Jedediah and Jireh traveled with his parents as well as Lizzy.
Although Jedediah loved the Island Traveler, it was a rare treat to ride upon his father’s prized wooden schooner. The only downside was he had to share the cabin with Will which only had twin built-in bunk beds. Will slept on the top bunk, while Jedediah and Jireh slept on the bottom.
It was worth it, the schooner had been lovingly restored with a Chef’s galley of which his mother would make good use of and it was an added bonus to Jedediah’s palette.
Mr. Big Eyes traveled with Seturus and the Mer, but would take breaks on the Bonnie Rose with Jireh when he became too tired.
Lizzy had her own cabin with a built-in double-sized bed. She was already regretting her choice to not bring her laptop.
She had made the decision to go un-plugged for this trip and knew she could always use her mom’s in the galley. However she brought a journal and planned to do some writing and maybe even a few sketches along the way.
Cole and Rose’s cabin had a built-in queen-sized bed which was the largest of the three cabins and yet still wasn’t long enough to keep Cole’s feet from hanging off the end.
Lana rode upon Titus’ back deep below the surface and watched the Bonnie Rose above them as they traveled. She was excited to see all of her family joining with the Mer like they used to when her siblings were younger.
King Titus turned to Lana and grinned with a wink, “I knew you would enjoy it.”
She kissed his cheek, “Yes I’m so glad they chose to come with us this year and I’m really praying Lizzy has a wonderful time and can mend her broken heart.”
“We will help her, my love and I am sure the mermen are most eager to help her also.”
She giggled, “I know we all will and what fun we will have.” Lana smiled brightly.
Their son Prince Titan swam beside them and also smiled to know his mother was so happy.
As with any migration, King Titus had his guardsmen swim a protective barrier around the entire pod.
Each guardsman carried their long white spears carved from Whale bone. They gave a wide berth as they traveled through the Atlantic Ocean passing Florida.
King Titus kept the treaty with the Mer of Tiselius as his grandfather before him did as they passed them each migration.
The Mer of Tiselius had always been his enemy before the reign of King Spero. Titus believed him to be his friend and hoped his pod now felt the same.
~~~~~
CHAPTER NINE
TROUBLED WATERS
The Bonnie Rose now sailed above the Mer pod to the rear as they traveled around the bottom of South America and crossed from the South Atlantic Ocean and into the South Pacific Ocean.
Micah sailed the Island Traveler above the middle of the pod with his daughter Princess Talei giving him directions.
Rose was thankful she brought along her trusty turquoise stand mixer. She baked a white coconut cake for Will’s fourteenth birthday which was his favorite. She even put toasted coconut inside and on top of the white butter-cream frosting the way he liked.
Tensions had been high between Cole and Will on the trip thus far even though everyone was trying to give Will his space.
He didn’t like his mom’s plan of doing school work three days a week; which amounted to about four hours each lesson.
Cole didn’t like the way he was treating his mom.
Rose thought to diffuse the situation with the birthday celebration.
“Will, come on out, your mom’s baked your favorite cake for your birthday!” called Cole through the closed cabin door.
“Ah Dad, can’t it wait a minute.”
“Son, we’ve waited till afternoon.”
“Okay, okay, give me a minute.” Will reluctantly put down his gaming device and hopped off his bed and headed out the door and down the hall into the galley.
All of the family, including Lana began singing Happy Birthday.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m another year older whoopdidoo!” Will flung his hair out of his eyes and he twirled a finger upward.
Cole ignored his comments, but was losing patience with him.
Rose had him blow out his candles and then cut and served the cake.
“I can’t believe how fast you’re growing Will.” Lana went and hugged him. “I have a gift for you from Titus, Titan and me.” She handed him a white knife carved from a Whale’s bone.
It had a long blade coming to a fine point. The head of the knife had a merman with a crown upon his head and holding a forked staff; the craftsmanship was amazing.
“Hey, this is pretty cool.” He grinned and hugged her again.
“This is from Seturus, Jireh and me.” Jedediah handed him a belt with a sheath made from Seal skin.
Jireh smiled, “Do you like it?”
“Yeah hey man, thanks!” He took it and tried it on, placing the knife inside. He then took it off and laid it on the table.
“This is from me,” said Lizzy as she handed him a newer version of his favorite game.
“UBER AWESOME! Thanks Sis.” He gave a wide grin.
“We know it can’t compete with all you’ve gotten, but here’s our gift,” Rose said as Cole brought out a new surfboard with orange, yellow and red in the design of flames coming out of a blue dragon’s mouth.
“A new board; okay, I guess the dragons cool,” Will said with exaggerated disappointment.
“Man Will, I’d have loved a board like that when I was your age,” said Jedediah recognizing the sleight to his parents.
“We’ll have a lot of fun Will!” Lizzy tried to encourage him.
Lana didn’t say anything because she wasn’t too pleased with the way he was acting.
Will read her thoughts; “Whatever!” He left and headed back down to his cabin.
“Oh dear,” said Rose with a sigh.
Cole was quick on his heels, “Will, you come back here and at least say thank you to your mom for making your favorite cake.”
