“Ow.”
Yep, that hurt. I guess it’s not a dream.
Watching him jump into the sea was hard enough without looking at him now and seeing that he’s telling the truth and he really is a merman. A freaking merman!
“You’re... You’re really a...” I can’t finish the sentence.
“Yes, I’m really a merman. Jump in and join me, Sophia. Tell me it’s okay. Please?” He’s scared I’m going to turn around and walk away. Part of me wants to do that, but part of me is curious. I’ve always done what I’m supposed to do. I’m a good girl and never do anything spontaneous. Nix makes me want to change that. I slowly take off my clothes, leaving me standing on the rocks in my blue pearly bikini.
He’s smiling at me as he realises my decision. Diving in, I slice through the cold water, and when I come up, Nix is in front of me.
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come in or not. I’m glad you did. Let’s swim to the caves. I promise not to leave you again. We can talk there and I can show you my true self.”
“Okay.” I don’t even hesitate. I’m intrigued and want to know all about him.
Following him, I laugh when he jumps out of the water and flies over my head. Maybe it was him I saw on the horizon and not some dolphins. He’s very excited and is showing off. When we reach the caves, I pull myself up out of the water and Nix leans up on the ledge.
“Can I touch your tail?” I keep trying to catch glimpses of it.
He laughs and turns to lay on his back in the water then flicks his tail up so it’s on the ledge in front of me.
It’s beautiful. It’s turquoise and dark blue and has a little pattern running through it. It starts off at his hips and gets narrower until it fans out with four small fins. When I touch it, I expect it to feel slimy, but it isn’t. It’s really soft and velvety, which surprises me.
“Oh my God, Nix. It’s so soft. I love the colour. It’s beautiful.” Looking up at his face, I see the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.
“Thank you.” He suddenly flips over so that the tail is back in the water and he leans back on the ledge again. “What do you want to know? I’ll answer all your questions.”
I have so many questions and I don’t know where to start first.
“How old are you?”
“I don’t know. We don’t live in years like you do. I guess I’m a similar age to your brother, but we live long lives.”
“Do you go to school?”
“We do, but not like your schools where you learn about different topics. We learn about the ocean, how to survive in it. We learn the history of our kind and we learn about all the different plants and animals in the sea.”
“What family do you have?”
“We usually have large families. My parents are still alive and I have my sister, Darya, who you’ve heard me talk about already. My dad is the king, so I guess that makes my mum the queen.”
“The king and queen. So, that makes you royalty then. Do I need to bow down to you?” I hold back a giggle.
He laughs. “No, you don’t. Being king means that Dad has to watch over our area and he makes the rules, so he is like judge, jury, and executioner all in one package.”
“Will I ever be able to see your home?” I whisper. I’m not sure he hears me as he doesn’t answer for a while.
He has his eyes closed and I’m not sure what he’s doing. When he opens them, he looks directly at me. “I’d love for you to come and see where I live and meet my family.”
“I hear a but coming.”
He laughs again. “Yes. My parents don’t like humans. They’ve seen too much devastation caused by the humans. However, one day soon, I’ll bring you down to have a look at my home.”
“How will I breathe under water? Do I need to get a scuba tank of oxygen?”
“The same seaweed that I take to breathe on land works on you for breathing underwater.”
“Wow. It sounds magical.”
“It is. Unfortunately, there are not many fields left and they’re heavily guarded. I had to sneak in when the guards were talking.”
“Can you come out of the sea without it?”
“No, I can’t.” He hangs his head.
“There has to be another way, surely. How can you talk to me for so long now without the seaweed?”
“Once my tail is in the water then I can breathe.” He turns his head and shows me some small slits behind his ear. “I need to keep wet otherwise I dry out and die.”
“Wow, they’re cool. Can I touch them?”
He smiles and moves closer to me, turning his head so I can see the slits opening and closing. This is so fascinating. I still think I’m dreaming, but if I am then I want to remember every single little detail.
Reaching out my finger, I run it along his jaw and up towards his ear. My finger is all tingly when I touch him and it makes me smile. As I get to the slit, he opens it and I run my finger across. “Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Why don’t you come back in the water and swim with me?” he asks as I remove my hand from his face.
“Okay.” Standing up, I jump into the sea, and when I come to the surface, he’s right next to me.
“If you climb on my back and hold onto my shoulder, I’ll take you for a swim. Hold on tight and take a deep breath before we go below the surface. I’ll let you know when.”
Nodding, I do what he says and climb onto his back. I wrap my arms around his waist and cling on for dear life.
He starts to swim out of the caves and then he flicks his hand to tell me to hold my breath. I gulp in the air and he flies out of the water and dives down. It’s exhilarating. We dive deeper than I have ever been before and he swims over to the reefs to show me some of the plants and coral growing there. Beautiful. I can only manage a short time with one breath and I squeeze him tight and then remove one hand to point upwards. He nods and swims fast to the surface.
As soon as we break the surface, I gasp for breath. “Oh my God, that was amazing.”
