Tidal Whispers

by Kelly Said

  It glowed bright, as if a tiny sun opened its eye to illuminate the bottom of the ocean and ignite a fever of new possibilities in her heart.

  She released the trap, letting it float and tug on the tether around her ankle so she could reach down and claim the gem. Miki brushed the remaining sand away, her fingers barely able to wrap around it, but the pearl curved perfectly into her palm as if she were meant to hold it. Bending her knees, she kicked off, steady in her ascent, fingers firmly around her treasure, bubbles from her nose gliding past the smile on her face.

  Expecting to breach the surface she opened her mouth and spewed her last remnants of air. Something hand-like wrapped around her ankle and jerked down. Miki swallowed salty ocean and choked on a scream. Arms thrashing for the surface, she kicked, her foot connecting with whatever grabbed her from the deep.

  Limbs chopping and hacking at the water, desperate to keep from drowning, she drew in a breath without air.

  • • •

  Harmon rubbed the pain from his cheek where the human female’s foot connected with his face.

  I should have surfaced with her, he thought, instead of scaring the air out of her with my touch.

  His sensitive thoughts blanked to white when a powerful sting hit his tail.

  Spinning, he snarled at Prosb’o’s guards. One of them lunged and struck, trying to coil itself around his arm.

  A second swam for the female and clamped onto the trap dangling from her leg. Its body zigzagged, dragging her under, down to the bottom with great speed.

  Harmon’s heart clutched at the shock in the girl’s face, watching her sweep past him, the deep waters swallowing her as her arms reached for the sun. The pearl’s love light shot white beams through her clenched fingers, igniting something primal in Harmon’s blood. He roared and lashed out, defying the shocks and bites in the water.

  Seizing Prosb’o’s protector with both hands, Harmon gritted his teeth, growling as he battled past the electric pain skipping through his veins. In one powerful flex, Harmon twisted and the slithering spine snapped and crackled. He released it, and the long, lifeless body floated away.

  Turning his attention to the pearl’s fading light, Harmon plunged for the depths.

  • • •

  Miki’s will to survive engaged. Reaching down, she drew the blade from her thigh and slashed through the tether, letting the giant beast take the lobster instead of her. She kicked hard for the surface, her thoughts pumping the word ‘air’ with frantic demand.

  • • •

  Harmon kept his eyes on the girl while his sonar traced the threat spiraling up behind her—too far away to help.

  Prosb’o’s sentinel struck out and nipped her on her shoulder.

  She recoiled, bubbles exploding from her mouth before she lunged to her left.

  Charging in, Harmon snatched Prosb’o’s guard, preparing to mangle the life from it but realized the girl had already done so. The blade in her hand gutted her sleek attacker with a soldier’s finesse, the tangy taste of blood blossoming in the water.

  Harmon smiled, but the moment evaporated as he studied her face. Her eyes were white, the color rolled back. Her fingers relaxed, and the Pearl of Pau’maa floated away from her grasp. Harmon seized it and gathered her lithe body into his arms. Murmuring prayers to the water gods, he called on all his power to swim for the surface, begging it wouldn’t be too late.

  • • •

  Miki woke, coughing and purging saltwater. Strong arms held her tight to a hard chest. Wide palms rubbed up her back, helping push the water from her lungs. The saltwater scalded her aching shoulder, and she would have sworn the stranger sucked at the wound.

  Not Taigo, she thought. The Inito’s oldest son was too wiry, and his way of comforting too harsh. Her throat burned. She tried to speak and coughed again.

  “Shh.” The man’s voice near her ear gentled her movements. “You were gone from this world for a few moments. You’ve only now returned. An electric sting wounded you, but you are safe, so please be still. Let me and the ocean tend to you.”

  Relief filled his voice. Miki let her eye lids lower halfway. Her cheek slid down to rest on his shoulder while her fingers weakly toyed with the white-blonde hair curling at his nape.

  Like the color of the beach, she thought. Nobody on the island had such hair.

  Her brow furrowed. His skin wasn’t flesh like she’d seen before, either. It was smooth but dappled with fine scales—the color of human skin. Her dangling toes reached, touching the muscular twitch of a fish tail. She glanced down.

