The Veiled Descendants

by Sophia Menesini

  “No, I’d prefer to keep this to myself. I’ll find a way, someday.”

  “I get it.”

  “Really? Jo would call me crazy for not asking for help.” Shea laughs.

  “It’s your pearl. You should get rid of it on your own terms,” Beck explains and turns to look out at the ocean beside her, this time their bodies touching.

  Shea stares at him fondly.

  He understands her.

  It’s not until he catches her in the act that she realizes she’s staring and quickly turns her attention back to the Old Sea.

  They stand leaning against the rail together for a few minutes, when she sees a splash in the water.

  Her eyes focus on the area and she catches a flash of luminescent color skim the ocean’s surface before diving back down deeper. A soft, warm breeze fills the air, accompanied by more flashes of color.

  She grins. They’re over the Aiolos reef, her least and favorite part of the journey to Orena. They never know what they’re going to get, such as the Aurai—wind spirits that they confronted when they passed over it last year—or something a little more friendly and even more beautiful.

  It’s the right time of year for them, she thinks, and a melodic chittering sound echoes across the water, like small bells chiming, confirming her suspicion.

  “Beck?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You want to see something amazing?”

  There’s a pause and she keeps glancing down below, hoping they’re still there and they won’t miss them.

  When she finally looks back up, Beck seems to have solved his internal dilemma and nods.

  “Why not?”

  Shea smiles widely, grabs his hand, and pulls him toward the ship’s two pinnaces, the lifeboats.

  “Get in,” she tells him and gets to rigging the pinnace so they can lower and then pull themselves back up once they’re done.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see. Trust me?”

  “With my life,” he responds and jumps into the pinnace.

  Shea grins and climbs in with the two ropes; she hands one to Beck and keeps the other.

  “Pulley will do most of the work for us; go slow and I’ll tell you when to stop.”

  Beck salutes her, and together they lower the pinnace to the ocean’s surface. It’s slow going, but they avoid any problems that way, and just when they’re right above the ocean, so close that they could reach down and touch it, Shea orders him to tie off his rope and she does the same.

  She gestures for him to come closer to the edge and she moves to the center of the small boat, pointing over, careful not to lean too far.

  “What is it?” Beck whispers, but Shea holds a finger to her mouth to quiet him.

  He listens to her.

  She puckers her lips and starts to whistle the same tune Paetre used when he’d lower them down to the surface just like this, so she could see what really lived in the Old Sea.

  “I don’t see anything,” Beck murmurs and then gasps.

  Luminescent light appears all around them, blues, reds, greens, and yellows shining from underneath the dark ocean. It’s bright and beautiful.

  Shea keeps whistling the tune, and she moves Beck into the right position so he can see them.

  The first, a female, chitters excitedly upon hearing Shea’s tune. Her long tail shimmers just below the water with a vibrant red, her back fin the same; the lights from the other mermaids are so intense, it is easy to see her gorgeous features. She swims quickly by the pinnace and then jumps out of the water, giving Beck his first sight of a real mermaid. Her skin is a soft gray and her eyes glow a bright blue; she’s more fish than woman, but her features are still distinctly humanoid despite her scales and the gills on the side of her neck.

  Another pops through the water’s surface and chitters at Shea before spraying her with water. Shea giggles at the playful nature.

  Paetre had once equated them to dolphins in their intelligence and personality.

  The one that sprays them is a bright yellow, her hair as vibrant as a sunflower’s petals, and the luminescent vein running up her large tail is like sparkling gold. She also seems to have fins on her forearms as well as her back. The mermaid chitters for Shea to keep whistling the tune.

  There’s at least four now, swimming around them, one a bright green and the other a cerulean blue.

  Beck is sitting beside her in stunned silence doing nothing more than gaping at the fantastical creatures in front of him.

  “They’re amazing,” he finally whispers when his mouth has caught up with his brain.

  “It was about this time of year that Paetre would take me to Orena to stay with friends, and if we got lucky, we’d see the merfolk as we passed over the Aiolos reef into the Old Sea.”

