The Life Tree has blossomed.

The adviser closed his eyes in relief. Everyone else remained frozen.

Elyssa lifted her fist to cheer. Hooray! Right? They needed blossom nectar to transform the next bride into a mermaid.

Shock silenced the courtyard. The mer warriors froze. No one knew what to say.

Oops. She froze her half-raised fist.

The adviser opened his eyes again and noted her unfinished gesture. His sour mouth pinched.

She released her fist and hid her hand behind her back. Whatever he felt about her — which couldn’t be great, seeing as she was constantly accidentally flipping him off — he really, truly cared about approving the city and ensuring the health of Kadir’s Life Tree.

“Blossom? Nonsense.” Balim looked up from where he was studying fragmentary stone tablets etched with drawings of the ancient city. He squinted at Zoan, and behind him, swimming more slowly and correctly, Nilun. “Elyssa already drank the nectar and transformed into a bride. No other female is present. There must be some mistake.”

Nilun reddened and slammed his fist against his chest. “I will fight anyone who denies what we saw!”

The courtyard erupted in rumbles.

“Silence!” Kadir rose, solemn and majestic. “We will see this blossom.”

How exciting!

They all stormed across the water, bunched up to enter single-file between the granite-like petals, and zoomed down the corridor. Kadir swam hard and fast, Elyssa curled around him. Excitement hummed in the water, charged as electric eels.

“Zoan noticed changing tones of light,” Nilun called, puffing to keep up. “We inspected the Life Tree. The blossom is there now.”

At the inner sanctum, she uncurled from clinging to Kadir and grabbed his hand to cross onto the soft, white dais together.

The Life Tree glowed with radiant beauty. Its music sang in her soul. Where was the blossom? Oh, there. In the center of the trunk, where she had rested her forehead, a tiny bud unfurled into a teeny flower.

“I have never read about a blossom forming on the trunk,” Ciran murmured to Balim behind them. “And it is so small. Can a bride use this to transform?”

“I doubt it. There cannot be more than a single drop of liquid.”

“Then what is the meaning? This was not in my research. Will it develop into a seed instead?”

“If a seed, it will be the smallest seed ever created.”

The warriors murmured behind them.

Elyssa let go of Kadir’s hand and knelt before the twinkling blossom. It was like a water lily. Small, white petals curved around a sparkling center. The Life Tree glittered proudly.

Maybe that was the meaning. The Life Tree somehow knew she wanted to be a queen. This was its proof that she was right and belonged.

She stroked a soft petal. It felt like touching starlight. “This is where I—”

The flower released from the trunk and floated toward her.

The mermen gasped.

Her heart melted. The Life Tree really did gift her with the blossom. She captured the twinkling starlight, cupping it like a fragile butterfly. It winked in her hands and slowly faded to an ordinary white color, like a kiss drying on her skin. She cupped it in her hands in gratitude. Thank you.

The twinkling intensified.

“She broke it,” someone cried behind her.

Oh.

Wait. What?

“Broke?” Adviser Creo pushed past the warriors blocking his way. His eyes widened. He thrust his finger at her. “You removed the blossom from the Life Tree?”

Elyssa held her cupped hands to her chest. The flower tickled her closed palms. “I barely touched it.”

He turned his shocked eyes on Kadir. “She touched it!”

“You touched it?” Soren frowned from farther back. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know. It’s a flower. It called out to me, kind of. I touched the petal.”

“She admits it! This is why brides must remain far from the Life Tree, separated by guards. This is why access to the Life Tree is restricted! Injuring the Life Tree is treason. Kadir. What are you going to do?” The adviser turned his accusatory finger on Kadir.

Kadir was silent. His eyes were hard, dark, and sad.

What? She had screwed up?

The adviser detailed it. “She admits to damaging an irreplaceable flower. It is too small to provide nectar. It will never produce a seed. She has broken its stem and no more will grow to replace it.”

Her belly crunched. “What do you mean, no more will grow?”

The mer warriors murmured amongst themselves. Adviser Creo threw up his hands and faced a solemn Kadir. “Where did you find this uneducated bride?”

Kadir’s nostrils flared. “She is my queen.”

His claim silenced the sanctuary. Quiet tinkling of the Life Tree calmed all.

Kadir’s shoulders sagged. He rubbed his face.

Oh. She really had done wrong. “I’m sorry, Kadir.”

He growled. “That word.”

Oops. She shut her mouth.

