"But how can there be fire under water?" Dolph asked, amazed.
"It is mermagic, of course," she explained. "We are excellent housewives, managing the hearth and land until our husbands return." Then she turned away.
"Husbands?" Dolph asked. "If you have a husband, why—"
"I had a husband, Merwin Merman. But he is gone."
"Gone? Where?"
She turned to face him, her flukes twitching. "You are young, and I brought you here against your will, so I must forgive you your inadequate social grace. I spoke euphemistically. Merwin is dead."
"Oh." Dolph had indeed failed to understand her manner. He wanted to ask more questions, such as what that big word "euphemistically" meant, but realized that this might not be smart. "I'm sorry." He was getting better at apologizing in the adult fashion.
And she reacted in the adult fashion. "No, you could not know. I apologize to you for what I have done. But let me explain."
That was exactly what he wanted. Adults had funny, indirect ways of doing things sometimes, but they generally got there in the end. He kept his mouth shut and listened.
"We merfolk live a long time," Mela said. "The males get old and grizzled, while the females remain young in appearance. This has to do with hormones—well, no need to get technical. But Merwin had a fine charm that helped him stay young. It was a large, brilliant firewater opal that sparkled with its internal energy. We merfolk collect pretty gems and rare metals, as you may have noted; we like them for our homes and gardens. But Merwin had only this one, and he valued it above all others. He wore it on a chain about his neck.
“One day he was aloft at the surface of the sea, generating a truly fine storm with the cooperation of the clouds that were on duty then. A flying dragon came and offered to help by breathing fire and smoke and thickening the mists. But then it saw Merwin's opal and coveted it. While Merwin was concentrating on the storm, that fell dragon turned its fire on him and toasted him. We merfolk are vulnerable to fire, which is why we stay in the water.
Merwin was stunned and fell senseless in the water. The dragon scooped up the firewater opal, breaking the chain that held it, and flew away to his lair somewhere on the land.
"Merwin, deprived of the protection of the gem, died. I was a widow. It was hard for me to manage after that, because a merwoman does not like to live alone. We had been building up our property so we could raise a family; our property was just about good enough, but now there could be no family. I did not want to share our estate with a strange merman, but that was academic; without the firewater opal it was not a sufficient estate to attract another merman. My only chance at recovering some share of my hopes was to recover the firewater opal, and the chance of that seemed remote indeed.
"That is why I was interested when I heard you mention the Heaven Cent. With that I might get to the opal." She shrugged. "But it was a foolish passing notion. That dragon lives on land, and I am a creature of the sea; if I went to that dragon's lair I would only get myself killed. I can not use the Heaven Cent, because it would take me only to my death. But even as I realized this, I realized that you were a pretty boy who might do instead. The fact mat you are a prince made it even better. So I captured you, and I regret it if this makes you unhappy."
"I don't want to stay here," Dolph said. "Will you let me go?"
"No."
"But I'm only a boy! I can't—do what you want."
"Oh, I am sure you can, once you mature. Your kind and mine can interbreed, and merfolk often make it with captive sailors. The storkfish brings halflings, who may choose either the land or the sea. This will take time, of course, but I will treat you well as you grow up, and I am sure you will come to like it here."
"I don't even know how to—whatever. The secret has been kept from me by the Adult Conspiracy."
She laughed. "Is that what they call it on land? We consider it to be mere discretion. I would not be concerned about it."
"Well, you're an adult," he retorted. "You already know!"
"And I will gladly show you—when the time comes. You should find it interesting."
"Never!"
She smiled tolerantly, just like an adult. They were all so smug about this! "You will see."
"But I have other things to do!" Dolph protested.
"You may do them after I am through with you," she said firmly.
"I'll escape!"
"You are welcome to try."
Dolph changed form to a fish and swam for the edge of the canopy. But as he passed outside, he began to choke. His gills couldn't handle the water!
He had to back off. He had done a little fish swimming in the past, but evidently not enough; something wasn't working.
"I had not realized that you were a form changer,” Mela said. "But I see you are not an experienced one. Your body is attuned to my enchantment, so that you can breathe the water. When you try to adapt to normal fish breathing, you can not; your magic and mine interfere with each other, and you choke."
Dolph returned to boy form. "I'll learn how!"
"Surely you will—in time. All it takes is a good deal of practice. Meanwhile, I hope to persuade you that your best interests lie with me."
Dolph doubted that she would succeed in that, but thought it best not to argue the point. "What about the Heaven Cent? You said you'd tell me one more thing about it if I came down here."
She smiled. "But you did not come here voluntarily, I am not certain that counts."
"You didn't say it had to be voluntary!"
She tilted her head, and her halo of green hair swirled around her torso. "Perhaps there is room for interpretation. Let me make you a proposition."
"Nuh-uh! That sounds mushy!"
"Not necessarily. This is merely an agreement we both shall honor. Because you are a form changer, you could be a threat to me, so that I might be concerned about sleeping in your company. That would be inconvenient. So let's agree that I will tell you the rest of what I know about the Heaven Cent, and you will not try to harm me. You will not become a swordfish and slice me up, for example. You may do anything else you wish, but you will not offer me any violence or other harm."
