A prince, a mermaid and a sea dragon, all cursed by the same evil wizard, find there may be a perilous way to end the curse. It is their only hope. But is it all a lie? This short story, The Promise, was published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Issue #14, Fall 1991. In the following issue, it was announced that "The Promise" had won Second Place in the Cauldron Vote for the readers' favorite story.