Between the Sea and Stars Page 3

She shoved the merrow’s curdled voice out of her head, determined to erase the whole, strange encounter from her memory.

  But as she swam, she was almost sure she heard the soft murmuring of kaereste drifting through the current of sea.

  4

  “Javelin,” Lena hissed, breathless as she swam quickly through the cavern hall and lurched into his room.

  Her brother sat on a small cot scraped into the stone wall. He glided a small, silver object behind his back as he turned his soft blue eyes in her direction.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, pushing himself up quickly with his strong silver tail.

  Lena extended her hand, showing the obsidian without hesitation.

  Javelin’s eyes grew wide with surprise as he plucked a piece from her palm. “How?” he stammered, his voice drifting into a small laugh of disbelief. “Where did you find these Lena?”

  “I didn’t find them,” she explained. “They were given to me. I was hunting, and a woman appeared—”

  “What woman?” Javelin furrowed his brow. He lifted all the other pieces from her hand, almost as if he were fearful they’d disappear. “What did you do to receive these?”

  “N-Nothing,” Lena said, shaking her head as she watched her brother examine the treasure. “I just offered her some of the crab I was eating and listened to a story.”

  Javelin’s gaze sprang up, his eyes suddenly sharp.

  “What story?” he asked. By the muscle quivering in his clenched jaw, Lena assumed he already had a fair idea of the answer.

  “The truth of the Queen of Skagerrak,” she replied meekly, biting down on her bottom lip. “She said the queen was betrayed not only by her lover, but by the sea as well. The lover wanted power. He drank her blood, and—”

  “Lena!” Javelin interjected, staring at her. “You know it’s forbidden to speak of such things. Especially out in the open with a stranger! What were you thinking?” He swam to her side and pushed the pieces of obsidian back into her palm. “These are yours,” he muttered.

  “They’re for the market,” Lena said softly. “They’re for all of us.”

  Javelin heaved a sigh and closed her fingers around the shards.

  “Pieces like this cause questions, Lena. The merchants would never be able to afford to pay what they’re worth.”

  “Make them pay,” Lena demanded and jutted her hand back to him. Javelin merely shook his head, setting his mouth in a firm line.

  “Then what are we supposed to do with them?” Lena crinkled her brow and glanced down at the pieces before her. “These could help us, Javelin. Don’t you need a new strap for your pack? And father’s been mumbling about the pain in his hands and tail for quite some time. We could finally buy him a proper salve.”

  “These are too dangerous to take to the market,” Javelin said sternly. “The merchants would turn me away, then come to our cavern in the night and try to rob us. I don’t wish for that sort of danger. Do you?”

  Lena pursed her lips. Her hand floated to the conch at her neck. The merrow woman had warned her of dangers lurking in Sogen Hav. Is this what she meant?

  “Well?” Javelin demanded.

  “Of course not,” Lena sighed, frustrated.

  “Javelin! Lena!” Carrick’s voice filled the empty passage just beyond Javelin’s room. Lena shoved the obsidian shards against her brother’s chest, forcing him to take them. He’d know where to hide them until later, she reasoned. Perhaps they could plan a trip to the capital city and find a buyer there. She darted through the archway and into the hall before he could protest.

  Her father’s form appeared in the dim foyer. His white hair ruffled against the current as Lena swam toward him.

  “Ah, there you are,” he said, sensing her movement. “Come, come. We have a guest.”

  “A guest?” Lena mustered a smile as Javelin trailed behind her.

  “Yes,” Carrick’s blind eyes danced between them. “Asger is here from Kattegat.”

  Lena’s gaze darted to her brother. Asger was the son of their father’s closest friend. He lived in the Kattegat waters, where he belonged to the king’s patrol—the Fosse-Søfolk merrow clan.

  The clan’s members were the only merrow allowed to interact with the shore. They were tasked with arresting merrow lawbreakers but were better known for enticing humans into the water with melodies and then drowning them. A cruel occupation, but Asger was benevolent in other ways. Whenever he passed through Sogen Hav, he’d bring gifts of stolen human goods for Carrick and Javelin to sell.

