Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series

by Vaiya Books

  Hesitating before the king for several seconds, Ian eventually dove off the chair into the water and once he was near the king’s throne, he knelt on the floor beside him, his tail touching the floor, as he trembled with anticipation. “Thank you, Your Majesty! I am very grateful for these gifts.”

  Laughingly approvingly, the king swam off his throne and motioned for the elder to open the lids to the containers. Once they were both opened, the king gazed proudly at Ian. “Now drink them, Ian,” he said rather casually, his cerulean blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

  Rising up out of the water, very worried about how the liquids would taste, Ian took both of the containers into his hands and sniffed the crystal container first and then the onyx one. To his surprise, the first smelled sort of like passion fruit juice, while the other smelled like wild berry and pomegranate juice.

  His anxiety quickly vanishing, Ian quaffed both the small containers in no time and immediately felt a strong, yet pleasant sensation go through his whole body. His vision, though already incredible as a merman, improved to an even greater degree, and he had the strange feeling that even if he removed his necklace and became human again he could still breathe underwater.

  As Ian stared at the king with deep appreciation, his fear for the merman king now completely evaporated, the king smiled at him again, motioning for Ian to arise. “You may leave now, Ian. I hope you use these gifts wisely and don’t get into too much trouble with them.” Here he winked at Ian.

  “Of course, I won’t, Your Majesty.” His heart filled with gratitude for the king, as the elder took the empty containers from his hand. “Thank you so much.” Then he paused briefly to say goodbye.

  But his farewell fell strangely upon the king’s ears, and he gave Ian a weird look. Fortunately, though, his face didn’t remain that way for long, and several seconds later, his eyes once again brimmed with happiness and peace, his lips curving into a smile. “May the ocean’s blessings wash over you, Ian.”

  Bowing to him, Ian slowly swam out of the throne room, feeling the eyes of the king and his ten elders alight on him, watching him as if he were some famous actor or musician exiting through the back stage. It made him thoroughly uncomfortable.

  Exiting the throne room through the golden doors, Ian swam quickly towards the right, and, not paying attention to where he was going, plowed straight into an icy blue-haired merman.

  As they spiraled through the water, the young merman, who looked to be about fifteen, nearly scraping his chin against the floor, Ian rammed his forehead straight into a red marble wall right below a painting of a sandy beach causing it to throb in pain. Crimson flooded his cheeks; he felt terrible.

  “Sorry. I didn’t see you there,” he apologized hastily. He was reliving his head-on collision with Coach Sandler, only now it was much worse for he was bumping into people who weren’t even of the same race.

  Expecting a harsh scolding from the well-dressed merman clothed in an elegant silvery-blue tunic that swept down to his tail, Ian instead saw him grinning, a boyish smirk on his face.

  “Don’t apologize. I know you did that on purpose.” He laughed, not at all annoyed, his green tail glimmering in the water from the bright lights above them. Before Ian could protest to this, the merman bolted through the water towards him and tagged him, striking Ian’s arm gently with his tail, before saying emphatically, “Try to catch me, Ian!”

  Not even caring how he knew his name and surprisingly not feeling a bit sickened that the merman’s tail had touched him, Ian smiled in wonder, feeling completely relieved. It appeared that he would no longer have to fear getting a sick stomach here, for the necklace had somehow completely transformed him so that he didn’t even mind fish anymore. The fact that he had a tail now didn’t even bother him at all, and he actually reached down and felt it, finding it very smooth yet tough. Bizarre. This was the last sort of thing he’d ever expected to happen. Now his sister couldn’t scare him with fish anymore as she had nearly every April Fool’s day....

  “Wake up, Ian!” the young merman slapped him a bit harder with his tail, cutting his daydream short, a mischievous grin on his face, as he quickly backed away from Ian. “Just see if you can catch me!”

  As the young merman darted away from him, Ian shook his head and sped after him, already liking the playful attitude of the merfolk, while at the same wondering what his sister would say if she saw him now. She’d probably call him immature or childish. Still, why should he care? Rowan pretty much fit both those terms yet she was Melinda’s best friend.