"I can try to breathe water and escape?"
"Yes. You just may not attack me, or try to hurt me otherwise."
The truth was that Dolph really did not want to hurt her, she was a reasonably nice person, once allowances were made for her adult nature. He just wanted to get away from her. It seemed a fair deal. Except—
"Will you also tell me how folk summon the—"
"No. Not while you are a child. You know that."
Dolph grimaced. It was infuriating the way all adults hung together; not one of them would break the Conspiracy. But he hadn't really expected to succeed. "All right. You tell me about the Heaven Cent, and I won't try to hurt you."
"Agreed." She extended her hand, and after a moment he realized that he was supposed to shake it to seal the deal. He did so. Her fingers were webbed, but her hand was marvelously soft, and she squeezed his fingers in a way that sent a small tingle through him. More magic, of course, but not really objectionable.
She moved to the fireplace. "Now I will fix you something to eat. You're a growing boy; you need good food."
Dolph didn't like the sound of that. It seemed to be another adult conspiracy: to make all children eat yucky stuff. “What—?"
"Seaweed soup. Plenty of vitamins and minerals and proteins. As sure as water douses fire, a growing boy needs them."
His worst fear had just been realized! Why hadn't he thought to make that part of the deal: no yucky food! Now he was stuck with it.
As they ate the soup, she explained about the forging of the Heaven Cent. "It can not be Grafted by ordinary means; it requires a very special magic called electricity. This is used to plate the copper on it: electroplating. Only when it is done just so will it function properly. So you will need someone with that kind of magic, and time."
"Time?"
&n
bsp; "I understand it is a very slow process. I believe it took two years to make the last one."
"Two years!"
"I agreed to tell you about the cent; I did not say you would like that information."
"Well, I agreed not to try to hurt you," Dolph said, annoyed. "I did not say I wouldn't insult you, fish-rear."
She laughed, her merriness returning. "Beautiful, Prince Dolph! We shall get along famously, as sure as sand displaces water."
"You aren't mad?" he asked, disgruntled.
"Of course not. My rear is fishy. But that it merely an option; I, like all my kind, can change." And abruptly her tail fuzzed, and reformed as a pair of well-fleshed human legs.
"Oh." He should have realized. "But then you can go on land. You said—"
"I said I was a creature of the sea, as indeed I am. Certainly I can go on land when I have to. But I don't like it; the weight on my feet is burdensome, and the dryness intolerable. If I went to the dragon's nest and were lucky enough to get the firewater opal, I would still have to walk back to the sea, and I doubt I could make it. No, these legs are mostly for show and for certain specialized applications; otherwise I prefer the tail." The legs fuzzed, and the tail reformed.
Dolph was almost disappointed. He seldom got a good look at bare woman legs; usually all he saw were those of nymphs as they ran away. Nymphs were great teases. It wasn't that legs were special, but that for some reason children weren't supposed to see them too close, and that of course made him curious.
Then Mela swam out to tend her estate. She had, she explained, a herd of sea cows and a sea horse, which she maintained on sea oats. Also a nice patch of sea cucumbers, which she had to protect from the mischief of sea urchins. She offered to take him out to see them, but he declined; he had had enough experiences for one day.
"Tomorrow, then," she said. "You can join me in searching the sea floor for shells and gems. Wouldn't it be nice if we found another firewater opal!"
"Would that mean that another merman would marry you?" he inquired.
"Yes, probably."
"Then you wouldn't need to keep me!"
"Oh, but I like you better," she said. "It isn't often that a girl gets to raise a genuine prince."
So much for that notion.
In the evening Mela fed him disgustingly wholesome seafood and dolphin milk, with—sure enough—slices of her homegrown sea cucumber. She put him to bed at the unreasonably early hour adults insisted on, and gave him several floating pillows that reminded him alarmingly of her bare bosom. Ugh! There was a seaweed-cloaked cubby for natural functions; the seaweed snatched the stuff away as if it were a great prize and used it for fertilizer. Dolph had hoped that Nature would not be able to find him down here, but her call came as insistently as ever. Nature was evidently another adult. Mela even provided him with a nightshirt of woven sea grass fiber. He had to admit that her garden and her care were comfortable; she was not mistreating him at all, by adult definitions. She even gave him a tasty piece of saltwater taffy, then insisted that he brush his teeth with a toothbrush she had salvaged from a sunken ship, and wash behind his ears.
As he drifted to sleep he pondered the events of the day. He was not happy about his captivity, but he had to admit that Mela's position was reasonable by her reckoning. She was simply making the best of her situation and her opportunities.
Obviously the Heaven Cent would not do her much good. He could now appreciate why she would settle for a human man. She probably didn't like it any better than the man would, but it was a way to have her family without the firewater opal. It was just his misfortune that she had captured Dolph and planned to keep him until he became an adult.
He would just have to learn how to handle those overlapping magics, so that he could become a fish and breathe the water naturally. He hoped he could do it before Mela managed to convince him that it was better to stay with her. Already he feared that he did not have an awful lot of time.
Then, just before he slept, he remembered: the Tapestry was oriented on him. The folk at Castle Roogna would know where he was! They would rescue him! He had nothing to worry about!
