at the two assistants positioning shiny reflectors. “Okay.”
“Speak into the camera as if you’re speaking to your future soul mate because you are. She will see you, hear your story, and come to find you.”
A nervous but hopeful smile broke across his face. “How?”
“She’ll tell me that she wants to meet you.”
“But how will she know? Our souls cannot resonate until we are in each other’s presence.”
“Um, she’ll just know. Trust me.”
He nodded slowly.
“And then you’ll meet and get to know each other over a few dates…” Dannika leaned forward and patted his damp shorts-clad knee. “And it will be perfect.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“If she knows I am her soul mate from watching a video, why must we get to know each other over a few dates?”
“Ah…Because sometimes you have to make sure your first instinct is right.”
“Is that why you have not accepted Second Lieutenant Ciran’s claim?”
Embarrassed heat made her armpits prickle. “No. That’s completely different.”
“Because your first instinct is very right. He is a thoughtful and honorable warrior. Consider this. He is the only patrol leader who has always assigned me tasks I can accomplish. Everyone else forgets because of my thumbs.”
“That sounds like the sort of thing Ciran would do.” Dannika kept her smile fixed in place. “Let’s focus on you. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”
“You know that Ciran has also waited many years to meet his bride and produce a young fry. If you worry about his mating gemstone, he will show you its size, and you can plan your future with large cars and houses.”
“Gailen.” Ciran appeared at her right like an angel of mercy. Stern, flaming mercy. “Answer Dannika’s question.”
The pepper-orange warrior straightened.
“I am Gailen of Atlantis.” He pressed his fingertips together in the salute. His thumbs pointed downward, permanently bent out of position. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Yes…” She glanced at Stevie. If his recording was going well, he would splice Gailen’s interview to make a smooth clip.
Stevie gave a thumbs up.
Dannika returned to Gailen. “What do you want your future bride to know about you? Your past, your goals, your interests.”
“My interests?”
“The sort of thing a bride should know before she descends to the bottom of the sea.”
“Ah.” Gailen leaned forward. “She should know that long ago, the mer and humans lived together in harmony, but then a Great Catastrophe caused the floating mer-human city of Atlantis to sink—”
“Oh…”
“—and the humans hunted us, and all the mer queens died out—”
“I, ah…”
“—so the All-Council forged an ancient covenant with sacred brides, but then they all disappeared—”
“I meant…”
Gailen recited King Kadir’s rise, the founding of Atlantis, the first mainland women who descended to become their brides, and the All-Council’s subsequent attempt to wipe out the city.
“—but our modern brides channeled their queen powers to save Atlantis and bring a new light of hope to all warriors.” Gailen took a huge breath. “It is hard to tell a story in the air. How do humans remember to breathe?”
“Some don’t.” She uncrossed and recrossed her legs. “Thank you for that enlightening short history of the mer. How about a little personal history? Something that might interest your bride.”
“Yes.” His expression was so open, so eager. “What is she interested in?”
“You. She’s interested in you. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”
“I have already introduced myself.” He straightened proudly. “I am Gailen of Atlantis.”
Perhaps today’s interviews would take longer than she anticipated.
“Gailen.” Ciran drew the other warrior’s attention. “What is your role in Atlantis?”
The warrior straightened proudly. “I tend the Life Tree and propagate the best-tasting foods.”
“What is your city of origin?”
“Aiycaya.”
“Which is where? In human terms.”
“On the bottom of the ocean east of the Caribbean island of Haiti.”
“And why did you leave?”
“For the same reason all warriors leave their home cities, abandon their fathers, and betray their kings.”
“Describe yours.”
“A hurricane destroyed Aiycaya’s sacred island, but the All-Council refused to let us find a new one. For a generation, no young fry were born. Our elders died out. When King Kadir summoned warriors to Atlantis to join with modern brides, I tried to escape. Three times Aiycaya warriors caught me. The last time, they broke my thumbs.”
Gailen tapped his fingers together, then tried and failed to do the same with his thumbs.
“They said if they caught me again, they would kill me.” He gave a heartbreakingly sweet smile. “So, they did not catch me again.”
A lump formed in Dannika’s throat.
All the warriors had a similar history. Their cities had come to the brink of extinction, no warriors found brides, and the All-Council