The Mermaids Madness

decoration a child might have done.
    On the far side of the tower, a sickly tree grew from the water. It resembled a willow, but with shriveled pink leaves. Many of the leaves had withered and fallen, floating on the water like tiny boats. The top of an ancient bell rose from the center of the water like a corroded island. Iron rings in the wall which might once have chained prisoners now served as candleholders.
    “There.” Snow pointed to the tree.
    Within the curtain of leaves, a pale shape stood unmoving in the water. It was broader than the mermaid Talia had fought. She studied it more closely, until a flicker of candlelight showed not skin but white marble. She was looking at a statue.
    A second form huddled at the base of the statue. Lirea lay curled around the statue’s feet. She whimpered, and Talia switched her sword to her left hand, drawing a knife with her right. But Lirea didn’t move. She appeared to be asleep.
    “I can kill her from here,” Talia whispered. One throw and it would all be over.
    “You can’t.” Danielle grabbed her arm. “We promised Morveren.”
    “You heard that merman.” Talia tugged free. “Lirea is the one leading them to war and glory. Without her, the attacks against Lorindar will end. You’re princess of Lorindar, remember? You have a duty to protect your people.”
    “What about my duty to Beatrice?” Danielle asked. “You think Morveren will help us if we betray her and murder her granddaughter?”
    Forget Lirea. Maybe she would just kill Danielle instead. She glanced at Lirea to make sure the mermaid hadn’t heard their whispers. “We’ll still have the knife. Snow can save Beatrice.”
    “Are you sure?”
    They both turned to Snow. Her only response was silence.
    “We take Lirea back,” said Danielle. “Maybe Morveren will be able to help her. Either way, I don’t intend to simply let her go free. We’ll still protect Lorindar, and Beatrice will live.”
    “Lirea has killed too many people already.” But Talia moved aside to make room for Snow. “Someone has to pay for those deaths.”
    Snow stepped down the stairs, squeezing past Talia. The illusion of clothing did nothing to mediate the sensation of skin against skin. Talia tightened her jaw and concentrated on Lirea, ready to kill her if she so much as twitched.
    “The stairs are slimy.” Snow held the doll in both hands as she hummed to herself. Her brow wrinkled, and she turned toward Talia. “I can hear her dreams. Her memories of her time with Gustan.” Her eyebrows shot higher. “Mermaids are awfully flexible.”
    “Stop prying,” Talia hissed. “Cast the damn spell.”
    “I’m trying. But her dreams are intense .”Was Snow actually blushing? Talia wouldn’t have thought it possible. “It probably has something to do with the spawning.”
    “Snow, please,” said Danielle.
    “Sorry.” Snow swallowed and turned back to Lirea.
    “Her dreams are so happy, but her mind is an angry, frightened place.”
    Talia twirled her knife through her fingers as Snow resumed her spell. Talia started to ask how long this would take, then caught herself. Snow was too easily distracted as it was.
    “She’s fighting me, even in her dreams,” Snow said. “She shouldn’t be able to—”
    The branches of the willow tree exploded outward, and Snow screamed. Talia threw her knife, but a sudden wind knocked it away to clatter against the wall.
    Talia leaped from the stairs, her stolen sword clutched in both hands. Across the room, Lirea was sitting up, her eyes impossibly wide. She looked like a child roused from a nightmare.
    The wind slammed into Talia from behind, knocking her into the water. The damned air spirits again. She tried to push herself up from the slime-covered rubble at the bottom, but the wind was too strong. She pulled her legs beneath her, pushing harder until she was able to raise her face from the water. The wind was so strong it created a bowl-shaped impression in the water.
    She managed a single breath before another wind hit her from the side, tossing her off-balance and pressing her down again. Between the pressure in her ears and the roar of the wind, she barely heard Danielle’s shouted warning.
    Lirea dove from her shelter beneath the tree, swimming toward Talia. She carried a long spear, similar to the one she had used back on the Glass Slipper . Talia wrenched her sword around to knock the spear aside, but Lirea’s body slammed into her, knocking them both