Probably.
I forced the thought away before it could turn down a road that led me to Naheso. Or Kye.
Or six dead sailors.
But I’d always had reservations about Nori and Olinne. Had always known they kept secrets from me. Things they coveted. Although, I’d always assumed they were simply obscure because I was human, and they were Naiads.
Why had they hidden my heritage from me?
Selena had said to trust my gut when it came to Naiads and their intentions, and my gut could only identify one solid truth—I couldn’t trust any of them. Rather than feeling grateful, or flattered, or proud, I accepted the wine and sipped, listening to my own counsel of silence. Waiting for a definitive reason to decide whether I could keep Selena in my confidence.
“We should try to get you back in the Venus Sea at least once a week,” Selena said after waiting long enough for me to add to her announcement. “After mastering the basic practice of swimming, you’ll need to work on speed, rotation, direction, and efficiency to advance your skills and sharpen your ability to manage energy. You’ll also need to practice your command. Right now, your body wants to be Naiad. If you were to enter saltwater, you’d have trouble remaining human. It’s one of the hardest things to master in the beginning. There will be times you’ll encounter sea salt and must not automatically change, especially if humans are nearby. The Venus Sea is a few hours’ride. It isn’t exactly in our backyard, so we’re working out a solution.”
I narrowed my eyes. “We?”
“Yes,” Selena said, taking a smooth sip of her wine. “Thaan and I.”
My jaw tightened. Unlike my clouded feelings where Nori or Olinne were concerned, I knew for certain my sentiments toward Thaan—firmly secured in the depths of objection to any part he may play in my life. “I don’t like him.”
Selena seemed unbothered by my flare of emotion. “Many people don’t,” she said, watching the liquid slosh in her glass. “We’re designing a glass box for you, which we will fill with Venus Sea water, then transport back. It’ll be tall enough for you to sit up while submerged, and long enough for you to stretch out. The box will offer us two major advantages: routine absorption of salt water on your skin, and practicing your control.”
I reached for my own orange. The fruit was firm and bumpy, and as I thrust my nail into it, a cloud of zesty vapor burst through the air, sending moist dust across my hand. It left my fingertips slightly tacky, almost powdery. “Control—as in, when I chooseto change?”
“Yes,” Selena said. “And also, breath control, and perhaps some temperature control, if you possess the ability.” She tapped her hand on her leg, thinking. “The challenge is evaporation. We’re working out a style of lid that would snugly fit over the top, so we don’t lose water, in case we’re delayed in returning to the sea for a week or two. But you need not worry about any of that. We’ll work it all out.” She waited again for me to say something. Busy peeling a leathery strip of skin from the orange, I separated the crescent-shaped wedges inside and took my first juicy bite. The shock of sweet and sour on my tongue sucked my cheeks in, and Selena smiled at me.
“I have another surprise,” Selena said, standing up from the table and floating out the door. The sounds of boxes stacking and tissue paper ruffling came from the hallway, and Selena returned hidden under an avalanche of bagged and wrapped items. My eyes grew wide at the parcels, cloaked in heavy wrapping paper with shop names stamped in black and tied off in ribbons and bows.
Half an hour later, a barrage of gowns, lace gloves, boots, hats, undergarments, and a small mountain of soaps and oils lay scattered across the room.
I was already beyond overwhelmed when Selena passed me the final box, small but heavy. Well-constructed in sturdy, thin pieces of wood, glued together and wrapped in satin, the lid lifted away with ease, and I peered at the three items inside.
The first, a jewelry box, was ivory-carved and trimmed with silver in the shapes of coral, seashells, and starfish under a glass lid, through which sat dozens of silver hairpins, all the length of her smallest finger.
The next was a hairbrush, a heavy silver handle that widened into a paddle housing soft boar-hair bristles. Like the little jewelry box, the silver was ornately decorated in an underwater landscape, bright and shining, a charcoal color worked into the details, which Selena explained was a chemical process calledantiquing, helping the silver to not tarnish with time.
The last was a mirror.
I knew what it was before I picked it up. The handle and spade were an exact twin of the hairbrush. It lay flat and still at the bottom of the box. I stared at it.
There are no mirrors here. You’ve never seen yourself?
All Leihaniians look the same. I doubt I need to see one.
I could tell you what I see.
The mirror waited. Selena waited. I stretched my fingers, unable to grasp it. I could sense her curiosity; I knew my reaction was peculiar.
The act of seeing myself for the first time felt intimate. Private. Like a secret I wasn't ready to hear nor prepared to share. Swallowing the rawness in my throat, I left the mirror alone, untouched, turning to Selena and attempting my best smile. “It’s all beautiful.”
Selena watched me with soft intensity. She didn’t pry into the shift in my mood, though it was obvious she noticed. Taking a lock of my hair, she twisted it in her fingers affectionately and pulled her hand away, the loose strands falling by themselves back into place.
“I’ll let you get some sleep,” she said, pouring the final splash of wine from the bottle into my glass before padding out the room and quietly closing the door.
My eyes shifted back to the box.
The back of the mirror lay horizontal inside its house of wood and satin.
What was I afraid of? That I would look Leihaniian? That I wouldn’t? That I would see only my father, and therefore, never know what my mother may have looked like?
