The Mermaids Madness

trying to respond to the Phillipa . Others spread out to fight Danielle and her friends.
    “Talia?” Danielle called, keeping her back to the mainmast. Talia still stood at the ladder from the gundeck, keeping the men below from following while fighting anyone who approached too closely. She almost appeared to be dancing with the Hiladi crew, but each time she spun, another man fell back.
    Danielle’s opponent swung, trying to beat her sword aside. The steel blade rang against the glass, jarring her wrist and forearm. Danielle sidestepped and blocked a second swing. He was trying to disarm her, not kill her. Some Hiladi men had strong beliefs against striking women. Hopefully this was a fervent believer.
    Danielle pursed her lips, concentrating on his sword and his stance. She allowed her guard to fall slightly, as though she were growing tired.
    He took the bait, slashing at her blade. Danielle released her grip a moment before he struck. Her sword spun away, stabbing the deck. Expecting resistance, he stumbled forward, off-balance. Danielle grabbed his sword arm and slammed her knee into his stomach. He doubled over, and she pushed him headfirst into the mast.
    She wrenched her sword free and ran.
    Snow pulled a sharpened steel snowflake from a hidden pocket on her shirt, flinging it at the next man who tried to intercept Danielle. He went down howling and clutching his leg. A wide swing of Danielle’s blade tore a bloody gash in another man’s shirt, driving him back. Talia dispatched a third, and then they were leaping overboard.
    The impact of the water stunned her, and her sword slipped from her grasp. Danielle ducked beneath the surface, salt water stinging her eyes as she searched. There! She spotted the glass blade sinking through the water. She kicked as hard as she could, but the sword was already beneath her, falling faster than she could swim. Her chest ached, but she continued downward, even as the sword shrank away.
    Lannadae shot past her. The mermaid snatched the sword and doubled back. Her other hand caught Danielle’s wrist, pulling her up and away from the Hiladi ship.
    They reached the surface a short distance ahead of Talia and Snow. Behind them, the crew of the Hiladi ship appeared to be more worried about escape than pursuit. As Danielle watched, the Phillipa put another hole through the hull near the bow.
    “Thank you.” Danielle’s hands shook as she took back her sword. “This is . . . it’s all I have left of my mother.”
    “It’s beautiful,” said Lannadae. “I saw you fight. Would you—” She dipped beneath the water, then tried again, apparently overcoming her shyness. “Would you mind if I composed a story about it?”
    Danielle smiled. “Just don’t let Armand learn how close I came to being killed by some Hiladi sailor.”
    “Hiladi captain, actually,” said Snow, swimming alongside. “The red sash is a symbol of rank. He’s young for the rank, but those gold coins also mark him as a noble.”
    Talia splashed them both as she swam past. “Could we chat later? You’re still within range of their crossbows.”
    Danielle sheathed her sword and took Lannadae’s hand, allowing the mermaid to tow her toward the boat. “Is everyone all right?”
    The water swallowed Talia’s response, but she appeared unharmed. As for Snow, she merely grinned and said, “That was fun!”

CHAPTER 7

    E VEN THROUGH THE WORMWAX plugs, the sound of the cannons made Danielle wince as she climbed over the railing onto the Phillipa . The Hiladi ship was moving away, aided by a strong wind. Captain Hephyra stood by the cannons, shouting at the men to quicken their pace.
    Hephyra shoved one of the gunners aside, grabbing a cannonball one-handed and ramming it home. If she could have, Danielle had no doubt Hephyra would have simply thrown the cannonballs at the other ship.
    “I think she’s annoyed,” Snow commented.
    The Phillipa was in far worse condition than the Hiladi ship had been. Sand and splinters littered the deck. One of the cannons had been destroyed, the wooden frame cracked and broken beneath the barrel. The dinghy where Lannadae had slept was in pieces. Several men lay groaning on the deck, and pools of blood darkened the sand.
    Danielle dug a finger in her ear, trying to scrape out the worst of the worm goop. “Where did the sand come from? The Hiladi ship was covered in it as well.”
    “The crew spreads it across the deck,” Talia said. “To keep the men from