“I can take the pain.”
Dane opened his mouth to argue with me but I ignored him. Starla squeezed my hand. I stared at the Mer holding a needle with glowing thread.
“Go ahead.”
“You’re sure?”
I nodded once and Dane cursed again. Something about Poseidon’s rear end, with some human curse words thrown in for good measure. He really did have a foul mouth. I gritted my teeth and looked away as the Medic leaned over my tail and pressed the needle into my skin.
I let out a tiny whimper as I felt the needle go through my skin, then out through the other side. It hurt. It did more than just hurt.
It felt wrong.
The Medic pierced my skin again. And again. And again. Until I thought I would go mad. I was about to give in, beg for drugs, when I felt the big, strong hand close over mine.
I looked up to see Dane, his face grim but somehow reassuring. He nodded at me and I squeezed his hand. I looked at Starla, and she smiled at me, doing her best to pretend she wasn’t crying, though the tiny bubbles of tears around her face were impossible to hide.
For some reason, that made me laugh.
Then I felt the needle pierce my flesh and I cursed instead.
“Mother of Poseidon’s bastard!”
Dane was laughing as I cursed a blue streak for the next ten minutes. It wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. And the pain started to ease the moment the Medic tied off the thread.
I barely felt any pain at all, truth be told. Instead, all the magical salves they had worked into my battered flesh started to tingle.
And itch.
I sat up, eager to get out of there and find something to eat. Instead, I was pushed back down onto my back.
“Hold still. You need a once-over.”
I glared at the Medic and another healer who came to float beside him. This was an elegant woman with dark red hair and turquoise eyes, incredibly beautiful, the kind you couldn’t tell the age of. She wasn’t young, but she wasn’t old either.
She smiled at me.
“I’m Annaruth. I will prepare you for the banquet.”
“Prepare me?”
“Bath you, dress you—”
“Burp me?”
She shook her head, not the least offended at my disgruntled outburst.
“If you like. But first . . .”
She waved a hand over me and I felt it. Magic flowed over my flesh like a warm current on a cold day. I sighed as each part of me absorbed it. I felt wonderful.
I knew wealthy women used magic to refine their beauty. It couldn’t make you lovely if you were not, but it did quite a bit to enhance a lucky Mer’s looks and general wellbeing.
I suddenly felt as if I’d slept well, not just the night before but every night for a year. As if I’d never gone hungry or worked until my hands bled. It was as if I was a different version of myself, one that hadn’t lost both parents young and faced a harsh life on her own.
As if I’d been coddled and loved, from the day of my birth until now.
“Now you may sit up.”
“Whoa.”
Starla was staring at me, her eyes wide with awe.
“What?”
“You were already pretty, but now . . .”
I shook my head at her.
“Don’t be silly.”
And then I saw the look on Dane’s face. He looked shocked. He looked . . . furious?
He swam from the tent without a word.
“What was that about?”
Starla smiled.
“You look too good, Tri. It’s almost not fair to him.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m the same person.” I turned to the beautiful Mer who was waiting patiently. “What did you do to me?”
“I revealed the beauty that lay beneath.”
“What do you mean?”
“Life can tarnish us. I simply removed that tarnish. You shine all on your own. There’s no artifice.”
“You mean . . . this won’t go away? I’ve seen beauty spells—”
“This wasn’t a glamor or a beauty spell.” Her dazzling periwinkle eyes sparkled at me. “Now, come. I have to dress you for tonight.”
I swallowed and followed Annaruth from the tent.
Chapter 12
I followed the elegant Mer out of the Med tent to a smaller structure I hadn’t noticed before. There were guards outside who bowed to her as we entered. I briefly wondered if she was a Royal before discounting it. Maybe a lesser branch of the family. I knew there were dozens of them, if not more, but only the Queen and her son, the Prince, had any real power. It didn’t make sense though.
Annaruth was way too warm and friendly to be of the ruling class.
“Please sit and undress. You need a quick bath.”
I sat on a low bench and slowly pulled my clothes off, too startled to do anything but stare. The tent was not like the others. Not inside. This was pure luxury, from the woven tapestries aligning the walls to the cushions and potted anemones that dotted the room at regular intervals.
And then there were the clothes.
Stunning, rich fabrics in every color imaginable. Thin metal bars held hangers, human-made hangers, from which hung gowns and tunics and capes that sparkled and shone like a living rainbow.
These were garments fit for a Royal themselves, not a mere Messenger. Perhaps not even a Spark dressed this well. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Come.”
I followed her behind a screen and gasped. There was an enormous shell that was filled with unsalted water. You could tell from the clear color of it. A thin layer of oil kept the water separated from the seawater that we lived and breathed in. I stepped in, wondering at the warmth of it. It must be magically warmed, since human heating methods didn’t work underwater.
“Impressed?”
I nodded slowly as she handed me a covered goblet, complete with a straw.
“Human wine. Drink it quickly or it will fill with sea water.”
I wrapped my lips around the metal straw and pulled. My eyes widened in wonder. I’d never tasted anything like it. The goblet must have been human-made and then altered magically, specifically for drinking underwater.
It had been made for Mers.
Anything a Mer drank was always half sea water or less. It was extremely rare to drink anything that was not mixed with sea water, unless you were a Royal or a Spark on dry land, of course. It was a rare treat, to say the least.
“How . . .?”
She caught the look on my face and held a finger to her lips. She shook her head and gave me a conspiratorial look.
“Things will be revealed in time. If you win, of course.”
Her eyes twinkled at me.
“You do plan on winning, do you not?”
I nodded without hesitation. I knew she was not just asking for idle conversation. She wanted to know for a reason. So I told her.
“Yes, I do.”
She nodded and went back to what she was doing. She handed me a bar of something slippery she called ‘soap,’ as well as a textured cloth square she told me to rub all over my body. I sighed and leaned back in the water when I was done. I felt incredibly clean and calm, healthier than I had felt in my life.
Annaruth handed me a robe made of sea silk.
“Wrap yourself in this and come out when you are ready.”
I indulged in the bath for a few minutes more, then put on the robe. Annaruth was sifting through a rack of breathtakingly beautiful clothes. Every once in a while, she would pull something, hold it up to me, and cluck her tongue.
“I think we should keep it in the blue and green family so it matches your armor.” She winked at me. “After all, you are already well-known.”
“I am?”
She nodded at me.
“You are the first female to ever win the opening race. Didn’t you know that?”
I shook my head.
“I’m not really . . . knowledgeable about Merstory.”
I felt ashamed of that. I had been educated well as a child. But once my father died, that had stopped. I was smart and observant, but I hadn’t had a tutor at my beck and call daily like my stepsister had.