  “Are they dangerous,” he asks.

  She can see he’s tempted to put his hand down to the water, but she places a hand on his arm to stop him.

  “Not really, but I wouldn’t give them the chance to pull you over.”

  Beck nods, grinning. “I’ve never seen anything like them. Thank you.”

  He turns, and she hadn’t meant to put her face so close to his because when he faces her, they find themselves mere inches apart.

  “Any time,” she breathes, staring into his handsome eyes.

  He swallows. Those warm brown irises study her, and he pushes a stray strand of hair back away from her face.

  Shea inadvertently leans into the touch.

  The mermaids are still chittering around them and Shea notices that the green merfolk is actually a merman, but suddenly that doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

  “They’re beautiful,” he repeats.

  Shea can feel her entire body shaking with want, she licks her bottom lip and finds herself staring at his.

  “They are,” she whispers.

  “But you know”—and if possible, he leans in even more, to the point there’s barely a breath of space between them—“I’ve seen the most beautiful woman in Nereid, and I don’t think they quite compare.”

  “Oh…”

  “And you are without a doubt the most beautiful woman, Shea.”

  She closes the space between them. She feels as if she’s been struck by lightning—it’s a very similar feeling to when she kissed Jo for the first time.

  She hears the merfolk chittering louder around them, and she deepens the kiss, listening to Beck moan, and she sighs as his arms wrap around her waist.

  She wants to pin him down, to show him the extent of what she feels; she starts pushing him back and he goes willingly. She can vaguely hear the sound of rushing water, roaring in her ears, but nothing else matters. All that matters is that Beck and her are together.

  “Shea?”

  A shout breaks through her haze and Shea gasps as she hears Jo’s voice call from the quarterdeck. She pulls back from Beck and looks around, her jaw dropping as she notices the water show around them, just like she created during her and Jo’s first kiss. It’s dancing along the surface, and the mermaids have been jumping through the hoops of water.

  The water crashes back down, scaring the mermaids off and extinguishing their light.

  ​“Shea?” Jo calls out again, more panicked.

  ​Shea quickly runs a hand through her hair and Beck straightens as well, clearing his throat.

  ​“Down here!” Shea answers, and Beck glares at her with alarmed eyes.

  ​She sees her fiancée’s head poke over the rail, and she smiles when she spots the two of them.

  ​“What are you two doing down there?”

  ​“We saw something in the water,” Shea calls back. “We’re coming up now.”

  ​“Okay, I just wanted to check on you. I’ll meet you in the cabin, yeah?”

  ​Shea nods and Jo leaves them alone.

  ​Shea runs a hand over her face. “Oh gods.”

  ​“It’s okay,” Beck tries to comfort her, but Shea waves him off.

&nb
sp; ​“No! No, it’s not okay, because I love her. I’m marrying her, and I promised her nothing would happen and then I kiss you? Gods, I’m so stupid.”

  ​Shea hurries to her rope and begins to untie it, switching the lever on the pully, so it’ll help her pull the pinnace back up.

  ​“Shea, please.” Beck reaches for her, but Shea shies away.

  ​“Beck, stop. I can’t do this.”

  ​“But you felt it, you feel this too,” Beck states.

  ​“I know, but there’s no choice here, and if there was, I’m sorry but I choose her. She’s who I want with every part of my being.”

  ​“Not every part,” Beck snaps.

  ​Shea glares at him. “You’re right. You are…intoxicating. When I’m around you, I can’t breathe without seeing you. But the same goes for Jo. Every emotion I feel for you, I feel for her. I love her and I want to be with her. And as much as I care for you, I won’t lose her.”

  ​Beck looks as if Shea has just slapped him; he turns his back to her and goes for the other side of the pully, readying the rope.

  ​“Beck.”

  ​“Let’s just get back to the deck.”

  ​“I do care for you.”

  ​“Not enough it seems.”

  ​“Beck, please.”

  ​He sighs and turns around to look at her, his face riddled with pain.

  ​“I can’t explain it. And I don’t want to hurt you.”

