“She’s upset,” Smee said at her side. “She didn’t mean it. Not really.”
Titania’s tail fins slapped against the water. “I know.” She crossed her arms. “I believe you have something for me?”
Tink sniffled and wiped at her face. “How did you know?”
She grinned, revealing her sharp fangs. “Magic such as that…I feel it.” Titania glided forward through the water, nearing the drop-off of the rocky beach. She unfurled one clawed hand to reveal a black pearl.
Tink sucked in a breath. Her entire focus narrowed down to that one shimmering object.Finally. Her way home.
But the joy she expected didn’t come. It’d be a relief to let her family and friends know she was all right. Sleeping in her hammock, eating the sweet fruits they grew…it would be like a dream after so long away. But those joys were fleeting. They satisfied the body but not the soul.
“You don’t look pleased,” the queen observed. “It’s what we agreed.”
“Yes, yes, it is.” Tink fished in her pocket and pulled forth the scale.
“You found it,” Barley gasped.
“Thought Captain was lying,” Smee added.
Tink shook her head. “He wasn’t. We found it in the cave when we escaped the rain.” She looked around at the crew. The people who’d become friends, companions, gathered round to glare at the stone scale in her hand.
Leaving wouldn’t just mean losing James. It would mean losing all of them too.
The queen’s eyes widened as Tink held out the scale. They met at the drop-off, Titania raising her torso out of the water as Tink sloshed to the edge, trying to forget she was one step away from falling into the depths.
The exchange was simple, unremarkable. One small, precious item for another.
Titania looked past Tink. “Your captain’s pledge is fulfilled. The storms will chase you no more.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Smee said, as if he were a gallant royal courtier and not a pirate.
He must have done something, because Titania’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “I do like you all. You’ve been a friend to the merfolk.”
Anne rose to her feet and stepped forward. “Then why did one of yours tell Blackbeard where we’d gone?”
Titania froze. The temperature in the cave dropped again. The other merfolk gasped.
“They…” The queen shivered, and the temperature returned to normal. “I taste your truth.” Her tail splashed water, sprinkling them with droplets. “Always someone seeks my crown… I am sorry you suffered for this.”
A claw-tipped finger tapped against her cheek.
Hope ballooned within Tink’s chest. The queen might help now. Someone had tipped off Blackbeard’s crew, given Lily the chance to get there ahead of them and set her trap. Tink rocked on the tips of her toes, then scrambled back from the edge.
“Still, I will not attack Captain Blackbeard for you. It risks too much for my people, especially if some of mine ally with him.” Tink’s rising tide of hope ebbed. “But…” Titania glanced to her consort and his sister. “I believe some friends are nearby?”
One sharp nod confirmed her question.
Titania shifted her attention back to Tink and the others. “Rest here. My people will bring food. When Captain Blackbeard has gone, they will take you to the surface.”
“Friends?” Barley asked.
The queen only grinned. “You shall see. We did not save you to strand you here.” The sharpness faded from the queen’s face—the briefest lowering of her imperious curtain—and she winked.
A moment later, she was gone.
Chapter 36
Hook
