Chapter 1

The night was just beginning, and many merfolk saw the passing group and waved before continuing on their way. The kingdom was prospering, despite the war that was being waged halfway across the realm. The three mer that were talking animatedly were discussing just that. The sirens and mer were at an unhappy standstill, their armies equally matched in numbers and power, but the mer had just become more vulnerable with the loss of their king just a fortnight past. The ruler of the sirens, Sorceress-Queen Evana, was suspected to have played a part in the king's untimely demise, but the proof was vague at best.

“King Verilan would not have wanted us to give up, milady. We could move our troops away from the border and try to reduce the tension between our two kingdoms.” A council member for over fifty years to the late King Verilan, Torrus was an excellent strategist, but had lately had problems with the leadership of the mer armies.

The merman swimming between the council member and the general of the armies sighed and ran a webbed hand through his hair. “I don't think that's what my sister had in mind, Torrus.” He looked at his half-sister and saw her relax a little. She was stubborn and young, but was a leader through and through, and refused to retreat unless that was the best option for the kingdom. Her black hair floated in front of her face, hiding her eyes from the council member and her brother. “Perhaps Lenalia should tell us her plans, instead of us ordering her around, for a change.”

Torrus tensed up all the way to the tip of his silver tail. He took pride in his ability to control the rebellious general, and having the other merman undermine his control was offensive. “Your Majesty, I don't think your father—”

“My father is dead, Council Member. I am the new king, and you will listen to me. Lenalia, dear sister, what are your plans for the borderlines?” The king shot a glare at Torrus, preventing the argument that was about to pass through his lips.

The general looked at her brother with respect, her grey eyes shining with pride for his new backbone. “I plan to send reinforcements in the morning. The sirens have backed off for now, but that seems to be only a temporary situation. After all, Evana did love my father, if only for a brief time. She's showing that she respected the old king, but that leads me to suspect that she'll have her armies attack with more force to express her disdain for Kanshil. No offense, dear brother, but you are quite vulnerable during this period of change.” She smiled for a moment, shot a glare rivaling her brother's at Torrus, and continued. “We are lacking in magical support at that front, and I plan to send the royal mages at them.”

Kanshil laughed, seeing her plan clearly. He glanced at Torrus, who was obviously confused. “You plan to take out that entire front, don't you? Pull our troops back for the initial attack, then destroy the trench and make those sirens quake in their fins, right?” Comprehension lit Torrus's face and his look of disrespect changed to one of glee.

“That would send the message to Evana that we're not afraid of destroying her sirens, without actually doing much damage. That's—milady?” The blond council member frowned, seeing a look cross over Lenalia's face, as if she was looking many miles past them.

“Len?” The king shook his sister lightly until she blinked and focused back on him. “What did you see?”

Lenalia's voice shook with rage. “Evana's attacking the humans. Her magic's on its way towards West Haven. I think it's going after a ship.”

“I didn't feel anything. Are you sure it's Evana? Torrus and I should have sensed it as well if it were.” Kanshil looked at Torrus, who shook his head.

The general sighed. “You have no siren blood in you, so you wouldn't sense this spell.” Her grey eyes flashed black and back again. “Mother's up to something.”

Kanshil let go of his half-sister and backed away. Only when she was fighting for control over her siren blood, given to her when Evana seduced King Verilan, did she call the evil queen 'mother'. “You're going to follow her magic, aren't you?”

Lenalia jerked in surprise, and looked at her brother in shock, now in full control once again. “You knew?”

“It's you, Len. Crazy stunts are pretty much a daily thing with you. Besides, if you sensed the magic, you can stop it. I'll check in with you once every two weeks at sunset. Keep no secrets from me, Lenalia. We're dealing with humans, and they can be deadly. You know the stories Father used to tell us!”

Torrus gaped at the siblings. “You can't just let her go! She's our general, and we're at war!”

The king nodded. “I know, but we have seconds in command for this purpose. Besides, if she can figure out what Evana wants with the humans, we might be able to end this damned war and unify the two kingdoms.” Torrus was about to speak again when Kanshil held up a hand. “It's her decision, and it's been made. Lenalia, please be careful. Evana might be using one of the humans to lure you into a trap.”

