25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dominick

I walked quickly from the cabin, needing some air. I did not know if it was a mermaid thing or not, but sometimes, when I was too near her, my head started to feel light and dizzy, and my heart beat rather quickly.

But the most shocking thing was that my touch took away her pain without taking any of her pain upon myself. How was that? It felt good to touch her–calming, like a balm to a wound I always had, one that had never healed.

It would have been nice to always feel that way. Was that what it was like for most people? Do most people walk around truly painless?

“Well, you look deep in thought,” I turned to see Sands near the stern of the ship.

“When I touch Meria, she has no pain, and neither do I,” I spilled out without thinking better of it.

“Truly? What does that mean?” Sands asked, concern in his tone.

“I have no idea. Maybe because of who she is.” I looked at Sands,

“Yes, Mermaids have many magical abilities. But you two also have some sort of connection.”

“She expressed that she has magic.”

“So, then, is it really so surprising?”

“It was surprising in the moment to feel what a life could be like without my curse–that was incredible.”

“Perhaps, you will break it.”

“I am sure I will never be so lucky.”

“Well–” he began, but I stopped him, needing to change the subject.

“Tomorrow, Peter and a small group of men are going to Pixie Isle. We are leaving them there to complete their task, and then, we are heading to the Mirror Sea.”

“Are we coming back for Peter?” he asked.

“Yes, I do not wish anything to happen to him.”

“And Meria?”

“Yes, the reason I am telling you about this is because she needs to swim every once in a while. I will need your help for that.”

“Okay, night would be best,” Sands said, rubbing his jaw.

“Agreed.”

“I will try and figure out the best time when no men are on deck,” he said.

“Okay, hurry with whatever orders you need. She should probably swim tonight; she is suffering without bathing in the sea for so long.”

“Aye! Captain! I need about an hour.”

“Okay, and after, be sure to get some sleep. There is no telling what danger lurks in those waters, and I need you sharp.”

“I am the sharpest dagger–”

“Sands–” I sighed.

“Okay, understood. I do hope there is gold near the Mirror Sea.”

“I hope my sister is there. I do not think it has been traveled upon by sailors since before the Great War. Any magical creatures will not take kindly to us being there.”

“I am not afraid of a few magical creatures,” he said with a slap to my back. “I will be back,” Sands said, and he slipped away from me, ordering the crew members below deck.

I waited until everyone was beneath the deck, then dimmed the four main lanterns on the ship, hoping that by doing so, it would stop most of the light from shining upon the water, avoiding giving Meria away.

I walked to my new sleeping quarters in the royal cabin and stripped off my boots, pulled on a worn pair of pants, and took off my jacket, vest, and shirt. If she was going into the water, I was going to accompany her, for safety reasons, of course.

She’s a mermaid. The ocean is the safest place for her. She does not need you. I shoved that thought away. I looked down at my gloves which reached up to my mid-arm. I did not have to wear them around Meria, so I pulled them off, feeling a release as I looked at my hands. The black in my veins spread every single time I took away someone's pain, a darkness that I was sure would overpower me, someday–and eventually, it would be my end. A rightful end for me after what I had done. I looked more closely at my veins and noticed that on my hands, the veins were not as dark–it was as if they were lessening.

How is this possible?

I walked quickly from the room, feeling the wooden boards beneath my bare feet, and missing the loud click of my boots as I walked. I reached the captain’s cabin door and knocked three times. Meria opened it and stuck her head out, looking back and forth, before her eyes rested upon mine. Her eyes widened as she looked at me. People did not like my black veins, which is why I covered them, or at least, that was part of the reason. She had seen them on Marren Island, but only part of them. They were, at that moment, on full display. A part of me was incredibly anxious to know what she thought of them. Did she hate them? Did they make me look like the monster I was?

“I know–” I began to apologize for my appearance.

“Dominick?” she gasped, holding a hand to her mouth. Then she did something I never expected. “Oh, Dominick!” she whispered and touched my chest, her warmth reaching deep inside of me. She began to trail one particular black vein with her finger.

It was hard to speak, hard to do anything, but I cleared my throat.

“This is my curse; I am fine. Sorry, it is unsightly. Are you ready to swim?” I wanted to sound confident and strong, but my voice was airy and light, tentative, and to my shame, fearful.

“Unsightly? Is that what you think of yourself? That is the last thing I think or anyone else who sees you thinks, Dominick.”

“What?”

“You are the most handsome human, or merman, I have ever seen, dark veins and all.”

