12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Meria

I swam through the corridors of the palace on my way to my room. I was quite despondent, but I needed to gather a few things, and then, I would go find my mother. If I could find her, perhaps, she could tell me what the book I had found meant. She was the only mer who had ever spoken openly about her fear that the lights which were dimming might go out completely someday. She had also wondered about life above the waves, according to my father. I needed to speak with her. I burst into my room. Finding a small satchel, I put in a few shells and some other items that were special to me. I felt such sadness. I turned back to glance at my room one last time; then I nodded my head and swam out.

The halls were already empty. All the merpeople had evacuated. As I swam to the entrance of our city, I saw Edmar there, swimming back and forth in front of the doors as if on guard.

Oh, fish guts!

I had to confront him.

Great, that is the last thing I want. Although I did not want to interact with him at all, I needed him to know that I was aware of what he’d done, and that there was no chance for us to be wed after what he’d done to me.

“Meria, you need to evacuate.” Edmar pulled at my wrist, but I pulled away from him.

“Okay,” I said, ashamed of myself for being a coward.

Tell him. You just told your father. Although even with him, I held back.

“What is the matter?” he asked in his polite way, and I wondered if that was an act, too. Was everything between us an act? Why did he have to be so observant when I just wanted to move past him and leave?

“My father–” I started, but could not finish as Edmar spoke over me.

“Ah, yes. I hope you will listen to what he advised you today,” he said, touching my cheek.

I pulled away from him.

“I should go,” I said, trying to move away, but he put an arm out to stop me.

Tell him, my soul begged me.

“You will obey your father, won’t you? I could not see myself with anyone but you, Meria,” he said with a smile, but for good reason, I did not think it sweet. He was clearly indicating that he would not like me if I questioned and disobeyed.

I was disobeying, I was questioning; I had to.

I was not going to marry that merman.

Then tell him that! I shouted at myself within my soul.

“I always obey my father,” I lied, ashamed once again, for being a coward and not confronting him like I knew I should have.

Why can I not be brave, or bold? Why can I not sing what is in my soul?

“Yes, you are very obedient. I think that is one of the things I love most about you. So agreeable.”

“I have to go–” I said, moving his arm down to give myself some space to swim past him.

“Yes, of course.”

But before I let him say another word, I flicked my tail, causing a flurry of bubbles in front of his face, and I zoomed off and up. I needed to talk to Finn, to tell him I had been banished–and that I was going to search for my mother, even if there was a storm.

In only a few moments, Edmar was behind me, grabbing my tail. Curse him and his fast swimming.

“Let go,” I sang loudly.

“Where are you going? There is a ship up there.”

“I just need to see Finn, and I will be right down,” I lied again.

I cannot tell him the truth, but I can lie? What does this say about me?

I slipped from his grip, finally, and swam straight to the surface. Watchers were all around. I could lose him in the chaos. I thought about diving deep, but with his larger tail, it would not be an effective escape plan. He would catch up with me very quickly. My best chance of escaping him was to find Finn in that stormy sea. I searched through the dark waters.

Where is Finn? He has to be up here.

Then, there was a flash, and suddenly a fast current pulled me far away from Edmar, and I then swam upward, breaking through the water again. There was another flash, and a ship in front of me was struck by lightning. Instantly, red and yellow ripples covered part of the ship. The seas continued to rage, and I turned around, seeing Finn, finally, at my side.

“What are you doing here, Meria?” he asked, swimming closer. The waves sloshed back and forth so fiercely that we were tugged closer to the ship. The water was warmer there.

“They are jumping,” Finn sang to the watchers. “You cannot be out here, Meria. Go back to the castle.” I saw to my great irritation, that just behind Finn, Edmar had popped from the water. He was a dozen feet away from us, and I could not let him near me again. I was done hearing him speak and telling me who I was. I did not love him. I did not want to be with him. Never again.

“Please, Finn–Edmar–”

“What?” Finn asked, his eyes locking with mine.

“He told my father about having legs. My father has banished me.” Finn’s face looked as if he wanted to murder someone, probably Edmar.

“I hate him.”

“Please, just, I need to stay with you. He is here, and I am afraid.” A huge wave engulfed us, and we dove, then rose again.

“Fine, we will figure out his issue after the storm. You have to stay close to me. You could get really hurt out here without training. Ships break apart when they sink.”

“Okay,” I said with a nod. Then he dove into the water, swimming toward the ship, and I followed after him.

There was another flash, like the one that caused the ripples on the ship.

“What is that?” I asked Finn as we got closer. There were tubes of lava in the ocean in the southern waters, but they were always quickly cooled and encased, and they only made the surrounding water rather warm. Whatever that was, was far more destructive.

“It happens during storms when a ship is hit by lightning. Fire. It is very dangerous for humans. We have to make sure they do not float right over the castle, and sometimes, we listen to know what they plan to do.”

“You can understand them, the humans?”

“Yes they speak our language, Marren. Remember, just like that book we found,” Finn said with a smile. “Even more proof that we are part human, too. All the humans will be abandoning ship now, because they are afraid of the fire. Dive down a bit.”

I watched as, sure enough, all around us bodies dropped into the ocean. Others were in smaller ships, bobbing upon the waves. Watchers darted through the water, capturing the humans and pulling them up to the surface. I swam down deep enough to where I could still see faintly, but far enough away that I wasn't in the way.

“Meria, you left me.” I turned to see Edmar swimming for me.

I swam up to the surface again, not wanting to be stuck in the depths alone with him. I swam up as fast as I could, but he caught my tail, pulling me under. “Not so fast, my little fish.”

“Why are you here?” I asked in irritation.