The raven-haired mer nodded and hugged her brother. “Don't get yourself killed while I'm gone, okay?”

“Love you too, Lenni. Now get going.”



On the surface world, a beautiful night had turned violent. Storm clouds roiled with energy, causing lightning to illuminate a lone ship and her crew. Thunder boomed, and shook the ship's masts, making the crew tighten their holds and mutter hurried prayers before returning to the rigging. Two blond men spoke rapidly as they fought to keep control of the helm. One looked at the other, his green eyes worried.

“Well, this is fun! Whoop, there's the current. The helm should hold easy now, John. I'm going to go help the others!” The man ran towards the bow, shouting orders as he went. “Furl that damned mainsail! It'll pull us out of the current again! No, damn it all, drop anchor! Maybe we won't die then!”

The other man he left in charge of the helm glanced around. “Sam, get back over here!” The first man whirled around and slid on the soaked deck, landing hard on a hip. He struggled to his feet and hobbled back to the other. “That looked like it hurt, Sam. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, but my pride's a little bruised.” He looked over his shoulder at the men doing as he ordered and straightened up. “Captain, the mainsail is furled and the anchor should hold fast. We're not going anywhere in this.”

The captain looked behind Sam and examined the frantic work being done. “Sam, how long has your watch been out here? We've been out here for hours!” There were red tinges coloring the horizon. “Your watch was here at the beginning of this blasted storm, and you're all soaked. Order them to get below decks and warm up, now!”

Lightning flashed again and some of the men staggered with exhaustion as they tied down ropes. Sam looked down at his soaked shirt and breeches and chuckled. “They do need a break.” He turned and shouted, “Third watch, get below decks and rest! Now!”

John raised an eyebrow, once again impressed with his brother's ability to shout above thunder. “That means you, too! You're soaked, and need sleep. Get going!”

“You still need my—”

“No, you said we'd be alright now. Go!” John glared at Sam. “It's an order, as your captain!” Lightning struck the mizzen mast and the crew scrambled for buckets. “Leave be! The wood's soaked and won't light! Go back to the rigging!”

When John turned back to order his brother again, Sam was gone. Just as well he listened. It wouldn't do for us to fight in front of the men.

John didn't see a tall blond man climbing the shrouds despite his orders, and went back to commanding the men on the deck.



Underwater, a figure surrounded by others swam back and forth, silently fuming. Her grey-violet hair was tied back with a leather strap, and the claws on her hands were unsheathed. Her eyes were narrowed and filled with controlled rage. Her followers didn't move, praying that their queen didn't lose control and kill one of them in her fury. She growled and flung a bolt of magic to a nearby rock, which shattered upon impact.

“Damn that daughter of mine!!” She flung another bolt at a shark, and watched it implode with disdain. “Kora!”

One of the queen's followers swam forward to her side. “Yes, Evana?”

Evana glared at Kora and rolled her eyes. “Take these fools away from me. I wish for silence!” The black-haired follower bowed and shooed everyone else off. The queen of the sirens sat on her throne and sighed when Kora bowed in front of her after making sure the others stayed away. “Kora, I wish my eldest to suffer a horrible death...what do you suggest?”

The siren thought for a moment and shrugged. “She's fascinated with the humans. Make sure she gets attached to certain ones, then kill them all. Save her for last. That would make her heart tear in two, and make the magic that returns to you from her blood taste that much sweeter.”

Evana nodded. “You're getting better at your schemes, Adept. I've already lured her away from the small safety of the mer kingdom using the humans. What next?” The siren had already had her plan all thought out, but she wanted to see how the youngest of her daughters would kill a sibling.

“Perhaps...cast a spell on one of her new pets and make her fall in love while helping the others right the damage you inflict upon him. Wait until she has him wound around her finger, then murder the bastard, implicating her in the process. Her other pets will kill her for her treachery.”

