Chapter Seven
Serena's stomach knots. Behind her, the audience is restless.
Why should they be anxious? It's me who has to sing.
"Will the accused please sing?" King Merrick repeats Nerin's command.
Serena licks her lips. "Why?"
A gasp and a disapproving murmur runs through the crowd. It isn't customary to question an order of the king.
He frowns, and Nerin glares at Serena.
"I apologize, your majesty. I just don't understand the importance of the call last night."
"I see." King Merrick rubs his chin. He stays silent for the count of several breakers, studying his people. When he speaks, his voice is soft. The fidgeting, hushed whispers, and other extraneous noises of a crowd subside, as everyone strains to hear.
"I think no one can deny the allure of the call that night," says the king. "Enticing as it was, several Undine gravitated toward The Dry. They would've gone right to land had I not issued a decree for an emergency Assembly. Even after my order, some had trouble turning their backs to the call."
Council members nod in agreement.
King Merrick continues. "According to our Head Scientist, the surge of the surf was reportedly altered. It seems it was an extraordinary call, indeed."
Everyone leans in to hear what the king has to say.
"You can see, Serena, the power one voice can have," he gestures to the crowd. His next words are spoken much louder. "Have you had occasion to sing, Serena Moon-Shadow? Recently?"
Serena clasps her hands in front of her to keep from rubbing them along her scales. "Not really."
"What about in your caste?" asks the king.
"My caste?" Serena furrows her eyebrows.
"Oh, I don't know." The king runs a hand down his beard. "For example…your first year graduation song. Your voice was surely heard then, at least by your caste mates standing next to you."
"No, I don't think so." Serena blushes, knowing the eyes of her former Caste Master are on her. "I always stood at the back and usually just lip synched."
"Usually?" King Merrick prods.
She shifts from one foot to another. "Always, actually." Her guilt over the confession feels silly and she is sure Zayla's mouth is turned down in a disapproving frown. "I don't like the attention."
"Well," says the king. "Perhaps tonight we can take you out of the spotlight for good. But first you must walk through it." The king leans forward. "Sing."
The simple command rings throughout the Great Hall. The word keeps echoing back to Serena, each time pinning her to the spot. There is no escape from the request. Turning around to face Society, they are whispering amongst each other.
Serena sighs, resigning. She closes her eyes and opens her mouth.
The first sound to breeze past her lips is a low hum. She keeps it steady, pushing it out until she hears its echoes return. The craggy walls of the cavern come into focus behind her closed eyes. She cocks her ear. Just as with sending her echolocation signal out in the ocean, the rebound is painting a detailed picture of her surroundings. It isn't hazy and distorted like it is in The Dry, but this is a different type of signal.
Serena raises her pitch and turns her head as the next hum emerges. She puts extra breath into the notes that have to extend to reach the farthest crevices of the cavern.
What comes back is more than just sharpened features of the walls. Harmony curves around baby stalactites, so small that Undine eyes cannot yet see them. It brings back with it the scent of hardened earth, dripping with condensation. Serena feels the melody returning. She pushes it back out, adding a new layer of composition for more depth.
When she opens her eyes, Society has gone quiet and still. Many have their fingertips to their lips.
Serena lets the hum die, her eyes still scan Society. Their gazes are still glassy, as if they are expecting more.
Opening the constricting gills alongside her neck, Serena allows uninhibited air to flow. Her volume increases as she sings again, this time with a quicker beat. She adds words to the song. They are in the ancient language; Serena only understands the meaning of half of them. She knows the song from the elderly Undine, humming the tune as they string together necklaces with oyster pearls. Serena found the words in a book and spent one afternoon memorizing them.
Her song resonates throughout the Great Hall. Everything looks more beautiful with the tune. The walls shimmer with jewels and stones, accentuated by glowing Undine bioluminescent hair. Society is drawn forward by the song. Some gravitating forward, while others simply lean into the pure, sonorous ring of Serena's voice.
Serena stops singing as another sound begins to accompany her song. It is rushing water, entering the Great Hall. Within a few moments the ocean is past their ankles.
She lets the last notes die off, muted by the waves.
Silence is broken by Evandre's voice. "The tide is too early."
Serena looks at the Head Scientist, standing in the line of council members. There is no malice behind her words. It is just simple fact, and with it, Serena has been discovered. Everyone knows. The call came from Serena.
She looks behind her and sees Nerin pressing her palm to her cheek.
