Chapter 14Vera

Chapter 14

Vera

“Oooh! I’m so excited. I love watching the Selach Swim!” Cetia was putting yet another decoration in her hair.

For someone who didn’t really wear clothing, she was adorned to the nines today. She had silver tinselly strands clipped into her hair, and so many gems and shells that if she was out of the water, the weight would have been overwhelming. Silver and midnight blue patterns were drawn all over her tail and torso. They reminded me of stylized corals.

There were dark smoky rings drawn around her eyes, and her lips were painted a frosty purple. She also had a fancy harness around her torso that functioned as her version of a purse.

I had one too, but it wasn’t encrusted with gems and inlaid with mother of pearl. Now that I actually had belongings here, though, it was nice to have something in which to carry them around. I had my new contact conch, of course, which was not only a way for me to reach Cetius if we got separated but also a way for me to pay for goods and services around Coral’s Deep.

I always kept a tiny container of the salve with me too; I found it very soothing for my skin, and I even used it sometimes as lip balm. I also kept a teeny tiny blade that I used instead of claws whenever I encountered packaging or anything else designed for those with claws or suckers.

Then there were the very useful devices I’d learned about from another human on the forums living in Coral’s Deep. They looked like latex gloves when crumpled up but were actually disposable one-time-use connectors that helped me use the public facilities.

All in all, I was slowly and surely adapting to life under the sea. Cetius and I were heading out on our trip to the surface in a few days, technically our honeymoon, but today was special as well. As Cetia couldn’t stop reminding me, it was the Selach Swim.

The Selach Swim happened every year on the same day. They closed off the streets, installed barriers along the sides to protect the audience, then released a giant selach into the area. The participants, mostly young males in their prime and, in recent years, females with something to prove, swam from the starting point to the end without getting eaten.

Surviving wasn’t the only goal. It was also a race, and the first one who passed the finish line would be crowned the Selach Prince for the year—or Princess. The problem was, they didn’t know where the selach would be roaming, and this one was no juvenile like I’d seen on the reef. This selach could, and would , eat a Thalassonian whole. Being first also meant you “won” the opportunity to face the selach first as well.

Personally, I thought it was absolutely bonkers, and I doubled down on my beliefs when I found out that Cetius was running, or rather swimming, in it this year. He swam it every year, in fact, and had even held the title of the Selach Prince once when he was younger.

Cetia had her eye on chatting up this year’s Prince or one of the runners-up. Me? I just didn’t want my husband to get chomped a few days before our honeymoon.

I nervously swiped a little bit more of the my-lips-but-glitterier pigment onto my lips. It was as close as I could get to the lowkey makeup I was used to back home. Everything here had tons of mica in it, or this planet’s equivalent of it, and shimmered. Matte was an unknown texture. I guess this was to be expected since the Thalassonian’s natural scales had a bit of iridescence. I was already married to the only triton I wanted to impress.

“You ready?”

“Yup.”

Cetia looked me up and down critically, then bared her teeth in approval. I had acquired my own set of clips and attached several fresh leaves and flowers from the garden to my hair, all of them in Cetius’s colors of blue, silver, and purple. I was a hell of a lot more accessorized than I’d ever been on Earth or at the space station, that was for sure, but I’d learned that just because I didn’t need to wear clothes didn’t mean I had to be naked. There were plenty of other ways to adorn myself.

“Good. Let’s go. I reserved two prime spots for us. We’ll have a perfect view of the winner as they cross the line into safety.”

The race was taking place in the very center of the city through the tallest of buildings. Closing off the busiest sector of what I had come to think of as the downtown core only happened once a year for this event.

Cetia hadn’t been kidding when she said we had prime spots. Not only were they in the first row right by the finish line, they were also in the middle of the water column between the ocean floor and the net at the top that prevented the selach from escaping. Participants could swim up and out through the nets if they needed to, but such a maneuver was for emergencies only and would disqualify them from the race.

Every precaution was taken not to let the giant beast be hurt. The people of Coral’s Deep revered selachs of this size and it was considered bad luck to harm them. At the end of the race, which I was glad to hear did not end with any of the participants being eaten…usually…large schools of fish were funneled into the racetrack so the selach could feed well before it was released again.

The race was filmed from multiple points along the course, and there was a giant screen right across from us. Currently, it was showing the participants limbering up right before the race. There was a brief shot of Cetius with his friend Iravan, who somehow looked even more like a sea serpent today than when I’d met him before.

Then the screen cut to a shot of the giant selach, already swimming through the buildings, and I had a mini freak out. This thing was huge . The size of a small building type of huge. It made the shark from Jaws, another Earth classic, look like a tub toy.

It was currently circling low down around the buildings, but a shot of the net above showed that it had already tried escaping its temporary prison. It wasn’t cute little fishing nets that protected the spectators. The cables were as thick as my arm.

Suddenly, I sensed something behind me. I turned around—I was getting much better at that, in fact moving around in general —and saw Cetius. No. Not Cetius. This Thalassonian looked very much like him, with the same coloring and handsome features. But something was off. This was not my husband.