  ​“Too late.”

  ​“Beck. Do you believe that you can love two people at once? Not just liking two people and then choosing who you love more but to actually be in love with two people at the same time. To want to be with them both and see them happy, and taken care of, and to be there for them no matter what.”

  ​Beck is quiet and his eyebrows scrunch together like he wants to yell, but suddenly he sighs. His face relaxes with a melancholy touch.

  ​“I don’t know, but I do know that there’s at least one person out there that I think I might be in love with. And I want to be with her. We should get you to your cabin.”

  ​Shea opens her mouth to say something else but thinks better of it and quickly shuts it.

  They pull the pinnace back to the top, and as they haul themselves over the rail’s edge, Shea comes face-to-face with Jo. There are tears in her eyes, but she hasn’t shed them yet. She looks like she’s in a lot of pain.

  ​“Jo,” Shea starts.

  ​“Cabin. Now.”

  ​Shea nods. She doesn’t look back at Beck, she can’t. But as the woman she loves follows her to confront her betrayal and she leaves behind the man she loves alone at the pinnace, her heart breaks in two trying to mentally console each one.

  Chapter 20: The Bond that Binds

  Jo

  They pass down the halls silently, not saying a word to each other. They barely speak to any of the passing crew and Jo keeps her eyes ahead. She can feel Shea following close behind her.

  Her heart aches and she wants to cry, but the rage boiling from inside her is threatening to overflow before they reach the cabin.

  Jo picks up the pace a bit and she can hear Shea jogging to keep up. Finally, they round the corner to the captain’s quarters and Jo opens the door, gesturing for Shea to step through first.

  ​She tries to catch Jo’s eyes, but Jo stares stubbornly at the floor, trying to collect her thoughts so she doesn’t do something she regrets.

  Once Shea is inside, Jo walks in and closes the door behind her, locking it.

  ​She’s facing the door, one hand flat on the wood and her breath is coming faster than before. She bites her lip, trying to stop the burning sensation in her nose as her eyes water. She will not cry.

  ​“Jo?” Shea murmurs.

  ​Jo straightens, squaring her shoulders, and she puts the coldest mask she can muster over her features before turning to face Shea.

  ​Jo’s eyes roam over the elf, taking in her pained expression, the red curls framing her face, and as her vision slips lower, her eyes widen, noting that the top of her blouse is undone.

  ​Jo’s temper flares—she scoffs and rubs a hand over her mouth.

  ​Shea looks down to see what has Jo reacting this way and also notices her unfastened blouse.

  ​“It’s not what it looks like,” Shea states, tying her blouse back up.

  ​“Really?” Jo chuckles darkly. “That’s the best you can do?”

  ​“What did you hear when we were in the pinnace?” Shea asks, warily.

  ​“The two of you kissed,” Jo seethes, stalking closer to Shea with a murderous expression.

  ​It must catch Shea off guard because she stumbles back a step involuntarily.

  ​Jo stops where she is and crosses her arms over her chest.

  ​“How could you?”

  ​“Jo, it was an accident. I—we were up on the deck talking about our parents and I saw the mermaids down below. I took him down to see them. I used to do that with Paetre. I was caught up in the moment, and when I looked at him, it just felt right. I wasn’t thinking.”

  ​“So, what, you love him?” Jo snarls, trying to understand.

  ​Her blood is rushing in her ears. Everything inside her is screaming to go back and kill Beck.

  ​“I don’t know…” Shea begins.

  ​“Oh gods,” Jo whispers, turning away.

  ​Shea steps forward, reaching her hand out to place it on Jo’s shoulder, but Jo tries to shrug her off. Shea turns her so that they’re facing each other and makes her look at Shea, holding Jo’s face with her palms.

  ​“Jo, please, I don’t know how I feel about him. That’s true. But I love you, and I would never do anything to risk what we have. You are everything to me, and this connection I have to him, I can’t explain it and I’m so sorry. It just happened, but I need you to understand that if there was a choice, I choose you, I will always choose you.”