Behind her, murmurs among the warriors boiled into loud dissent.

Soren snapped at them. “Form lines.”

The warriors stiffly obeyed. Their dissent fell silent.

Kadir avoided her gaze. He faced his unsettled warriors. “The fault is mine. Modern brides do not have the knowledge. I will tell Elyssa now. Everyone else, resume our meal.”

They filed out of the sanctuary.

“I told you this would happen,” Adviser Creo told Kadir. “The more you twist what is natural, the more you injure your bride. Or cause her to injure herself! Restrict her to her castle now. Under guard!”

Kadir growled. “No more mistakes will be made.”

“Forcing her to embrace a warrior’s ways is the mistake. In this under-defended city, she will be caught by predators. Led astray by enemies. Hurt in an attack. Why can you not see this?”

His nostrils flared.

She wasn’t a simple bride anymore. She was a queen.

Elyssa itched to say that aloud. But interrupting an argument with Chastity Angel never helped anything. And she hadn’t proved herself by Adviser Creo. Not by a long shot.

“Judge our city,” Kadir finally ground out. “We will judge our queen.”

“You lack judgment.” The adviser left, grumbling.

Then it was just her and Kadir again.

The flower brushed against her inner palms like a sad, desperate butterfly’s caress.

He turned to her heavily.

She held her cupped hands to her chest. “I am really sorry. This is weird, but, I thought the Life Tree wanted me to have it.”

“This tree is young. You do not know your strength.”

“I swear, I barely touched it.”

“Look here.” He pointed out striations in the bark. “These are the strength lines of the tree. This nub is where the flower bloomed. Resin will build up at the injury and create a Sea Opal.”

A teensy bead dotted the nub.

A dagger was sheathed in the ground near the tree. He pulled it out and touched the tip to the nub.

“After any injury, the tree swells and bleeds.” He carved around the pearl gently. “Ordinary metal poisons the tree. That is why all ordinary tridents and daggers must be left outside the sanctuary, to avoid accidents. If the tree is cut for any reason, purify the injury with adamantium to cauterize it.”

The Life Tree almost sounded human the way he described it.

But she did feel bad. “Can we save this flower?”

“No. Its life is over. It will blacken and wither.”

Oh. No. “I’m sor—uh, I mean, that’s awful.”

He sheathed the adamantium blade in the ground beside the tree and rested his hands atop hers, closed over the blossom. “You understand how important it is we have a seed. It is our pride and our identity. And, it is a requirement of recognition from the All-Council. ”

Elyssa opened her hands to release the tiny blossom.

It fluttered up, glowing and sparkling, just as it had when it was alive.

Kadir made a noise. “It lives!”

Oh, and the stem was cut. It must need to be purified.

Elyssa pulled out the adamantium blade.

It was carved from a single piece of rock as long as her forearm and the smooth pommel was too big for her hand. Clearly, it was made for a mer warrior. It tapered to a wicked blade.

What kind of metal was adamantium, anyway?

Elyssa touched the blade to the thread-like stem of the flower. It danced on the tip, sliding along the metal as if it were a living creature.

She sheathed the blade in the same place she had pulled it out from and captured the blossom again in her open palm.

Kadir stared at her. “What did you do?”

Huh? Had she done it wrong? “I cauterized the poison.”

“But I saw it die. How is it once more alive?”

She didn’t know. “Does this mean I can reattach it to the Life Tree?”

“Reattach?”

“You know. Graft it back on so it grows into a bigger flower?”

He shook his head. “I have never heard this tried.”

Oh. “Well, I don’t want to cause any more—”

“I have never seen or heard of a plucked blossom returning to life.” He scooped it up. The blossom danced across his index finger playfully, fluttering in the micro-currents like a tiny flower fairy. “I almost doubt my eyes.”

“I was touching that spot earlier today and it felt like the Life Tree was giving me a gift. You know. Welcoming me.”

His brow furrowed. The blossom hopped off and fluttered free. “The Life Tree does not put forth a blossom for new warriors. It also does not make those strange chimes. Maybe it is normal for modern brides.”

She captured the blossom in her hand. “I guess you need more to come so we can find out.”

His brow smoothed. “Yes.”

She let out a sigh. Her mistake was forgiven. She was fine.

Now, she and Kadir could—

Iyen flew into the sanctuary. His tone was taut; his expression, deadly. “My king, my queen, you must leave immediately. Warriors from another city have been sensed in the city’s currents.”

