by Zara Steen
I looked at Coral and then sent a wave of strength to her, which helped relieved some of the tension in her shoulders.
“Come on,” she said, “let’s skate.”
We all moved eagerly towards the middle and began swirling and twirling around, trying to mimic figure skaters. From the trees I could hear the sound of a motor rumbling and a few moments later the engine of an ATV was cut. I looked up to see Merrick removed his helmet. He was alone and walked over to meet with Murdock and Hurley who were snickering about something I had no mind to listen to.
“Your sister sucks as a mate!” Murdock said as Merrick approached.
Merrick shook his head. “Saying stuff like that is definitely the best way to win her over too.”I smiled at him as I completed my lap and his eyes caught mine as he pushed back his dark hair from his eyes,
“Watch this,” Murdock said.
“Coral.”
“Coral.”
“Coral.”
“COOORALL!” Murdock threw his head back as he belted her name out one last time. Behind me, a few metres back on the frozen river. Coral and Pearl skated to a stop and we all eyed him. How obnoxious! I had enough, he had only said a few things, but I was past the point of annoyed for my friend.
“Why don’t you can it Murdock! You’re worse than a squawking seagull.”
“What did you say to me!?” He asked shooting up from the bench and moving a few feet closer to the ice.
Merrick was behind him, and he looked like he was ready to pounce should Murdock move closer to me.
“That’s close enough, Murdock.” Merrick said in a low growl.
“Your little mate, Merrick, shouldn’t be talking to me like that.” He looked back at Merrick and then to me again. I rolled my eyes.
“Leave her alone,” Coral said, she and Pearl still standing still on the ice behind me.
“Leave her alone.” Murdock repeated in a whiny voice. “Baby, of course I’ll leave little Anya be.”
He looked from Coral to Hurley and suddenly I had that same gut wrenching feeling like on the day I had scaled. Hurley’s hand shot up and the ice beneath me gave way. The cold water was biting as it sliced into my legs and I held onto the edge. I fought the change, trying to scramble back up on the ice, but it was no use I was slipping.
“She has no powers!” Merrick roared, pushing him out of the way. He ran towards me while Coral and Pearl tried to skate close enough without falling in, they had leaned down closer to the surface, but weakened from what Hurley had done with his powers, the gap was widening fast.
Everything was happening so quickly. I could feel both Merrick and Pearl tug at me with their powers trying to get the water to keep me up above the surface, but it wasn’t working, they were too frantic. With the strength of the current I was sucked under the ice, sinking down into the chill. Now was not the time to change, though, anyone could show up at any minute . The last thing that I needed was to be seen in broad daylight with a tail. The clunky skates were weighing me down, but I fought the weight of them and began swimming to the surface. Somewhere near the opening I saw Merrick dive beneath the water and he was quickly swimming towards me. In seconds he had my arms and he pulled us down to gain momentum before quickly shooting up breaking the thick ice surface above us. His hand pushed the water up, and we jetted from the force of it behind us, onto the edge of the river where the ice was still solid. Merrick held me close to him while my teeth chattered. His free hand wiped away my wet hair.
“You didn’t change?” he asked me looking at my legs.
“I tr-tri-tri-tried n-no-not tto.” I said.
Soon, everyone was gathered around us, Murdock was hanging back a few feet. Merrick's eyes, like daggers, were fixed on him.
“You said she changed, Coral.” He confessed sounding displeased with himself.
“She hasn’t gotten her powers yet.” Merrick said, his arms wrapping tighter around me. “You're lucky my mate is between us otherwise both of you would be at the bottom of that lake right now.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Hurley said also looking ashamed.
“I’mmm, I’mmmm one qu qu..” Merrick placed his fingers over my chattering lips to stop my explanation, his eyes were so apologetic.
“She’s one quarter human.” He said looking at them challengingly. “What was that Hurley? What if it was your mate?”
Hurley rubbed his neck. Merrick's jaw ticked, he was angry. I'd never witnessed him this upset.
Hurley's head fell. “I'm sorry, I... I...” I raised my hand for him to stop. Obviously, he thought it would be a funny joke. Both of them did.
“Me too,” Murdock added, and I could have died from shock.
“It's not okay,” Merrick started, “not yet, but Murdock, you better get on this,” he spoke gesturing to the both of us. Murdock shook his head, snapping out of the stunned response he had and pulled up his sleeve. As his hand stretched out the water began to heat up and evaporate from us.
“Ouch!” I winced.
“It stings a little,” Murdock said sheepishly, but I was at least grateful he had agreed to dry us. Fifteen minutes later, when we were both dry, I slipped out of Merrick's arms and was met with hugs by both Coral and Pearl.
“Anyone up for hot chocolate?” I asked them looking up towards the piles of wavy hair on top of my head. There was no use in being emotional right now. I was alright. Everyone was okay.
“Definitely!” Pearl and Coral said in unison.
We all decided to go back to the Price home, and before I knew it I was once again riding on the back of Merrick’s ATV. My arms were wrapped around him, only this time there wasn’t any pain. Coral had, of course, gone with Murdock, after she had swatted him across his back a few times for teasing her that he'd be reckless. Apparently, he didn't know how to learn a lesson. And Pearl had agreed to ride with Hurley after he had made profuse promises that they would both arrive at our destination in one piece.