“I love you, Meria. You should not be out here.”

“Thanks, but I am fine with Finn.” My frustration had to be obvious.

I watched as the watchers dove in and out of the water, pulling humans and other odd things from the water, shifting them away so they would not fall upon our city.

“Meria,” Finn sang to me from above. I swam up to the surface again. Edmar was still holding tight to my tail, but that time, he was not pulling me down. I popped from the water, and Finn swam over to me. “There you are. I thought–” He looked behind me and saw Edmar and glared at him. “Let go of the Princess.”

“No, she’s mine, my betrothed. I have a right to make sure she is safe.”

“Only if she wants you to save her. I do not think she needs saving or wants you here,” Finn said, swimming closer. We bobbed in the water and ducked under a few waves before Finn reached us. My tail was still in Edmar’s strong grip, and I felt such relief when Finn pulled me away from Edmar, then pulled out one of his weapons and hit Edmar over the head so quickly that I couldn’t do anything to stop him, not like I would have. Edmar needed to learn to listen.

“He is a fool,” Finn said as Edmar’s body sank to the ocean floor. Relief flowed through me. Hopefully, he would sink to the bottom and wake up forgetting the entire situation.

“Thank you, Finn,” I said, finding it hard to speak.

“Of course, Meria.” He looked around, and the waters were filled with more and more humans and human things.

“You really should go. Go to the cave, the one with the book, and I will meet you there after the storm. We can figure out what to do from there.”

I nodded.

“Thank you, Finn, for everything.”

“Be safe.” Finn nodded and swam up to the surface again. I started swimming to the other side of the kingdom to find the cave.

As I was swimming, I noticed a human directly above me. I stopped for a moment, trying to steady myself as best I could as the sea continued to rage. The man, who was by himself, kept slipping under the waves. In the corner of my vision, I saw the watchers who were helping the humans, but that human was too far away for them to notice him. We did not save humans for their benefit. We saved humans because we did not want their remains in our oceans, and we did not want them to find Marren Island. Or that was what was taught. Looking around, though, at the watchers, I could tell that they were happy to help save so many lives. After saving them, we mer had the ability to make the humans forget that they ever saw us. I had never been taught how, but I knew it was possible to do, using our songs.

I hesitated.

If I help that struggling human, I do not know how to keep him from remembering me, I thought, but as the human became fully submerged, I didn’t think anymore.

I acted.

I kicked my tail, pushing me through the water and up to him. I wrapped my arms around his frame and soared out of the water as my force had been so powerful. We dove back under the waves, and I slowly moved him so that his head was out of the water. I knew humans could only breathe air. As the waves sloshed back and forth against us, I worked hard to keep his head above water, looking around for Finn or a watcher who could take the human from me and save him. I kicked my tail against the waves, over and over, and called out with both my melody and my voice. No one heard me over the raging storm. I knew that we were near Marren Island. The human needed land, so I started making my way to the island. It seemed as if I was in the water for hours. His large body was difficult to keep above water, even for me and the excellent swimmer I was. Finally, I saw the small outcropping of rocks where we had welcomed the change of the tide. I swam past it and to the sandy island’s shore, which I knew belonged to us, even though no mer ever went there.

If we were not meant to have legs, then why did we have an Island? Father had always explained that the rocks were there for us to bask in the moon under the change of the tide, but why did we need an island? Of course, if we had once had the ability to transform from humans to mer, then that island would have been used often by my ancestors. My mind swam with questions. Finally, in the crashing of the waves onto the sandy shore, we were free from the waters depths that would kill the human. I pulled him as best I could onto the dry part of the sand. My tail scraping against the sand hurt, and I winced in pain. Finally, being out of the water, I collapsed to the side of the human and watched for any sign of movement. I saw his chest rise and fall and figured he was still alive. For a moment, I looked at him even closer. He was incredibly striking–a strong chin and jaw with a large scar on the side of his face. I wondered what had happened to that human to get such a scar. His hair was dark, like the fathoms of the ocean where the glowing fish lived. I watched him, taking in seeing a real human so close up, when suddenly, his eyes fluttered open. His human eyes caused me to gasp. They were a dark blue, and even in the glow of the moon, I could see just how beautiful they were; so different. No one under the sea had eyes that dark.

“You–” His mouth moved. I could not sense a soul’s melody within him. I would need to open my mouth. There was a cough, and he spit out sea water. I knew I should have left, because talking to a human was more against the rules than anything else. But I was frozen there. It was as if I were in arctic waters without any extra layer of warmth to protect me. I just could not move.

“Are you alright, human?” I asked. It came out as a whisper, and I hoped he heard me, for I did not wish to say it again. I noticed a cut on his leg, and I healed it as best I could with the little energy I had left, and then I realized my mistake. I needed that energy I had just given away in order to return to the sea. Still, I began to shift back toward the waves, when he spoke.

“Are you a mermaid?” he asked, his eyes upon my face for a moment; then they closed again.

I frowned.

Will he be okay?

“Thank you–” he said, and then his head lulled to the side as if he had just fallen asleep. I felt warmth, then; it was warmer than the tropical waters near the lava flow as I looked at him and realized he was alive. I had saved him. I saved a human.

He thanked me–a human had thanked me. Something evil would not thank someone. I raised my head and tried to shift my shoulders and body downward so that I could go back into the water. But as I tried, I realized I was too far away. I had barely any strength left at all.

Am I safe with this human? Will he wake and kill me? I wondered.

As my eyes fluttered shut, I realized that not only did I have no strength to get me out of that situation, I was about to lose consciousness, just like the human had, and my head also lulled to the side.