by Ruhi Jain
Lukas gently grasped her shoulder. “It’s dangerous. Do you still want to learn how to create it?”
She blinked again to shake off the daze and nodded furiously.
“Right. Focus and think of the place you want the flower to appear. Then visualize it as you saw it, with the smell and the beauty. Will the dream into reality.”
“I don’t know if this will work, okay? My magic is a tad temperamental. Wait- how do you have magic?”
“I don’t really know- I’ve always had it. Of course, I’ve had to practise a lot, but it was never an issue for me. Now go on, try.”
Brell placed her eyes on the table before her, and thought of the golden flower. The intoxicating fragrance it possessed, its golden petals shimmering in the light. She urged her magic to reach out and settle itself on the table. Nothing happened. Then suddenly, something shifted inside her, reached out and touched the table.
A minute passed, a minute of just absolute stillness with her staring at the table, and then a swish of golden came together slowly, hesitantly. It looked like just a shimmer in the water but then it began to come closer together, to solidify. Then bit by bit, it formed a Drone.
Brell gasped, feeling her power drain away. She sat down on the pebbled path to regain her strength.
“You okay?” He bent down to her level. She saw amazement in his eyes. “I’ve never seen anybody create a Drone so fast in their first try.”
“Will I always get so tired after using my magic?” she panted.
“No, the more you practice the stronger you’ll get.”
He gazed at the flower for a moment and then frowned, his forehead crinkling up.
“Brell, there is no fragrance.”
“What do you mean?”
He helped her up and pointed to the flower. “There’s no smell.”
“How would you know that?”
“I have been trained to resist the temptation of the Drone, even though I can still smell it.”
“Oh,” she sighed. “And here I was, thinking I’d broken the record.”
“It’s okay. Even I didn’t get it at my first try. The fact that you created the flower itself is amazing. Just keep practicing.” He patted her shoulder. “To make the flower disappear, you have to clap your hands twice.”
She took a last look at the flower and then clapped her hands. The Drone melted into the water as elegantly as a swan moves. She let out a frustrated sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything is wrong,” she said, holding onto his arm. “Timmy doesn’t know who I am! He doesn’t remember our parents; he doesn’t remember anything except stuff that happened this morning. He is scared and confused!” she said, distressed. “And I’m here smiling and laughing and enjoying! What does that make me? Oh, and the fact that my father’s coat, the only thing I had of his, I lost when I entered Gelled.”
He sat on the opposite chair and held her hand, not saying a word. It felt good not being comforted when the words meant nothing. It felt good to just let her anger flow without someone saying, ‘it’s fine’.
“I hate her,” she muttered, thinking of the cool, calm way Zeldae was lying on the salon recliner, watching with quiet satisfaction as she troubled more and more merpeople. “I hate her with my heart and soul.”
“I hate her too,” Lukas said quietly.
“I’m scared, Lukas.”
“Bravery doesn’t mean not being scared. Sometimes it means being scared and doing it anyway. Sometimes, it’s holding onto hope even during the bleakest times in life. You’re the bravest person I’ve met Brellitine.”
She looked at his face for a minute, wondering if she should say what was bothering her or not. “The prophecy said that I would kill her. I don’t think I have it in me to do that.”
“If there is one thing that I have learnt in all these years, is that things change. Change is inevitable,” he said softly.
“Are you trying to say that I will become a heartless monster, a murderer and kill somebody?”
“Not everybody who kills is heartless,” Lukas whispered, carefully watching her reaction.
Brell paused, and then slowly withdrew her hand from his. “What are you trying to say?”
He looked away and put his hand back into his pocket. “I killed somebody once.” He glanced back up at her. “It was a couple of years ago. But that memory… the memory of doing it hasn’t ever gone away.”
She was speechless. It was clear that this conversation wasn’t meant to happen.
“I’m not proud of it.”
“Why?” she managed to whisper.