I had anticipated the drive to be slightly awkward between Merrick and me. He had held me in his arms, while Murdock dried us for what had probably felt a bit too long, but he hadn’t gestured for me to get out of them. A few times we had both shifted around to dry faster in certain spots, but we remained together and he didn’t push me away so I stayed neatly tucked against him. Now that we were riding back to his home, I felt connected to him, grateful for his presence. He had protected me the way he swore that he would.
We pulled into the driveway long after the others had, and I was not surprised to see they had already gone inside. Part of me wondered if he had done it on purpose. Driven slowly to give us more time together, and I wouldn’t know unless I asked him. So as I slowly removed my helmet, standing beside a still seated, Merrick, I blurted out my question.
“Just had to spend a few extra minutes alone with me, eh? Couldn’t drive just a little faster?”
His eyes looked up from his helmet, surprised, without the time to be composed. There was something else beneath the grin that broke out. I surmised it might be satisfaction.
“I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean, Miss Anya,” he replied in a way that seemed oddly softened. When he looked into my eyes there was a moment when I thought he might say how he felt and I wondered what he saw in me then. I wondered what he was thinking, if my words had incited anything from his heart.
I wanted to kiss him, to walk over and toss his helmet aside, and plant one square on his lips. I think he knew, because he watched me quickly lick my lips, with an odd look of hope.
“Guess we should go make hot chocolate then, eh?” he said in the same child-like soft voice.
I moved closer to him, the soft crunch of my jacket noisy while I hugged him.
“I'm grateful you were there to help, Merrick.” My blood rushed into my cheeks and pounded into my ears before the fear gave way to joy and comfort, and then the wonderful feeling of his breath against my face as I pulled away from him. He wrapped his arms around my wa
ist and holding me then, it felt right, like we were complete.
“I don’t ever want to lose you, Anya.”
I didn’t want to ruin the moment, but I had to be honest with him. We weren’t together, his words were those of a boyfriend, a love, but that was not what he wanted. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. “Merrick, we’re not really...”
“That doesn’t matter,” he interrupted. “None of that does...”
“Oh?” I said, my smile waning into a firm question.
“What matters is this moment. I need you to understand, that I mean it when I say I never want to lose you. I will always do everything in my power to protect you.”
“Merrick...” I tried to protest, to reassure him that he owed me nothing, that I understood his need for freedom because I sometimes craved it just as much.
His hand pressed firmly against mine, “I want you to remember that. No matter what else happens between us. I respect our parents’ contract. It means something to me.”
You mean something to me was the only thing he didn’t say.
Chapter 17
I was watching the snow melt. It had been weeks, almost a month since I had last spent time with Merrick. After all of us had gone to the Prices’ for hot chocolate; the day had been slow, relaxing like a day you spend in pyjamas with a hot cup of tea.
We’d sat down to watch a few movies, and then before I knew it the sleepiness of night had crept in and we had all gone our separate ways.
I had come home and retreated to the dark coziness of my room. A few candles lit while I read through the Mer grimoire that Mrs. Keller had given me. I was learning of the enchantments and runes. It was then that I realized that this book had to have been given to me for a reason, and at the time it had felt like perhaps it was to break the bond.
Maybe Merrick was right and we were wasting our time with the contract that our parents had sewn magically. I started reading, thinking that there had to be a way we could free ourselves, or at least that I could free him so that he could be what he wanted. Even in the moments we had shared together, I still felt as though he was holding something back.
Now, I was in the same spot as I had been then, perched on my window seat with my eyes glancing out of the window. Only it was bright; the white of outside stark and harsh against my eyes instead of shadowed mounds of snow. Water was dripping down off the icicles on the trees; they were clear daggers of beauty. I wondered what the spring would bring. The winter had been playful, but serious. I’d met my mate and finally scaled. Would the spring slow my constant changes and bring about the baking heat I dreaded from the summertime; or would it be different here, calmer, with a inspiring breeze?
Soon the flowers would be here, and even though something about the way the earth changed was hopeful, I felt uneasy about the weeks ahead. I had skipped the Valentine’s Day dance the weekend after my time with Merrick at the pond. Too much had happened in January for me to witness Gina and Merrick together on the dance floor.
Instead, I had spent February learning the charms of rocks and stones. Water gems and their properties as per the grimoire laying in my lap. It wasn’t all studious though. I had still been taking time to visit Mrs Keller on occasion for discussions over tea, and the chance to look at her old photo albums and hear her stories. Cookies too, despite the massive Christmas cookie exchange. There were always lots of treats for us to share together.
With some resources from some of my parent’s colleagues, I was able to decipher the older inscriptions in the book. I had slowly made a project of cataloguing pages of the information and transcripts. The old leathery pages of the book made a thick flapping sound as I turned the pages. Each sheet was slowly slicing the air.