  Lena grinned, and peered over her father’s shoulder to see the familiar merrow lurking behind him. Somehow, he was even more dreadfully handsome than she remembered. His jet-black hair was swept to the side, revealing dark-blue streaks underneath. A silver cuff adorned one of his biceps, decorated with rare black pearls and bits of pure white opal. A larger, smoother opal gem—the size of a fist—was strung around his neck by a thickly braided rope.

  His hard, sun-stained arms were covered with inky-black etchings, a mixture of swirling water and crashing waves resembling the movement of the sea. They began at his fingertips and crawled up the crevasse of his shoulders, a mark for every life he’d taken since he first joined the Fosse-Søfolk.

  Lena’s stomach twisted with disapproval, even as her gaze followed the lines of Asger’s broad chest, which tapered to a muscular, sapphire tail.

  “Asger!” She smiled warmly and embraced him. “We weren’t expecting you! You don’t normally come this way until the waters are cooler.”

  “Yes, I know.” Asger roped his strong arms around her waist. “I had an unexpected set of orders that directed me out to your neck of the sea.” He pulled away a fraction, just enough to sweep his gaze over the length of Lena’s body. “You’ve grown since we last saw each other, søstjerne.”

  “Perhaps a bit,” Lena said, flashing him a small smile as a pleasant shiver trilled over her spine. Asger was nearly five years her senior, but he’d always treated her kindly. Since their shared childhood, he’d called her his starfish—his søstjerne. Each time he came to her family’s cavern, he would bring along a starfish to decorate the outer walls.

  “You haven’t changed at all,” Lena remarked, “other than a few more markings.” Her fingertip traced a swirl near his collarbone.

  “I’ve been busy,” Asger replied, his voice low as he tugged her closer. A sly grin twitched at the corner of his mouth.

  Lena’s gaze shifted to the tightly scalloped design dripping over his shoulder. Then her eyes drifted lower, following a stroke of ink which spiraled over his abdomen and into the upper valley of his tail.

  A low chuckle growled in Asger’s throat. Lena flicked her gaze back up to meet his fiery, amber gaze.

  “Such en uskyldig,” he murmured softly. Innocent.

  At his words, Lena felt her skin heat.

  Asger tipped his cheek to hers, his whisper warm against her ear. “What would your father think, if he could see you admiring me?”

  With a tight swallow, Lena withdrew. She ducked back to Javelin’s side, embarrassment and excitement flooding her veins.

  “It’s good to have you here, Asger,” Carrick remarked, oblivious to their exchange.

  Asger smiled and extended a hand to Carrick. His own father, Jørgen, had been Carrick’s childhood friend. After Jørgen’s sudden death, Carrick had treated Asger like a second son, though admittedly, Lena had never seen the dashing merrow as a brother.

  Since joining the Fosse-Søfolk, Asger had found ways to repay Carrick’s generosity. He’d supplied meals and resources whenever he was able, sometimes bringing sacks of crabs, scallops, and cod that would feed their small family for weeks.

  “I’ve come with quite a haul,” Asger said, linking his arm with Carrick’s. “May I show you?”

  “Of course, of course,” Carrick replied, nodding, and allowed Asger to guide him down the hall.

  Javelin gave Lena a strained glance as he followed them, his sil
ver tail glistening in the small patches of sunlight, which glittered down from the cracks in the cavern formations. Lena could see the curve of his fist at his side, still grasping the obsidian shards.

  The three of them disappeared into the shadows, murmuring pleasantries. Lena lingered behind in the foyer a moment, willing the sparks in her stomach to settle. Carrick might not be able to see her flushing cheeks, but her brother certainly could. She was sure he’d tease her the moment Asger departed.

  In the distance ahead, something clattered—probably Asger’s bulging satchel being emptied on the kitchen table. Lena followed the sound, sliding through the hall and slipping into the space between her father and Javelin.

  “A storm hit the coast about a week ago,” Asger was saying. “A group of sailors ended up against the rocks. In a matter of minutes, their entire cargo was overboard. The wind cracked their bodies against the hull or tossed them into the undertow. We lured the survivors beneath the waves and stripped them of all we could carry. I instantly thought of you, Carrick, and your family. I left as soon as I could to bring you this.”