I gulped. I liked that. My heart seemed to like it as well, for it was beating erratically, as if it was trying to reach her touch–those fingers on my bare chest. My heart always beat faster whenever I was around Meria, especially when she said kind things to me or touched me.

“Thank you, Meria,” I said, not knowing what else to say. I looked down at her, examining her, seeing–

Is she wearing a dress? I thought.

What she wore was a thin slip of some sort, barely reaching to her ankles.

“What is that ?” I asked in shock, taking a step back and breaking the connection. Meria looked down at herself, touching the thin fabric of the dress at her stomach.

“Sands gave it to me; he said it was a good idea to wear it when I swim. I can tie up the lower part like this.” She began to lift up her dress to tie it, exposing way too much of her legs than what was proper, once again, and I grabbed her hands. It felt so strange not needing to fear touching her with my bare skin, and I caressed her skin, looking into her eyes, waiting for her to be in pain–to pull away from my painful touch. But she only smiled and moved in even closer to me.

She moved closer to me. She wants my touch. What is happening?

“Do not do that here.” I was unable to fully draw in breath. Meria was going to make my heart explode from my chest.

“But it is only you and I; I trust you,” she shrugged.

She should never trust any man that much, except maybe her husband. I gulped again and ran a hand down my face, trying to forget the image of her bare legs that were seared into my memory. She may have been a mermaid, but she had such beautiful legs. I shook my head.

St op thinking about her legs.

“I cannot even begin to explain.” I cleared my throat. “Wait till we are in the water, okay?” I tried to sound kind, but knew I was doing a bad job of it.

“Okay,” she said slowly. Her face held confusion, but I was not about to explain. She was a mermaid. She was unfamiliar with human modesty. That was just a part of her mermaid culture.

I turned without saying anything and walked to the edge of the ship where Sands stood.

“Oh, good; it fits you,” he said, looking behind me as we approached.

“Yes, it fits well. Thank you, Sands!” she said happily as if what she was wearing was not making it harder for me to breathe, which was not ideal when about to dive into the sea.

“Anytime,” he said with a wink to her.

“Yes, thank you, Sands . Thank you so much, once again, for meddling,” I grunted.

He chuckled. “Here to be helpful.”

Helpful? Now, that is a word I would never use in this situation.

“Now, make sure we are not seen,” I said, walking up to the railing of the ship. I motioned for Meria to come beside me. Then I dove into the sea. I desperately needed to cool off, and my last hope was that the cold sea would calm my heart.

Meria

“He's showing off for you; I doubt he can outswim you,” Sands chuckled beside me.

“Is he a good swimmer?”

“Yes, always beat me, but you are one of my favorite people because you will defeat him,” he winked.

I laughed and turned to look down below. The sea called to me–the waves humming, like the melody of a song–the song that lived within all mermaids’ hearts, a song of home and of peace. I wanted to be embraced again by the sea. Without another thought, I dove from the ship. Once I was engulfed by the sea, my tail appeared, and it felt like a best friend had come back to me, one I had missed more than anything else. I breathed in the cool salt water and smiled. I dove, twirling around as I went; then once reaching the bottom, I swam back up and jumped from the water with a call to the sea within my melody and upon my lips. The calls of the mermaids were magical, and we rarely used them as father said that they had once lured humans to us, but I could not hold my voice back. Once I swam a bit, I found Dominick floating on his back, looking at the stars.

“Do you feel better?” he asked as I swam up beside him.

“Much better. I needed this so much. Thank you, Dominick.”

He turned to look at me, his eyes capturing mine in the moonlight.

“You look so right here.”

“Well, I was a mermaid first–”

“I will try and make sure you can do this as often as possible. I am sorry I did not think of it.”

“I should have realized how much I needed the sea. It was foolish of me to think I could be fully human.”

I did not know how long we were out there when, suddenly, I felt something in the water below us. A moment earlier, when I had first reached the bottom of that very deep sea, there was only sand, down below us, but I was very aware of the dangers within the sea, and I knew that things could change quickly.

I dove back under and searched the water. There was something coming, and I could sense it. I called out in my mermaid song of peace. I was hopeful that it was a school of fish, even a pod of whales. But as I waited under the water, I saw the fins of sharks. I burst from the water to see Dominick still floating.

“Dominick, there are sharks. We have to–” but just as I was trying to warn him, my fears were realized, when with a grunt, Dominick was pulled down into the depths of the sea. His arm was in the jaws of one of the largest sharks I had ever seen.