The Mermaids Madness

catch Snow, arms wrapping around her waist. The wind threw them both to the side, but somehow Talia managed to twist her body, taking the brunt of the impact.
    Through doubled vision, Snow saw Morveren rise, held aloft by her spirit slaves. She flew out of the church, vanishing before anyone else could react. The doors slammed shut behind her.
    Talia was already up and running. She lowered her shoulder and crashed into the doors, but they refused to budge. “They’re held from the outside.”
    Snow pulled herself up, keeping one hand on the wall as dizziness washed over her. Nothing felt broken, but she would have a number of new bruises. She had always bruised so easily. She touched her hair, and her fingers came back bloody where the fall had reopened her injuries.
    Snow stumbled toward the door, her knife still clutched in one hand. She had cut herself when she fell, a long gash along her side. Any deeper, and she could have killed herself.
    Her neck warmed as she pulled power from her choker. Sparks danced from the mirror in her knife. Talia started to speak, then swore and jumped aside as the doors creaked.
    Snow could feel the air spirits outside. Morveren had left two to bar the doors. With every step, Snow pushed harder. The pressure in her head increased as well, but she kept going. Slowly, the doors bowed outward.
    She threw her knife.
    The blade wedged into the gap between the doors and quivered in place. Moments later, the doors exploded.
    Boards and splinters burst inward, but the same magic Snow had used to push open the doors also deflected the debris. The air spirits vanished.
    Talia jumped through the doorway, knives drawn. “She’s gone.”
    Snow could hear shouts from outside. Cries of confusion and fear, but Morveren had already escaped.
    “Snow!” Danielle and the others had gathered around the altar. “Beatrice is moving.”
    Snow turned away from the door. There was nothing she could do to catch Morveren now. If the air spirits were strong enough to carry her, she could go anywhere.
    Beatrice lay shivering. Her lips were cracked and bleeding, but she was smiling. Her smile grew when she saw Snow. “I heard you. Even within that dark place, I could hear you calling me.”
    The words triggered a coughing fit. King Theodore helped her to sit up, holding her until she recovered. Beatrice leaned her head against his chest. “Is everyone all right?”
    “Our son tried to smash through a bench with his leg,” Theodore said. “He might have broken the bone.”
    “Where’s Isaac?” Snow turned around until she spotted him slumped against the wall beneath the cross. He had been the first target of Morveren’s attack. Tymalous was already running toward him, moving with surprising speed for a man of his age.
    “He’s alive,” said Tymalous. “God willing, I might even be able to keep him that way.”
    In the far corner, Snow spotted Lannadae huddled and crying. “I’m sorry,” Lannadae said. “I didn’t know.”
    Snow glanced at the ruined doorway. A crowd had begun to gather outside the church. “Morveren means to finish her spell, to make Lirea the first of a new breed of undine.”
    “Lirea is still queen,” Danielle said. “The entire tribe will attack Morveren the instant they see her.”
    “Not all of them,” Lannadae whispered.
    Snow crouched beside her. “What do you mean?”
    “There have always been those who believe as Morveren does, that we are soulless. Some among the tribe want what Lirea has. To move about on land as well as the sea. They envied her that ability, even as they feared and pitied her madness.” Lannadae shuddered, finally looking up to make eye contact. Salt-streaked tears crusted her cheeks. “Morveren has followers among the tribe. Undine who will obey her in return for that gift. She . . . she offered to do the same to me if I helped her to escape.”
    The church had fallen silent. All those at the altar were listening to Lannadae’s confession.
    “When was this?” asked Danielle.
    “Last night. Normally the queen’s control is absolute, and Lirea’s scent is stronger than any I’ve known. But Morveren is royal as well. She told me she had protected some of her followers from Lirea’s control.” Lannadae tugged on her scales. “I told her I wouldn’t let her do to me what she had done to Lirea. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
    “She probably made sure you wouldn’t tell,” Snow guessed. When she squinted, she could see