  He lifted a hand, revealing a clutch of shining, gold coins. Lena had seen the same sort in many of the ships she and Javelin explored. Depending on the merchant, the human coins would bring a decent meal home.

  Asger sifted through the pile on the table, plucking out a thin shard of obsidian and several black pearls. He exchanged one item after another in Carrick’s palm. Then he lifted a strand of sparkling white rocks to Lena.

  “For you,” he said, extending the necklace to her.

  Lena’s eyes pressed wide. Such unusual stones would fetch a high price at market. Did Asger truly expect her to keep the gift for herself?

  “There’s plenty more where this came from,” he said, as if reading her mind.

  She thumbed over the strand. Between each shining stone, a smaller charm was strung—pebble-sized pearls, glossy oyster shells, ridged, coral-colored bodies of dead starfish.

  “You’re too kind to my family,” Carrick declared, reaching out to trace the heaped-up items with his fingers. “But I have an inkling there’s a price for such gifts.”

  Asger straightened, some of the delight fading from his eyes. “There are a few things I need to speak with you about,” he said. “You… and Javelin. If Lena wouldn’t mind excusing us.”

  A riptide of protest surged into Lena’s throat. At Javelin’s glance, she swallowed it down. “I’ll ready our meal,” she managed to say, though it pained her to be excluded. Carrick’s hand patted after her voice, finding her forearm and then her shoulder and squeezing.

  She tied Asger’s gift around her throat as the merrow men shuffled away. An anxious feeling loped through her stomach, stemming from the serious shift in Asger’s tone.

  Lena tried to ignore it. She gathered the three crabs in her sack and arranged them on the stony countertop, then slid her carving knife into the shells and tugged the white meat free. All the while her belly hummed with nerves, and questions sprouted like wild sea grass in her mind.

  The old merrow’s words returned to her, unbidden. Be careful of your curiosity, kaereste. Still, Lena longed to know what news Asger had brought from the Kattegat waters.

  Perhaps Javelin would tell her when next they were alone.

  5

  After a quiet supper, Lena floated languidly through the gardens of coral which grew just beyond the cavern’s threshold. Overhead, a watery rainbow of twilight permeated the surface. Steadily, the oscillating swaths of orange and pink disappeared, and a deep, thick darkness blanketed the sea. All around her, eels slithered through the water like glistening streamers of light. Lena jumped as she felt one flutter past her shoulder, but when she whirled around, she found Asger hovering beside her instead.

  “I thank you for the meal, søstjerne,” he said softly, resting his hand on her shoulder. The breadth of his shadow consumed her, mimicking the night. He trailed his fingers to her elbow, then lower, to her wrist. “It was delicious,” he murmured, twining their fingers together.

  Lena blushed, and tucked her tail underneath her.

  Asger squeezed her hand once, then drifted to a nearby rock jutting out from the red cavern wall. He bowed his strong arms behind his head, causing the markings on his skin to move—almost as if they were alive.

  “Your father tells me you’ve become quite the hunter.”

  Lena shrugged. “I can’t use my good looks to barter for a better deal in the market, like Javelin, so I barter with my spear instead.”

  Asger chuckled as she came to hover beside him, leaning her shoulder against the wall.

  “Are you finished speaking with my father then?” she asked.

  “I am,” Asger nodded. Lena waited, but he offered nothing more. A frustrating silence settled in the water between them.

  Lena sighed, impatience rife in her breathy exhale. From the corner of her eye, she watched another eel slither past, leaving a trail of sparkling white and blue behind it.

  “Your brother showed me your room of treasures,” Asger remarked suddenly.

  Lena startled, and clicked her tongue. “He shouldn’t have . . .” she replied, trailing off.

  “I’m glad he did. The human world can be intriguing, Lena. There’s no shame in being curious about it.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re permitted to go above and see the things other merrows are denied.”

