Rising (35 page)

“Yes
, of course, Majesty.” The guard shook himself out of his stupor, yanked open the door, and let them in.

As soon as they passed through the doors, guards rushed in and
surrounded them. Before there were more misunderstandings, Xanthus shouted. “King Triton is here for his daughter.”

The group erupted in a confusion of voices and questions. “There is no mermaid being held here.”

“A daughter of Triton, here?”

“I thought they were all dead.”
The questions came at them from all sides at once.

“Enough
,” Triton shouted. The building rumbled at his voice and cracks branched out from the foundation and up the stone walls. “Where is the half-human prisoner, called Sara?”

A small guard
inched forward. “She was put into the human cell.”

This was not where Xanthus expected her
to be. He’d expected her to be put into a cell by herself. When he thought of those who would be with her, he exploded in anger. “Take us there now!”

The guard flinched back. “Yes
, of course.” As they rushed away, Xanthus heard the other guards flee the building.

Triton and Xanthus
raced through the maze of hallways into the more rough tunnels of a crumbling part of the prison.

T
hey approached an old, beat-up door. Xanthus was surprised to find no guard there.

“Where
did the guard go?” The small guard asked, echoing Xanthus’s concern.

“Let me
pass,” Triton demanded. The guard moved aside. Triton grabbed the door and ripped it off its hinges. As he passed through to the air pocket, his transformation from merman to human was smooth and flawless. Xanthus immediately followed along with his not-so-smooth conversion as he turned human.

“Well, hello there
,” a deep, cheerful voice greeted them.

Xanthus looked around, afraid of what he might find. He had sent Slink and his
pathetic sidekicks to this cell himself. He’d had no idea that Sara would have
ever
been put in here with them. He was sick with worry about what they might have done to her. But what he found was a cheerful human sitting amongst the three unconscious, bleeding forms of Sara’s old neighbors. Sara was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Sara?” Xanthus
asked.

“T
he little Dagonian? Oh, she sang her way out of here.”

“She what?”
Xanthus was confused at the answer.

“Do you know where she was headed?” Triton
asked the human.

“She was going to save her husband.”

Triton turned to Xanthus. “Where were you being held?”

“In the belly of the beast
.”

“You
Dagonians are so dramatic.” Triton shook his head. “Why is she calling you her husband?”

“I tried to marry her. She thinks we are married, but I found out the priest was not
a true priest. I decided it was best for her not to know we aren’t actually married. She was ready to turn herself in to save me.”

“Your
Dagonian laws are ridiculous. Why a man should have to pay for his wife’s crime is beyond me. Still, a daughter of mine was willing to make that kind of sacrifice? That
is
surprising.”

“Your daughter is an am
azing woman.”

“So,
if you aren’t married, why were you imprisoned also?”

“I killed about
three dozen soldiers when they came to take her,” Xanthus said, unregretful.

“I would expect no less of any husband of my daughter.”

Xanthus and Triton moved quickly through the tunnels. As they moved further in, darkness enveloped them. The stifling gloom and stench of rot increased as they neared the dungeon area that held the most heinous criminals.

“They really must not have liked what you did to put you down here
,” Triton remarked.

“You could say…” Xanthus hear
d a faint singing voice that brought him to a stop. It was beyond beautiful. It was the most amazing…

Triton lifted his trident
; a beam of light shot out and struck Xanthus like a slap in the face. “What did you do that for?” Xanthus asked.

“I think
it’s best, if you’re to be my daughter’s husband, that she not have that kind of power over you.”

Triton
and Xanthus once again rushed forward. As they neared, the sound of Sara’s voice became clearer. She really did have a lovely voice, but her lyrics and cadence left a lot to be desired. Xanthus gave that a fleeting thought as he hurried toward her. From what he heard, she seemed to be instructing a guard in song to keep looking for him.

They
came around a corner and her tiny, frantic figure came into view.

Triton gasped.
“She looks just like her mother.”

Sara’s frustration grew with every passing moment. Locating her husband had been much more difficult than she’d expected. Half of the effort she’d exerted in her search had been used to keep the guard on task. He hadn’t been able to keep his stupid, groping hands off her. She worked a few words of exasperation into her tune, as she once again slapped him away.

With each passing moment, she
’d grown more and more anxious until now, she was about to panic. A couple of times she’d stopped singing to call out to her husband, only to find the guard snapping out of his trance and making a grab for her. A few desperate screeches of a melody was all she needed to be safe again.

“
Moro Mou.” A familiar voice came from down the passageway. Sara turned and found Xanthus and another Dagonian swimming toward her.

“Xanthus
,” she cried as she swam at him so fast that she nearly knocked the wind out of herself when they collided. His arms encircled her. His warm embrace had never felt so good.

“I was so worried
,” she said. “We’ve been through these cells three times, now. And I couldn’t find you. This guard insisted you were here. Well, I don’t know if insisted is the right word. He said it in his I’m-under-your-spell-and-will-do-your-bidding voice.”

Xanthus shook his head.
“And here I thought I’d be the one saving you, Mou. But it looks like you’ve saved yourself. How could I have forgotten the siren’s song? So you hypnotized them with your voice?”