  The clear water exposed everything. The body of a man from the belly button up, and instead of legs below, the most beautiful fish tail swaying back and forth, keeping him afloat.

  I’m hallucinating, Miki thought. The shock and pressure must be playing with my mind, because I’d take an oath before the gods that a merman fought a giant eel and is now holding me.

  Her thoughts reeled with myths and legends spun from some of the older divers, their breath heavy with island rum, claiming to have seen exotic women with fish tails for feet. Miki suspected the liquor influenced their memories. Their tales stayed with her, though, their spiced words saturating her mind with dreams of swimming freely with a fin instead of toes. Miki gasped, finding strength to wrench free from the stranger. Panting as she treaded water, she barely managed to put an arm’s-length of ocean between his bulging shoulders and herself.

  This is no dream, she thought, fighting panic.

  Trying to orient herself, she scanned for landmarks in the distance.

  So much ocean, she thought, and strange rows of stained blue buoys.

  She spotted a familiar dark blur on the horizon and exhaled. The island peaks were there, smaller than her thumbnail but within sight. Her relief turned to fear when she realized the hilly stagger pattern was different.

  I’m on the Inito side of the island, she thought. The dangerous side.

  Her attention focused again on the light-haired stranger. He quietly treaded water, studying her as she did him. An overwhelming sense of safety filled her with his presence. Perhaps the way he had tended to her or the way his eyes expressed concern did it. He had given her space when she needed it and had been gentle when she never asked. That sort of kindness clutched at her heart.

  This is real, she thought, I’m alone in the open ocean with a merman.

  Exhaustion weighed her down, and Miki didn’t object when the merman swam forward and grabbed her by the waist.

  “You’re in shock,” he said, his sky blue eyes staring so intensely.

  “Shock,” she murmured, “yes.” The fine scales on his bare shoulders glistened in the sun. I am in shock, she thought. Shocked to see the stories are true.

  Her hands slid down to outline where a man’s hips would normally be, and her gaze lowered from his to confirm her findings. The transition from skin to fin was flawless. The flesh-toned scales on his torso graduated to silver as they interlocked their way down past his lower back to the length of his tail. He flicked his wide fin, and she smiled. Her fingers slowly caressed inward from his hips, below his navel when his hands clasped around her wrists.

  “Careful.” He smiled and turned his head slightly to hide the curious blush streaking up his face. “My phallus may not be visible now, but Mer’s are built as your men are. We are quite sensitive to direct contact. And when in the presence of our match, our scales part to release our—”

  “I see.” Miki’s face heated as if sunburned.

  She averted her eyes from his front bulge and brought her fingertips up from the water, reaching to touch his bruised cheek and trace the squiggle of a scar on his temple. Her smile widened when he closed his eyes and let her explore the contours of his face.

  So much like a man, she thought, tracing his nose, following the curve of his lips. Her discovery continued under his chin, skimming his throat, his gills quivering at her touch.

  “You saved me,” she whispered, thinki
ng of the cloud of eel’s blood that had surrounded her.

  “No.” He opened his eyes and grinned. “You saved yourself. I only squeezed water from your body and pushed air into your lungs.”

  She licked her lips, tasting where his mouth had pressed to hers.

  “What is your name?” They both asked simultaneously, both chuckling.

  He went silent.

  “Miki.” She relaxed in the comfort of his arms.

  “I am Harmon.” He raised his forearm, showing off his military mark. “A soldier in His Majesty’s 7th Infantry.”

  Miki’s eyes widened. His Majesty? A soldier? 7th Infantry? He’s not the only merman? How many were there, she wondered, excited. Her thoughts traveled to her aching ankle, and her glare turned accusingly to Harmon.

  “Wait. Who are you at war with?” When he hesitated to answer, her blood quickened. Miki tried to push away, but Harmon held her close. She struggled against him, pounding his broad chest. “Have you and your fellow soldiers been drowning my friends, holding them under by their ankles? Is your infantry sinking our supply ships?”

  “No,” Harmon said. “This area in uncharted to our command pods. Your people have made no destructive impact on my kind. Our quarrel is with the far eastern ridge, with those dumping their poisonous refuse into the current and over fishing the territory, depleting our food supplies.”