  “True,” Asger agreed. “Still, you should feel no shame.” He paused and cleared his throat. “I believe you’d fit in well with the Fosse-Søfolk. Many of them are curious about the world above. Fascinated with its customs, its people. Eager to learn all they can about humans.”

  “But you kill them,” Lena retorted, snapping her amethyst gaze to his.

  A small smile danced on his lips as he nodded. Even in the growing darkness, his eyes were like liquid gold. There, in those depths, lurked a spark of wild light.

  “We protect the merrows. We follow the king’s orders. It’s our duty to keep the queen’s fate from repeating itself. We must never allow what happened to her to happen again. To anyone. In exchange for our . . . task, the gods and the king have allowed us the ability to walk among men. To learn about them, to gain leverage that in turn, keeps the merrows safe.”

  “You walk among them?” she asked, her gaze falling to Asger’s tail. “But how?”

  Asger lifted the opal crystal that hung from his neck. It glinted with a spectrum of colors, brightening the darkness that surrounded them.

  “I suppose I may tell you, now that your brother will be joining us,” he said.

  Lena’s breath caught in her throat. She tore her eyes from the crystal and stared at him.

  “Javelin. . . He can’t—”

  “It will be his news to share.”

  “But—” Lena could feel her scales trembling as shock and horror washed through her. The Fosse-Søfolk would take Javelin from his home, teach him to kill. It couldn’t be true.

  “He wouldn’t… he won’t—” she began, but Asger interrupted her.

  “Do you wish to know about the stone or not?”

  Lena parted her lips to speak—how could he think a trinket would be more important to her than this? But Asger raised a hand to stop her.

  “It’s the stone of the gods,” he explained, slipping it from around his neck. “If we wear our crystals on the night of a full moon, we’re able to travel to the shores and explore the human world. The only stipulation is that we must return before the full moon disappears. If we are too late, we cannot rejoin our kind until the moon is full once more.”

  Lena swallowed. Javelin would have such a power—the ability to travel from sea to shore. It was something she’d only dreamed of. But the cost…

  She shuddered and shook her head.

  Asger extended his hand to her, offering her the necklace. She clenched her fists in her lap, refusing to accept it.

  “Your brother is to become my brother,” Asger said.
“A member of my family.” His eyes were eager, locked to hers as he pried her fingers apart and placed the stone in her palm.

  “There’s something more, isn’t there?”

  Asger chuckled. “Such a clever little søstjerne,” he said. Lena glared and waited—silently.

  “I’ve known you since you were quite young,” Asger sighed. “Your father became a father to me once I lost my own. When the Fosse-Søfolk claimed me, I suddenly had the ability to tend to your family. If you would allow me, søstjerne, I’d like to continue with that honor. You’d never have to worry about your brother or father again. Never have to hunt another crab or scavenge in the dirt for measly shells to sell at market.”

  “Asger, I—” Lena tried to interject, slowly realizing what he was trying to say, but Asger continued on.

  “I’m a real merrow man, Lena. I am to be four and twenty in the approaching summer months, and I wish to take a wife. I wish to have children frolicking in the tides of our future. I’m not like the others here in your village—merrows who delight in small, mediocre tasks; who allow their families to struggle. I—I have… loved you for many years.”

  “You don’t—” she tried again, but he lifted his palm.

  “You would come to Kattegat to live with me, and you’d want for nothing. I’d give you everything I have. Including the one thing you’ve always wanted. The one thing I know only I can offer you.” He paused, almost as if he were calculating his next words. He wrapped his fingers around Lena’s hands, still clutching the delicate, sparkling stone. “You could see the human world, Lena. You could travel ashore with me and my clan. You wouldn’t have to live vicariously through the objects you find in ships and old chests.”

  “I can’t kill them,” Lena hissed, rage quivering her knuckles. “I could never participate in killing the innocent. And it’s wrong to expect my brother to join you. He and I could never belong to the Fosse-Søfolk.” She knew this deep within her heart. She could never, would never. . .

  “Your brother was chosen,” Asger said tightly. “It’s not a choice. It’s a calling. Javelin has a duty not only to his king, but to Poseidon, to join once he’s been summoned.”