Read Online The Thief Queen's Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon - Free Book Online

pocket and buttoned it for safekeeping.
    “But I thought I would ask you, anyway. You know a lot of interesting things that nobody else I know does. And I just wanted to say good morning.”
    “Oh,” said the merrow. “Well, good morning. And goodbye.”
    “Wait!” said Ven as she started to dive. “Do you know anything about the Gated City?”
    The merrow looked at him oddly. “That city?” she asked, pointing behind him.
    Ven glanced over his shoulder. In the distance the high wall and guard towers were visible. “Yes,” he said. “That city.”
    “Oh—well, yes, actually, I do,” the merrow said. “There’s a wonderful place to eat there in the center of town called The Mermaid’s Purse that makes terrific clams. It’s got a lovely view, near the eastern wall, at the top of a tall set of stairs.”
    “Really?” Ven asked in amazement.
    The merrow’s face went sour. She slapped the surface with her tail, splattering him with seawater, then waved her lower fin at him.
    “What do you think?” she said sarcastically. “Do I look like I do stairs ?”
    “Er, good point,” said Ven, dripping wet and feeling foolish.
    He smiled sheepishly at the merrow. She was glaring at him.
    The harsh cry of a seabird, high above, shattered the silence. Ven looked up as a giant shadow glided over him. The albatross was circling above; it made one last pass, then flew away out to sea.
    “That bird has been following me since the morning of my birthday in Vaarn,” Ven said, shaking the water out of his hair. He took off his cap with the albatross feather attached to it and shook it dry. “I wish I knew why.”
    “Maybe she likes you,” suggested the merrow scornfully. “Birds aren’t known for having the best of taste. But then, you haven’t been keeping her waiting, I suppose.”
    “I really am sorry about that, Amariel,” Ven said as the merrow crossed her arms. “I would love to come with you to see your world in the sea, and someday I will, if you haven’t lost patience with waiting. But I have to do something for the king today. Even if he did fire me.”
    Amariel’s green eyes grew wide in alarm.
    “He fired you?”
    “I think so,” Ven said.
    The merrow exhaled sharply, then squinted as she looked at Ven.
    “Are you all right?” she asked. “You don’t look burned at all.”
    “No, I mean he told me in front of a lot of people that I don’t have a job with him anymore,” Ven said. “But before he did that, he asked me to find out the story of the stone I showed you. So I’m going into the Gated City today, where it seems to have come from. It’s Market Day, the only day of the week you can get in and out of the city.”
    He stopped talking. Amariel was staring at him in confusion.
    “I didn’t mean to be stupid about the stairs,” he continued. “But I didn’t know if perhaps you had decided to give your cap to someone and grow legs. Didn’t you say merrows could do that if they wanted to explore the dry world?”
    “Yes,” the merrow said disdainfully. “But only stupid merrows. It’s supposed to be a human man that you give your cap to, and my mother says merrows who do that are kept like slaves by the men after that and go all boring and human, forgetting about the sea. Ugh. Believe me, there’s nothing so interesting to me in the dry world that would make me do that .”
    “Well, then, I’m glad,” said Ven. “I wouldn’t want you to change at all from the way you are. Even if I do get splashed occasionally.”
    The merrow’s face softened a bit.
    “Well, I guess I do know one thing about the Gated City,” she admitted. “Remember Asa the fisherman? The one I told you about who can cut gills for you when you’re ready to explore the depths?” Ven nodded. “Well, Asa says there are underwater caves farther up the coast that lead in and out of there. But he warned me never to go near them. I guess the people who live in that place aren’t especially nice—like