Then We Fly

by Rebecca Salas

  “Ophelia?”

  “Yea,” I smiled, “have you met her? She is the sweetest old lady.”

  “I know her. You, you haven’t met Ophelia before yesterday?” He looked confused.

  “No. I’ve never met her before, but I’m hopeful that she will be able to help me to sort things out.” I paused to take a bite of my pancakes.

  “I hope she’ll be able to help you.” He looked at my food, impatiently bouncing his knee. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Ok.” I spoke around a mouthful of pancake and Fynn almost smiled.

  “Privately.” He added.

  “Alright.” I said after swallowing. “Now?”

  “The sooner the better, preferably before you talk to anyone else.” He looked at me intently.

  “Is something the matter?” I asked.

  “You tell me. Have you seen anything new and foreboding lately?” He huffed and continued without waiting for my reply. “I hope not, but I think maybe.” He stood up quickly. “Eat your food and then come and find me, I’ll be in my room.” He kissed my forehead and hurried away. It was strange, we had had so little contact recently and under the circumstances the kiss seemed out of place. I watched as he left the dining room, smooth and quick, almost graceful.

  I finished quickly and walked hurriedly through the hallways working my way to Fynn’s room. As I stepped out into the brightly lit courtyard surrounded with trees, I caught sight of Oran walking straight toward me. His face lightened up when he saw me, and I smiled back.

  “Cora!” Oran reached out and hugged me enthusiastically. He set his chin atop my head and held me for a moment before he loosened his hold and looked down at my face.

  “Oran.” I let the confusion at his unusual greeting show on my face and he immediately dropped his arms, his smile gone in an instant. For a brief moment I thought I saw confusion on his face.

  “How did it go?” He asked, his attitude adjusting back to his more usual stiff intensity.

  “Pretty well. Thank you for introducing me. I think she might be able to help.”

  “If anyone can help you, it’s her. Just,” he looked at the ground and back up at me, his sea green eyes intense, “be careful. You really should be careful. If anyone were to know, what you are capable of… Don’t let them use you Cora.” Oran ran his hand through his shining hair. “Just be safe and let me know if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Oran. I – I have to go.”

  “Sure, of course.” Oran turned and walked back the direction that he had come from. I continued on to Fynn’s room. I put Oran out of my mind and focused on finding Fynn.

  His door was open a crack and I found him inside sitting at his desk looking at papers, he pushed the papers aside and stood up when he saw me. For a moment, he looked at me without speaking.

  “So, what’s up?” I asked when the silence began to drag out.

  “Would you close the door?” He said.

  “Sure.” I closed the door and turned back to him, an inexplicable excitement building in my chest.

  “Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, Cora, this is up to you.” He took a step closer and I raised an eyebrow.

  “What is?”

  “What happens next.” He seemed to be avoiding looking me in the eyes.

  “And what is that, Fynn?”

  “There is a lot you still don’t know Cora. A lot that I haven’t been able to tell you, I haven’t been allowed to, but now I can, or could. If you wanted me to.” He took another step closer to me.

  “I’m not going to make you tell me secrets that you don’t want to.” I said.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you Cora. I’ve wanted you to know all along, but I don’t want to burden you. The only way you get to know now would be at a price.” He looked up at me, trying to interpret my reaction. I tried to keep my face blank.

  “What is the price, Fynn?” I asked in a whisper.

  “A certain level of commitment.” He wiggled his fingers. “You would be bound, beyond your ability to resist. The thing is I can’t tell you what I want to tell you until I have bound you, to keep it a secret.” His eyes were intense.

  “Is that all then? I just have to pinky-swear to keep it a secret?” I smiled and he smiled back for only a second.

  “It’s more than just pinky-swearing. You will be physically incapable of telling anyone else, unless you are given permission. Once you know what I have to tell you, you will have a choice of what you do with it.” He was serious, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “I take pinky swearing pretty seriously.” I gave him my best sneaky smile and his shoulders relaxed a little.

  “Cora…”

  “It’s fine Fynn. Lay it on me.”

  “You have to accept it, or it won’t work, and I will know if you’ve accepted it or not. Just, relax?” He reached a hand out to me. I took it as he began humming. The notes wound their way around me, starting at my toes and working upward, tightening and squeezing. I felt a thrill of panic and Fynn reminded me to relax. I tried.

  “If you don’t accept it, it won’t work. And you don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to.” Fynn said again. I breathed deep and tried to accept it, whatever that meant. He continued humming, a slow steady tune, and the tightening sensation rose until it covered my mouth. I focused on Fynn’s hand holding mine and tried to ignore the tightening sensation, and then it stopped. Fynn was no longer humming and the band that held me appeared to be gone.

  “What was that?” I asked dropping his hand.

  “It was a promise. A formal, binding promise, to keep a secret.” He took a slow breath. “You have to keep the secret now. You’ll be compelled to. I’m sorry that I had to do it to you, but it was the only way for me to be able to tell you what is really going on. Don’t worry. You can still do whatever you want with what I tell you, you still have that choice, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

  “Do you seriously trust me so little that you had to put me under some sort of spell to keep a secret?” The more I thought about it the more annoyed I became. “If it’s so bad that you don’t trust me with it, maybe you shouldn’t tell me at all.”

