Faint traces of moonlight filtered through the waters to the seabed. A human would have called Tenebrous Chasm a place of utter darkness, but Nyi Rara’s mer eyes could make out a dance of shadows in the depths.
A plethora of vibrant scents drifted on the ocean currents. Fish, of many kinds. Mer, concealed within the chasm. And decay—rotting corpses far below being slowly devoured. No blood left though.
It made her gills itch, nonetheless.
“Easy,” her father said, swimming up beside her.
Nyi Rara flashed a mirthless smile, not bothering to conceal that her shark teeth had descended in agitation. “This is a mistake. You cannot trust the Hiyoyans.”
Her father peered into the chasm, then glanced back at his assembled crew. Merchants, mostly, though they had a pair of Rangers among them, and common warriors as guards. Father had left Nyi Rara’s older sister in charge of the ‘ohana while they were away, insisting Nyi Rara come along and witness this historic deal. A deal that was meant to heal the rift between Mu and Hiyoya, or at least begin the process.
A reversal of the Sundering.
That, Nyi Rara thought, sounded unbelievable. The two mer societies had held in tenuous peace—or even open skirmishes—for all the centuries since they’d split apart. Reconciliation would require forgoing vengeance for more than two thousand years of grievances. It was before Nyi Rara was born, before many of the mer now were born, but her father remembered the time when Mu was a single people.
He leant in close to her. “If this truly allows for a blending of societies, Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana may have the chance to reclaim the throne.”
“‘Ohana is everything,” Nyi Rara intoned, hardly thinking about it. Their family had lost the throne so very long ago—retaining only the titles of prince and princess for her bloodline. So long, only a handful in the ‘ohana had lived back then. Still, she would enjoy putting the bitch queen Aiaru in her place.
Would enjoy it … if it were possible. But Tenebrous Chasm was a no man’s land dividing Mu from Hiyoya to the south. Tales told that any who swam here failed to swim out again. Some claimed the he‘e—sentient octopuses—occupied the chasm, for it lay near enough to their Aupuni. Others believed the Hiyoyans themselves patrolled the depths, hunting for trespassers. Once, her cousin Tilafaiga had even told her a rumour that a taniwha lurked down in the darkness, though the great sea dragons were almost all gone now.
The merchants carried shells filled with trade goods. Worked jewellery of pearl and gold, human-wrought iron—it didn’t last long, but it had numerous uses—coral knives, and some prize Father seemed especially convinced would entice even the most reluctant of Hiyoyan merchants into a trade.
Nyi Rara grimaced, shaking her head. “I have misgivings. Severe misgivings.”
Father had arranged this trade envoy with Queen Aiaru’s blessings, but if it went wrong, Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana would bear the blame for it.
“It’s too late,” her father said. “They know we’re here. We cannot simply swim away. This is our chance to restore Dakuwaqa. Trust me.”
“‘Ohana is everything,” Nyi Rara mumbled, even as her father swam down into Tenebrous Chasm. A trio of warrior mer swam out ahead of them, led by a Ranger whose senses were no doubt even more acute than Nyi Rara’s own.
The deeper she swam, the chillier things seemed to grow. Mer had plenty of tolerance for the cold—those in the North Sea lived in frigid depths—but Nyi Rara didn’t exactly enjoy it. Her gaze darted from side to side, sweeping over shifting shadows, hunting for any sign of predators.
Mer were, in a sense, humanoid sharks, and thus few creatures of the deep truly saw them as prey. Few, yes, but he‘e might ambush them, and there were always benthic monstrosities like taniwha that would eat just about anything. Priests claimed they all hailed from the Elder Deep, but that didn’t mean mer shared any kinship with those behemoths.
A shifting in the waters, a minor disturbance, as someone swam around behind them. Hiyoyan scouts, no doubt. Come to watch them. Come to see if her father was true to his word.
Their Ranger banked to the side, descending deeper, having clearly spotted something Nyi Rara could not yet make out. Tattoos enhanced the Mana of Dakuwaqan Rangers, allowing them to push their hosts beyond the physical limits even other mer could manage. Stronger, faster, and keener of awareness. The ultimate warriors.
Possibly insane, of course.
She had often wondered whether the power itself unhinged the Rangers, or whether the unstable were the only ones able to survive the process of—
The Ranger slowed, allowing them to draw up and catch sight of the Hiyoyan envoy. Seven mer: three mermen, four mermaids. Others swam around the merchants, tridents and coral knives at the ready, tails twitching in anticipation of aggression. The Hiyoyan ‘ohanas seemed to have tails more in the blue and green spectrum, whereas most Dakuwaqans like herself had orange, red, or yellow tails. And all of the Hiyoyans had descended their shark teeth, flexing their webbed fingers, looking more than ready for a fight.
Her father pushed forward around the Ranger and twirled his tail in greeting. “I am Prince Ikatere of Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana.”
One of the mermaids swam forward a few feet. “Inemes of Rongomai ‘Ohana, cousin to Queen Latmikaik of Hiyoya.”
A moment of silence followed, Nyi Rara’s father shifted in the water, while the Hiyoyans looked around with visible nervousness. It seemed their side had just as many misgivings about any overtures toward peace as the Muians did.
Her father beckoned a hand to his merchants, not bothering to look back at them. One thing Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana had managed to hold onto was extensive trade contacts, reaching all across the Worldsea, from Ryūgū-jō in the East Sea all the way to far Cantref Gwaelod in the West Sea. They had goods no one else in this region could easily come up with, and Hiyoya must know that.
The merchants swam forward and began opening their treasure trove of goods. Even in the near darkness of the chasm, hints of light reflected off gems and jewellery, though Nyi Rara imagined the Hiyoyans would have to value the iron even more.
Inemes cocked her head and Hiyoyan merchants swam forward, revealing sacks of glittering pearls that must have come from far off indeed. With that much wealth, Dakuwaqa could almost buy their way back into power.
“A fine arrangement,” her father said. “Of course, for the real prize, I require a trade worth more than any pearl. Any other pearl, at least.”
What was that all about?
“You have it?” Inemes asked.
Her father nodded, now beckoning forward a mer who held a clamshell shut between his arms. At a signal from her father, the mer cracked the shell open, spilling blue-green radiance into the chasm, so bright Nyi Rara had to shield her eyes after the adjusting to the darkness.
Blinking, she gaped at what lay within the clam. A glowing pearl the size of her fist, one that seemed almost aflame even underwater. Indeed, the currents around it pulsed, responding to its power. That was a … a wish pearl, a Chintamani. A physical manifestation of coalesced Mana stronger than any other. She had thought they were all lost during the Sundering. The priests claimed the loss of the Chintamaniya had resulted in the loss of mastery over the taniwha.
All Nyi Rara could do was stare, awed. Its power thrummed through the waters, tickling her skin and scales, as if someone massaged her whole body all at once. It left her giddy, euphoric.
And this was madness. Her father would trade one of the greatest treasures in all the Worldsea to Hiyoya. That was … treason. If Queen Aiaru learnt he had traded away the Chintamani, at any price, the Elder Deep alone knew what the queen would do.
“A fitting bride-gift for a queen, I would say,” her father said.
Oh. Oh, by the Deep. Father intended to marry Queen Latmikaik of Hiyoya. And return Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana to glory by crushing Queen Aiaru the usurper beneath their combined forces.
