There goes the widowed duchessa. Pity she never remarried. Her first husband was a total nobody. Then again, she was lucky she found anyone to marry her. Tainted blood, don’t you know. Lucia will have to marry beneath her, too. These things aren’t forgotten.
And they weren’t. The words varied, but their meaning was always the same: her mother’s Volnero blood, the same blood that flowed in Lucia’s veins, wasn’t good enough for the royal family. Or any noble family.
Now, thanks to her father and his soldiers, those who’d mocked and denied her were dead. Now her tainted blood was good enough—good enough to put her on the throne of Miromara. Good enough, even, to make her an empress. She and Mahdi would have children one day, and those children would rule not only Miromara and Matali, but all the waters of the world.
Her father had already given her Miromara and Matali. Ondalina was next. The three other realms—Atlantica, Qin, and the Freshwaters—would fall, too. No one would stop Vallerio from taking them, and no one would stop her from taking Mahdi…as long as Serafina was dead.
But was she?
After the treasury vaults were robbed, Lucia had worried anew that Serafina might still be alive. In the fighting that had followed the break-in, three Black Fin mermen had been killed. Another—a mermaid—had been wounded, but had managed to escape. The death riders who’d pursued her reported that she had short black hair and was a highly skilled fighter. That certainly didn’t describe Serafina.
But still, Lucia worried. She wanted a corpse. Nothing less would make her happy.
Lucia removed the ruby necklace from her mother’s safe and returned to the sitting room. As she handed it to Portia, they both heard a knock from behind the lavaplace.
The sound startled Lucia, but Portia was unperturbed. She swam to the mantel—a solid piece of lapis lazuli, beautifully carved with sea nymphs and fishes—and pressed a stone dolphin. An instant later, a mica-covered panel to the left of the lavaplace silently swung open. Lucia was intrigued. She hadn’t known there was a secret entry to her mother’s rooms and wondered if there were other passageways in the palace.
Before she could ask, an eel-like merman swam into the room. He wore a black sharkskin jacket. His hands were covered with silver rings. A large moray was draped across his shoulders like a shawl. It rested its fearsome head on his raised forearm.
“Your Grace,” he said, bowing first to Lucia, then to Portia.
“You have news?” Portia asked briskly.
The man gave her an oily smile. “Indeed I do,” he said.
“Come in,” Portia said impatiently. She turned to Lucia, and adopted a formal tone. “Your Highness, I present your loyal subject, Baco Goga. Captain Traho hasn’t been able to turn a member of the resistance,” she explained. “Without a spy in their midst we have no hope of defeating them. I hired Baco in the hopes that he would succeed where Traho failed.” She gave the merman a barracuda’s smile. “I hope he has not disappointed me.”
“Baco Goga never disappoints,” the merman said, in his strange singsong voice. “I turned a Black Fin. One who is highly placed.”
“How?” Portia asked.
Baco flapped a hand dismissively. “There are always ways,” he said.
“What did he say?” Lucia demanded.
“How do you know it’s a he?” asked Baco, raising an eyebrow.
Lucia felt that he was teasing her, playing with her. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like him.
“She, then,” Lucia said, wishing he would tell them what he knew and leave. Quickly.
Baco laughed. “This…mer tells me that the Black Fins were headquartered in the Azzuros until very recently,” he said.
Portia’s expression darkened. “I don’t care where they were. Tell me where they are!” she insisted. “Why else am I paying you?”
The moray eel’s long dorsal fin flared at her tone. The creature lifted its head off Baco’s arm.
“Easy, my Tiberius,” Baco soothed. “We’re in the palace now. We must remember our manners.”
The eel put its head back down, but eyed Portia sullenly. Baco’s eyes were still on Lucia.
“Baco is happy to oblige,” he continued. “Baco is always happy to oblige the beautiful regina.”
Lucia forced herself not to look away from his creeping gaze.
“The Black Fins are in the North Sea, Your Graces. In the Kargjord,” Baco said.
Portia went rigid. “They’re in Kobold waters?”
Baco nodded. “They’ve made an alliance with Guldemar, the Meerteufel chieftain. He gave them troops, weapons, and safe haven in exchange for treasure. Ten chests, with twenty more to come.”
Portia’s cheeks flushed with fury. She swam back and forth in the room, her hands clenched into fists. Then she whirled around and smashed a table with her tail fins.
“Treasure stolen from the regina’s vaults!” she hissed. “I’ll send troops. I’ll annihilate the Black Fins, and the goblins, too!”