“Why did I do it? I had to.” He stared off into the distance. For the first time, his eyes didn’t twinkle with their usual light. “It was a last merman standing situation. Either I die, or I kill him. Simple, right? But it was the toughest thing that I’ve had to do.”
He refused to look her in the eye. “It was one of those days where a tsunami caused the whole sea to churn up. Zeldae had to deliver an extremely urgent message to Techon. A message that would either cause a war or peace. Instead of sending one messenger, she sent three of us via different routes so that if one was attacked or caught, the other two would be able to deliver the message.”
“The route I was sent on was supposed to be a dangerous one, so I also had four guards by my side. Because of the tsunami the streets were completely deserted. The water was… grey with all the dirt, plants, and god knows what else that was being churned up; we were worried too. Then out of thin water, it seemed, this group of seven appeared. The people who usually attack us are the enemies of Zeldae or of the particular sea we are delivering the message to. The fight that ensued was probably the longest I have experienced first-hand. The five of us against seven of them. It wasn’t long before you could see who was losing. It was just the last guard, Robin, and me against the remaining three of their bunch. Robin saved my life. Just as one of the rogues was about to drive a knife into my shoulder, Robin flung himself in the way and stabbed the attacker while a knife went through his own heart.”
He let out an agonizing groan. Brell didn’t know what to say or feel or think. She was uncertain if what she said would do more harm or good.
“His blood splattered all over me. With horror I realised that one of my closest friends had died trying to protect me! Robin’s death fuelled my rage and with that rage I managed to break one of the ambushers’ tail. The merman left seemed to be the strongest. Halfway through our combat he managed to stab me—”
“Oh my goodness.” Her stomach twisted.
“— in the stomach, and I was bleeding everywhere. I knew he was going to kill me unless I did something. So I did what I had to do. I drove a knife through his heart the way his partner did to Robin.”
There was silence for a while. “And this was all for protecting a message from Zeldae?” she said finally, breaking the silence.
“I never said that I was proud of it.” He finally gazed at her in the eye. “I never thought that I would kill somebody but I changed. I had no choice.”
She thought about it for a minute, at the same time processing what all he had just said. Her eyes flickered to his. Then she flung her arms around his heaving shoulders and whispered in his ear. “I’m not going to judge you. I’m just so glad that you’re alive.”
He wrapped his arms around her too and there they sat, cocooned by each other’s embrace. She could feel his relief.
An arrow whizzed past Brell’s ear and she gasped loudly, too shocked to react. Lukas moved so fast, his body became a blur and in a flash she felt herself being lifted up. From the corner of her eye, she saw another arrow flying towards her from out of a bush; a second later searing pain that felt like fire shot up from her left elbow to her shoulder and she let out a small scream.
Suddenly, she found herself on the ground, yards away from the table. Two mermen appeared at the path leading out of the garden, both armed with bows and arrows. One of them was Dav
e, the guard she knew patrolled the back gate, the one with a scar on his face,holding a large sword. His companion was shorter than him and had an arrow aimed right at the table.
Luckily, she and Lukas were now hidden behind a bush. His hand was clamped around her wrist. Bright red blood pulsed out of the slice that ran up her upper right arm. Her breath quickened and she bit her lip to bear the pain.
“Who was here?” the shorter one growled, looking at the table. “Damn it! They escaped.”
Dave swept his eyes around the garden and for a second, she felt he looked exactly at her but then his eyes moved on.
“Maybe they haven’t,” he rumbled, picking up pebbles from the pathway.
“What do you mean?” the shorter one exclaimed.
“Look Ralf.” Dave began throwing the pebbles one by one at the plants at his left, slowly making his way to the right. “I think they’re hiding.”
Plop! One pebble sailed through a bush and landed a yard away from them. Plop! The second one was closer. PLOP! The third was barely a few inches away from where Brell lay. Any second now, the next pebble would hit them and they would be exposed.
