Amelie doesn’t answer, just leads me down endless blackness with nothing but stairs beneath my feet. It’s a struggle not to trip on my slippers as she drags me down, down, farther down.
I’m reeling from the suddenness of it all. The strangeness. All I can think is that Aspen was right. There really has been a threat all along. And somehow, Amelie is saving me from it. But what about the king?
I continue to follow her, fighting the barrage of questions that rise inside me. Every word I say gets hushed by Amelie as she insists we must hurry. Danger. I’m not safe.
Finally, the stairs turn to the flat surface of a black tunnel floor, and a subtle light glows up ahead. It’s a pinkish light, and with it comes the smell of salt, a rumbling echo of sound. We draw nearer to the light, and the black cave walls melt into coral. Coral all around, knitted tightly together to form walls. A spray of water seeps through now and then, and I swear the roar of waves is coming from overhead.
A chill crawls up my spine as Amelie darts into the coral cave. “Ami, where’s Aspen?”
She turns around, eyes wide with terror. “Come on, Evie. Hurry.”
Now that she’s in the light, I can see my sister fully. Strands of kelp tangle in her copper hair, and a thin dress of seafoam silk covers her body. I look at what I’d first mistaken for a heavy fur cloak, realizing it’s something else entirely. The gray-brown mass of fur isn’t a cloak but a skin. A sealskin. The head is pulled back like a hood and the flippers are tied together like a clasp.
“What’s going on, Amelie?”
“You aren’t safe.”
My shoulders tremble as I look at her, look at the panic in her eyes, the pain on her face. “You keep saying that, but I need more. What am I in danger from? Where is Aspen?”
Her face crumples. “I can’t tell you.”
I take a few steps closer. “I’m your sister. You can tell me anything. Whatever is happening, I’ll listen. If you’ve gotten into any kind of trouble—”
“Just come with me.”
I look from her face to the head of the sealskin. “You took the skin from the selkie woman.”
Her eyes glaze with tears. “Nothing was supposed to turn out this way. I never meant for her to die. I left her my dress. She was supposed to wear it.”
I take a step away from her. “Why?”
“Evie, we don’t have time. Come.”
I shake my head, taking another step back.
Her chest heaves with a sob. “Don’t make me do this.”
“Do what?”
She lets out a wail of sorrow, then takes something from her side—a pink branch of coral set above a hilt of driftwood. That’s all I see before she lunges at me, swinging her blade while tears pour down her cheeks.
I dodge the coral blade, retreat from her, backing into the black cave until I slip on a pool of water. My feet fly out from under me and I sprawl on my back. “Ami, stop!”
My shout doesn’t deter her. She darts at me with her blade.
I roll to my side, letting my sister crash to the floor next to me. With one hand, I push myself to my feet. With the other, I retrieve my dagger.
Amelie stumbles to stand, then faces me. We circle each other, weapons between us. Neither of us know much about hand-to-hand combat, my sister less than anyone. Her distress shows on her face, wet with tears and contorted with endless sobbing.
“You don’t have to do this,” I say.
“I do.”
“Why? What happened?” But the answer is clear. “You’ve been glamoured.”
“I made a bargain.”
“With who?”
