Waterfire Saga, Book Four: Sea Spell: Deep Blue Novel, A by Jennifer Donnelly Read Free Book Online Page B

sense of her feelings. She’d promised herself she would, a hundred times at least, but she always ended up backing away, too scared that they wouldn’t understand.
    When you keep a secret, the secret keeps you.
Those were the very words she’d said to Astrid when she was trying to get her to tell the others about her inability to sing. If only she could follow her own advice, but it was so hard to confide in others, to trust them.
    Becca was an orphan, and her early life—spent in a series of foster homes—had taught her that it was unwise to show vulnerability. If you were vulnerable, you were weak, and weak mer had their stuff stolen or got pushed to the back of the line at mealtimes.
    Becca’s early experiences had made her the self-reliant and organized mermaid that she was, and she was proud of that, but those tough years had made her something else, too—a mermaid who was good at giving help but bad at asking for it.
    Becca’s tears were brimming now. She angrily blinked them away. “Stop it. This instant,” she told herself. “Crying won’t help you find a lava seam.”
    Practical to a fault, Becca pushed her painful feelings down and kept swimming. She arrived at the storehouse a few minutes later, unlocked it, and swam inside. Glancing around, she spotted some shovels leaning against a wall.
    The work crew in charge of the lava detail had covered a lot of seafloor, but there was a good deal more to search. Becca grabbed a shovel, locked the storehouse, then swam north through the black water, determined to get a head start on the day, organize her work crews, keep everything and everyone under tight control.
    It was the only way to silence the one thing she couldn’t control: her willful, traitorous heart.

M AHDI WATCHED closely as Vallerio, Miromara’s high commander, moved tiny marble soldiers across a map that lay on the table in front of them. Mahdi’s dark eyes were troubled. He’d returned from the western border an hour ago, only to be pulled into a military meeting.
    “We have over fifty thousand weapons hidden in warehouses throughout Qin,” Vallerio said, frowning, “and the same number of troops infiltrating the realm. The question is: Do I move more soldiers in and attack now, or do I wait?”
    “For what?” Portia Volnero, Vallerio’s wife, asked, with an impatient toss of her head. “The sooner Qin is ours, the better.” She’d recently returned from Ondalina, where she’d forced the new admiral, Ragnar Kolfinnsson, to swear allegiance to Miromara.
    “I’m worried about the Black Fins,” Vallerio said. “I’ve sent battalions to the Southern Sea as well. Just in case.”
    “In case of what?” Mahdi asked. He knew, but his information had come from Sera, not Vallerio, so he had to pretend ignorance or Vallerio might become suspicious.
    “In case of trouble,” Vallerio said evasively. “One of our allies has…” He paused slightly, then said, “…
interests
there that require our protection.”
    “Which ally is that?” Mahdi pressed.
    “You haven’t met him yet. But you will. All in good time,” Vallerio assured Mahdi. His tone brooked no further discussion. Mahdi let the matter drop, but he knew who the unnamed ally was: Orfeo.
    The fact that Vallerio was moving troops into the Antarctic waters raised the scales on Mahdi’s tail. Was Orfeo planning to enter those waters soon? He would have to get word to Sera, via his courier. Allegra, a Miromaran farmer, secretly brought and took message conchs for Mahdi when she delivered produce to the palace kitchens.
    Vallerio frowned at the map now. “If the Black Fins discover we’ve moved so many of our soldiers out of Miromara, they might attack us.”
    Portia laughed. “The Black Fins shouldn’t worry you, Vallerio. According to our spy, Guldemar only gave Serafina twenty thousand troops. She wouldn’t dare attack with such a paltry number.”
    Vallerio’s frown deepened. “Serafina has Guldemar’s ear. She