Evana clapped. “Very good, Daughter. Your idea would kill any mer, but you must remember that Lenalia has some of our powers as well.” The queen's eyes flashed, showing her belief that Lenalia should have been a pure siren, and corruptible by her.

Kora looked confused, her long hair swirling around her head as she tilted it. She knew Lenalia was a half-breed, but hadn't realized that the siren powers had transferred as well. “Mother, how does the mer blood purify her powers?”

Her mother's eyes snapped in anger, and Kora's question was answered with a hard, backhanded slap. “You fool! Her mer blood doesn't purify the siren powers. It corrupts them!”

Evana's youngest spawn looked at her mother again, holding her bleeding and bruised cheek. “Meaning?”

The words were choked out of Evana's throat. “It makes her a healer.”



Jonathan was forced into a seat by the Chief Steward of his ship, grumbling the whole time. A bowl of hot stew was placed in front of him and a glare from the steward told him that he'd better eat—or else. The blond grinned, and started eating just as his brother came down from the shrouds and sat at the makeshift table. Samuel sighed and stole John's roll.

“Quite a day, huh?” He said, noticing his brother's stare and pointing at the bowl in front of the captain. “You should eat that. I saw Peter running around all morning trying to keep up with poor Daniel's meal recommendations. At least stew met all of them. Oh, thanks Peter! Smells delicious!”

Jonathan grabbed the roll that came with Samuel's meal and glared at him. “You've been messing about the shrouds since I ordered you down below, haven't you?” His brother's guilty grin gave him all the answer he needed, and he slammed his mug of mulled wine on the makeshift table hard. “Dammit, Sam, I ordered you to get some sleep! If I can't get you to obey orders, then how the hell am I going to get the crew to listen?!”

Samuel sighed and ate a spoonful of stew. “John, I'm your brother. I'm supposed to disobey your orders occasionally. It keeps you on your toes. Say, have you sent a letter to Sadrick Harbor or Eastbrook yet? Daniel's joint troubles are getting worse, and we can't go without a surgeon on board!”

The captain slapped his head. “I keep forgetting! Oh, well. We'll be home in two days. I can write the letter on the way, then send it off once we dock. In the meantime, though, you are going to finish eating, then you're going to go down below and get some rest. I'll take your watch tonight, too.”

His brother rolled his eyes and took a sip of wine. “Fine, I'll rest. If I'm up later, though...”

“Then you can take watch with me.” Jonathan looked away from his brother and noticed the rest of the crew quickly turning their attention to their meals and chuckled. “Well, at least we didn't end up roaring at each other this time.”

“Unlike the swordfish incident?” The grin on Sam's face grew and his eyes danced.

The other blond laughed. “Oh, goodness! Remember when we got done tearing into each other?”

“Yes! That's when Father decided that it was his turn! He didn't know which one of us he was angrier with.” A few of the closer crew members overheard the conversation and also started smiling and laughing.

“He was lucky we didn't destroy the ship!” Sam's laugh turned into a yawn and the blond blinked. “I think it's time for me to go to bed. Thank you again for the warm meal, Peter.”

Jonathan gripped his brother's arm. “Thank you for helping out for longer than necessary. Sleep well.”

As Samuel went below decks, another crew member walked up to Jonathan and sat in Samuel's vacated seat. He set down his bowl of stew and his mug, and brushed his brown hair away from his face. “He'll be okay, John.”

The blond looked the man up and down for any injuries, then, satisfied, shrugged. “He's exhausted and anxious to get home. Something's calling to him, I can feel it.”

“You can feel it? Like your weather-sense, or something else?” The brunet dipped his bread into the stew before taking a bite out of it.

John shook his head. “Something else. Different. I've never felt this kind of thing before. It feels like...like the night after we buried Mother. It was hazy then and now it's—I can't describe it well, I'm sorry, Timothy.”

Timothy nodded. “It feels pure, not clouded with emotion. I felt something that night as well. We had to have been affected by the emotions of others, the mood was so dark that night. Maybe it's how we all feel after that storm.” He took another bite of bread and said around the mouthful, “Speaking of which, would you like to know the casualty report?” The blond nodded and braced himself. “Miles has a badly twisted ankle—he fell off the fighting top when the lightning hit the foremast.”