Beside her, the king's hands lay limp in his lap, his body gone slack. He looks up at Serena, voice cracking as he speaks. "Your mother was a great singer, too."
Nerin clears her throat.
Remembering himself, the king straightens in his chair. "Serena Moon-Shadow, you stand accused before Society, king, and council for the crime of absconding." The king's words thunder through Serena, and she has to resist taking a step back. "There are witnesses including several of your own caste mates and your Caste Master witnessing your return from The Dry. There is hard evidence of your own footprint next to the that of a werewolf, and now we have proof that your song is powerful enough to beckon Undine and tide alike. This lends to the implication that there were not one but two recent unauthorized trips to the dry."
The king's words ring through Serena's head. Gray creeps into the edges of her vision and for a moment, Serena can pretend she is in a dream.
"You have provoked the werewolves and you have put our entire civilization at risk of discovery by Ungainlies. Nerin—do you have anything to add?" asks the King, without looking at his second.
Nerin's lips purse, then she pulls them back in. "I do not."
"We will now issue a verdict without further deliberations," says the king. "Do you prefer to proceed by judge or jury?"
The question directed at her brings the scene back into sharp focus. "Jury," Serena says without hesitation.
A ripple of murmurs runs through the crowd behind her and the king’s eyes grow wide. Her answer is unexpected. The council members always make up the jury, and they are never divided in their decisions. If one believes her to be guilty, and Zayla almost certainly does, they all will.
The king picks up his oversized trident, leaning against his throne, and bangs the blunt end on the ground. The crack bellows like a shockwave throughout the room and Serena takes a step back. Society goes silent.
He would condemn her anyway.
"Very well," grumbles the king. "As I appoint the jury, they will step forward with their decision. The sentencing shall be carried out directly thereafter."
Serena looks up at the king with narrowed eyes. She nods, just because there is no other way to respond.
"Zayla Star," says the king.
Serena's Caste Master, as a member of the council, is already on the mid-platform. She steps forward, curtsying to the king. Serena risks one glance at her, suddenly remembering she forgot her own curtsy. "Guilty, your majesty," she says without looking at Serena, then returns to her place in line.
The word stabs through Serena like a knife, straight into her gut. Her mouth drops open and her eyes sting.
"Murphy Air-Spirit."
The Head of the Guard and the next council member steps forward. His bow is formal, full of all the pomp an
d circumstance expected of the King's Guard. "Guilty, your majesty."
"Kai Forest."
The crowd parts once again, all the way to the back of the room at Kai, who has returned from delivering the first prisoner. He walks to the front, eyes on Serena the whole way. Once he is on the mid-platform, he bows. "I respectfully abstain, your majesty. I was not present as the evidence was reviewed."
"Very well, Kai Forest."
Kai glances back at Serena before taking place in the line of jurors.
"Evandre Sea-Bird," the king announces the next juror.
The Head Scientist steps forward and curtsies to the king, her scales flashing a brilliant purple. "Guilty, your majesty."
Two more join the ranks—the Head Gardener, Sarafina, and the Healer, Hailey.
Guilty.
Guilty.
Serena surveys her line of arbitrators, her knees going weak. She longs for the uplifting support of the ocean.
"Isadora Night-Shade."
Isadora hesitates, and the wait is torment.
"Just say it," Serena murmurs in a bold statement to the Undine psychic. Serena bows her head in resignation of what the verdict will be.
"Guilty," says Isadora, so soft Serena thinks she must be the only one that can hear it.
The king turns to Serena. She has been found guilty—all there is left to do is sentence her. Straightening her spine and holding her shoulders back, Serena meets the kings eyes.
His hand tightens on his trident. "I will now select an appointee to pronounce your sentencing."
In the courts of the Undine, it is usually the guilty party that selects the one who decides the punishment. It is somehow more effective this way. Friends tend to give harsher punishments lest they be seen as too lenient and suffer a mass shunning from Society. It is truly a communal justice system.
Serena speaks up, forcing her dry throat to work. "I understand that the defendant is allowed to select her own—"
The clack of his trident against rock cuts her off. His eyes are already scanning Society for his pick. Serena's midnight blue scales flare, and this time she doesn't fight back the glow growing in her hair.
She steps forward. "I will make the selection—"
"I choose—" King Merrick tries talking over her.
Tears of anger spring to Serena’s eyes. "It is my verdict, my sentencing, and I elect—"
"Nerin Thunder-Cloud," they both say in unison.
