Maggie gulped and kept her attention focused on the Everything Plant and the dam. “I’m sure you know that the Everything Plant has stopped producing berries.”
“Yes, yes,” Coralyn muttered dismissively, her eyes clinging to Peter with a charming brow raised high. “Sorry business, that is.”
“We’ve come to the conclusion that the plant is lacking proper hydration,” she continued, surprised as to how firm and sure she sounded. “It received water directly from the cove, but it looks like you’ve damned the stream. Did something happen?”
Selina followed Maggie’s point to the large stream behind them. “Oh, I never would’ve thought that stream was important!” She breathed a sigh, one hand pressed to her chest.
Maggie was quickly beginning to understand their dynamic. Selina, who had a good head on her shoulders, was crafty enough to manipulate a situation if she found the need.Something Maggie was suspecting she might try in the next few moments. On the other hand, Coralyn had one intention and one intention only. Her steely blue gaze clung to Peter shamelessly, bringing a heat to Maggie’s face that she didn’t understand. It wasn’t like Peter seemed to mind much. He barely even looked her way.
“Our father entrusts us with certain things, you see,” Selina explained, one slender finger curling around a long strand of rosy hair. “And when the moon coral started to shrivel up and die, he needed us to find a way to rectify the situation.” Selina shrugged innocently, her large doe eyes holding onto Peter. “You know how important the moon coral is to us, Peter.”
Maggie looked over her shoulder at him. “moon coral?”
“It’s important to the mermaids,” he explained. “In fact, it’s almost impossible for them to survive without it. It makes their homes habitable.”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. She was an amateur — or even a hobbyist — botanist, and never had she heard of such an organism before. “How so?”
“moon coral lights up during the night,” Coralyn said. “The light ignites the entire cove, and any creature can come here for a safe haven. Without it, there’s only darkness. And mermaids don’t survive in the darkness.”
“A few weeks ago, the coral grew sick.” Selina’s grave tone was unusual with the surrounding music. “The cove became dark, and the only thing we could think about was to try to keep the water in the cove… well, in the cove. To try and help our coral. But it sounds like if the Everything Plant and the coral got sick the two could be related.”
Maggie raised her hands defensively. “I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions like that just yet. We actually just think the Everything Plant needs the ocean water.” She glanced over to Peter, gauging his expression. He looked ready to do anything,ready to follow whatever it was she said. “If we try to get the moon coral growing again, will you undam the cove?”
Selina and Coralyn shared a look. Though Selina acted like the brains between the both of them, it was Coralyn’s unflinching stare that seemed to hold the answer. Blue hair swished through the air as she turned to face Maggie, her eyes narrowed skeptically.
“We’lll undam the cove,” Coralyn said, “Butonlywhen you fix the moon coral.”
Maggie frowned. “But I don’t even –”
“There’s no survival for the mermaids without the coral.” Selina reached for Maggie and grasped onto her hand. Surprisingly, her skin wasn’t wet at all. “Do this for us, Maggie Hart, and we will ensure that the water returns to the Everything Plant.”
Who was Maggie to know what happened to the moon coral? She had never heard of it before, and it wasn’t like she was an expert on safe mermaid habitats. But the Princesses weren’t budging, and the Everything Plant needed saving.
Maggie gave Selina a firm nod. “Consider it done.”
Then, Coralyn turned to Peter. “So, we haven’t seen you around much.”
Peter gestured to Maggie. “I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to visit?” she pouted. “Too busy to come lay on the rocks with us and keep us company?”
Selina reached for him. “Come play with us, Peter.”
Peter barely seemed to glance their way. “I’m afraid Maggie and I are on a mission. We just need to know the best place to start with the moon coral.”
Both women seemed to pout, staring up at him with big eyes, but Peter just patiently waited for an answer. At last, they seemed to realize he wasn’t falling for their games and stopped with the obnoxious expressions.
“That would be a good place to start. The moon coral is the really light one. You’ll recognize it when you see it.” Selina pointed across the cove’s rounded shore, where the depths took a sharp dive down into the darkest parts of the sea. Without waiting for another word, Maggie and Peter followed their direction to a large section of moon coral.
“Do you come here often?” Maggie asked within the quiet.
Peter glanced at her, one brow raised. “To the cove? Not really. Why?”
“Oh,” she murmured, growing more embarrassed by the second.Why did I even ask?“Well, t-the mermaids seemed to regard you in a very…friendly sort of way.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be impolite in their own turf.”
“Yeah, sure, but…” Maggie wished she could’ve sealed her own mouth shut. Already she drifted too far, stepping into a conversation she didn’t really want to have. Well, that might’ve been a lie. She wanted to know the answers, though she hated to be the one to ask.
