Zafrina paced the corridor, running her hands through her hair, and swimming back and forth. The protests from downstairs were heard through the floor. "I honestly don't know who this 'Melody' is! I'm not this guy who held her at knifepoint - who would even do that? I'm sorry for trespassing, my queen forced me to stay in your land -" he was interrupted by Aquata, who threw another accusation at him.
Zafrina felt so guilty now. Seeing the stranger swimming about, she had assumed the worst upon seeing Nia's symbol tied to his seaweed bag. Out of fear, she had sent Zaidee, whom she had been out with, to go back and get help while she stayed and watched the merman. But when Zaidee had gone, Zafrina had been surprised by what she witnessed. The young merman hadn't been throwing knives or bullying passing marine life, like she'd expect from someone of Nia's kingdom. Instead, he had sat down, got out a book with blank pages, and started to draw something. Zafrina had been taught that Nia's people were sheer brutes, impatient and unrefined - all of them. But this merman had been drawing, in his own world, until the guards had showed up.
The pale blonde merman had looked up in such genuine shock, as guards swarmed upon him. But instead of whipping out a spear or knife, or punching his way out, he had dropped the book and put up his hands. The guards had seized him and bound him, before dragging him away, with him protesting all the while.
After the merman had been pulled away, out of sight, she had collected the book, and hid it in her bag, for Zaidee had appeared from around a pile of rocks, asking her what had happened. Reminded, Zafrina reached into her woven bag, which was made of a plum-coloured fabric the same colour as her lipstick. Impatient, she tried to pull the book out, but it was snagged on something. Giving up, she turned the bag upside down. Her hairbrush and some shells clattered noisily to the floor, and finally, the book and the quill that came with it. Shoving the contents back into the bag, except for the book, Zafrina rested it on a cabinet.
Opening the book, Zafrina was surprised. The first page was of a merman and a mermaid; painted, with every minute detail, from every strand of hair to every fleck of colour in their eyes. The mermaid was a very pale blonde, just like the artist, while the merman had greying, light brown hair - he had the same silver eyes, too, like pale quartz. Both were smiling - they had to be the merman's parents, judged on their similarities to him. Small, black writing in the bottom right corner named them as 'Yasmina and Aramis'.
Impressed, Zafrina took the corner of the page, about to turn to the next one, but then she heard a voice down the corridor. She stuffed the book back into her bag, and spun round, trying to look casual. Her mother was swimming toward her. "Mom, this guy, then... who is he?" She asked, aware that Alana had gone downstairs earlier.
"Well, sweetie... apparently his name is Bay. And he apparently wasn't the one who confronted Melody the other day." Alana looked tired. "But... Aquata doesn't want to release him, no matter how harmless he seems. She thinks he can provide inside information." Zafrina's heart sank with more guilt.
"But... if he seems harmless, surely..." Her voice faltered at Alana's look of puzzlement. Zafrina was never so considerate about Nia's people.
"It's not that simple, Zaffy." Alana sighed, after a few moments. "Is... is Melody back yet? We didn't want her out alone, with Nia's merpeople lurking about."
"No." Zafrina shook her head. Alana shook her own, before wrapping her arms around her eldest daughter in a hug. She then swam down the corridor, and disappeared into Andrina's room. Zafrina turned, and saw Aquata emerge from the staircase that led to the palace dungeon. She was writing something down, and didn't notice her niece.
Curious, Zafrina swam forward, looking down the dark stairs, wondering over whether to return the book to its owner. Eventually, she gave in and started swimming down it. Her skin crawled as she saw how dark it was getting; the palace dungeon was, while rarely used, extremely unpleasant. The stairs then ended, showing the cells - all were empty, but at the end, she could see a padlock on the door. The guard, an elderly merman, leaned against the wall, but he was fast asleep.
