The Mermaids Madness

did a good job of hiding it. “She awaits your command.”
    At the front of the ship, the swan carved into the bowsprit spread its wings and let out a deafening cry, a trumpeting sound that echoed from the cliffs. Silver sails unfurled with no human help, and the Phillipa leaped away from Lorindar. Danielle stumbled, catching the rail to keep from falling. She wasn’t the only one. Prince Varisto fell to the deck. He had been digging at another splinter but now sat staring in amazement as the docks shrank behind them.
    Alongside the ship, Lannadae clung to the rope Danielle had thrown. Danielle and Talia worked with several of the crew to haul the mermaid on board.
    Lannadae’s gills were spread wide, and she panted for breath. “I’ve grown so weak. There was a time . . . I would have swum circles . . . around this ship.”
    Beatrice looked down and smiled. “Oh, good. Now let me show you what the Phillipa can really do.”
    The swan trumpeted again, and the masts creaked as the sails snapped taut. The wind wasn’t terribly strong, but the ship sailed forward as though propelled by a gale.
    “Can you help Lannadae settle in?” Danielle asked.
    Talia nodded. “Where are you going?”
    She clutched her stomach and hurried toward the rail. “To lose whatever’s left of my lunch.”

    Snow smiled at the sailor. Jeffreys, she thought his name was. He was talking about his time on the Phillipa, though his words were growing more and more jumbled. That happened a lot when she gave a man her undivided attention.
    The sea spray misting her shirt probably didn’t help matters either.
    “I was one of the first to crew the queen’s ship,” Jeffreys said. “Back when the queen gave it to the queen. The fairy queen, I mean. Gave it to our queen. Queen Beatrice.”
    “She’s a fast ship.” Snow tilted her head, allowing the wind to catch her hair.
    “Yes, ma’am. Very fast.”
    Snow gave him one of her best sidelong glances. “Some of us prefer to take things slowly.”
    Jeffreys turned a delightful shade of red.
    A cough made them both jump. “Don’t you have duties to attend to?” asked the queen.
    “Yes, ma’am.” He turned back to Snow, stammered, then fled.
    Beatrice sighed and leaned on her cane. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t distract my crew when we’re sailing into a battle.”
    Snow shrugged. “Maybe you should get an uglier crew.”
    “Isn’t he a little old for you, anyway?”
    Snow watched Jeffreys busy himself by the mainsail, checking the lines to make sure they were holding up to the strain of the ship’s speed. The man couldn’t have been more than thirty. Thanks to the price Snow had paid for certain spells, she appeared several years his elder. She tucked her hair back behind her ears, pretending not to notice the strands of white. “I’ll be twenty in a few months, you know.”
    Bea stared out at the sea. The sun was nearly set, gilding the waves with fire. “How is your injury?”
    “I’m fine,” Snow said automatically. Her headaches had grown worse after the fight in the chapel, and the rolling of the ship did nothing to help her vision, but she would recover.
    “You’re a poor liar,” Bea’s smile took the sting from her words. “Your flirting always gets more desperate when you’re upset.”
    Snow pulled her hat lower. “What do you mean, desperate?”
    “Talia tells me you and Morveren spent a great deal of time together.”
    “Talia talks too much.”
    That earned a laugh from Beatrice. “Oh, yes. Talia is the loquacious one.”
    Snow hated being embarrassed. Her pale skin made the slightest blush evident to anyone within view. “Morveren was teaching me magic. I’ve never had a teacher before, not like her. I should have realized what she was. She nearly killed us all to stop us from hurting Lirea, but even then a part of me wished—” She broke off. “Morveren used her magic on the cup in the chapel, and I missed it.”
    “As I understand things, Morveren has had more than two hundred years of practice,” Beatrice said. “It’s not your fault.”
    Snow was blushing again, remembering precisely what Morveren had said to distract her. How long had Morveren known about Talia’s feelings? Snow looked around for Talia, eventually finding her at the front of the ship with Danielle, watching the waves.
    Bea followed her gaze. Thankfully, she misunderstood the intent. “Talia distrusted Morveren from the start, I assume?” When Snow nodded,