  ​Shea is crying and her hands are shaking. Jo takes a deep breath, trying to control her own emotions. Her hands reach up for Shea’s and she carefully removes them from her face. She keeps them in hers, staring down at their joined hands.

  ​“Aren’t I enough?” Jo mutters.

  ​“Oh. Jo, it’s not about that, I swear. You are everything to me, love. Beck, I can’t explain it. What I feel for him reminds me of what I feel for you. It’s instinctive, when I’m around him I feel connected and safe. Just like when I’m with you. I never want to hurt you; I never would do anything to jeopardize what we have. So, I can stay away from him for the rest of the trip or send him home…when we reach Orena.”

  ​Even as Shea offers that last option, Jo can see the worry in her eyes at the thought of Beck sailing off alone. She’s concerned for him.

  Jo releases Shea’s hands; she needs to take a step back.

  ​She paces back and forth. She can feel that everything Shea is saying is the truth and there’s one important fact that affects everything.

  Jo loves Shea.

  Shea is who she’s meant to be with, and she will do whatever it takes to keep her.

  ​“You are like no one I have ever met, you know,” Jo tells her, pausing her pacing to look at the elf.

  ​Shea is standing in front of her openly crying.

  ​“From the first moment I saw you, it was like fate snapped into place and all I could see was you. I knew that we could be something, something powerful, and when I woke up on this ship, I thought, well I guess we’re meant to be enemies. And then I got to know you, and I fell harder than I did when I danced with you at my coronation ball. I sacrificed my family for you, I challenged my country to be with you, and I will not lose you now.”

  ​Jo walks back to Shea, whose breaths have been reduced to quiet hiccups.

  ​“I’m sorry, I’m not usually like this,” Shea mutters, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

  ​“Well, we’re not usually in situations like this,” Jo laughs humorlessly.

  ​“What do you wanna d
o?” Shea asks.

  ​“I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer honestly, and depending on your answers, then I’ll know,” Jo tells her, nodding her head as she decides what to do.

  ​“Okay,” Shea agrees.

  ​“Are you mine?”

  ​Shea’s eyes widen at the same question Jo asked her the first night they slept together.

  ​“What?”

  ​“Are you still mine?” Jo asks again, forcing Shea to look her in the eye.

  ​“Yes,” Shea answers, her eyes wide and pleading. “I’m yours.”

  ​Jo smiles, and takes a breath. “Do you still want to marry me?”

  ​“Yes. Jo, I swear.”

  ​Jo nods.

  ​“Do you love him?”

  ​Shea breathes in through her teeth, her eyes scrunching closed.

  ​Jo pulls her close until she’s in her arms and waits for Shea to open her eyes again.

  ​When she finally does, new tears fall.

  ​“Yes, I think I do,” Shea whispers.

  ​And while the confession does hurt, it doesn’t change Jo’s decision.

  ​“Okay.”

  ​“Okay?” Shea repeats.

  ​“Okay,” Jo answers. “I’m not saying that I completely understand, but I trust that you love me and want this. I was also warned about you and him.”

  ​“What? By who?” Shea demands, her eyebrows furrowing.

  ​“Venus.”

  ​“How could she have known?”

  ​“Goddess of love, dear,” Jo reminds her, and Shea shakes her head.

  ​“Our life has gotten so complicated.”

  ​Jo completely agrees.

  ​“I’m sorry,” Shea states.

  ​“Darling, I know who you are. I know what you’re giving up being with me, and I know that you are it for me. I just want you to be happy. And I’m going to do my best to make damn sure you are for the rest of your life.”

  ​Jo leans down and kisses her chastely on the lips.

  ​“But from now on, this is mine, do you understand? Your kiss belongs to me unless I tell you otherwise.”

  ​As Jo pulls away, Shea pushes up onto her tiptoes and steals another kiss.

  ​“Done,” Shea promises her.

  ​Jo smiles fondly. “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this just yet. But he doesn’t need to leave. As much as I hate to admit it, I think he’s a good man and someone we need on this journey. And maybe there’s a way to sort this all out.”