Silent, Zafrina headed down, peering around the cell. There he was, sitting with his back to her, head in his hands. His hair was loose; it had been loosely tied back, but even the tie had been confiscated. It was thick and very long and pale, almost silvery blonde, with a slight wave to the tresses. It now cascaded around his shoulders and shielded his face from her. He was letting out occasional sniffs, and wiping his eyes. Was he crying? Guilt crushed Zafrina's heart.
She reached into her bag, bringing out the book, and hesitated, wondering over whether to call out. Shaking her head, Zafrina gently pushed the book through the bars, and tapped on the wall, before retreating out of his sight. She dived behind a column, peering out to see what would happen. Bay, as Alana had called him, looked up with a hopeless expression, but then he spotted the book. His silver eyes flooded with shock, as he raced over to the wall, sweeping it from the floor.
Blinking, he glanced down the corridor. Zafrina wasn't sure as it whether he'd seen her or not, but then she realized he was staring in her direction - her hair was floating out. She quickly swept it back out of view, but knew Bay had seen her. He swallowed, before opening the book, to the first page. He held it to his chest, eyes closed, before he slid down the wall, and remained there. Zafrina blinked several times, puzzled - and touched - by what she had just seen.
"Zafrina?" Said a voice, sharply. She whipped round, and saw Sebastian. "What in Neptune's name are you doing?" Demanded the crab, furiously. Hearing, Bay hid the book under the cell bed, before Zafrina saw him looking through the bars, straight at her.
"I just dropped something down the stairs." She lied to Sebastian, before swimming away hastily, up the staircase. As she reached the top, Zafrina looked behind her to ensure Sebastian wasn't following - but then she crashed into somebody. "Sorry, Melody!"
Melody picked herself up, about to scold her cousin for knocking into her, before she realized where she had come from. She blinked. "What were you doing in the dungeon, Zafrina?"
"Er... nothing." Zafrina insisted. But then she seemed to remember something, for her eyes narrowed. "Oh, I saw Sweetbriar earlier - minus you." Melody prepared to defend herself, waiting for Zafrina to argue with her about Finn. "You saw him again, didn't you?" But Zafrina didn't sound as angry as usual. If anything she sounded confused and uncertain.
"Yes." Said Melody, boldly, looking steadily into her cousin's golden eyes, still waiting for a reprimand - but it never came. Zafrina kept glancing downstairs, toward the dungeons, frowning. "What's happened?" Melody asked. But then, behind them, there was the sound of five mermaids. Zafrina grabbed her, and pulled her behind a column, as Aquata, Alana, Adella, Arista and Andrina emerged. Andrina was looking better than yesterday - her hair was back in place, her skin clean and wounds tended, but all of their faces were plagued by worry. Melody's heart began to beat faster.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Murmured Arista. "We can't do this to Melody."
"I'm sorry, Arista." Alana was shaking her head. "But it's one less merperson to worry about. Even I don't feel safe here no more, with that maniac queen out there. I'm taking my daughters, and we're all going down to Adonis's kingdom. It's far safer down there for all of us, and you guys are free to come with me." Zafrina stiffened, and looked at Melody. Alana was planning on taking herself and the four Zs down to Adonis.
"I don't want to go..." Zafrina began, quietly. "I love dad and all, but..." but then Andrina interrupted.
"Can't you take Melody with you? Let her see another kingdom..." Her voice faltered at Aquata's face.
"So far away from Ariel? We can't. And besides, what if Nia follows? After what happened to you?" Aquata reminded her. "No. The next time we see her, we're taking that bracelet off her and sending her home." Melody froze in shock, meeting Zafrina's mortified stare. What? "Tomorrow morning, we'll escort her to the shore. We'll explain everything to Ariel there."
"Are you sure?" Adella frowned. "Arista's right. It'll devastate her! She's seventeen, she can look after herself..."
"I'm with Aquata." Alana was nodding. "It's too dangerous for a half-human, half-mermaid - after what happened to those sailors a few years ago, don't you think Melody is on top of Nia's hit list? She's already been at risk before from a seawitch. We can't let it happen again!"
