Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai Book 2) by Tiana Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

buzzed inside of it—the deep voices and laughter of mermen. I couldn’t tell how many.
    My nerves tightened. Situated just outside of the city, this had to be the military base.
    We rounded the ridge. I stopped short.
    Hundreds of soldiers bustled inside the grotto, darting into caves and emerging with freshly sharpened blades, scarfing down handfuls of eggs, wrapping seaweed around their foreheads to tame floating locks of hair. I sensed weapons of wood, slate, argillite, chert, bone, coral, shells, and barnacles.
    This crater must have been an apartment at one time. Plateaus at the surface offered plenty of space to rest. The walls blocked the currents while camouflaging its inhabitants. It would have also been a haven for food, except all fish and other animals seemed to have scattered.
    Two mermen guarded either side of a gap in the ridge. They looked me up and down with the same scepticism as the guard at the border. Ladon handed the roll of rawhide to one of them before they could say anything. The guard unfurled it, scanned it, and waved us through.
    I swam as discreetly as I could, flanking Katus as though I could blend with him.
    As Katus unbound me, a few stares turned our way. Everyone fell silent. I kept my eyes down, but the change in the surrounding activity was palpable.
    By the time the rope was undone, the attention of the entire vicinity was on the three of us.
    Not us , I thought. Me.
    “A girl ,” someone said. “What’s a girl doing here?”
    “You complaining?” said another.
    “Sugar, what’d you do to end up down here?”
    I dropped an arm to my waist, a habit I’d formed over the years to hide my iron scar. Being a girl was enough reason to stick out, never mind having—
    “Gross! Check that thing out.”
    “Bet she’s too ugly to lure humans so she had to come below surface.”
    “Whatever. I’d still get with that.”
    “You’d do a lingcod if it had blonde hair.”
    A ripple of laughter.
    “Shut it, all of you.”
    A slim merman with dark hair approached, fist wrapped around an axe with a large chert blade. His bright red eyes flicked between Katus, Ladon, and me.
    “What’s this?”
    “The king told us to bring her,” said Ladon.
    “Why?”
    “Whatever you need her for,” said Katus, shoving me towards him.
    “She should be fighting above surface,” said Slim.
    “She blew her chance at that.”
    Slim narrowed his eyes.
    I held my tongue, trying to read him. Though his face was a little beaten, hardened from battle, he had an aura of kindness.
    “You need to keep her here,” said Ladon. “King’s orders.”
    “She’ll be killed in the first battle.”
    I opened my mouth to defend my fighting skills, but decided against it.
    Ladon shrugged. “Not our problem.”
    Slim flicked his gaze between us as though searching for another argument.
    “We done here?” said Katus.
    “Yeah,” said Slim.
    Ladon sneered. “Enjoy the battle, babe. Been fun dragging you back to your cell every day.”
    I twisted and smacked him across the face with my tail. He raised his spear to strike back, but Katus grabbed his arm, and Slim grabbed me.
    “Save it,” said Slim.
    Whistles and laughter rose from the surrounding soldiers.
    Katus and Ladon turned away. I watched them until they disappeared into the blue. Then I looked at Slim properly. He’d drifted away a little, sizing me up.
    He softened. It was more compassion than I’d felt in a long time. I hoped I wasn’t imagining his kindness out of desperation.
    “Why the rope?” he said. “Were they afraid you’d try and escape?”
    When I said nothing, he turned and drifted towards the reef. Still feeling dozens of eyes on me, I followed closely.
    “I recommend you don’t try that here,” he said.
    I grunted. I’d already accepted that my escape would need to be carefully planned. I’d have leagues of open water and that patrolled boundary to deal with—not to mention capital punishment for deserting the army if I was