  Swimming rapidly towards him down the corridor, darting past amused onlookers, nearly crashing into a somewhat startled mermaid in a lovely pearl-colored dress, Ian turned down another long hallway, chasing after him. Though Ian was slowly gaining on him, the young merman was faster than he looked and had years more practice swimming with a tail.

  As Ian raced towards him, only ten feet away, the merman zigzagged, twisting his body around, and headed straight down into a large square hole in the floor. Surprised, Ian followed him cautiously, darting down through the hole, the slope gradually lessening until he was going straight again.

  Hurrying past three mermen who were talking to each other and laughing, he scanned the area; the young merman wasn’t anywhere in sight.

  About to give up, he heard a voice in the distance:

  “Hurry up, Ian! We’re almost there.”

  Not having a clue where he was being led, Ian raced towards the voice, anxious to find out where he was taking him.

  As Ian swam through a pair of velvet-colored doors, flung open as if waiting for him to enter them, he gazed at the sight all around him.

  Everywhere he looked, kelp-like plants towered upwards of two hundred feet, swaying back and forth in the ocean currents. There were thousands of them. Some were a pumpkin color, others a royal blue, while others were an eggplant purple, wine red, golden yellow, lime green, or carnation pink.

  Astonished, Ian stared at the rainbow-colored maze, hypnotized, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Darting his head around, he gazed into the smiling Prussian blue eyes of the young merman, who was surrounded by seven of his other friends, all of whom looked lighthearted and high-spirited.

  What struck him the most though, was the sea creatures with them. Some of the merfolk were sitting tail-down on dark orange dolphins as if it were the most natural thing in the world, while one was laying his head on a giant yellow-spotted white clam that opened and closed so frequently that it would have seemed the merman would’ve gotten a headache from it, but, surprisingly, he didn’t seem bothered at all by it but rather amused. Another carried a small olive-colored oyster in one hand while blowing hard on an oblong shaped flute in the other that sent strange rumbling sounds and ripples throughout the water.

  Before Ian had a chance to look at the black crabs scattered around the area, the merman who’d brought him here spoke up cheerfully. “I see you like the Zaryan Forest, Ian.” He laughed, and then grew somewhat serious as he bowed his head in shame. “I apologize for not saying so earlier. I am Sardin.”

  Then, suddenly, as quickly as his solemn behavior had come on, it left, as Sardin glanced around warmly at his friends, three mermaids and four mermen all around his age, who all gazed at Ian strangely, likely wondering why they’d never seen him before.

  Fortunately, before the awkward musings continued, Sardin cleared up all confusion, introducing him to them rather impulsively, a proud look in his eyes, as he slapped Ian gently with his tail, “Oh, my friend here is Ian Hansen, the human who rescued Princess Taeria from the Forest Scourge.”

  A deep hush immediately descended upon them, though out of reverence instead of awkwardness. They all stared at him as if they were in the presence of a famous statesman, powerful king, or military hero.

  Embarrassed by the high praise, Ian lowered his eyes. “It was nothing really. I just...”

  Arms suddenly wrapped around him tightly, as a light-skinned mermaid had
swam up to him while he wasn’t looking and hugged him.

  “May the ocean’s blessings flow through you, Ian!” She wept, her voice soft and hesitant, deeply affected by what he’d done. “You saved our friend. Without you … she’d be gone forever.”

  Face a flaming red, like he was in an inferno, Ian feverishly awaited to be released. After what seemed like forever, she finally let go of him and backed away, still looking upon him with deep respect and wonder as if she were in the presence of a valiant prince who’d just saved her friend from an ogre’s lair.

  Not knowing how to respond to such gratitude, Ian continued looking at the merfolk with embarrassment, while his face ever so slowly returned to its normal color. The first thing that he noticed about them was their hair and he latched onto it: some had wavy olive green hair or royal purple hair, while others had icy blue, cerulean, steel blue, or indigo-colored hair. None had normal brown or black hair. Surprisingly though, their hair didn’t seem at all out of place and actually seemed to fit them perfectly.