“It’s so beautiful down there and most humans don’t get to see the best parts. I’ll have to get some of the seaweed though because that wasn’t long enough.”
He turns to face me. “I want to show you it all.”
Blushing, I say, “I’d love that.”
We start to swim back to shore when I see Jack, Evan, and Molly walking across the beach. “Shit. We must have been gone for ages.”
“You know I can’t get out of the water, right?”
Laughing, I say, “I know. Will you be here tomorrow?”
“I’ll be here whenever you want to see me, Sophia. I like you a lot and want to spend time with you.” He reaches forward and kisses my cheek. I can feel the blush rising from my neck all the way up to my forehead.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Keep an eye out for me. How do I let you know I’m here?”
“I’ll just know.” He dives back under the water and I turn to get out of the sea.
“What’s up, guys?” I walk to my clothes and put them on. I know I’m wet but I don’t care. It’s warm enough that they’ll dry quickly anyway.
“Just checking you’re okay. You’ve been gone a while,” Jack says, looking me over.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”
“That’s what Anna always said,” he mumbles.
“I’m not Anna! How many times do I have to tell you all this?” I grab my shoes and storm off the beach.
5
Nix POV
I can’t believe Sophia’s reaction to me being a merman. She didn’t care. It’s funny how you meet people in your life. I never thought I would meet a human who would become so important to me. After leaving Sophia and diving back into the sea, I swim fast through the cold, dark waters.
When I get back to the palace, I go to find Darya. She’s in her room. Knocking on her door, I open it without waiting for her to answer. She’s lying on her bed, crying.
Rushing over to her, my heart is br
eaking. I hate seeing my sister in this state. “Dar, what’s wrong?” I don’t even think twice about pulling her into a hug.
She stops sobbing and wraps her arms around me. “I’m sorry, Nix. I’m sorry.”
“What’s going on? You need to talk to me. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
“I can’t, Nix. I can’t tell you.” She pulls away from me and hugs her tail.
I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m here for you, Dar. Nothing you could tell me would change that. Please don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
She shakes her head but doesn’t look at me.
We sit in silence for a while. I really want to tell her about Sophia; it might cheer her up.
“I met someone.” Blurting it out makes it easier than going slow.
She looks up at me and smiles. “Really? Tell me more.”
Laughing, I take a deep breath. “She’s human.”
Her eyes open wide and her mouth drops open. “What? Human?”
Holding my hands up in front of me, I say, “I know. It just happened. It was fate, I swear. This starfish was telling me to throw it on the beach.”
“No way. It would go hard and die. Did you do it?”
“Well, sort of. I didn’t want to then it stuck itself to my face so I couldn’t breathe. I pulled him off and then threw him. I felt guilty so I got some magical seaweed and, after taking a small bit, I got closer to the surface to go onto the beach. As I was getting out of the sea, the same starfish hit me on the head.”
“How did that happen?” Darya is giggling now and I’m so happy that I’ve managed to take her mind off whatever is bugging her.
“When I threw the starfish, it landed on Sophia. She made a wish and threw it back into the water. She was surprised when I walked out of the sea. We sat down and chatted for a while.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic. What happened next?”
“Well, I convinced her to come for a swim because she wanted to go to the lost cave and hadn’t been there for a while. We swam together.”
“Did you show her your tail?”
“No. The seaweed was still working and I swam with legs. It was so peculiar not to be swishing my tail. Anyway, when we got to the caves, we both got out and sat talking for ages.”
“Did you kiss her?” Darya is sitting forward, leaning her chin on her knees.
“No, of course I didn’t. Anyway, even if I had wanted to, we were rudely interrupted by Eva. She swam in looking for me and just stared at Sophia. When she told me you were looking for me, I left.”
“What? Did you just leave her in the caves with Eva? Nix!”
“Yeah. I didn’t want Eva to see how much I liked Sophia. You know what she can be like.”
“I know, but you just left her there. In the caves. They’re dangerous, Nix. You know that!”
“It was calm and there were no waves. Anyway, Eva didn’t stay long. She followed me after a minute or so. Sophia was annoyed with me and didn’t come back to the beach.”
“Oh, no. I understand why though.”
“Yeah, so today I went off the beach to find her.”
“You did not! Oh my God. What was it like outside of the cove?” Her excitement shows in the bouncing she’s doing on her bed.
“I’ll tell you about that later. I found Sophia with her brother and some friends. We talked and I convinced her to give me another chance.”
“Ahh, romantic.”
“I’m not sure about that. But I did tell her I’m a merman.”
“No freaking way, Nix. You could get thrown into The Deep Loop for telling a human about us. Why did you do that?” She stands up and paces her bedroom. She keeps stopping and looking at me as if she’s going to say something, then she closes her mouth and paces again.
“I know, Dar. I really like her though.” I drop my head into my hands.
“It can’t go anywhere though. Even if you really like her and you want to be together, you know it won’t work. She can’t breathe underwater and you can’t walk on land forever. It’s ridiculous! Mum and Dad are going to freak out.”