“So, this is the human Starlight Brides found for my dear brother.” There was a note in his voice that had the hairs on my arms standing up on end. “Not too bad at all.”

The way he leered at me, his eyes lingering on my breasts, was gross. I knew I was naked, but I really felt naked now. If I were a Thalassonian or a fish, my spines would have raised in defense.

So this was Cetius’s brother. I’d figured he’d look like Cetius, but I hadn’t expected a carbon copy. Except the constant sneer made all the difference.

I moved ever so slightly to be a little bit closer to Cetia, who had turned to level a gaze at her brother.

“Algrim. Not swimming today?” Cetia asked, completely ignoring his words.

“I have already won the title. I do not need to win it again.”

“Shouldn’t you be watching the race with Nerial then?” Cetia looked around for the female.

I did, too. But I didn’t see her anywhere.

“She is with friends. I thought I’d join my sisters”—yes, sisters plural, and his eyes landed briefly on me (eww)—“in the spectator stands.”

He settled on the other side of me, and I tried to shove away the strange, uncomfortable feeling it gave me as the participants lined up at the starting line. The cables at the beginning and end were spaced wide enough for them to get through, but not the giant selach. Each racer held on to one of the cables and waited for the signal. There was a resounding boom of a cannon that had the water around me vibrating, and the race was on.

The participants immediately fanned out, some rising to the top of the water column, some sinking to the bottom. Others stayed near the center where they started. The first section was straight, and it was very clear to all that the selach was not here.

The audience could see exactly on a screen where the selach was. It had been lying in wait after the second bend. But now that it detected movement in the water, it started to swim toward the starting line.

When the participants got to the first corner, they slowed and peered around, checking for any signs of the selach. When they saw none, they rounded the bend and sped along. I was on the edge of my seat as the selach turned the corner itself and found several dozen snack-sized morsels swimming toward it.

The creature was at the center of the column, and those swimming there darted either up or down to safety. The selach looked around, unsure who to choose, before eventually chasing one poor merman for a bit before deciding he wanted an octopus snack instead.

Then, a flash of fluke and fin caught its attention, and it lost interest in the tentacled participant and went for the flash of green and yellow instead. This continued throughout the race. It was heart-stopping excitement, especially when the selach took note of Cetius and started chasing him for a while.

If I were on land, I would have held my breath, but then it lost interest and started chasing a different Thalassonian, this one with red and orange coloring. It kept after this particular contestant for a long time. The way he was colored, he might as well have been waving a bright red flag at a bull.

Suddenly the video cut out, and there was a groan of collective disappointment throughout the spectator stands. Algrim got up from his reclining position and went to the front, placing his hand on the cables and peering through them. The cables were closer together here in the spectator area.

A voice came onto a loudspeaker to apologize for the technical difficulties and assure us that they had a team working on it. Despite this, the video feed was never restored. I started swimming back and forth in our private spectator stand, worrying for Cetius. I knew that my ability to see him or not didn’t change anything, but I was still frantic.

Soon, there was an announcement that the first participants were rounding the last corner. Algrim was still clutching the cables, his body tense as he scanned up and down the water column. Cetia and I joined him, and I mentally prayed that Cetius was okay.

Cetius was the second to round the corner after a green and yellow triton, swimming just a little above the center of the water column. Iravan was next, just a short distance behind. Higher up the water column, the red and orange Thalassonian came into view. At first, there was no sign of the selach, but then a huge form suddenly slammed into the cables at the corner as the giant beast slowed to bank the turn. It was up by the top nets, and its eyes were still firmly on the red and orange guy.

Just then there was a loud gasp, and all heads turned to look lower. What I saw had my blood running cold.

There was an arrow, so big it might as well be a spear, sticking out of Cetius’s chest. What the fuck?

Iravan had passed him for a second but immediately went back to help him, pulling him by the shoulder. The scent of blood in the water caught the selach’s attention and it immediately turned and torpedoed toward my husband.

The sea serpent was strong, but with the additional drag of Cetius’s weight they were both going to become the selach’s dinner.

“Do something!” I yelled, looking around wildly.

Cetia grabbed my hand and swam toward the organizers lined up at the finish line. They were all just floating there with stunned looks on their faces.

By the time we got to them, the red and orange triton had dived down to help with the rescue effort; the green and yellow one had doubled back as well. There was no honor in winning due to foul play. The red and orange one grabbed Cetius as the green and yellow one distracted the selach. Together, they swam for the finish line.

My heart was pounding in my chest as they hauled him through the cables to safety. My legs were already moving, flutter kicking me down to meet him even as Cetia pulled me along.

Cetius was unconscious, the arrow still sticking out of him.

I latched onto his body desperately.

Everything that happened next was a blur. There were bright lights and people asking questions, and soon I was being pulled away as healers rushed to his side.

I struggled to get back to him, but a strong arm pulled me away. When I finally turned around, I saw that it was Algrim’s claws digging into my arm.

And he was smiling.