The Dragon's Lair (8 page)

"Give me your hand!" he shouted again.

Fighting panic, the merrow stretched her arm out toward him.

Ven made a grab for it, and caught hold of the webbing between her index and middle fingers. It was slippery and cold.

And then, suddenly, the webbing slid back into her hand and disappeared.

The rolling clouds of bubbles began to slow their boiling.

The merrow, no longer in Ven's grasp, disappeared below the waves.

"
Amariel!
" Ven screamed. He looked around desperately for a few more seconds, but there was no sign of her.

He put the cap down on the pier, pulled off his boots and dove into the water.

Even though it was summer, the water was cold. Ven was stunned by the impact at first, but let his body straighten out as the waves rolled over him. He opened his eyes, which stung from the salt. Before him was a moving wall of green and white, cloudy with seaweed and sand and sunlight.

Below the surface, the water was still swirling with strands of discarded skin and scales. Ven could see nothing else, so he swam away from the pier and tried to get beyond the churning mess. He held his breath as long as he could, but he could still see nothing in the murky green waves.

His head popped up at the water's surface. He shook the water from his face and looked around, but aside from the pier behind him, he could see nothing.

"Amariel!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

My stomach cramped so hard that I almost bent in half. I was thinking of the sight of the gills in her neck sealing shut, and realized suddenly that she could no longer breathe beneath the waves. Apparently she could no longer swim without her tail, either, and had sunk like a rock
.

I should have known this would happen
.

I should have made her sit on the dock before she gave me the cap
.

I should have left well enough alone
.

But my bloody curiosity made me forget everything I should have kept in mind
.

And now I'd probably killed her
.

High above, a harsh cry rang out.

Ven looked up.

Circling in the air was an enormous white bird with webbed feet, its wingspan wider than the pier.

Ven's heart leapt.
The albatross!
he thought, watching the bird dive toward the surface of the waves as if it were fishing. Then it banked up into the air again and returned to flying in low circles, just as it had when he was floating on the wreckage of the
Angelia
, his father's new ship that had been destroyed when the Fire Pirates attacked.

He swam quickly for the area above which the bird was flying.

"Amariel!" he shouted. "Amari—" He caught a wave in his mouth, sputtered and gagged. He spat out the bitter water, then looked up at the albatross again.

The bird was diving from above, a terrifying swoop that skimmed the surface a few feet in front of him. Then it rose up into the sky once more.

Even though he could see nothing, Ven took a breath and dove himself. He swam through the gloomy green water, feeling his way through the floating weeds, until his hands felt something similarly long and flowing but smoother and less slippery. He gave it a yank, and could tell it was attached to something heavy.

It's her hair
, he thought desperately.
It must be her hair
.

He tugged again and swam to the surface, pulling the weight along with him.

When he broke through to the air, he pulled as hard as he could.

A fisherman's buoy popped to the surface next to him, slimy and criss-crossed with weeds.

Panic exploded inside him. Ven made another dive, kicking hard to get down to the sand at the bottom as quickly as he could. He searched blindly through the weeds until he found more smooth strands. This time he felt along them until he found that they were attached to what felt like a ball at the other end. He gave the strands a jerk, and immediately the weed patch began swirling as whatever he was clutching began to thrash around inside it.

This
must
be her
, Ven thought as he kicked back toward the surface.
If it's not, whatever I'm pulling up is going to beat me to death
.

He dragged the slippery strands, and pulled with all his might.

The merrow's head popped above the water, her hair full of kelp. She was gasping for breath, her arms flailing wildly around her. Ven pulled harder to try and keep her mouth away from the breaking edge of the wave rolling toward them.

Amariel's arms stopped flailing. She reached out and punched him in the face, rocking his head back.

"ARRRGhhh!" she screeched. "Let go of my hair!"

Ven dropped it quickly, then seized her arm instead. He pulled her onto her back and helped her float.

"Calm down," he said quietly in her ear. "Don't panic—you're all right now. Just lie on your back and I'll get you to shore." He looked down into the merrow's face. It was gray, her lips blue and trembling, her peg-like teeth chattering, and he felt his throat start to close. "I'm sorry about everything. I never should have suggested this. Don't worry, I'll get you to shore."

"G-g-g-ive me m-m-my c-c-c-ap," the merrow whispered.

"It's on the pier," Ven said. "I didn't want to lose it in the water. Stay calm—we're really not that far from the beach. We'll be there in a minute."

"I w-w-want to g-g-go h-h-home," Amariel said, struggling to keep her eyes open. "I think I'm g-g-going to d-d-"

"Don't even say it," Ven said. He was only using his feet to swim now, holding Amariel steady with both hands and letting the natural direction of the waves carry them closer to shore. "You're not going to die—I won't let you."

The merrow's green eyes, glassy from shock, cleared. She turned her head and stared coldly at him.

"As if you have anything to say about it," she said scornfully. "You won't
let
me? Shut up. I'll die if I want to. And I was going to say 'drown,' thank you very much."

I have to admit, when she said that I had to work hard to keep from chuckling. Amariel is the most stubborn, independent person I have ever met. She tells me all merrows are like that, and I believe it. Her biggest fear about giving me the cap was that she would "go human," which the stories say is what happens to merrows and selkies, creatures like her mother, when they let human men take their pearl caps. They grow legs so that they can walk on the land, but "going human" means that they lose their fiery natures, their stubbornness, and become wishy-washy and mealy-mouthed, doing whatever they are told. It's almost impossible for me to imagine that happening to her, cap or no cap
.

But if it does, I have promised her I will take her back to the sea myself, put the cap on her head and toss her in
.

I guess I won't get the chance to find out, though, since she wants it back already and I haven't even seen if she actually grew legs or not
.