Drones appeared right beneath Dave and Ralf’s nose. A shocked expression painted itself over Ralf’s face and he collapsed, falling with a loud thump. But Dave looked around with a grin. “You won’t catch me by surprise this time. I know you’re here,” he sneered in a low, menacing tone, turning around. His back was to them.
Lukas unexpectedly flipped away and flew at Dave’s head, jamming his elbow into the latter’s temple. Dave groaned, fell sideways and recovered, whipping his head from side to side to spot his attacker.
“Don’t be a coward!” he roared.
Lukas was right behind him and before Dave could spot him, he jammed into him head first, throwing Dave off balance. His sword clattered to the ground but he managed to grab hold of Lukas’s shirt. Just when he was about to twist Lukas around and see his face, Brell grabbed Dave’s fallen sword and rammed its hilt into the side of his head with as much force as she could muster.
The cut in her arm burned like it was on fire. He gasped wildly and fell on his face. Lukas was up in a flash. She passed the sword to him and with movements too quick to track, he managed to press Dave down against the grass.
“Leave,” Lukas bent low and whispered in his ear, in a voice that didn’t sound at all like his normal one. She wouldn’t have been able to recognize it at his if she had heard it otherwise. “Or I will slice your throat with your own sword.”
Dave’s eyes were still squashed against the ground but his massive tail rose in the air, hurtling towards where Lukas was. She dived, grasped hold of his slimy tail and twisted it sideways. He bellowed, thrashing. Lukas took the sword and rammed the hilt into his head. Dave fell back, unconscious.
They stood over his unconscious figure, panting.
“Are you okay?” Lukas asked in a low voice, his eyes flickering to her right arm.
“I’m not quite sure. Give me a minute,” she lied. The wound must be pretty deep because the blood just wouldn’t stop gushing out. The exertions with Dave just made it bleed even more. “He didn’t see our faces, did he?”
“No, he didn’t. When they shot the two arrows, they were shooting at the figures they saw in the dark, but they couldn’t have seen our faces.” Creating a white cloth bandage, he wrapped it deftly around her arm and secured it with a pin. He picked up the arrow that had cut her and was now dripping with her blood. His eyes narrowed. “Damn it!” he hissed in anger. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I don’t even have that healing gel of mine. How bad is it?”
“Let’s focus on the more important things here.”
He clapped his hands and the Drones disappeared. “I’m so sorry Brell. I didn’t think that the guards would be awake by now.”
“When they do wake up, will we be in trouble?”
“Well, they didn’t know it was us.” Dave’s still body rose in the water and concealed itself in a large bush, followed by Ralf, Lukas’s magic moving them. “As long as they can’t pinpoint who was in the garden, we should be safe, I think. Brell, I’m really sorry I put you through this.”
“You didn’t know this would happen. We should get out of here,” she said, looking at the way the guards had come from. “I’m sure others will come soon with the entire ruckus we’ve created.”
She glanced at the garden one last time, put her hood back on and they hurried out. The pure moonlight filtered through the calm water, settling peacefully on a strand of hair by the table.
Lukas turned towards her as they were making their way back to her room. “How’s your arm?” They were swimming through a long tunnel made of just plants.
“Bearable… to some extent. I can’t believe we knocked out a guard!”
“Your move with the sword was pretty impressive.”
She didn’t feel glad at all. “I figured your strength was the sword so I should get your hands on it.”
“Brell, promise me something.”
“What?”
“Promise me that you won’t do anything risky. What happened with Dave here was risky enough.” They seemed to be getting closer to the servants’ quarters because he began to speak faster.
She stared at him, wondering whether to laugh or not. “Lukas, I’m going to save my brother on CreDay.”
“I know, just be careful.”
She rolled her eyes, “Everyone says that.”
“But with good reason. Zeldae …” he lowered his voice, “can do many unpleasant things to someone she doesn’t like. Especially the human who is prophesized to kill her.”
