Days ago, when I’d been trying to find a giant serpent on Eriana Kwai, I’d thought the tiny island was too big. Now we had an entire ocean in which to find this rebel group. The world suddenly felt overwhelmingly vast.
I imagined Adaro swimming towards his next target, the serpent undulating behind him, her fangs stained with the blood of the day’s victims.
My teeth prickled with the urge to transition. I willed myself to stay calm.
“They could have at least told you where to go,” I said.
“They probably thought I already knew.”
“Or they didn’t trust you enough.”
“Well, they knew nothing about me.”
“And we know nothing about them. What if we’re making the wrong decision? Every day we spend trying to find them, people are dying.”
“I know, Mee. But even if we find out where Adaro is, it’s not like we can just swim up and kill him. We need a plan. We need their help.”
I sighed, expelling another large bubble. I smacked it away irritably. She was right. I’d need the Reinas’ help if I wanted to avoid death by leviathan and a thousand soldiers. The serpent might have had two heads, but she wouldn’t be able to catch a whole army swarming at once. Would she?
“I already have a few ideas as to where they might be,” said Lysi.
“Here I was thinking your plan was to just ask someone if they’d seen a group of traitors flapping around.”
She tossed back a lock of coppery-blond hair. “I didn’t spend my whole childhood exploring forbidden places for nothing.”
“Something I’m thankful for, or I’d never have met you.” I kissed her cheek.
Lysi guided us down various currents, taking the most discrete path to Utopia to avoid encountering anyone. We made a few detours, Lysi mumbling things to herself like, “No, didn’t think so,” and, “Had to try.”
I felt tormented, knowing that Adaro had the serpent. My people were no longer his only target. Everyone was vulnerable, but no one knew it yet. Only my friends back home and I knew the true story of the Host of Eriana and how its power was passed.
My insides clenched with a wave of homesickness at the thought of my friends. I was forever separated from them, which made the ache even worse.
They were the reason I had to defeat Adaro. My people had lived in poverty for decades because of him, and now he was more dangerous than ever. I gripped Lysi’s hand tighter. She was my comfort in this world that was, admittedly, a bit lonely and frightening.
Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought my emotions had intensified since becoming a mermaid. My love for my people and for the mermaid swimming next to me had become a physical sensation in my skin—a permanent rush of affection.
The sky darkened, summoning tiny glowing things—copepods, Lysi called them—from the depths. The low moan of a whale echoed somewhere ahead.
We travelled a long time without speaking, heading west. I brooded over Adaro the whole time, how much I hated him, and how satisfying it would be to finally kill him. I kept imagining Sisiutl turning her allegiance over to me, her new master. A thrill bloomed in my chest at the thought of controlling something so powerful.
When I turned my senses outwards, I picked up a gloominess about Lysi. I watched her perfect face, gaze fixed ahead, worry pulling at her features.
“What’s wrong?”
She glanced to me, quickly smoothing her expression with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “There are others I’d like to find, too.”
“Your friends?”
She’d told me a bit about the group of friends she’d made at the battlefront over the last few weeks. Without having met them, it hurt to know they had all been either killed or forced to scatter after their attempts to get to Adaro. They had been through war together and had protected Lysi. As far as I was concerned, they were worthy friends.
Whenever I asked about them, though, Lysi evaded my questions. She kept saying we had more important things to attend to in a tone that made me feel like I was a recovering hospital patient, even though I kept telling her to stop worrying about me.
Sure enough, she said, “Finding the Reinas and ending this war is more important.”
I frowned. She had loved ones at stake as much as I did. At least my parents, friends, and all my people were on Eriana Kwai. I knew exactly where they were. Lysi’s were scattered. Her parents were in Utopia—at least, they had been the last time she saw them, months or even years ago. Her brother was battling in the west, if he hadn’t been killed. Her few surviving friends from the battlefront could have been anywhere.
I squeezed her hand. “We’ll find them.”
