“I’m more concerned about your influence on her.”
I stuck out my tongue.
Nilus filed pieces of stone into bolts, while I built my crossbow. He paused every so often to guide me.
“Don’t get carried away with the shape of the bow yet,” he said as I carved. “Finish the stock first, and we’ll add the lever.”
“Aye aye.”
I whittled the stock, trying to copy the shape of his, which I’d placed on the table for reference.
A roughly shaped crossbow and a pile of bolts later, Nilus said, “I hear you won’t agree to go to the Atlantic.”
I glared, offended that he and Lysi obviously had a conversation about me while I was still asleep. “You’re taking her side?”
He tapped the end of his bolt-in-progress, considering, then honed it more. He kept his voice low as he said, “Meela, you’re not working towards the same goal as everyone else here. They’re going to quickly realise that, if they haven’t already.”
“What, then? You want me to leave?”
His fingers slipped from the bolt. He caught it before it landed.
“Meela, of course not! Don’t even—”
“Sorry. I know.” I put down my carving knife before I cut myself. “I don’t want to be separated from you again, Nilus.”
“It won’t be permanent. We managed to find each other after all this time, didn’t we?”
“It took ten years! How’s that supposed to make me feel better?”
He stalled, chiselling carefully. “Even if you found a way to make these guys agree to go after Adaro—we need more than that to take down his entire regime.”
I glanced at the mermaids and mermen working around us. I would have found it hard to believe this many merpeople couldn’t make a difference, except I’d seen Adaro’s power on the Massacre, and I’d seen the power of the Host of Eriana. I knew Nilus was right. Adaro had a government, loyal followers, and armies all over the globe. This group at Kori Maru wouldn’t be enough to stop them.
“I’ve heard a lot about Medusa in my time as a merman,” said Nilus. “Everyone speaks highly of her. She’s ruled that half of the world for decades.”
“But if we go all the way there, we’re wasting time we could be spending trying to get to Adaro.”
“Time you’re using so preciously right now?”
I glared at Nilus. He pursed his lips.
I picked up my knife and resumed whittling somewhat aggressively. “He can’t be that hard to find. He’s only got the largest snake in the entire damn world with him.”
“Yes, but the Pacific is the largest ocean in the entire damn world. He could be anywhere between Alaska and Chile.”
I almost smiled.
“Besides,” said Nilus, “what’ll you do if you find him? You expect to just swim up and kill him?”
I shrugged.
“You need to stop and plan, Meela. You’re blinded by revenge. Think about what needs to happen. You need Medusa, and you need her army.”
“But how are we supposed to convince her to help us? How are we supposed to even talk to her?”
“You have an inside source from Adaro’s kingdom. Lysi knows things from training—attack plans, strategies. And you know more than anyone about the leviathan! You know where it comes from and how to control it. Don’t underestimate yourself. Plus, Medusa might not even be aware that Adaro is planning to invade her kingdom any day now. You can go with a warning.”
I growled in exasperation.