King Merrick and Serena stare at each other. His mouth twitches under his white beard, but she can't be sure why. "Very well," he manages to grumble.
All Serena can think of now is the penalty for the worst cases of absconding—death. Her heart races, and she can feel a trickle of cold seawater drip down from her hair, running in between her shoulder blades and down her spine.
But the death sentence is the very reason she chose Nerin. Nerin the Just, Serena has overheard many a maiden assigning the King's Second a nickname. They giggle afterward, but the title is more than true. Nerin has always been even-handed and fair.
In her heart, Serena believes her ventures into The Dry were for a good cause. She hopes Nerin does, too.
The king turns to his second, and doesn't utter a word. Stepping forward, Nerin considers Serena. She glances at the fossilized footprint and over at Zayla. Finally, she looks at the king. Whatever Nerin sees there is beyond Serena, but it seems to have made her decision.
The King's Second turns to Society, raising her voice so everyone can hear. "I decline the death penalty."
It is all Serena can do to keep from running up the five steps to the high-platform, picking Nerin up, and squeezing her until she gasps for breath. Serena peeks at Society over her shoulder. Mariam has left the cozy cove and made her way up front. She gives Serena an enthusiastic wave.
"However…" begins Nerin. Mariam's hand freezes in the air, and Serena turns back around.
"Our laws dictate that if a death penalty is declined, three separate punishments must take its place. These punishments are to be assigned and carried out within a year from now, and they will be determined by those most affected by your crime."
Serena swallows hard. I can handle this, anything is better than the death penalty.
"I leave one punishment to the discretion of Zayla Star," says Nerin. "For the danger you put her and your caste mates in."
Maybe not.
"You were under her charge, Serena, and disobeyed her direct orders." Nerin turns to Zayla. "May your retribution be meaningful yet stern."
It'll be stern all right. She'll either throw me in prison or exile me altogether!
Zayla nods her head, accepting the responsibility.
"As for putting the whole of Society at risk of discovery, I elect King Merrick. As our king and leader, he represents all that Serena has endangered."
King Merrick merely grunts.
"May your retribution be…objective, your majesty."
To Serena, it feels like his punishment would be exactly the opposite, so she is at least glad Nerin said it.
"And finally, I elect Isadora as one who may be able to determine the best path for Serena." The Undine psychic steps forward and nods. She is the king's sister-in-law, twin to the Queen who passed to the afterlife during the Maiden's Massacre. Her black scales glitter, giving the impression they are in constant motion, moving independently of one another.
"May your retribution be well-intentioned," says Nerin.
"As you say," Isadora nods.
Serena licks her lips. Nothing is over yet. They can announce their punishments at any time within the year, and the wait will be torment.
Before she can object, and before she can fully process everything that just occurred, the king speaks again. "Assembly is adjourned."
Serena feels a hand on her arm and jumps. When she looks over her shoulder, both Mariam and Ervin are standing behind her.
"Come on," Mariam whispers. "We'll accompany you home."
Serena allows them to lead her away, surprised by how quickly the rest of Society leaves the Great Hall ahead of her.
Probably before King Merrick has time to sentence anyone else, Serena thinks to herself. Though she always was proud of the fact that Society could accuse, deliberate, and sentence mostly within the span of one session, Serena is no longer impressed, and can readily point out several flaws to the system.
She allows the full length of her feet, webbing and all, to drag over the rocky ground. The passageways are empty and cold. Before the first turn, Ervin spins around on his heels, causing Serena and Mariam to stop short.
"You do realize, you aren't the only one getting in trouble for this. I was supposed to be guarding you and it was just proved in front of everyone that I shirked my duties," Ervin grumbles.
"May I remind you, guard," Mariam clips her words. "That Serena was under your charge. You are the one that fell asleep."
Ervin presses his lips together.
Mariam takes a step toward him and lowers her voice. Her scales flare a deeper brown. "Serena may not have been in the right, but neither were you."
A flash of guilt runs through Serena. Ervin did her a favor, he shouldn't be punished for it.
"I won't tell anyone, Ervin," Serena says, placing her hand on his shoulder.
Mariam narrows her eyes at Serena, her lips as tight as Ervin's.
I know she is just trying to help, but it can't be at the expense of Ervin.
Ervin shakes off Serena's hand and picks up his trident. "Come on, tide is almost in." He turns and walks away from the pair of maidens.
Serena sighs. Somehow I’ve managed to offend my only two allies just as I’m about to face my punishments.