“Dad just leave me alone; why can’t you all just leave me alone!” Will turned back and yelled as he quickly tried shutting his door before Cole could get inside the cabin.
The door splintered when it hit Cole’s deck shoe as he was entering the room.
“Son, you know you need to calm down; you’re stronger than you think and when you get angry like this your liable to sink us!”
Will yelled out, “Ahhhhhh!” He quickly slipped under Cole’s arm and ran up onto the deck and over to the side of the schooner and jumped into the Ocean.
Cole reached the deck just as Will jumped over.
Jedediah saw it, “What just happened?”
“He’s upset with me; he broke his door slamming it in my face.”
Jedediah couldn’t help but chuckle, “I guess I do remember a time like that.”
“Yep; I’ll let down the sails. Would you have Seturus get him and bring him back?”
“Sure Dad.” Jedediah grinned to Lizzy and Lana; they were standing by the railing still in shock.
Jedediah spoke to Seturus in his mind and she quickly swam after Will.
~~~
Will couldn’t believe how stupid he had acted, but if nothing else, this just gave him the amount of space he thought he needed to blow off some steam.
He did love the water, but in a different way than his family. He loved the quiet it offered, especially in the middle of the Ocean.
He wasn’t afraid; he could hold his breath under water nearly as long as Jedediah and swim almost as fast, but he never let that be known to his family.
I guess I could have brought my knife, he thought.
He knew the quiet wouldn’t last long because his Mer relations would soon be beneath him and then swim him back to the schooner.
He began to sense them below, but they were being especially quiet.
“Hey guys, it’s not like I don’t know you’re there.”
He heard something unusual, “Hey what’s that song you’re playi
ng; is that a harp?”
Now the music was joined by a mermaid’s voice; she was singing.
Will thought it strange; she wasn’t exactly singing any words but the tune she sang seemed to appeal to his human senses as well as his Mer.
Slowly the mermaid rose up out of the water while still singing her song.
She wore a golden crown with alternating diamond, emerald and sapphire stones upon her head of long glistening black hair. She had eyes as black as the deepest Ocean depth.
Will thought it strange she had no white in her eyes, only black. He’d never seen a Mer with eyes like it before.
She smiled as she sang and plucked the harp with her long curved fingernails.
Will noticed she also wore a golden ring with a ruby stone set within; he’d never seen a Mer wear a ring before either. It only fit on her mid-joint because of the webbing between each finger.
She wore several gold chains and black pearl necklaces; some had jewels set within them.
She also wore a shell top like the Mer he knew, but he thought it odd she wore so much jewelry; especially the golden crown.
As she continued to sing, he felt himself being lulled into some sort of sleep or unconsciousness state.
The mermaid stopped singing and let go of her harp, she swam even closer to Will; pressing herself against him.
He had never been so close to a mermaid before; much less any female. He had an overwhelming feeling come over him to want to kiss her.
“I cannot believe the Guardian would allow such a young pup to be drifting upon such dangerous waters,” she said nearly in a whisper as she stared deep into his eyes and caressed his cheek with one of her fingernails.
Will could feel her breath upon his face. He leaned over and tried to kiss her.
She cut deep into his cheek in a half circular motion, leaving behind a wound four inches long.
Suddenly Will came to his senses as he felt the sting and the warm blood flow down his cheek. He was now very afraid.
The mermaid moved back from him and laughed hysterically and then looked at him with an expression of pure evil, “Tell the Guardian that Queen Poneros of the dark ones and sister to Scelestus has allowed you to live this day.
“The dark ones are no longer ruled by King Spero and we are not enemies of the Guardian or King Titus, but we are also not their friends. Do you understand?”
Will was trembling with teeth chattering; he only managed a nod of his head.
Queen Poneros turned and dove into the water.
Now Will could sense Seturus in pain below him and she soon surfaced.
“Will, I am so sorry; they held me back.” Seturus began to have tears fall down her cheeks.
“It’s okay,” was all he could say in his mind as he was still in shock.
“Put your arms around my neck.” She helped him to do it and held onto his hands as she quickly swam him back to the Bonnie Rose.
Will still felt numb; why did dad not tell me about these dark ones before, was his only thought.
Seturus remained silent.
~~~
Rose had missed the initial incident when she was cleaning up the galley, but now had been pacing the deck waiting for any sign of Seturus and Will.
Jedediah was concerned when Seturus didn’t return soon and he had Lana swim to the pod to see if someone could go after them.
Several of Titus’ guardsmen did meet up with Seturus and Will, but none of the dark ones were near.
Titus decided to send out some scouts to try and find them.
Jedediah jumped into the water as soon as he saw Seturus and Will. He swam to them, “Are you guys okay; oh man Will, your cheek is really bad.”
Seturus said, “Dark ones,” in her mind.
“Did you know about them?” Will asked him in his mind.
“Yeah I did, but like me, dad didn’t want you to know until you were older.”
“I’m definitely older,” said Will as he leaned on Jedediah.
He lifted Will up to his father.