Turning to face her, I stand and walk over to her and take her shoulders in my hands. “You can’t tell them. I want to be the one to tell them. I want her to meet them.”
Dar starts laughing. “Nix, what do you think is going to happen? They aren’t going to accept it. Dad will do whatever he can to keep you out of The Deep Loop. You know that once you go in there, you’ll never come out. I can’t lose you, Nix. I can’t.”
“I’m not going anywhere. We have always been taught that we can play the field as much as we want, but when we find our soulmate, we will always know. Deep down, I know she’s mine, Dar. She’s my one and only.”
She sits down on her bed with her mouth wide open. “I don’t know what to say. I want to know how you know she’s your soulmate. I want to know why you’ll do anything for her. I want to know all of that, but most of all, I want to know is she worth it? Is she worth the possibility that you will be outcast from your family, the villages, even Kizzi Cove? Is she worth the possibility of ending up in The Deep Loop prison?”
I sit down on the bed next to her, feeling despondent.
Darya reaches across and takes my hand. Looking me in the eye, she asks, “Is she worth it all, Nix?”
6
Nix POV
Mum comes into the room as Darya has asked me if Sophia is worth losing everything for. I truly believe in my heart that, yes, she is worth losing everything. If it means there’s a chance that she’s my soulmate and we can be together forever, then I’ll do whatever it takes for that to happen. I need to find out how she can breathe underwater without the Rubins. Rubins is the magical seaweed that we use to breathe on land and for humans to breathe underwater.
“Hey, guys. What’s going on? You’ve been very quiet the last hour or so.” Mum looks between the two of us.
“Nothing much. We’re just talking.”
“We will be having dinner shortly. The head villagers are coming over to discuss some security aspects. There seems to have been some thefts of the Rubins seaweed recently.”
I look up at Darya and shake my head. I know she won’t rat me out, but just in case.
“Do we have to go to the dinner?” I moan.
“Yes, of course you do. Now get ready and come down to the dining hall.” She turns and floats gracefully out of the room.
“Nix, it’s you who’s been stealing recently. I hope they haven’t seen you. Jeez, you’re going to be in so much trouble.”
“Dar, stop panicking. Everything will be fine. This meeting might actually work in my favour as it means I can ask questions about the seaweed without looking guilty.” I move over to her door. “See you at dinner, Dar.”
* * *
When I get into the dining room, the guests are already there. Looking around the opulent room, I can see the security director, village chief, the head gardener, my parents, their advisers, and Darya.
Walking straight over to her, I hug her. “You look beautiful tonight.” She blushes.
The big bell sounds and my father clears his throat.
“Dinner is served. We’ll discuss the security of the Rubins while we eat.” Dad sits down at the head of the table and my mum sits beside him. Darya and I sit at the other end of the table and the head gardener ends up sitting next to me. One of the village chiefs sits next to Darya.
I can hear the tail end of the discussion being held at the other end of the table, but I decide to ask my own questions at my end.
“So, Hurley.” I turn to my right to speak to the head gardener. “Why is the field of Rubins just outside the palace so important?”
Hurley stops eating and looks at me. “Did you not cover this at school, Nix?”
“Of course I did, but just explain it to me. I know there aren’t many fields left in the world, but that’s all.”
Hurley rolls his eyes. “There were many Rubins fields, but over the ye
ars, our kind has used the magic seaweed to go on land and mix with the humans.”
“Is that so wrong?” I ask as I look at Darya.
“Our two kinds can’t mix, Nix.”
“But why? I don’t understand it.”
“We live under the sea, they live on land. What is there to not understand?”
“What about the legends of the gods?”
“They’re just stories.”
“So, why don’t we just grow more Rubins? Surely we can just take seeds or cuttings and grow some more.”
“Really? You didn’t listen in school. We can take cuttings and seeds as you say, but it’s only the magic that makes it special. Unfortunately, we don’t have any sea witches to perform the magic to help us breathe on land. So we keep it under tight security, but someone has been taking it.”
“So why do you want to keep it if you don’t want to use it?”
“Sometimes we have to go on land. We need some of their plants to use for some of our medication. If we lose all the Rubins then we won’t be able to help some of the sick.”
“Surely there has to be another way to breathe on land without the Rubins?”
“Nix,” Darya says, hitting me on my arm. I raise my eyebrows to her and shrug my shoulders.
Hurley surprises me when he whispers, “There is a way.”
“Sorry?” I’m not sure I heard him correctly.
“There is a way to breathe on land without the Rubins.”
“So why are we worried about it then?” I can’t understand why they’re panicking if there is another way.”
“We don’t know what it is. Anyone who is stupid enough to try and find out have to go and see...” Hurley looks around and then lowers his voice. “They have to go and see Zale.”
“ZALE?”
“Shh, Nix,” Darya says.
“Sorry, but Zale. Does he really exist? I thought he was just a made up legend.”
Hurley moves closer to me. “Zale lives in The Deep Loop. He’s on the ocean floor, which is a long way down. He is protected by narwhals.”
Kingdom of Salt and Sirens Page 70