The Mermaids Madness

under control. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sing.” The unspoken question hung between them.
    “I visit the nursery at night sometimes,” Talia admitted. “There’s room for me to work out undisturbed, and I’m quiet enough to avoid waking him.”
    Danielle wasn’t buying it. “The armory is large enough to practice in. So is the great hall, or one of the guest rooms in the southern towers, or—”
    Only Talia could turn a shrug into a threat. “Given how easily your stepsister attacked you in your room last year, I’d think you’d be happy to have someone guarding your son.”
    “Guarding him . . . by singing?” Danielle teased.
    Another shrug. “Sometimes he has bad dreams.”
    “Tala, Tala, Tala!” Jakob’s voice rose with each repetition. Soon he would be loud enough to bring Nicolette running.
    “I’m here, Jakobena.” Talia scowled at Danielle one last time, then turned away. She brought the mirror close to her lips and began to sing. Her voice was low and clear, every note perfect.
“Silver moon crawls through the sky
and asks if you might play.
Peeking through the clouds, so shy,
the lonely moon has slept all day.
So close your eyes, O tiny child,
and with the moon you’ll fly away.

“Silver moon and Jakobena
dancing through the sky.
Now close your eyes, my little one.
Close your eyes and fly.”
    Talia pressed her lips to the glass, then returned the bracelet to Danielle.
    “That was beautiful.” Danielle could see Jakob burrowing into his blankets. “Why don’t you sing more often?”
    “My voice is another of the fairies’ gifts,” Talia said. “It’s not something I like to think about.”
    Danielle started to say more, then stopped herself. The tale of Sleeping Beauty was a popular one, but only a handful of people knew the truth of that tale. No princely kiss had awakened Talia from her cursed sleep. Instead, a prince had found Talia’s body and used her to satisfy his own urges. The pains of labor roused Talia as her body expelled twin children from her womb. Children she had left behind when she fled her homeland.
    “Thank you for watching over him,” Danielle said, returning the bracelet to her wrist. The wires tightened, and Jakob’s image disappeared.
    “I’ll watch him, sure. Just don’t expect me to change any diapers.”
    Danielle covered a yawn. “Is Snow still with Morveren?”
    “Where else would she be?” Talia raised one leg and pivoted, slowly moving through a series of close kicks. “Lannadae was snoring in the boat when I passed, but Snow and Morveren are still chattering away about turning people into frogs, or whatever it is witches talk about when they get together.”
    “You’re just mad because their plan doesn’t include you pummeling Lirea,” Danielle teased.
    “If Snow thinks she and Morveren can control Lirea long enough to get that knife, I’m not going to stop them.” Talia launched a particularly vicious sequence of punches.
    Danielle knew that expression. “You’re worried about her.”
    “She let Morveren transform her into a mermaid.” Talia bent her leg, allowing her body to sink lower, then repeated her kicks. “You’re the naive one who insists on trusting everyone you meet. Snow knows better.”
    “She’s wanted to learn transformation magic ever since we came back from Fairytown,” Danielle said. “The change was temporary, and Snow seems fine.”
    “I’ve never seen her so eager. So hungry. She’s hardly spoken to me.”
    “You haven’t exactly been bubbling over with warmth either,” Danielle pointed out.
    Talia turned away. “None of this would have happened if Morveren hadn’t used magic to try to change her granddaughter.”
    “That was what Lirea asked for,” said Danielle.
    Talia struck the wall with the edge of her hand. “Lirea was little more than a child. She didn’t know the risks. Morveren did.”
    Danielle ran her fingers over her bracelet, thinking about Jakob and how hard it was to refuse when he wanted something. “She made a mistake. Now she’s trying to find a way to help Lirea.”
    “There’s the naiveté I’m used to,” said Talia.
    “Morveren didn’t turn her granddaughter into a murderer. Lirea is the one who killed her prince.”
    “After that prince used and discarded her.” Talia relaxed, wiping her forehead on her sleeve. “Lirea’s story has a lot in common with yours, actually. You both gave yourselves to men you hardly knew. In your