  “It’s not that.” He said in a rush. “It’s a long story, but I would have told you a long time ago, I just didn’t have permission. And even now I only got permission so long as you were bound.”

  “Permission?” I asked, incredulous. “Since when do you need permission to do anything Fynn?”

  “Since before you ever came here, Cora. Since I started working for the king.” He let out an exasperated huff. I sat down on his bed quietly, my curiosity peeked, and I was trying to show that I was willing to listen. I folded my hands in my lap and looked up at him with a placating smile.

  “Sorry. What did you want to tell me?”

  “I work for King Byron. Secretly. Very few know apart from the king, and apparently Violet had some idea of that as well, which is problematic.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I keep an eye on things for him. And I keep us out of trouble with the humans. Every now and then one of the mer folk will step out of line, put us at risk in some way, and it’s my job to put them back in line. Among other things, but that’s what matters right now. That’s why I have been gone so much, that’s why this whole business with Violet, and Naida, and Blake is my fault. They’re part of my responsibility. I’ve let myself get too distracted and now there is trouble.”

  “Distracted?” I was sure he meant me, and it hurt. It hardly felt like he had spent any time with me, but apparently it was too much in his mind.

  “This is what it comes down to, Cora. I told the king about your dream and what is going on and now he thinks you can help. He wants you to help.” He took a step closer as his words poured out in a rush. “You don’t have to, Cora. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You have to keep my secret, yes, but you don’t have to do anything for Byron. Not if you don’t want to.” He was so adamant
, it made me wonder.

  “You don’t think I could help?”

  “No, I think you can…” He began, but I cut him off.

  “You don’t want me to help?”

  “It’s not that. I would love to be able to tell you everything, and I do think that you could help, but this isn’t a game. This isn’t Disney. This is the world where the Little Mermaid commits suicide so that the prince can marry someone else. Things don’t necessarily turn out happy.”

  “You’re right. Things don’t always work out, but I think I would rather look back at a tragedy, knowing I did everything in my power to stop it and failed, than to wonder if there was something I could have done. I’m done hiding. What am I supposed to do?” Fynn didn’t answer right away; he just sat down beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I could feel his breath in my hair as he leaned against me.

  “Cora, I …” he let the words linger there in the air, the thought unfinished. He pulled away from me, holding me at arm’s length and looking me in the eyes. “For now, you just need to keep doing what you’re doing. See what you see and tell me if you see anything new or if anything changes.”

  “I can do that. It doesn’t seem worth all the secrecy. I was doing that whether I wanted to or not already.”

  “There’s more to it.” He said. “You need to tell me, and no one else.”

  “No one?” My mind drifted to Ophelia and to Zoya. Was I supposed to keep my dreams from them too? Fynn looked at me knowingly.

  “You can talk to Ophelia. She can even help. It’s not like she doesn’t already know more than most of us, but no one else Cora. Things are more dangerous than you might think.”

  I didn’t understand how it would be dangerous to talk to Dylan or Zoya, not that I have seen Zoya much since Shea showed up anyway. Fynn dropped his hold on me, but continued to look me in the eye, he stared at me for a long moment and I stared back. We had spent so little time alone, and I now became acutely aware of him. The way he sat, his body so close to mine, but still out of reach.

  “I just want you to be safe, Cora, and I don’t want you to feel like I am making you do this. I know you think you understand what you are getting into, if you ever decide it is too much for you, you can tell me.”

  I tried to appreciate the urgency in his words, but I couldn’t. He was right; I didn’t understand what was so dangerous. I was already in beyond my ability to get out, beyond his ability to get me out. Want to or not, the dreams came, I might as well put them to use if I was going to be terrorized every time that I closed my eyes. Still, he seemed worried, and I was left wanting to comfort him. I reached out and ran my fingers along the back of his hand. Without a warning he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I sat still, surprised. Before I could properly appreciate the feel of it, he pulled away and kissed the top of my head. I leaned into him, enjoying the quiet moment as I closed my eyes.

  Behind my eyes an image sprang up, Ophelia sat on her couch, smiling at me.

  “Having a nice time?” She asked in a cheery, if not mischievous, tone. I opened my eyes and straightened up, looking around. She had sounded like she was in the room with me. Fynn looked down at me concerned.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked.

  “Uh, nothing.” It came out sounding more like a question than an answer. Fynn placed his hand under my chin and gently drew my face up to look him in the eye.

  “What is it?” He waited a moment, and I stared into his dark eyes. “Cora?”

  I took his hand from my chin and held it too my cheek, closing my eyes. Again, Ophelia was there, smiling mischievously.

  “Oops, am I interrupting something?” She giggled.

  “Ophelia?” I answered her out loud.

  “What about Ophelia?” Fynn asked. I looked up at him and she was gone, at least, I couldn’t see her anymore. His eyes were troubled.

  “I think she is trying to get my attention.”

  “Is everything alright?” Fynn’s hand remained on my cheek, but his face shifted, his body tensed.