Today, I had finally got to the page about fish bone reading. A lot of the first few pages in the book were light hearted in their magical approach. There were some beauty enchantment spells like the Albayrous one that Coral had attempted to complete for me, and the enchantment one that Rayne had mastered for her shampoo. These kinds of spells were lesser in their magical pull. They were the kind of thing easily passed down in oral history or in small community meetings. Then there was the water evaporation one which was the first spell requiring some actual skill. I had a small amount of luck with it, but I knew that it would take lots of time for my confidence to grow. It involved a lot of concentration, so much so, that when I had tried it a week earlier, I had only successfully evaporated one droplet. I had a huge migraine after and spent the rest of the day sleeping it off.
I flipped the book open to the fish bone readings. They were next in the book, five full pages of details followed by the letters of the moon, which was an impressive ten page spread. Yet these were only skimming the surface, I was pages and pages away from the hero page, from the time changing enchantment. I had been discouraged at first by my lack of progress with the water evaporation. For days I had thought of giving up. Until, I learned to accept that there were other things in the book that may have been better suited to my skills. As I read, I learned that bone readings weren't easy. They were better suited to Mers with empathy or kin skills like Rayne. It was enough to spark some hope in me.
The bones of a fish could point to different paths or choices, the magic of it would reveal things that could not been seen with the eye, or known by the person asking the question. If properly treated, they could be ground down and scattered over water after many readings and their powers seemed to wane. This kind of reading would be powerful, but needed a specific question in mind. I had to rub the fish bones with an anointed object wrapped in arrowhead plant leaves. The object was most powerful if it was a river or ocean stone. There were a few drawings of some with the right kind of minerals or textures commonly found near certain bodies of water. Then, there was an incantation to read:
Fal'rae brin diu al fae rah päer
I had to place one of the bones at the end of a cloth, or piece of paper if you wanted to keep the reading. Then pour boiling water over the bone and watch the answers spread out onto the medium.
I wanted to do the reading soon, so I devised a plan to get my supplies on the weekend. I needed some answers about Merrick and Zale and I felt like this would point me in the right direction.
Chapter 18
The moon was missing tonight in the sky over the cove. My Mer eyes were enhanced enough for me to see everything, but I had a flashlight to help better distinguish the colours in the night. Water was shimmering, little flickers glistening, as the waves rolled in and swept softly against the sand. The breeze was an inspiring flutter against my cheeks. Standing there seemed solitary and lonesome, dangerous almost, but I felt as though that moment had filled me with warmth and peace.
I would sometimes sit in my room and meditate about this haven-like place. I knew that it must exist somewhere, though I wasn't quite sure how or where I might find it. In reading the grimoire I had learned new things about Mers and their abilities to sense water.
With my empathic powers growing I was starting to realize how my emotions linked to my environment. I had dreamed of this place so many times before that I had started to sense it out. In the weeks prior whenever I went for drives with my parents I looked for signs of it until one day there it was. Not that far from where I lived, the secret cove was only about a seven minute walk. It was off a long stretch of rocky shore that curved out until it ducked around a corner and into a grassy beach front surrounding a circle of water. A few large rocks seemed to be marking an unofficial entrance. I was searching for what I knew must be there, the rock I needed for my reading. It was late, I was out of the house later than I should have been, but for the first time I felt determined to get some answers.
My parents were sleeping pretty soundly when I left from the back entrance off the kitchen. The project they were working on in the lab had been keeping them so busy lately, it was a wonder they had slept at all. More often, in the past few weeks they had burned the midnight oil, only one of them returning h
ome to spend the night with me before joining the other at the base camp in the morning. Then they would switch off and repeat the same pattern again. I was starting to worry about their health. They were overworked.
The flashlight darted around the ground until at last I spotted the rock! Black and shimmering it had been smoothed over time with specks of minerals catching the light. I reached down to grab it and placed it in my pocket when I heard a noise behind me and turned quickly, suddenly very scared.
“It's just me Anya.”
How he found me I wasn't sure, he reached his hand out to mine helping me step over a large rock and I felt complete disbelief. Merrick had found this cove. My heart calmed from its sheer panic at the thought of a stranger finding me here.
“This place is beautiful” he said as I stepped down and closer to him. He turned to watch the water against the shore.
“Merrick I never expected to see you here. It's late.”
“Something in your heart must have called me then.”
“What makes you think it was my heart?”
“Well I'd like to think that I'm in there somewhere.”
“Oh? — Why is that? Would you say that I'm in yours?”
“Of course you are. Our bond made it so.”
“Right.”
I watched the water until my eyes travelled up to the stars dotting the darkened sky. Again his words left me wanting more from him. I wished that for once her would tell me how he honestly felt, no bonding spell or magic – just him.
Even though we had spent days together that were pleasant, fun even, I couldn't help but feel like maybe this mating with me wasn't really what he had wanted.
“You've gone quiet Anya.”
“I've nothing more to add really, you've summed it all so well.”
“Have I though?”
“Yes, Merrick, you have.” I clenched the stone tighter in my pocket.
Maybe for now I would have to leave things the way they were, but I was learning more and more every day. For all I knew there could be a bond breaking spell in the grimoire.