The Mermaids Madness

a bad person be a good teacher?”
    “When I tried to teach you swordfighting, you said I was an awful teacher.”
    Snow giggled. “You are. You’re too impatient, and you’re always showing off.”
    Talia’s face grew warm. She rarely showed off her fairy gifts, but with Snow . . . “Well, you’re not much of a student sometimes. Do you remember when you refused to pick up a sword for a full week because the practice jacket was ‘too unflattering’?”
    The only answer was a low snore. “Believe me,” Talia whispered. “That jacket was plenty flattering.”
    Danielle crossed the room to retrieve the knife from Snow’s mirror. “I’ll deliver this to Father Isaac for now.”
    Talia grabbed quill and paper and scrawled a quick note. “And where will you be?”
    Danielle groaned and looked upward. “Upstairs, trying to help Theodore avoid a war.”

    Talia was stopped only once on her way out of the palace. She sighed, feigning annoyance as she explained that the princess had forgotten something on the ship, and of course she needed it fetched right now . Soon she was riding a horse and wagon down the road toward the docks.
    The ride seemed to take forever, though the moon had barely moved by the time Talia arrived. The same excuse got her past the harbormaster’s man, who was understandably curious why a lone rider needed to reach the queen’s ship at this time of night.
    Talia hailed the Phillipa, and was unsurprised when Captain Hephyra answered. As far as Talia could tell, Hephyra slept almost as infrequently as Talia herself.
    “Nice to see you again,” Hephyra called. “Shall I send a boat?”
    “No need.” Talia kicked off her sandals and dove from the end of the dock. By the time she reached the ship, Hephyra had already lowered a line into the water. She hauled Talia up as though she weighed nothing at all.
    “Come to take me up on my offer?” Hephyra asked.
    “Not today.” Talia squeezed water from her hair. “I need to borrow one of your guests.”
    “Take them both,” said Hephyra, her annoyance obvious. “The crew will be happy to see them gone. They’re down in the hold. Before she left, your friend Snow rigged a circle to keep Morveren from using her magic. Nearly killed herself from the effort, but it seems to have worked.”
    “Thank you.” Talia clenched her jaw and crossed the deck toward the ladders.
    “Want an escort?” Hephyra asked.
    Talia dipped into the pouch at her waist and pulled out a ball of beeswax. She squeezed off two small pieces, pressing them into her ears. “No thanks.”
    The air grew cool as Talia descended to the bottom of the ship. The boards creaked beneath her feet. Below this deck, rocks and soil provided ballast for the Phillipa . The air smelled like a farmer’s field after a heavy spring rain.
    Talia wrinkled her nose. A heavily fertilized field.
    Her bare feet splashed through puddles. Crates and barrels were secured to either side, creating a dark, cramped hallway of sorts. A single lantern burned farther along, hung from the central beam.
    Talia ducked her head and made her way past extra rope, provisions for the crew, and several barrels that smelled of tar. Morveren sat at the rear, where the mizzenmast was secured through the decks all the way down to the keel. Chains bound Morveren to the mast. Through the puddles, Talia could see faint scratches in the floor where Snow had cast her spell.
    Lannadae lay in the circle beside her grandmother, both tails curled against Morveren’s. Lannadae was asleep, but Morveren’s eyes watched Talia as she approached.
    “I need you to help free Beatrice from that knife,” Talia said.
    One of Morveren’s tails slapped the deck. “I should save your queen when you couldn’t save my granddaughter?”
    “Lirea didn’t seem interested in being saved.” Talia sat down on a crate. “But that didn’t stop you, did it?”
    “I gave her what she wanted.”
    Talia drew the curved knife Beatrice had given her all those years ago. “You used magic to force your granddaughter to kill Gustan. That makes you a murderer. If you prefer not to help us, I’d be happy to turn you over to Captain Varisto. He’s wanted to get his hands on you for quite some time.” Talia turned the knife, testing the point. “I imagine he’d be even more upset if he learned what you’d done to his brother’s soul.”
    “Is that true?” Lannadae was awake now, her eyes wide. “You forced Lirea to kill