Cole brought him on deck, “Let me get my emergency duffel kit; you’re gonna need stitches.”
Will just looked at him coldly.
Rose got a towel and placed it around him and kept her arms around him.
Lizzy got two wash cloths and held the wound with one and tried cleaning up some of the blood with the other.
Cole came back with his medical kit and a deck chair for Will to sit on.
“How could you guys keep it from me?” Will asked in his mind, not wanting to make his cheek worse by trying to talk and he sat in the chair.
“Son, we never wanted you to fear the Mer and for what all of us knew the dark ones were harmless in the Kingdom of Tiselius with King Spero now reigning,” said Cole as he worked quickly rinsing and stitching up Will’s wound inside first because it was so deep and then would do a top stitch on the outside.
“You mean there’s another King and Kingdom I know nothing about?”
Jedediah was now on board, “Yeah Will, they were once King Titan’s enemies, but after Titus rescued Lana and Prince Makoa’s father was killed, they chose another King.
“His name is King Spero and he’s been a friend to Titus since the day they killed all the Leviathan’s eggs together….” Jedediah quickly rambled without thinking.
“Thanks Jed,” said Cole cutting him off with a scowl.
“What?” Will could not believe all he was hearing.
“Its all true Will; you see you’ve been playing games while some of us have had to fight real battles,” said Lana as Titus had just put her back on deck.
Titus looked seriously to Will, “As it should have been; it is all true. I am sorry we did not sense danger sooner.”
“If someone would have told me I might not have went overboard.”
“We’ve all learned a valuable lesson Son; I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“Dad, I just remembered, I’m supposed to give you a message….” He went on to tell all Queen Poneros said to him.
“So she has decided her fate and those with her,” said Titus.
“I didn’t realize Scelestus had a sister,” said Cole.
“Yes, there were rumors of her displeasure of the new King Spero.”
“I guess were all back to square one.”
“Yes, we must all be on guard; especially as we travel.”
“Seturus said their mermen held her captive and they weren’t exactly playing nice if you catch my drift. She also said there was at least thirty she sensed with the Queen.”
“I will let my guards know; I pray you will be well soon Will,” said Titus and then he dove into the water.
“If she’d gone any deeper, the cut would have gone through to the other side; here, last stitch.” Cole tied it off and cut the suture thread. He cleaned up the last of the blood on Will’s face and chest.
“Thanks dad, I guess I’m lucky to be alive.”
“You have no idea Will, if she wanted to kill you she would have; she was sending Titus and me a clear message.” Cole sighed deeply and let go of the tension he had held in.
“If I’m ever in the water again, I’m taking my knife.”
“That’s why we gave it to you.” Lana raised her brows with a smile.
“Mom you got any cake left?” Will gave a half grin and winced from the pain.
“I think he’ll live,” said Rose as she kissed his other cheek.
“I’m up for another piece,” said Lana and Lizzy agreed.
“Save me a piece, right now I wanna be with Seturus for awhile. Mom will you look after Jireh when he wakes up from his nap?” asked Jedediah.
“Sure Jed, take your time, I’m sure she needs you right now.” Rose smiled understandingly.
Jedediah went to the rail and jumped into the water.
Seturus quickly swam into his waiting arms.
~~~~~
CHAPTER TEN
DROP ANCHOR
A few days
passed when Lana knocked on Will’s repaired cabin door.
“Come in Lana,” he called.
She went in and climbed up and sat on the bed next to him.
He put away his game, “I’m glad you’re here. Dad’s been filling in all the details. Were you really kidnapped?”
Lana smiled, “Yeah I was, Midori was one of my jailers and Seturus was the one who brought me food.”
“I can imagine how hard it was for Titus and the family.”
“Yeah, he risked his life and nearly took Midori’s when he came to rescue me. Our children were separated from us all that winter, except for Titan in my belly.” She smiled.
“I’m glad he did Sis; I wish I’d known.” He frowned.
“Like Titus said, it was as it should be. I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time on your birthday.”
“Its okay, this whole thought sharing thing is not my favorite.”
“I know; it takes time to sort out one at a time.”
“I pretty much drown it out with games. The night is the hardest.”
“Really; I’d have thought it would be the easiest.”
“I can hear the entire Mer pod beneath us; especially you and Titus.”
“Will how can you with Dad at the back of the pod and Titus and I leading the pod?”
“I don’t know I’ve always been able to hear pretty far; especially you and Titus.”
“Will you don’t realize how amazing that is; I don’t think even I can hear that well.”
“I guess I found my Super Power.” He grinned and then quickly grabbed his injured cheek.
“Be careful Will, yeah I say so; I’ll have to guard my thoughts a little more,” she giggled.
“Definitely.” He held his cheek as he grinned again.
~~~
Lizzy didn’t sleep well since the time of Will’s incident. She had forgotten how the other Mer seemed to always choose evil.
Titus and King Titan before him had guarded Safe Harbor Island so well. She only knew happiness growing up; with the exception of Lana’s kidnapping, but it had happened in the South Pacific.
Legend of the Mer III Song of Sirens Page 6