  As for their apparel, the mermen all wore vivid-colored tunics, embroidered with seaweed designs and adorned with clam shells, conch shells, and periwinkle beads, while the mermaids wore beautiful, close-fitting silken dresses, adorned with pearls, sapphires, onyxes, and other precious gems.

  Their faces, fair looking and gentle, greeted him with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment, while their kind eyes, various hues of blue or green, lightened up his mood, putting him at ease.

  Done studying them, he noticed that the purple-haired mermaid who hugged him was staring at him wide-eyed. As he unwillingly made eye contact with her, she spoke her mind. “Is it true that you’re a human?”

  He wasn’t expecting this. “Yes, it is,” he replied, as he sought to answer the next most logical question before it was asked. “Though due to this necklace I’m now a merman.”

  But apparently, he’d missed the meaning which her next words revealed. “And you’ll stay this way forever … right, Ian?”

  This caught him off guard, and quite frankly, terrified him. At the current rate, he’d never have time to recover from the shock of her long hug. “Nothing’s certain right now,” he muttered weakly. “I have many places to be.”

  “Not if the princess decides to keep you like this,” she said, as she smiled sadly, likely doubting this to be the case.

  “So Princess Taeria controls this necklace?” asked Ian, finding himself quite uneasy, as if he’d just found out that an important aspect of his life was being controlled by a puppeteer.

  “Yes,” replied the mermaid. “And there are only two others like it--the king’s and the queen’s.” She gazed at him further, and seem to take joy in her next words. “These necklaces have only been used on humans once before, and only for a short time. Who knows the long-term effects of them?”

  But, whether she’d intended it or not, her words instantly caused Ian to flinch as if he’d just been stabbed by a needle. It appeared that she wanted him to stay permanently fixed in this merman form, and that was something that absolutely terrified him.

  Fortunately, Sardin, as if sensing his apprehension, smiled warmly and abandoned the hard topic. “So, are you ready to play Arval, Ian? You’re one of us now, so you might as well learn our games.”

  “Arval?” he asked, confused, lowering his eyebrows, glad for this way more pleasant topic, as he tried to forget what the mermaid had said. “How’s it played?”

  Sardin smirked, pleased to be the one to explain the game to him. “It’s basically like water tag, except that there are tiny flowers growing in the kelp garden that give you points. Yellow flowers are worth 5 points, as they are the most common; green are worth 10, blue 20, red 50, and purple 100, as they are extremely rare.”

  Pausing briefly, waiting for Ian to comprehend everything, he continued, “The person who gets the most points after one hour wins, and you cannot collect any flowers when you are it. Oh, and you must remain still for ten seconds after you are tagged to give the other person a chance to swim away from you.” He paused, and focused on Ian, enthusiasm in his eyes. “Does all of that make sense?”

  “Yeah,” said Ian, nodding his head approvingly, already liking the sound of this game. “So where do we put the flowers, Sardin?”

  “In these.” He pointed over to a tall merman with steel blue hair beside him, who carried a feather-like basket full of black fabric pouches with straps on them.

  Curiosity piqued, Ian swam up to him and analyzed the pouches for several seconds, before Sardin broke his concentration. “Ready, Ian?”

  “Sure.” As all eight of them grabbed a pouch from the white basket and tied it around their waists, Ian copied their actions, euphoria building in him. This game was going to be awesome. It wasn’t every day he could play tag underwater, or breathe underwater for that matter.

  Besides being a merman, he could also swim extremely quickly as well as see perfectly in the clear waters without his eyes even hurting at all. His only worries were that he was going to be tagged continually, being new at the game, or wasn’t going to be able to find the flowers. But, as the merfolk seemed to be a kind race, and he was great at finding hidden objects in the I Spy books, his concerns were only minor.

  Looking back at Sardin, ready to get this started, Ian swam next to him and nudged him on the shoulder. “So who’s going to be the tagger?”

