled and competent. Had he been intent on the bond offer but changed course when it was clear she was uninterested? Armida did not doubt he was capable of cruelty.

≈And you? You survived the raid. Erastus was powerless to help you?≈

Tears streamed down Cassia's face. ≈There were three of us. Mermaids. They had trapped us in a net. Me, Nyx, and Zoe. The last of the Thalassan mermaids. Zoe died first. Of her wounds. Then Erastus arrived and began to cut the net. He pulled Nyx out but she died soon after.≈ Cassia held her expression stiff but continued. ≈And then the boats returned for us. Erastus was strong; he tried to help me. But I was too weak and slowed him down, so I made him leave me. I never saw him again. I pushed to reach land where I transformed and I've been surviving on the fringes ever since.≈

≈No Thalassan mermaids remain?≈

≈None I am aware of. And I've been in my Hellenic form too long. I can't return. I nearly drowned trying.≈

≈Did Erastus know? That none were left alive?≈

Cassia closed her mindpath. A tremor shook her. Then she opened up again. ≈He knew. We all understood it meant death for Thalassa.≈

Another question came to Armida. ≈Who were your attackers? Not other merfolk, surely?≈

≈No merfolk would be capable of these atrocities. They were Hellenics. I hope someday to learn who they were and find my revenge.≈

The urgency to complete her mission consumed Armida. She had to find Paolo and Delfina and then determine Erastus's intentions, although she guessed what they might be. She had to learn how Hellenics learned of Thalassa. Because if Hellenics knew about Thalassa, Terrans knew about Marea.