“But Jilly will be coming back,
I’ll go out when the ocean’s black.
I’ll break’er bond wit’ the cold, dark sea.
Because the best mer folk is me.”
As the tavernwhoops a final time, I look to the source of the voice. My fingers continue to play on instinct now that I’m no longer wallowing in the horror of what I’ve done.
I lock eyes with Davien. He’s singing with the rest of them, leading the tavern toward the end of the song.
“Soon there’s a beach of three.
Jilly girl, child, and me.
Soon we’ll be happy again.
And we’ll live to a hundred an’ ten.”
The musicians continueto play as I duck away from the band and back to the side, returning the lute to where I found it. My face is flushed and I can feel it only get redder as I step off the stage to a small amount of applause. I try and duck my head with shame…but the encouraging smiles people give me, the pats on the shoulders…by the time I reach Davien, I’ve a smile of my own.
“You look horribly smug.” He sounds upset, but his face hasn’t received the note, because he wears a grin that seems almost impressed.
“I don’t know if smug is the right word.” I look back toward the stage, where the band is still playing and people are still dancing and twirling. I only just finished performing, and already want to go back. “I’ve never done anything like that before, and I’m surprised by how good it felt,” I admit to both myself and him.
Davien seems startled by this admission because he promptly changes the topic. “You really shouldn’t be wandering by yourself alone.”
“I thought it was safe in Dreamsong?”
“It is.”
“And Vena told me to go and enjoy the town. That’s what I did.” I shrug. “Besides, I wasn’t completely alone. Had the best guide in all of Dreamsong.”
“About that…” Davien’s voice gets heavier with frustration and he looks over to the table Raph and I have been standing at. Hol is there now. He stands next to a woman with long black hair and curving ram’s horns. The two are giving a proper scolding to Raph.
“Hey—” I push past Davien. “Don’t be mean to him, he was only helping me. I asked him to.”
Hol gives me a very, very tired look. Even though they couldn’t have been talking with Raph for more than a few minutes, he looks as if he’s had this conversation for hours. “There’s a difference between ‘being mean’ and necessary discipline.”
I shudder. He sounds just like Joyce.
“Do you know what you could’ve done?” the woman snaps at Raph.
“I wasn’t gonna harm her!” Raph insists. “I just wanted to see how long she could dance for.”
The woman grabs him by the ear and tugs on it lightly, hissing into it, “She’s human. She breaks far easier than we do.”
“I agreed to his terms willingly,” I say. I can’t stand to see Raph treated this way because of me. I wonder what they’ll do to him. I can only imagine fae punishments will be even worse than Joyce’s. “I don’t mind one dance.”
A heavy hand falls on my shoulder. I look up to see Davien. “You need to be more careful about the deals you make here,” he says solemnly. “You agreed to a dance without setting any terms, any limitations. Raph could’ve made you dance until you died from exhaustion. He could’ve made you dance into a river.”
“But…” My voice quivers slightly. Just when I thought I was safe. “He said he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“He wouldn’t have intentionally. But Felda is right, he didn’t think through how it might impact you. He’s young and foolish.”
“Now,” Hol says firmly. “You will absolve her of all deals she’s made with you.”
“Do I have to?” Raph whines.
