Maelstrom (Broken Tides Book 3) by Catherine Jones Payne

Author:Catherine Jones Payne [Payne, Catherine Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: social tensions, Greek mythology, mermaids, mermaid tales, coming of age, mermaid fiction, paranormal, naiads, YA fantasy
ISBN: 9781946693082
Publisher: Fathom Ink Press
Published: 2018-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Carlina, Pippa, and I slipped into the tunnels at the end of Pippa’s old canal, glancing around us to make sure we weren’t noticed. This part of the city still felt deserted. And if any anti-monarchists were watching through the windows, well . . . they certainly weren’t about to turn us in to the Royal Mer Guard.

“What was that?” I asked Pippa as she fastened the trapdoor above us.

“What was what?” Her eyes were hard.

“That . . . light . . . thing?”

She didn’t react. “I don’t know.”

“How did you do it?”

“I needed to.”

“Why . . . ” I couldn’t finish the question.

“Why didn’t I fight like that while my people were being slaughtered in the canals?”

I pursed my lips. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Her voice took on a monotonous quality. “I’ve already told you that we could have taken the city if we’d organized and fought back.”

“But when the Guard came . . . ”

“I’d have just died, too!” she cried. “They were killing any naiads they found in the canals. Best way to stop it was to get the depths off the canals! We had no time. Not enough warning. I . . . ”

“It’s okay.” I reached out to touch her arm, but she shook me off.

“Of course, I knew some naiads might die,” she said. “In my head, I knew it. But . . . the rabble-rousers. The ones who fought back. Not so many. Not”—her voice caught—“children.”

We said nothing, and then she continued, “Of course I would have fought if I’d known. Do you think that I don’t live with that every day? Do you think I’ll forget it for one single moment for the rest of my life?”

“I wasn’t blaming you,” I said.

“I was.”

I fell silent, and Carlina broke the awkward tension. “Well. If I—”

“It should have been you,” Pippa said.

Carlina glanced between Pippa and me uneasily. “What now?”

Pippa was shaking now. “The king sent the Guard after us because it was easier. To send a message. To still the unrest in the city. But you revolutionaries were the ones causing the instability. Fomenting the violence. It was you the king wanted to send the Guard after. But it would have been too politically unpopular. Nobles would have defended you. Working-class mer might have taken up arms alongside you.

“No one cared about us. It should have been you skubs who were dragged out into the canals to be slaughtered.” She darted forward and shoved Carlina up against the wall of the tunnel.

Carlina cast a desperate look at me, but I wasn’t going to get in the middle of this. Not when every word Pippa had said was true. Not after she’d lost so much.

Mustering her bravado, Carlina scoffed. “So, what? You going to kill me after that whole spectacle back there where you stole me from the crown prince’s custody?”

“I’m one of the last naiads still here in the city.” Pippa’s voice dropped low and harsh. “So, I’d say you owe me a blood debt.

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