“I’m not going to give her that opportunity.” She slipped off the brown cloak and handed it to him. “Besides, the prophecy also mentioned that I’ll be out of Gelled soon. So don’t worry.” She paused, looking at him carefully. “Even if we get into trouble for this, thanks for tonight, Lukas. Oh, and I have to tell you this - I noticed this place called ‘Bremothy’ in the map of Satis. Think about it - it’s a combination of Brell and Timothy. Could you maybe find out about it, if you happen to be in Satis?”
“Sure.”
That night she fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep with a twinkle in her sleepy eyes.
*
“Girl, wake up!”
Someone jolted Brell’s waist sharply and she opened her eyes in alarm. God, she felt so tired. Her bones felt like lead and cotton at the same time.
Hazel stood next to her, tying up her beautiful auburn hair into a sleek bun. She smiled at Brell.
“Get up, we have to go.” Dragging her stiff body out of bed, Brell groggily reached for her uniform. She ached all over.
“Morning. What time is it?” she yawned.
“Almost six.” Hazel straitened her shirt and then suddenly yelped, “What happened to your arm?”
Blood had soaked through the bandage Lukas had tied last night for her, staining it dark red. She had expected her wound to heal slightly, but as she slowly removed the bandage, she saw it hadn’t.
“Do you have a bandage?” she asked weakly. Hazel rushed out of the room and returned with the first aid kit. “What happened?”
Brell shook her head while Hazel dressed the cut. Last night’s memories came rushing back, making it difficult to think clearly. “I just… um… got up in the middle of night to go to the washroom and it was dark so I couldn’t see the door edge and I tripped. The metal just cut my skin, that’s all.”
“This looks pretty deep, I’m worried.”
“Don’t be. Now tell me, why did you wake me up at six?” she groaned.
Hazel firmly taped the gauze in place. “Because today we’re gonna begin the preparations for CreDay.”
*
Figgie waited until every mermaid had gathered around her before she began.
“Right. In roughly two weeks it’s going to be CreDay which means we are going to be very busy. I will be giving you girls a list of chores and you h
ave to finish it fast. Each chore should not take you more than an hour.”
She began calling out names and when Brell received her list she almost fainted. The list was as long as her whole arm, with chores scribbled all over them. The very sight of it made her feel like running away and hiding in the storage cupboard.
“One you’ve done this work, report to me. The first three mermaids who complete five lists within these two days will get five Dolts added to their pay.”
Everyone began talking all at once and Brell tuned out of her surroundings feeling oddly disjointed today. Her mind was with Timmy and Lukas, but her body was forced to be in the present.
She became aware of somebody shaking her elbow.
“We don’t get to see each other often,” Erene said, looking excited. Her fingers were clutching the list of chores tightly and her face was aglow. “I’m going to finish the duties fast and earn those five Dolts.”
She realised all the mermaids were already gone. “Good for you,” Brell smiled, and ran her fingers through Erene’s dark hair. “But don’t overexert yourself, okay? If you get tired, go slow.”
Erene shook her head adamantly. “Not a chance.”
“How are your knuckles?”
“Fine.” Erene ran her eyes over her list. “Well bye!”
Brell waved her off and saw her own list. It was so huge. She took a deep breath. One chore at a time she reminded herself and read the first line.
• Clean the top inner dome of the castle.
She gulped, wondering how big ‘the top inner dome’ was. Grabbing the required equipment, she was about to knock on Figgie’s door to ask her where it was when she hesitated, hearing her irritated voice.
“It can’t be my mermaids. I would’ve known.” Figgie paused, and Brell didn’t hear any other voice.
“It’s got to be someone else. Maybe some of the mermen who have dainty hands. Now you leave my girls alone.” Figgie suddenly snapped.
She must be talking to somebody, maybe through the Sea’s version of a phone. Then her voice grew quiet. “A strand of hair?”