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I frowned. I hadn’t realized I had. “You both talk about me when I’m not around?”
Rainn threw his head back and laughed as if I’d said the most hilarious thing. “Of course. I know almost everything about Tor and the others. But you, Maeve Cruinn, are still very much a mystery.”
“I’m not a mystery.” His mirth was contagious. “I’ve always been told I can’t keep my emotions from my face,” I said.
Shay and Tor swam through the curtains at the tent's entrance, and a moment later, Rainn and I joined them. The jeering calls of the vendors, with their stalls lining the walkway to the stage at the center of the tent. The Guppie Market was almost a city unto itself.
As we swam toward the stage, I took in all of the sights like a child in awe. I couldn’t help but wish I had some coin to spend.
I’d never had much choice in my life. My clothes had often been chosen for me, and then later, once I’d left Cruinn, I’d worn what was available. I had no jewelry to call my own, no treasures or belongings save for the pack on my shoulders.
As I eyed my mates, each taking in the sights with curiosity, I felt the chasm between us widen. Shay, Rainn, and Tor had so much, and I had so little.
Anything I had was because they had given it to me. Was I a burden?
I shook my head to clear it, forcing a smile on my face as I pulled Rainn toward a stall that sold different Pebbles sets—to which I explained the game to the selkie for the umpteenth time. Rainn rolled his eyes but bought himself a set.
A few stalls ahead, Tor spotted a food vendor specializing in octopus, seasoned and rolled in a flattened fillet of white fish.
He bought several portions of food and pushed them into Rainn’s hands either as a begrudging gift or because he didn’t want to hold them. I couldn’t tell.
The food stalls served peasant fare. Many of the vendors in the Guppie Market didn’t use magic like the kitchens I’d seen at the Reeds.
Wine was a luxury underwater, needing a specially designed bottle or bubble charm on the lip of the glass, and the select sellers proudly boasted signs with gold lettering—announcing the height of luxury.
I stopped at the soap-silt vendors with pouches of all different colors and textures.
The orange and pink striped tent pinched at the rooftop, at the heart of the market. The stage sat empty of people and ringed with ropes swaying with the current.
We sat at the edge of the stage as the music began to play. A single fiddle, haunting and alone.
Rainn and Tor shared their food. Rainn was intent on stuffing his face, while Tor was more interested in the crowd. Assessing every Fae within sight as if they were a threat.
Only Shay seemed interested in the stage, as a flurry of dancers swam like a school of fish—their outfits sparkled orange and red like flames, skin-tight save for the capes fluttering in the water.
The nymphs favored drums for their music, without words. The sound of a heartbeat.
The undine preferred music that told a story, even at balls where dancing was expected. Their music spoke of tragedy, and the string instruments often sang with sadness and desperation.
Dagda, great and mighty,
Of the Tuatha Dé Danann
Fell in love with two gals,
The Deep and the Boann.
The dancers swam, every move in unison, as they curled to form a moving ball in the water, like the sun.
Shay was fixated on the dancers, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he looked up at the Fae moving as one.
I felt the magic in the song—an Órán Sidhe, but not one as powerful as Finula had been.
The Dadga promised Boann,
His lover, tried and true,
A bouncing baby child,