Elyssa held the blossom to her chest.

Kadir leaped from the ground, his feet transforming to fins with a flick. “Where is my trident?”

“Soren has it. He requests you remain here.”

“If he has my trident, he knows I will join him.” Kadir shot out of the sanctuary, Iyen right behind him. His command echoed back into the chamber. “Escort Queen Elyssa to safety.”

Queen Elyssa.

A thin warrior just outside the sanctuary puffed with importance. He gripped his banged up, old trident and shouted after the flying warriors. “Yes, my king!”

“Are we in danger?” Elyssa paddled with painful slowness toward the young warrior. “What do they want?”

“To cause us troubles.” He waited patiently, alert. His dark evergreen tattoos shimmered.

They flew to the Life Tree. The castle seemed so close when Kadir swam her. Now that Elyssa was under her own power, it took forever for her to reach. And she was useless to help.

“Maybe they’re friends,” she huffed on her endless journey. “Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding.”

“The warriors are from my city. If I do not return willingly, they will kidnap me.”

The young warrior moved with a surety and alertness that was much older than his skinny body and small face. His trident was ancient and bent at a funny angle. His dark green eyes were too large and luminous, like Elijah Wood when he played Frodo. He seemed unconcerned with the danger to himself and confident of defending her.

Her heart slowed. Okay. This would be okay.

“Your name is Tial, am I right?”

The warrior straightened. “Yes.”

Thank god. There were too many tattooed chests and too few name badges. “Why would they kidnap you? You’re here.”

“My city is near a vent, like Atlantis, and the abyssal creatures that sometimes rise out of it are difficult to fight. More difficult now that a unit has left to recapture me.” He gripped his trident. “But I will not go. When I tried to escape the first time, the elders gave me this.”

He showed her his left hand. It was scarred and missing the ends of the last three fingers.

She shuddered. Barbarians. “That’s awful.”

“They told me the next time I tried to leave, the goliath grouper would bite off my male seed instead.”

Male seed? Was that like…oh. “So they fed half your hand to a fish and threatened to do the same to your, uh…” Well, call it like it was. “…uh, testicles?”

He nodded.

The mer culture was too brutal. “I can see why you wouldn’t want to go back.”

“Even if they retracted their threat, I would not return. My father secretly helped me escape. I wish to repay him by making him a grandfather.”

“You will.”

He puffed his chest again. His bent trident almost looked noble. “Thank you, Queen Elyssa.”

Well, she hadn’t done anything to be thanked over. “You know, if your city really wanted to keep you home, they should have offered you a shot at fatherhood. Not threatened to cut your balls off.”

“But they cannot offer me the shot.” He led her down the long corridor into the castle and across the vast, empty inner courtyard. “I would have to wait until I am older than Faier to join with a bride according to the old way.”

Right. These males had such simple wishes. Children. Wives. The chance to start a family.

They didn’t care about the newest cell phone, the most scandalous celebrity gossip, or who saw the last blockbuster. They just wanted to meet a good woman and settle down.

Tial would get his wish. They all would. If Elyssa could do one thing as queen, she would fill this city with women so they could find mermen to love.

He escorted her to the heart chamber. It opened to her hand print. She went in and sat.

A small, orange octopus darted in after her and swam around the room vigorously. Its noise sounded like a radio station turned to almost-static. It stopped in front of her and regarded her with curious eyes.

“How adorable!” Elyssa addressed the palm-sized cephalopod. “What are you doing in here?”

“She is the house guardian.” Tial seemed visibly relieved. “She is small now, but she will grow and defend you and your castle with her life.”

Elyssa tucked the tiny Life Tree flower behind her ear and coaxed the little octopus onto her hand. Tiny, curious suckers curled around her fingers, and the octopus walked up her wrist to her forearm. The little beak gnawed on her thumb. Not painful, but curious, like a puppy.

“Now, you are safe. The house guardian will protect you. Please wait here.” He turned to leave.

And she was just supposed to sit in the room alone? Useless? “Hey. Isn’t there anything I can do?”

“Perhaps once your fins are grown.”

Nothing? She stroked the orange octopus. “Should I have a trident?”

“I will find you one for the next incident.”

So, this happened often enough there would be a next time. A new thought occurred to her. “Tial, you should stay inside too. These warriors are hunting you.”

“I must face my enemies honorably, even if they are my former friends.”

