Read Between the Sea and Sky for Free Online

any peace unless an attempt was made.
    “Esmerine, you are a sensible girl,” he said. “If anyone can find a way to bring Dosia home, I believe you would. Just be very careful and come back as quick as you can.”
    Esmerine draped all her beads on her neck and loaded her arms with bangles, trying not to think how she would soon give them all away. Clutching the winged statue close, she set off for the House of Decency.
    Because merfolk didn’t wear clothes, the humans required them to stop at a certain point on the outskirts of the city where they could rent the proper attire for venturing on land. Like every young mer, Esmerine had swum close enough to the House of Decency to gaze at it from afar, and also like every young mer, she was disappointed the place didn’t look more exciting. Beyond the sandy beach, a small wooden house with arched windows sat between two tall wooden walls. A weathered sign with a painted picture of a shirt and breeches hung from the left wall.
    Esmerine pumped her tail forward until the water was no deeper than the length of her body, and then she forced the change. She had gotten much better at it over the years, but it was never pleasant. She doubled over as her very bones shifted. Her long fins drew themselves up into tight, dense little feet, then spread into toes that barely glanced the sandy ocean floor, sending a faint, almost ticklish pain across her newborn soles.
    Even though the shore was lonely, Esmerine made a point not to show even a hint of pain as she placed one foot in front of the other and her head emerged from the water, her hair clinging to her back and breasts in tendrils. Dull pain shot from her feet to her knees with every step. She’d heard traders compare it to knives, but it never felt like that to her. The ache was familiar, almost welcome, for she associated it with better days, before Alander and Dosia had disappeared.
    It felt, she thought, like heartbreak, only physical. Like she was tearing apart from the sea with each step. She almost expected it would vanish if she could only put enough distance between her body and the rush of waves.
    Her body felt heavy in the air. Every bangle and bauble suddenly weighed on her neck and her arms. Only her golden siren’s belt still seemed to rest gently against her skin. She trudged across the shore, adjusting her balance as the sand shifted under her feet. By the time she reached the blue door of the House of Decency, she had to force herself not to grit her teeth.
    “Hello!” she called. The snarling face of some unknown beast stared out at her from the center of the door, a large brass ring clutched in its mouth. Esmerine was wondering if she was supposed to pound on it when the door swung open and a young man did a double take at her before shouting behind him, “Madam!”
    He turned back to her, cheeks red. His eyes dropped to her breasts and quickly up to her face again. Esmerine flushed in return. Humans seemed to treat bodies like nasty secrets, and she felt that way when she formed legs.
    “She’ll be along shortly, if you’ll wait there,” he mumbled. Esmerine hardly understood his accent. “We don’t get many lady mermen. I mean, mer ladies.”
    “That’s all right,” Esmerine said, but he was already rushing off. A woman almost immediately came striding along. Her long face reminded Esmerine of a porpoise, only not so friendly. Her clothes were stiff and ruffly, and she moved accordingly.
    “A mer girl,” she said, with a note of surprise that did not extend to her stern expression. “A siren, at that. How odd. Well, you can’t stand there like that. Come along. Did you bring those bracelets to trade?”
    “Yes.”
    “Very well.” She shot a look at the servant boy, who was standing in the hall. “Tell my husband I’m dealing with the girl and he is not to get involved.”
    “Yes, madam.” He scurried off.
    Esmerine followed the woman into a narrow hall that reeked of human—a thick,