The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER TEN

Armida crept into the hut that had remained empty during their training, and maybe during previous trainings, too. She tried to recall other Rites and the number of Initiates, who had come before and when. Her memory was a winter fog, heavy and unrelenting. Disappointment at her ignorance about so many things, willful or not, shot through her.

Pallets slung with coarse cloth rested along the walls. A sturdy table stood in the center of the room. Dry leaves curled underneath the furniture, and a thick layer of dirt coated every horizontal surface. Spiderwebs in the corners caught in the breeze, blowing like small sails carrying their shriveled captives to an unknown fate.

The aloneness was what she found, and it was what she sought, for building resolve. To be certain of her course. No Torquato with his wisdom. No Delfina with her virtue. No Isabetta with her empathy. No Rinaldo with his generosity and love.

The hut should have held more Initiates. But the years of a thriving population were gone.

Their absence filled the space.

The problem was with the sea herself. Too warm. Too polluted. So different from the sea of Armida's youth. Her parents, every adult, for too long had neglected the truth Armida had suffered: the ocean was dying and taking Marea with it.

"I will not call you Boop-boop these days. But I'm still allowed to worry, am I not?" Torquato entered and sat on the pallet nearest the door.

Muck.

"You can—if you agree I can ask you the hard questions—and you answer honestly."

"I will always tell you the truth."

"Then educate me on what in our history created even a temporary need to live among the Terrans. Especially, if as you say, they do not know we exist."

"They knew once. The Antichi told of those times when the Terrans tried to enslave us. But the Antichi had great vision to hide in deep caves. We have become but fables to Terrans."

"Then why do we not always remain water-bound?"

"I can only tell you our dual nature has always existed. As to why, that information was lost to time. Every Revealer seeks the existence of the power in the words of the Antichi, but either they chose not to include the knowledge, or we cannot divine the fullness of their teachings. But we now believe it will serve merfolk well in response to the current crisis."

"How can you continue to follow their teachings when they have left us with the unknowable?"

"Unknowable is different from unexplored. We must start somewhere. As you are presently starting."

An exhale whistled from Armida's lips. "With the Terran history of enslavement, why do you send any to them? When, even without memory, they would kill us? You still have not explained the purpose of living as Terrans."

"We live among Terrans to hear the whispers, to make sure we stay as legends. Some of them may yet remember the tales heard at their grandparents' knees. Our guard should always be raised. And, as the world changes, we must learn how their world might affect us. We must know what they know, learn how they impact our ocean."

Armida stood and circled the interior of the hut. "And what about what has been asked of us? How can we four be enough? Enough to fill the emptiness coming relentlessly for Marea?"

"I am sorry, Armida. Your questions expose our inadequacies. You are perceptive in that you may not be enough. We have ignored the problem for too long."

"It is not fair. If you had acted sooner...."

"Many things are not fair. I admit we were irresponsible in our blindness to what today is obvious."