  Sardin grinned, as he glanced back at an agile-looking mermaid with wavy royal purple hair and a short-haired merman with a confident demeanor and short locks of cerulean hair. “The most experienced players: Jala and Rai.”

  “Great,” said Ian, a bit surprised that two people were it instead of one. That gave him even less chance of doing well. “So what now?”

  “We hide and start collecting flowers.” Slapping Ian lightheartedly with his tail, he shot off swiftly, leaving a trail of bubbles behind him.

  Hesitant, Ian stared at Rai who smirked at him and put his hand on a lever on the feather-like basket looking ready to pull it down.

  “You’d better swim away, Ian.” He laughed, a twinkle in his cyan eyes, his dark blue tail poised to dart off at any moment. “We’ll give you twenty seconds instead of five because you’re new, but after that the waves will start crashing.”

  Taken a bit aback by his words, Ian stood in shock for a moment, vividly recalling Kenn’s metaphor about the big ocean waves and how he needed to get out of the water before he got hurt. However, rather than worrying that this was a bad omen, he simply smiled at the funny coincidence and moved on.

  “Thanks. I got it, Rai.” Propelling himself away from them, adrenaline pumping through his body, Ian prepared himself for the game, a surge of excitement welling up inside of him. Even if he lost badly, it didn’t matter. Losing to creatures of a different race didn’t seem nearly as frustrating as losing to humans. Besides, he was new at the game and new at being a merman, so he had plenty of justifications if he did lose.

  Smiling to himself, as his face brushed against the soft colorful kelp-like plants, Ian knew he’d enjoy every minute of this.

  Chapter 19

  After the game of Arval ended, Ian went inside the palace by himself, where the king and queen greeted him as if they were best friends and directed him towards an empty spot a little distance from them. Physically exhausted, Ian laid down on an extremely long amethyst couch around a gorgeous banquet table that could fit fifty people, and just rested against the delicately soft fabric. It felt great to lie down. Every muscle and bone in his body ached. Even his tail was sore, which was definitely a weird feeling for him.

  Normally, after such strenuous exercise, a cold shower would feel great, yet, of course, there was no such thing here. Why would the merfolk even need to take baths when they were underwater nearly all the time?

  Amused by this interesting thought, as he buried himself deeper into the back of the couch, he stretched out his tail that was bent under him and reflected on his changed behavior and how h
e’d played Arval just like he was one of them … with playfulness and laughter. He’d done backward somersaults through the water, had spun around quickly a couple of times until he was dizzy just for fun, and had curled himself into a ball when the taggers were close so that they wouldn’t spot him.

  Dwelling on these incidents awhile longer, he suddenly grew a bit stern. His personality had definitely changed since he’d gone into the merfolk kingdom, and in some ways that concerned him.

  Though he had lost some of his irritation and rigidness, and had completely transformed from loathing fish and feeling sick every time he thought of them, to not even minding them anymore--all very positive changes--he had also become much more playful and fun-loving, traits that would’ve rarely been used to describe him before. If he stayed here too long, this culture would transform him into one of them, and his friends at home would hardly even recognize him when he came back … or should he say, if he ever came back.

  Brooding over that possibility with uneasiness, he subconsciously grabbed onto his sapphire necklace, when the thought hit him like a sledgehammer: this necklace, not the merfolk, was the culprit. His personality change was probably only one of its many side effects. Hadn’t Rhena, the mermaid who’d hugged him, even told him that the necklace had only been tested out once on a human, and that only for a short time?

  Feeling suddenly betrayed and angry, like he were part of a lab experiment gone wrong, Ian resisted the impulse to tear the necklace off. His only reason for not doing so was that it would be highly disrespectful in front of the princess and her royal parents.

  Still, this reason in itself was enough to make him take his hand off the necklace and force himself to calm down, for the last thing he wanted was to make an enemy out of such a kind-hearted race who’d treated him with such honor and respect. Even imagining Princess Taeria treating him as cruelly as the elven Princess Saeya sent a shockwave of fear into him.