Slowly, plants appeared on either side of the path—bright yellow asters, daisies, and tulips, all growing higher than her head. Softly swaying ruffle-edged ferns rubbed their green borders against sparkling ebony trees draped with hanging vines that bore bejeweled fruits and, occasionally, emerald lizards whose tails were barbed and sharper than any of Beka’s swords.
Tinkling laughter echoed from the direction of the castle grounds, and Beka wished that she could go and watch the well-dressed courtiers playing croquet upon the perfect lawn that surrounded its timeless stone walls and sky-touching spires. Unfortunately, her path led in a different direction.
The destination at the end of her short journey looked like a vast cavern at the edge of an underground sea. It was lit by thousands of phosphorescent crystal clusters that grew out of the walls and lofty ceiling, some as tiny as her pinky, and others larger than her head. Their eerie bluish-white radiance made the water lapping at the shore look dark and mysterious and cast haunting shadows on the faces of the assembled company.
The Mer Queen stood in her Human guise on the gleaming black sand of the beach, along with the Selkie King and a well-dressed man who looked enough like him to be one of his many children. Beka looked, but she didn’t see Kesh, either standing with the few Mer and Selkies who had assumed the two-legged form of their rulers, or among the ones who kept to their natural shapes and swam nearby in the miniature ocean.
On a slightly raised patch of ground near the shore, the High Queen and her consort sat on ornate benches that only just missed being thrones through their lack of arms and high backs. The seats were formed from the stark white bones of some gigantic underwater creature, every inch carved with intricate detail, and adorned with pearls, shells, and jewels that twinkled dully in the dim and muted light of the cavern. The Queen sat upon a luxurious purple silk cushion, her feet resting on a matching ottoman. The King disdained such pampering and sat directly on the bench’s unyielding surface, lounging as though it were the most comfortable seat in the palace.
The King looked powerful and impressive—his darkly handsome good looks set off by black velvets and silks, a strong nose and arched brows adding to the impression of dignity and grace. A tiny hint of a smile greeted Beka’s entrance.
The Queen was as light as the King was dark. Long silvery-white hair was gathered in a complicated arrangement of braids atop her swanlike neck, twisted with strands of delicate pearls and silver chains dripping with diamonds. Soft pink silk, the color of a baby’s first blush, flowed in fluid layers to drape her tall, slim figure, and kissed the tips of her white fingers with pointed edges dripping with delicate lace. High cheekbones and pale translucent skin made her look as dainty and fragile as a china cup. But Beka knew better.
“Your Majesties,” she said to the Queen and the King of the Otherworld, curtsying low the way Brenna had taught her on her first visit to court as a child. She nodded her head in the direction of the Queen of the Mer and the King of the Selkies for good measure. “Your Majesties. Greetings.”
“Welcome, Baba Yaga,” the High Queen said in a voice like choral bells ringing. It echoed off the high ceiling and scattered a few colorful winged creatures, not quite birds, in a flutter of feathers and sharp, pointy beaks. “Thank you for coming. Queen Boudicca and King Gwrtheyrn have been enlightening Me with their woeful tales regarding the sad corruption of their watery realm that has forced them to leave their homes and endangered their citizens.” She narrowed icy amethyst eyes in Beka’s direction. “Have you news to give Us regarding the cause of this unfortunate predicament? Or better yet, some cure for this malady?”
“Not as yet, Your Majesty.” Beka did her best to look confident as she turned toward Gwrtheyrn and Boudicca. “I assure you, I have been working on the problem every day. I haven’t found the answer, but I have eliminated a number of possibilities, and I’m sure I must be getting close.” Her heart thudded in her chest as she waited for someone to expose her as a fraud, but no one did.
She bit her lip, seeing lines etched deep in both the royal faces that hadn’t been there when they’d first come to her for help. “Are the sick folk any better, now that you’ve moved to different waters?”
Gwrtheyrn shook his head, his straight black hair slicked back like a seal’s short fur. “They are not, Baba Yaga. In truth, they grow worse, especially the children. They cannot eat; whatever they do take in is returned with dire results. Some are losing fur or scales, and others their hair. Their cries tear at my soul. The water people are at their weakest at the time of the full moon, when the tides pull on us most strongly, causing our two different natures to fall out of harmony. We are greatly feared that should there be no solution by the next waxing of the moon, some of the most vulnerable will succumb to this illness.”