Why, then, did he feel a certain tinge of disappointment?
Chapter 6
Skeleton Crew
"Hang on, Dolph!" Marrow cried as the sudden gust of wind blew the boat over.
But it was too late; Dolph was pitched into the heaving sea. Marrow was unable to help him, because his skull was set inside the craft and could not see out and the craft was now capsized. All he could see, as the waves turned them around, was the flash of a fluke as the merwoman moved.
She had done this, he knew. She had summoned Fracto, who had been glad to make mischief, and now she had what she wanted. She would haul Dolph to the bottom of the sea and keep him there forever.
Marrow knew it was his responsibility, for he was Dolph's adult companion. He should have anticipated this disaster and taken precautions. If they had just crossed directly to land, the merwoman never could have interfered. If he had even told Dolph to become a sea bird or a fish, at the last moment, it would have helped. But his hollow skull had not thought fast enough, and so had come up with an empty warning. Naturally, the boy had been too distracted to think of changing form himself; the merwoman had acted with too much dispatch.
He would have to do something to help Dolph. But first, he realized, he had to help himself. He had to regain his normal form, and Grace’l had to regain hers. At the moment she could not even speak, because her teeth were locked onto his shinbone that made the bar across the boat. If she let go, she would be washed away. Fortunately, she was aware of this and kept her teeth clamped tight.
The savage winds continued to howl, and the waves did their best to smash the craft to bits. If they succeeded, both skeletons would be lost, for they could not survive dismemberment. Not in a situation like this. If it occurred on land, friends could collect the bones and put them back together, but here in the sea there were no friends and the bones would be completely scattered.
"We are in trouble," he called over the roar and splash. "Don't let go, Grace’l, until I figure out what to do. Maybe we can ride out the storm!"
But that seemed less likely with every moment that passed. Mean Fracto was concentrating on the craft, trying to buffet it apart. Fracto loved to destroy things; his reputation was notorious. Whenever rain was not wanted, Fracto would float over to bring a deluge, and whenever calm weather was needed, Fracto would be there to disturb it. Now the mean cloud had a helpless victim, and intended to demolish it completely.
In addition, the waves were washing the craft farther out to sea. Fracto intended to see that no bone got back to shore!
Neither Marrow nor Grace’l could change form until some other party booted them apart. The action of the waves wouldn't do it; it had to be a swift kick in the tailbone. If one recovered the natural form, he or she could kick the other—but how could either of them change now? There had to be someone else—and how could there be, here on the heaving surface of the ocean, here in the heart of the storm?
"You're a terrible person, Fracto!" Marrow cried in frustration. But the winds only laughed. Fracto was really enjoying himself.
Then Marrow thought of a way. His arm bones were part of the bracing of the sides of the boat, and his hand bones gripped the ends of it together, and his finger bones formed the topmost rim. If he could just raise his hollow finger—
It was a struggle, because he was not in his natural form, but he managed to lift that finger so that it stood at right angles to the rest of the rim. Now to get Fracto to do his part.
"Hey, you fuzzy cloud!" he called with his jawbones. "I am contemptuous of you! I present my finger to you!"
There were many types of magic in Xanth, and few in Mundania, but some aspects of it were so universal and fundamental that they were to be found everywhere. One of these was insult magic, especially of the simplest variety. A single elevated finger represented one of the most pote
nt of all; anyone who saw it was immediately insulted and driven to fury. There was no practical reason for this; it was just the nature of the spell.
Fracto saw the finger and of course reacted. He blew the most horrendous gust at it, trying to destroy it. The wind was so strong that the air passed right through the finger and activated its whistle.
The sound was piercing. It struck right through the dull roar of the waves and the mixed swish of the air. It was Marrow's cry for help. He had succeeded in sounding it!
"Now all we have to do is survive until help comes." he called to Grace’l. "Just hang on."
They hung on. The angry winds continued, but were unable to do more than shove the craft farther out to sea. Fracto's rage was impressive, but inevitably it blew over; the cloud just did not have much staying power.
Then a form loomed in the air. Marrow could see only its fleeting, vague shadow, but he knew what it was. "Chex!" he cried. "Here!"
Too late he realized that Chex would have little way to help. She was a winged centaur, and could not land on the water, and her hands could not reach to the ground. She would not be able to pick up the craft and carry it out of the storm. Had he summoned her for nothing?
Then a net slapped the water beside him. The edge of it sank, and was pulled up—and the craft was caught in it. Chex had come prepared!
Fracto howled with renewed fury, but it was too late; by the time the cloud could organize his second wind for a real blow, Chex had hauled the netful of bones into the air. At first it was too heavy for her, but she flicked it twice with her tail, and it became lighter. This was an aspect of her magic: her tail made what it flicked lose weight. When she flicked herself, she became light, so that her wings could carry her aloft; when she flicked something else, that thing became similarly light.
Stronger gusts came at them, but Chex merely used those winds to buoy her flight, and made better progress. She was not afraid to fly out to sea; she could fly wherever she wanted. Soon she left the turbulent storm behind and flew into clear air. She had rescued them.