Sara nodded. “
I guess you could say that. I just found out I could. It was cool at first, but now it’s just annoying. This Dagonian keeps touching me. But still, I was able to get out and find you. By the way, how did you get out of your cell?”

“Hello Sara.”
The Dagonian stranger inched forward.

“Hold it right there
.” The guard raised his spear.

“Oh
, not again,” she said and then opened her mouth wide to continue her stupid song.

T
he stranger lifted a trident and froze the guard on the spot.

“I… uh…” Sara
’s song ended in startled surprise. The guard’s statue-like form floated down to the floor. She turned to Xanthus and whispered, “Can all Dagonians do that?”

Xanthus smiled and shook his head.

Sara turned back to the stranger. He looked like any other Dagonian, maybe a bit larger and more muscular. About Xanthus’s size actually. But his eyes, they had the same blue luminescence as hers own! “Are you Triton?” she asked, suddenly timid.

Triton
nodded. He looked unsure.

“Are you my dad?”
she asked, hopefully.

He gave a tentative smile.
“Yes, I am.”

“Majesty,
” Xanthus said, “may I suggest we take this reunion to a more appropriate place?”

Sara could hear the wailing of prisoners in the background.
Xanthus was right. This was not the best place for a family reunion. Light blinded her for a moment and then her vision came into focus in the most beautiful seascape gardens she could have ever imagined. There were huge, colorful anemones, giant clams, coral the size of palm trees, hundreds of colorful fish, and towering sculptures all set in front of the most amazing castle she’d ever seen.

“Sara,
” Triton said. “I don’t know what I can say or do to make up for not being there for you. Living as a mermaid amongst the humans must have been very difficult for you. I’m truly sorry.”

S
ara shrugged. “You can’t help what you didn’t know. I don’t blame you for anything. Besides, I think I did all right.”

“You ended up in Panthon Prison.” Triton’s voice was thick with regret.

“I was there for a few hours.” She shrugged. “I’m just glad Xanthus found me. My husband is an amazing Dagonian, don’t you think?”

Xanthus cleared his throat. “Well
, actually, we’re not really married, Mou.”

“What?” Sara
asked.

“
The priest was a fake.” Xanthus cocked one eyebrow and shrugged.

“He was? When did you find out?”

Xanthus shrugged.

Sara’s eyes widened. “You
knew all along, didn’t you? And just
when
were you going to let me know?” Sara pushed him away.

“Um, I just told you
,” Xanthus said.

“
You should have told me as soon as you found out. There was no reason that we both needed to end up in prison. Oh, that reminds me. Josh Talbot. We need to go back to the prison. He needs our help.”

“Who’s Josh Talbot?”
Triton asked.

“He’s a
human, a deep sea diver. He was in the cell with me. He protected me from Slink and his friends. It almost cost Josh his life. I hope he’s okay. I couldn’t figure out how to take him with me. And I couldn’t bring myself to have Slink and his friends drown themselves. I hope my rash decision didn’t end his life.”

“Don’t worry
, Sara,” Triton said. “We saw him when we went to find you. He looked like he had things under control. And anyone that saves a daughter of mine will be well rewarded.

“
Now, I think it’s time I hear who took you prisoner. I want names. I want details and don’t leave anything out.” Triton looked Sara in the eye.

“I’ll let Xanthus tell you. He knows more than I do. The
situation was hard for me to understand since
no one
spoke English. I would like to know what was said, too.” Sara put her hands on her hips and fixed Xanthus with accusing eyes. He responded by pulling her into his arms. She didn’t resist. Instead, she wrapped her own arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest.

Xanthus
related the entire story to her father. Sara’s tightened her grip at the more shocking or horrendous accountings he told. He related to Triton every detail of what had happened. He even told Triton about his father’s epic hatred of the Mer and how, even now, he kept the body of a mermaid in his home. It was obvious why Xanthus had chosen not to tell his father about her true identity. In the end, he had laid all his family secrets out for the god to inspect.

Her father’s
response was surprisingly mild. “Very well, Xanthus. I can hear the anger and your wish for retribution in your voice. But I would rather you forget all that happened. Focus on taking care of my daughter and making her happy. I will see that all the guilty are punished and you’ll think no more on it.

“Furthermore, I know you have your heart set on
convincing the humans of the error of their ways and cooling the feelings of hatred your Dagonians have for them. Although I think it’s an impossible task, I understand your desire. I also know that in order for you to accomplish your goal, you must mingle with your enemy and live among them for a time. I will grant you as much time as you feel you need.

“
I also know that you love my daughter and wish to marry her. Here’s where the conflict in me lies. I have a desire to get to know this daughter of mine and I don’t trust the human’s at all. They are a selfish and self-serving people. But I can also see the great love my daughter has for you and I doubt she’ll want to live apart from you. So here’s my compromise—I will allow her to return to the surface with you under certain conditions. First, that she is guarded at all times, either by you or by other soldiers you trust to keep her safe. My protection does not extend into my uncle Zeus’s domain, so you’ll have to take special precautions. Then she must take at least three months out of each year to visit me, so that we may get to know one another as father and daughter.”