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TWENTY YEARS AGO
ZEPHYR
Atapping pulls me from my dormant state. My consciousness unfurls first, and then my wings.
The aether of my being solidifies into a physical form as I stretch through the liminal space, my fingers brushing up against a hard surface.
I can’t move any further.
Ah, now I remember.
This vial is a prison, cursed to keep me contained after taking a stand against the Mer-King.
“Zephyr.” My captor holds me in his claws, his mouth splitting into a shark-like grin. “It’s taken ten years to come up with a fitting punishment, but I finally have a use for you.”
Ten years. I’ve been in stasis for ten years, and no one has come for me.
No. This isn’t what I agreed to.
I have to get home to my mother. My sister.
I dissolve into the aether, but even in my bodiless form, I can’t slip past these walls. The curse has made them impenetrable.
“Everyone knows I have six beautiful daughters born from each of the major seas,” King Morrow says, oblivious to my struggle. “The youngest turned forty this past summer, and she has the most rebellious spirit. She’s managed to slip away from every guard I’ve assigned to her.” His claw taps the vial. “That’s where you come in. I want you to keep track of her until I negotiate a land marriage.”
I scrutinize him through the glass. How does he expect me to chase his brat around the sea?
“Your curse has been altered to allow you to use your gifts to serve her needs, and only her needs,” he continues. “You will protect her, track her, and report her secrets to me. You will tell me about all of her surface activities, or I will have your wings.”
Rage fills my container. Not mine, but someone else’s.
I sense her before I see her. I know how she feels before I even know her face.
The vial spins, and the Mer-Princess comes into view, her hooded lids lowered and bow-shaped mouth set in humble deference.
Still waters run deep in this one. Only a flick of her fin betrays her calm demeanor as two mermen hold her by the arms to bring her before her father.
“It’s time you should meet Cordelia, since you are now bound to her. Whenever she’s in trouble, you will feel it, as her soul is tethered to your aether.” My stomach lurches as he fixes the vial to the chain of her necklace. I have no sympathy for the princess, but I don’t understand how a parent could bind their daughter to an enemy. “If you hurt her, you’ll destroy yourself, so don’t get any ideas.”
It’s foolish for him to assume I value my life that much, but I do need to stay alive long enough to tell Mother and Orla where I’ve been.
Ten years.
Oh Gods. They must be worried sick.
There’s no time to sit with my grief over it.
The Mer-Princess is only starting to swim away from her father when I’m yanked out of my solid form. I dissolve into the aether and slip outside of my cursed chamber, the particles of my being floating around her in a blob of energy.
“I didn’t mean to do that,” she says, waving her hands through me. “How gross. Sorry.”
Sun rays penetrate the water. We’re not far from the surface.
I try to re-form myself and escape, but I can’t. My body won’t listen to my command.
“Here, let’s put you back for now,” she says, visibly attempting to calm herself as she cups her pendant. She manages to pull me back in by controlling her emotions, trapping me once again.
Weeks pass, and time stops making sense. My days revolve around the Mer-Princess.
