What do you mean?
Look at the Copycat, Moran snapped his fingers, and a creature that looked like a huge white spider slid off the frame of the trundle. It straightened up to its full height and suddenly became the first minister Ramiro.
Desdemona gasped.
I didnt know his grace was also a morgen.
Ramiro is not a morgen, Moran objected. Show her the other changes of guise!
And now in front of Desdemona already was the same handsome Lancier, about whom Vaira chirped endlessly. He smiled impudently at her and showed his fingers with webbing. It was immediately clear that this was not Lancier. In a fraction of a minute, the creature called Copycat took on a succession of guises, from royal advisors to lackeys. Toward the end, it took the form of all the brothers in turn, and even Desdemonas father.
Thats it! Enough! She demanded.
The creature crawled nimbly back behind the frame of the drawer, and from there climbed up the wall. It looked like a fancy ivory ornament.
It can turn into women, too, Moran boasted.
As if to confirm his words, the Imitator sat down at the top of the arch and suddenly turned into Desdemona herself, exactly copying her figure, hair and dress.
It would frighten everyone to death if it repeated the trick in public, Desdemona turned away from the double.
But you can drive your enemies crazy that way. Imagine if no one warned you about the Copycat, but you see your copy mimicking you everywhere.
And youre afraid the naval ambassador will come to you in my guise? You cant tell me from a Morgen unless I give you a sign.
Moran shrugged.
Its best if we both know about the visitor and look him out. If you denounce him, dont hesitate to tell him youve figured out his secret. Father will be pleased to know that my queen is not a simpleton. Then he wont impose his rules or his help on us.
And what if we need his help one day? Desdemona thought of the sunken temple. Would a sea king be able to take control of that place?
Im used to handling everything myself, Moran disappointed her.
Why should you cherish your independence when somewhere at the bottom of the sea there is a powerful father who can sink the whole world for you?
Ill explain later, Moran was withdrawn.
He led Desdemona out into the garden and to an arbor, which was braided by a blue sea tree with a scaly trunk. Moran plucked one fruit from it.
Would you like a taste?
It is to lose your mind or your memory?
It is to learn to hear the gossip that the waves carry to the shore.
Sounds tempting, but Desdemona didnt dare.
Some other time, she promised. The tree moving its living roots beneath the gazebo frightened her a little. Besides, she still didnt know how much she could trust Moran. He was courteous to her. It was easy to fall in love with him, but it was a little scary to trust a morgen.
The basilica behind the garden with its doors ajar clearly displayed sculptures of gods that looked like they came from the sea. Desdemona gazed at them mesmerized. The marble figures were beautiful and frightening. She had seen something like them before in the cathedrals of the city. The goddesses had tails instead of legs or shells in place of ears, the gods had gills and scales.
These are the original gods of the land, Moran explained. I have seen them all alive, and to me they are not gods at all, but only my fathers subjects. This is the statue of Ariana. You call her Pheean, the goddess of the waves. Apparently, thats how the name was heard by someone who heard it only as an echo of mermaid talk.
Desdemonas attention was distracted by the Copycat. He crawled along the ceilings of the arches to the basilica and took the form of a lady of fire.
Moran seemed to have called the dragon lady Sephora.
What do you and the fire-breathing lady have in common? Desdemona dared to ask.
Well, Moran reluctantly stretched out. She is much older than me. Thats whats causing all the trouble.
Is it a few years older? I thought you were a hundred, Desdemona snickered.
Moran pretended not to feel the pinprick.
She is a few millennia older. But thats a small thing to her. Creatures like her only add beauty and strength over time. Its humans who age quickly.
Thats right! Desdemonas sad. Shes human. And shes to be sacrificed. And if they dont sacrifice her, shell grow old anyway, and she wont be able to be Morans mate anymore.
Wont you grow old?
Ive only grown a hundred years, but have I reached maturity? said Moran sullenly. At the bottom, I am too young, and if you tell my age to people, they will be stunned.
It wasnt age that stunned me, Desdemona admitted. What does it matter how many hundreds of years old a creature with a pleasant ever-young face is? It is the fact that youre half human and half morgen
I dont know if I was born this way or if the legend is right. My father split me in two with a sword when my mother tried to escape him back to the humans. I am one half Morgen, one half human.
Even Desdemona heard the legend of Lilophea in the Adars wilderness. It seems that the princess who escaped back to the land, the sea husband issued an ultimatum: if she did not return, they would have to divide the children equally. Half the mother would take back to the land. Half would stay with the father in the sea. Lilopheas sons were an uneven number, and it became necessary to cut the odd seventh son in half. Lilophea apparently did not have any mermaid daughters at that time. Hearing the ultimatum, she returned. But was it really like that? Or was Lilophea not going to leave the sea kingdom forever from the very beginning? Apparently, the princess had a flighty temper. She could only banter with her consort. It would be a shame if something bad really happened to Moran because of her jokes.
Do your brothers have different bodies? Did they inherit any human traits from their mother?
Normal watermen have blue skin and shell-shaped growths on their temples and foreheads. You wouldnt mistake them for humans if they wore an ermine robe over their shoulders.
Are the chosen girls sacrificed to such creatures?
Moran remained sullenly silent.
Who is a sea god to you: an annoying nuisance to unlimited power or an insignificant inhabitant of the sea?
The sea itself is becoming dangerous! Moran squinted at the waves like an attacking enemy. It belongs to my father and brothers, not to me. That is why I am here. In the kingdom my mother would return to if she could leave the depths.
What happens if the sea cant do without a victim?
In that case, I have a friend named Sephora who can turn the waves into fire. There are talismans that turn a pool of water into a pool of fire. Thats how we met. I fended off a big bay that wasnt my fathers, and she flew by and the water turned to flames. I almost got fried, but Sephora saved me. Then it turned out that she had befriended my mother long before I was born. I was attracted to her for nothing. To her, Im the child of an old acquaintance, thats all. But she can ignite the entire sea around Aquilania if you ask her to.
Desdemonas heart is relieved. So Sephora is no match for her! But there was another cause for concern.
It is to turn the whole sea into fire! Is that possible?
Its a last resort, Moran said.
And you have to do it for something?
If my enemies are suddenly stronger than I am, which is unlikely, Moran said. Sephora could ignite the entire ocean. Thats something we can negotiate with her. The bad thing is that then we, the Earthlings, and all those who live in the water will die in the fire.
So theres no way out. If it becomes necessary to fight Darunon, the country will either burn or sink. Desdemona returned to her room, looked at the bouquet of luxurious lilies that Moran had brought her in the morning, and realized that beautiful flowers no longer pleased her. For the abyss was near. The floor beneath her feet no longer felt like she was about to become a mermaid with a tail and a creepy sea god pulling her to the bottom.