I jabbed her in the ribs. This wasn’t the time for anti-Adaro arguments. She waved me away and pressed on.
“The reason people are killing mermaids on beaches is because the mermaids aretrying to eat them!”
“Meela,” I said sharply.
“What? You don’t think this is—?”
“We can talk about this later. Just shut up.”
She shot me a glare. I glared back. We didn’t need to get ourselves or anyone else in trouble for conspiracy. By the looks of it, these merpeople had already experienced brutal treatment. My heart ached for them. Soon, in the painful depths of the labour camp, things were about to get a hundred times worse.
We had to get away from here. We needed to find the Reinas before Adaro did irreversible damage.
Meela glanced at the silvery couple.
“A former human had best learn her place in Adaro’s kingdom,” said the merman beside her, who was now projecting thorough dislike.
A muscle flexed in Meela’s jaw.
“Mee.” I tilted my head towards the southern mermaid. “I think I know her. Come on.”
Our neighbours gave off a sense of relief as we drifted away. I couldn’t help watching Meela push her hands out adorably to balance against the current.
“Where do you know her from?”
“I don’t,” I whispered. “But she’s southern. An ally. I want to talk to her.”
Was I naive to think she was a Reina, just because of her appearance? The South Pacific Kingdom had been here long before Adaro arrived in the north. Surely they were united in their resistance. I hoped so—and thinking about the labour camp turned that hope into desperation.
We swam slowly, letting others pass, until we drew parallel with the southern mermaid.
Her body was lean, her bones sharp, her tail long—an evolutionary difference between south and north. Blue gems pierced her cheekbones, nose, and collarbone. Her brown hair was thick and dreadlocked. She must have been in her thirties, with several lifetimes of scars across her body.
She glanced at us sideways.
“You’re from the south,” I said.
“Nothing deceives you,” said the mermaid.
“Excuse me?”
“What would you like?”
I squinted, trying to get a read on her. Strange accent aside, her aura was hard to decipher.
“What’s your name?” said Meela, picking up the awkward silence.
“What is yours?”
“Meela. This is Lysi.”
“Deiopea.”
“Are you a former human?” I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Everyone else here is, so I wondered—”
