from the man himself, it can only be held by his descendants. I’m imagining the other mermen who used this weapon when Kurt snaps me out of my trance.
“It was kind of you to give your chambers to Thalia.” Kurt sits on a crate level with the table and examines my sword.
“No worries. They’re technically Arion’s. He’s captain of the ship.”
“He’s bound to the ship, Tristan. He’ll never be more than the one who ferries it.”
“Arion’s more than that. He’s been my friend and I will free him.”
Kurt shakes his head, sighing. “Don’t make easy promises.”
“Isn’t that the point of having a new king?” I cross my arms over my chest. “Just because we’re supernatural beings doesn’t mean we have to live in the Middle Ages, slaying dragons and having squires and shit.”
Kurt sharpens the sword with a black stone, sending sparks flying with each strike. “I’ve killed my share of dragons.”
“Is that why you wanted to come down here?” I sit facing him on a barrel of sea mead. “Because this isn’t a two-man job, and Triton’s dagger doesn’t need sharpening.”
He stops. Sets his weapons down carefully. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Gwenivere—”
“Because you don’t like her?”
He rolls his eyes. “That isn’t what I said.”
“But you don’t deny it?”
“Does it matter to you?” he asks defiantly.
Truthfully, I don’t know anything about their relationship before they joined up with me. Maybe they dated and it didn’t work out. That might explain all the venom.
“Why don’t you like her?” I ask. Other than her general air of entitlement and her finger-snapping attitude.
“What has she done to make you two so close?”
“That was subtle.” I instantly think of Gwen’s eyes turning black for a flash, her magic. “It’s not like that.”
Even in the shadows, I can see him flush. “Forget it.”
“Oh, come on. Learn to take a joke. You should know me by now. What did you want to say that you couldn’t say in front of Gwen?”
“Thalia has been gone too long,” he says. “I trained her myself. I know she can take care of herself. But with the boy’s—Ryan’s— death…She was rather attached. I don’t know if she’d be reckless.”
Thalia’s the only mermaid I’ve met, other than my mom, who loves being on land. When she left this morning to scout the distance to the cove, I figured it’d be good for her to be alone. But that was hours ago.
“Maybe we should go now,” I say. “Make sure she’s safe, then just you and me keep on going.”
“I’ve been to the oracle here before. I told you. And while strategically it’s safer to enter through land, there are also the tunnels beneath. I’m willing to take the chance. If you are.”
That’s a challenge. I match the smirk on his face. “Of course I’m willing. Though, the girls are not going to like us leaving them behind.”
He seems startled. “Haven’t you ever said ‘no’ to a girl before?”
“Plenty of times. Doesn’t mean I like to do it. Then they get all sad and it’s my fault and I’m the one who’s the jerk.”
“We could have the urchins whip up a calming brew.”
I punch him in the chest. “Are you crazy? We don’t drug our friends to stop an argument! What’s wrong with you?”
“Then you’ll have to be the one to tell them. They listen to you.”
“Since when? Between the four of us, our stubbornness could fill a black hole.”
Kurt bursts out in a rare laugh. “Let’s get our weapons ready. I’ll meet you on deck in fifteen minutes. Which one of these do you prefer?”
“I don’t need a sword.” I duck back the way we came from and start climbing up the ladder. “I’ve got something even better.”
The captain’s chambers are small and unused.
There’s a long, stiff bed and a table with some old maps, a magnifying glass, and a rusty water pitcher. The gas lamp swings precariously above my head. In the three hours of sleep I was able to get last night, I woke up sweating because I dreamt the quartz scepter was gone. Even now, removing the long rectangular box from the trick compartment under the bed, I’m afraid of opening it.
But that’s stupid, because it only opens to my touch.
Then her voice makes me jump, and when I stand, I hit my head on the gas lamp.
“Weren’t you just talking about how we don’t want to swim down there?” It’s Layla. She’s jittery, like the minutes before a meet. She lets all