"Well, I'd prefer if you didn't drown
or
die," Ven said. His foot touched the bottom and dragged along the broken shells and sand. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw the abandoned pier was almost within reach. He kept kicking gently until he was at the edge of the shoreline, then stood up in the frothing waves, still holding on to the merrow's arm. "Can you stand up?"

"Stand up?"

Ven looked into the froth. Amariel was lying on the sand in the shallows, her formerly exquisite tail in tatters around her like a torn skirt.

Peeking out from beneath the shreds of what had once been scales was a pair of human legs. They looked like any other legs he had ever seen, except there seemed to be a small amount of webbing in between the toes.

"Try and put your feet on the ground," he said. The sand was slipping back into the waves beneath his own toes, making it hard for him to stand still.

Amariel shook her seaweed-tangled hair violently.

"No, I'm just going to lie here while you get my cap." She stretched out on the rippling sand. "I don't even want to try, I just want my tail back and to get out of here as fast as I can."

"That seems like a bit of a waste, don't you think?" Ven said. "After what we just went through, don't you at least want to see what it feels like to walk on human legs? You did take the trouble to grow them, after all."

"No, thank you," said Amariel firmly. "This does not feel at all nice—in fact, my stomach feels like it is going to be sick. So unless you want me throw up ambergris on you, I suggest you get me my cap
right now
."

"What's ambergris?"

"Whale vomit. Sailors are always looking for it floating on the sea. My mom says humans make perfume out of it. Yet one
more
reason not to trust them. Who on earth
wants
to smell like
vomit
?"

Ven was watching the tide pulling out. The albatross was gone.

"I don't think I can leave you here safely, Amariel," he said nervously. "I think you might get pulled back out with the waves. Stand up just for a moment and walk to the edge of the sand where the waves can't reach. I'll help you. Then you can wait while I run up on the pier and get the cap."

The merrow eyed him suspiciously.

"This had better not be a trick," she said. She was shivering, her skin still gray.

"Not at all," Ven said. "I'm very sorry this happened. Let me help you up."

The merrow glared at him one more time, then seized hold of his forearm.

"Ugh," she said, staring at her hands. "Wiggly fingers. Yuck."

"You get used to them after a while," Ven said. He pulled smoothly, helping her rise out of the foaming waves.

"Hmmph," said the merrow. "Not if I can help it." She opened her mouth and took several deep breaths. "I don't know
how
you breathe this way," she said, sounding disgusted. "I miss my gills already."

Once she was standing, Ven took the opportunity to get a better look at her. The scales that had once covered her body from her armpits to the fin at the end of her tail now resembled a colorful and somewhat ratty dress. The gown of bubbles that she usually wore seemed to have vanished, but the black cape that hung down her back was still attached to her shoulders. Ven remembered how she had told him that she had gotten the cape from her mother, and that when selkies wore them they resembled seals in the water. The one time Char had caught a glimpse of Amariel following the
Serelinda
, he had thought she was a seal.

Her legs wobbled at first, but after a moment the merrow was able to stand steadily.

"All right, I'm
standing
," she said. "Now go get my cap."

Ven nodded. He took hold of her hand and walked her a few steps toward the dry sand. Amariel's human legs buckled at each step, but she did not fall.

"You're doing great," Ven said encouragingly as her knees quivered and sprawled awkwardly.

"Shut up, Ven." The merrow gripped his hand until his fingertips turned white. Ven struggled to keep from gasping in pain. "I hope none of the seabirds can see me—they have such big beaks, they're sure to tell the seals, and then the whole
ocean
will be laughing at me. Ugh! I look like a
crab
. This is
so
embarrassing."

"You look fine. Nobody walks gracefully on wet sand—not even humans."

"Oh, goodie. So now I have something else in common with humans. Just stop talking, Ven—you're making it worse."

Ven held onto her until she seemed to get her balance. Once her webbed toes were touching the warm, soft dunes and she was standing steadily Ven let go of her hand.

"I'll be right back," he promised. "Stay here, don't move."

Quickly he ran over to the rotten pier, pulled himself onto it, and jogged to the end where his boots still remained. The cap was lying beside them. He pulled the boots on, then picked up the lacy, pearl-encrusted red sea plant and was surprised to find that it had gone limp and soft, like actual fabric. He trotted down the pier and back to where Amariel was still standing, staring at the city of Kingston in the distance.

"Here," he said, holding out the cap to her. "I am
so
sorry. I hope you'll forgive me."

The merrow nodded absently. "When do the people wake up?" she asked.

Ven looked back at the streets.

"Some of them are already awake," he said. "The shopkeepers and the merchants are cleaning out their stores, getting ready for morning. The baker's been working all night, and he's probably getting ready to go to bed. The fishermen are long gone, out on the sea already. After breakfast—that's when most of the noise starts. The fountains begin splashing, the ships start coming into port, the music begins. It should start any time now, in fact."

"That might be interesting to see," the merrow said.

There was a change in her face, Ven noticed. The sallow gray that had been there a moment before had been replaced by a healthier color, and her cheeks had turned pink. Even though the seaweed still clung to her hair, her skin had dried a little, and she now looked a lot more like a human girl than she usually did. But what was most noticeable was the look in her eyes. They were bright and glistening, the way his own did when his curiosity was itching.

He thought back to what she had said to him when he was floating on the wreckage, trying to stay awake.

Do you want to hear what happens to merrows who want to walk on the land? It is a deep and sometimes irresistible desire
.

"Amariel?" Ven said, trying not to spook her. "Do you still want your cap?"

The merrow did not answer, but continued to stare at the wakening city.

"Of course," she said finally, still looking into the distance. "Of course I want it. But—well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to look around a bit. I mean, after all, it
was
quite an ordeal getting here in the first place. It seems a little stupid not to see
anything
in the dry world."