  “Yea, I think so. Give me a second?” I asked, he nodded his assent and I closed my eyes, still holding his hand to my cheek. Ophelia was there again in the same position as before, sitting on her couch, now she appeared to be sipping tea. Clearly, she was in no rush. She looked up at me and set her tea down on the coffee table.

  “Sorry dear. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just testing things out really, this was the first time you closed your eyes longer than a blink since this morning. You will come back by tomorrow?”

  Yes. I answered her in my mind.

  “Wonderful. W-Will you be…. Sleeping tonight? Alone, I mean.”

  Excuse me?

  “Oh, I was just planning on dropping in, but I am realizing that that might not be the best plan.” She picked her tea pack up. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

  No need to worry. I will be sleeping by myself, like I do every night. I was immensely grateful that I could answer her without Fynn hearing. Ophelia raised an eyebrow and smirked.

  “That’s not what I hear.”

  What?

  “No matter. Ta.” And she was gone. My closed eyes returned to their usual view of darkness. I looked up a little sheepishly into Fynn’s face.

  “Hey.” Was all I managed.

  “I take it everything is fine then?” He smiled.

  “Yep, she was just saying hi.”

  “Convenient timing.” He let out a brief laugh.

  “I know, right?” I held his hand in mine, playing with it nervously. Fynn moved closer to me and leaned down, his face an inch away. I could feel the warmth of his body so close, and a chill ran up my arms. He wrapped his free hand behind my head and ran his fingers through my hair. He moved close enough that his nose touched the side of mine, I inhaled the smell of cinnamon before a knock came at the door. I froze in place, my eyes opening but not wanting to move. He bit his lip, keeping his eyes closed. There was another knock at the door, and he took a deep breath opening his eyes.

  “Just a second.” He whispered, his warm breath against my cheek. Untangling his hand from my hair he pressed a finger to my lips. Walking to the door, he opened it a crack, blocking my view with his body. His posture straightened as he saw whoever was waiting there.

  “Yes?” His tone was a clipped.

  “Have you seen Cora?” Came a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

  “Gray eyes, cute, brunette? Yea, I’ve seen her.” Fynn relaxed against the doorway.

  “I didn’t ask for her description. That is already burned into my mind, thank you. Have you seen her recently?” Oran’s cool voice seemed unfazed.

  “Very.” I could hear a smirk in his one-word answer.

  “Stop wasting my time. I was just worried about her.” Oran’s tone was clipped. Fynn’s response was quiet, but I thought I could make out the word “obsessing.”

  He held the door open wide, revealing me, sitting with a guilty look on my face. Oran’s face was lit from behind, a halo of blond hair, his light eyes were dark in the shadow.

  “Oh,” was all Oran said before he turned around and walked away. Fynn closed the door and walked back to me.

  “You should be nicer to him.”

  “Why, because he accidentally put himself under a spell when he was trying to manipulate you?” Fynn raised his eyebrows.

  “Well, when you put it that way.”

  “Yea, this is his own fault.” Fynn said pointedly.

  “Still…” One word was all I could manage in Oran’s defense.

  “I happen to know someone who thinks about you all the time without magical manipulation.” Fynn smiled.

  “Oh really?” I pulled my feet up onto the bed, tucking them beneath me. “Is he cute?” I asked.

  “Some say, gorgeous.” He held his hands wide.

  “Gorgeous, really? You’ll have to introduce us. Tell me though, does he have any questionable habits?”

  “Questionable habi
ts?” Fynn furrowed his eyebrows. “How do you mean?”

  “You know, weird stuff like turning into a fish or sneaking into other people dreams, possibly breaking and entering.” I tried to look serious.

  “I have never turned into a fish, thank you.” His mouth hung open.

  “Of course, I wasn’t talking about you.” I said with mock surprise.

  “Of course not,” he spoke with one eyebrow raised. “No, he has never turned into a fish, but I do have one bit of bad news. He has snuck into the odd dream here and there, but only with the best of intentions.”

  “Sure.”

  “And he does super cool stuff too.” Fynn offered a crooked smile.

  “Like what?” I asked and he leaned in close, his lips brushing against my ear, his breath warm in my hair.

  “He can turn into a seal.” Fynn whispered, and then stood back looking at me with his lips pursed and his hands thrown out to the sides in a gesture that practically screamed ‘Tah dah!’

  “Wow,” I said, unenthusiastically. “A seal. Can he balance a ball on his nose and clap too?” I smiled with excessive interest. Fynn’s face dropped, his eyes drawn up in annoyance.

  “No. I didn’t say he was in the circus.” Fynn reached out and poked me in the nose.

  “Well, can he do anything exciting?” I spoke while he continued to smush my nose with his index finger. Fynn dropped his hand and a mischievous look entered his eye. He moved slowly, and began to hum, chills ran down my arms as he sat next to me, he turned his body toward me and he reached past me and placed one hand on either side of where I sat on the bed. He continued to hum, slow and steady, a thrill went down my spine, as he leaned close enough that I could feel heat coming off his body. His cheek slid past mine and his lips tugged on my ear. My breathing picked up as he ran his lips down my ear along my jaw and back again as he hummed, a deep rumble in his chest. My breath caught in my throat.