“But wouldn’t it be smarter to hide?”

“That is not possible.” He paused in profile. His jaw was set. “I must stand with my king.”

Right. This was about honor. “What if one sneaks into the castle? Who will make a last stand with your queen?”

His face blanked in surprise. “I had not considered this.”

“You can’t leave me unguarded.”

He frowned deeply. “I will be right outside.”

“But if they trap you, they can swim in and capture me.”

The grooves in his forehead deepened. “Many Atlantis warriors are near the city. No raider would dare harm a bride.”

“I’m not a bride, though.”

“Yes, you—”

“I’m a queen.”

There. She said it herself.

A sching sounded. Maybe only in her head. But loud enough that it reverberated in her heart.

His protests stopped. He stared into space. Conflicting emotions passed over his young features. Anger, disagreement, anxiety. She knew those feelings well.

“Kadir introduced me as a warrior,” she said quietly, capturing his gaze. “Atlantis is a rebel city. No one knows what to do with a queen.”

His brows lifted with sadness. “I would pledge my death before anyone harmed you.”

“I know.” She straightened her shoulders. “And that’s why I’m ordering you to remain here and guard me.”

His mouth twitched and flattened. Every muscle in his body tightened and his face closed. Fury seared his young brow. For a moment, she thought he was going to break down and scream.

His eyes closed and opened on resignation. He gripped his trident. “I will remain in the inner courtyard at the entrance to the heart chamber.”

Yes! She had done it. Bossed someone around, even though it made him angry. She couldn’t let Tial throw himself into danger. Aya would be proud. “Thank you, Tial.”

He left without a word. The wall sealed up, enclosing her with the octopus.

Then, a whole lot of nothing happened.

But, of course, the instant she got up to check, the attack would come. She’d do something stupid, screw up. The adviser would yell at her, Kadir would get more serious while defending her, and everyone would join Soren in wondering why, oh why, had he chosen, of all people, her to be his queen.

So. She wouldn’t move from this room, not even if she starved. Her stomach growled. Dinner had been interrupted, after all. They would find her in a hundred years, nothing but a skeleton, still waiting here.

How to be useful? Apparently, kidnappers showed up pretty often.

Perhaps once your fins are grown.

She flexed her foot one direction and the other. Actually, they did feel different. Or did they? Had her feet always been heavily ridged? These creases could be seams. Her bones might separate and the skin stretch between them, turning solid feet into beta-like fins. Kind of like a flying squirrel. It looked mostly normal until it leaped off a branch and soared.

But her fins wouldn’t go.

Elyssa must be extra unskilled. Her first hour as a mermaid, Lucy could flex half her foot. Elyssa couldn’t flex a darned thing.

Of course, Lucy had been a scuba diver and expedition leader long before she met Torun, so she probably had skills and qualifications Elyssa would never —

No. Now was not the time to be sad. Now was the time to support her people. Her city. Her husband. Her mer.

The little octopus played with Elyssa’s hair. The blossom flew loose and spun in the water. The octopus batted it between tentacles while emitting a soft, tuneless gargle.

Abruptly the room darkened. A high-pitched keening shook the walls.

Uh oh.

The small octopus abandoned the floating flower and zoomed around the small room, furiously reacting to the sound outside.

Was the castle breached? Was Kadir okay? What about Tial and the others?

What could Elyssa do?

The Life Tree responded to queens. Lucy had summoned its power once to protect Torun. Elyssa had already brought a flower back to life — maybe. Kadir doubted his eyes. But maybe.

Perhaps Elyssa should stop getting frustrated by her fins and focus on something more productive.

How did one summon the power of the Life Tree?

Why hadn’t she asked already? Talk about useless. She would have to ask Kadir.

Since there was nothing else to be done, she crossed her legs and rested her wrists on her knees, yoga-style. She closed her eyes and imagined the white light of the Life Tree growing and flooding into her warriors, into her castle, into her.

Did it work?

She opened her eyes. Maybe the room was brighter.

Or maybe it was the same. How could she know? Was this even the right thing to do?

We all know you will never do anything important.

Who was she kidding, to think she could do something?

The blossom floated in the center of the room. It shone with magic.

Mermaid magic.

Right? She had brought it back to life by accident, without even trying. She was a full-blooded mermaid queen.

Elyssa closed her eyes again. Focus. Helplessness wasn’t an option. If she did have a power, she had to use it now. Use it now and wait.