"Are we in agreement?" Aquata asked. "We send Melody home. Agreed?" Alana and Andrina nodded, and eventually, Adella and Arista reluctantly agreed. "And that's another thing. We're not sending anyone to get the trident." Immediately, this was met with protest.
"Are you joking? That's crazy!" Andrina protested. "We can't leave the trident in that crevice! Anyone could get their hands on it!"
"I'm sorry, but until that clamcase isn't a threat and daddy is free, we can't risk anyone's life by sending them into a death trap. The unclaimed territory is too dangerous - it's crawling with Nia's soldiers." Most of the sisters rushed after Aquata in protest - Arista was the only one who remained.
"What a stupid idea." Arista criticized to herself, before swimming toward her room, where she'd left baby Murphy. For a few moments, Melody and Zafrina were in silence - Melody had slid to the floor, eyes glued to her red tail and her bracelet. The ruby-like jewel glistened with the braided gold band against her pale skin, and her hand closed around her wrist. Then Zafrina exploded.
"What is Aquata thinking?" Zafrina spluttered, once Arista was gone. Her eyes blazed with a golden flame, and pink appeared in the caramel skin of her face. "She - she can't leave the trident in that crevice! And what right do they have, taking your bracelet off you? That's insane!" She looked outraged. "So what if there's a psycho out there! You can take care of yourself!"
Zafrina's anger faded in Melody's ears. All kinds of emotions coursed through her - confusion, anger, disgust. How dare they. I'm seventeen! Melody couldn't believe her aunts were sending her home - she could take care of herself. Did they think she was weak, because of her human heritage? Vulnerable and unable to protect herself?
Melody was snapped back to reality when Zafrina's voice pierced through her thoughts. "This is out of order. I'm going to tell them all how insane a plan this is - you, the trident! They've lost their minds!"
A new streak of courage burned through Melody. She rose from the floor, and crossed the corridor to a window. She gazed across the gleaming city - beyond that, a wide stretch of sand, dotted with bare rocks. The unclaimed land stretched, fading into the blue. She briefly felt a trace of fear, but forced or down. "I'm not just going to sit here, waiting to be sent home, while the trident sits in a gap in the ocean floor, waiting to be found by Nia. If nobody's going to get it and free our grandfather... it looks like we'll have to."
Zafrina stared in shock at Melody. "You're not... you're not actually suggesting that we go and get it, are you? Seriously?" The look on Melody's face confirmed that she was being fully serious - Zafrina stared at Melody as if she'd just grown five wings. "Mel... are you mad? There's no way we could!"
"How do you know that?" Melody challenged. "If your mom and our aunts aren't going to do anything, someone has to. And if nobody else will, it'll have to be us."
"Us?" Zafrina said, weakly. Melody rose her thick eyebrows - but then Zafrina rolled her eyes. "Fine. There's no way you can do it alone - I'm going with you." Melody hugged her cousin with utter joy. "But we don't know where this Neptune's wound thing is!"
"It's Neptune's scar." Melody corrected. "And I will soon know exactly how to get there." Zafrina glanced questioningly at her, but then her eyes widened in realization.
"No... you're not seriously considering..." but Zafrina didn't seem as protesting this time. She sounded reluctant still, but now, she wasn't dead against the idea of Melody seeing Finn. "Oh... fine. You go and ask him to take us... but if he betrays us, it's on you."
"Thank you." Melody said, ignoring her last sentence. She turned to go, but then she looked back. "You've... you've certainly changed your tune. What made you less... dead against Finn?"
"I still don't trust him, Mel." Zafrina said, eyes hardened. Melody felt a little crestfallen, as she swam away - then the guilt and doubt then crept back in, as she realized her trust in Finn wasn't whole, either. She just had to pray that she could rely on Finn.