“Lucky he didn't break his neck.”

“That's what I told him when he had the nerve to complain to me about it. The ass almost gave me a heart attack when I saw him fall. There's a note for you: never get emotionally attached to a shipmate.”

Jonathan laughed, well aware, as was the rest of the crew, that Timothy preferred men over women and was currently attached to Miles, another crewman on a different watch shift. “I don't plan on it.”

“Good. Let's see...ah, Matthew broke his arm, but according to Daniel it didn't break through. He called it a fracture or something. He'll be back on board in a month or so for light work. Now for the bad news.”

His captain's head jerked up, fear running though his features. “Bad news? Who didn't make it?”

Timothy's eyes filled up with tears he bravely held back. “Eric. He was in the crow's nest when lightning hit the main mast. We didn't find him until a couple hours after the rain let up. Daniel said the poor man wouldn't have had a chance, even if we had gotten to him earlier.”

“What did you do with the body?” John wasn't sure if he wanted the body to still be on board, but his worries fled when Tim shook his head.

“We covered him and gave him his rest. We couldn't have let his family see him the way he was, even if they did live close. I know you hate writing letters, John, and if you want me to write this one, I will.”

Eric's family didn't live on the large island John and most of his crew hailed from, the blond remembered. “Tim, don't even suggest it. I know you two were friends...why don't you go check on Miles? I'll go to my cabin and start writing it now. See if you can't get some rest.”

“Yessir.”



Jonathan was helping the men repair a frayed line when Samuel surfaced in time for his watch, yawning and shaking off the last vestiges of sleep. He saw his brother and grinned. John rolled his eyes and tossed Sam a small heap of tangled rope that had snapped.

“I hope you realize that these repairs aren't going to last long, John. New rope is going to cost Father a fortune!” The blond man looked at the tangles and growled, recognizing the central knot to be one of his making. “Alright, who made a bird's nest out of this line?”

His brother chuckled. “Sorry about that. In my defense, I did almost break my neck after tripping on it.” He reached over and grabbed a frayed end to wiggle in front of Sam's nose. “I managed to get one end out before giving up.”

Samuel sighed and hitched a hip up on the deck rail to work. “Thank you so very much, Brother Dear.” His blue eyes looked out across the calm ocean. “King Triton's brood must have been in distress earlier. Look at this calm!”

John knotted thin strands of frayed rope together before glancing up. “It's been like that since you went below, but the wind picked up not a moment before sundown.” John's eyes went unfocused, and his brother smiled. Everyone on the ship knew how much their captain wished to learn all the ocean's secrets and thought about them frequently. The captain shook his head slightly and asked in a quiet voice, “Do you really think merfolk exist? Not just in legends, I mean. Do you think they control the ocean with their power?”

Sam set the rope down on his lap. “Father says--”

“I'm not asking what Father believes. I'm asking what you believe, Sam.” John sighed. “I know you expect me to know what your thinking, being your twin and all, but once, just once, I want to hear you state your beliefs aloud.”

The concern in his brother eyes compelled Sam to take a deep breath and gesture to the water. “I believe that the Ocean can't ever be completely controlled by anyone, not even those with mystical powers. She's a passionate mistress, and has Her own ideas about what people want from Her. I believe She tests us by throwing dangerous storms at our men and our ships, and if we please Her, She will reward us with the best a sailor could want: calm seas and windy skies.”

Jonathan glared at his twin when he stopped. “I meant about the merfolk. Your beliefs about the merfolk.”

“I'm getting there, John. I believe tha--” Sam was cut off by a violent coughing fit. Once he recovered, he wiped his watering eyes and saw that his brother had steadied him with a firm hand on his shoulder. “I'm fine, just breathed wrong. John, don't look at me like that, I—” Another cough sent the rope off Sam's lap and forced him to stand to breathe. He tried to make his throat work, but the coughs kept coming, making his head swim and his knees go weak. The blond could only see the wood on the ship's deck coming up to meet him before his world went black.