  “Oh, Harmon, I’m sorry.” Miki’s anger dissipated. “Your people are starving, too?” Her stomach painfully reminded her of its emptiness.

  “We were.” Harmon unfurled her fingers and brought the tip of each one to his lips.

  We’re both fighting to save our own people, she thought.

  His tenderness sent little sparks through the veins in her arm, charging her heart. She licked her lips again, claiming another sample of him. Exhaling slowly, she tried to regulate her shortness of breath and settle the tremor in her fingers.

  Her empty palm brought up a memory. “I lost it,” she said, frowning.

  “This?” Harmon placed his mother’s pearl in Miki’s hand. He closed her fingers over it.

  “Yes.” Miki’s chest heaved with unexpected emotion. “What’s happening?” The gem throbbed in her hand with every beat of her heart. Faces and fin patterns pulsed in her mind, and she fought to catch her breath. “This is yours, isn’t it?” She searched for understanding in his eyes. “It’s special, somehow.”

  “It is special,” Harmon whispered.

  Her stomach growled, and Miki cringed.

  Harmon’s eyebrows furrowed. “Your trap,” he said. “It’s sitting on the bottom. Hold this for me.” He sealed the pearl in her grasp. “I’ll be back for you.” He froze. “For it.” His expressions didn’t settle well around that either and he grunted. “I’ll return shortly with your catch.”

  Miki nodded. When she tasted her lips again, a tingly warmth poured through her body. She grinned at the idea of him returning for it or her.

  • • •

  Harmon didn’t fight the smile spreading on his face. As he swam hard for the sea floor, his heart raced, with excitement, though, not exertion. He’d found the pearl, and his mother would be pleased and at ease.

  There’s something more, Harmon thought. I told Miki myself, our scales only part for our mate. So why did my body react so strongly to her at first sight? A human! Harmon considered the legend of the pearl. Could it be? Could it be possible? My match in this life is not even a Mer. How would it work? It doesn’t matter, a little part of him whispered. Your belief in love will make it happen.

  A familiar shadow on the seafloor jolted Harmon out of his reverie, a flame of anger igniting in his gut. Harmon released one ping and outlined his brother, Creeb.

  Creeb glanced up from his half-eaten lobster, a quick smile of recognition twisted to alarm. Harmon’s lip curled at the way his brother’s body braced for impact.

  He’s taken mother’s family heirloom, and now he’s taken Miki’s meal? Harmon thought.

  Outraged, he swam full force and tackled his brother. He drove Creeb into the soft silt and pinned him down. Hands around his throat, he coaxed the last chewed bit of lobster meat from Creeb’s mouth.

  Creeb choked, spat, and raised the ruined half of crustacean. He smiled when Harmon’s grip eased a bit.

  “You only had to ask if you wanted some,” he said.

  Harmon recognized his brother’s carefree attempt to quiet the turbulent waters. He released Creeb, smirking as his gills riffled, shooting sand puffs out of either side of his throat.

  “What are you doing here?” Harmon kept Creeb within snatching distance.

  “After you took the answer you needed from me, you fled so fast you didn’t give me a chance to continue. That’s you, the soldier. Quick to attack, judge and defend. Slow to accept explanations or love.” Creeb massaged his throat. He pointed to the fading sting marks on Harmon’s arm. “You’ve scuffled with someone.”

  Harmon flexed and winced slightly at the pain. “Prosb’o is going to need two new guards.” He grinned at the astonishment in his younger brother’s face. “After you gave me his name, I wasn’t in the mood to listen to your excuses or stories of potential gambling glory.” Harmon’s voice quieted. “How could you, brother? How could you treat what’s been ours for generations so carelessly?”

  “It’s a gem, Harmon. You were away at war. We were low on funds. Mother put too much weight in the legends of our grandparents and theirs before them.” Creeb sighed and shrugged. “It’s a valuable gem that I knew would bring me great luck, and having it as my collateral ensured my success. I was returning with my winnings to buy it back,” Creeb said. “I was trying to take care of our family while you were away. Things were tough in your absence. I was doing what I knew best. You’ve never had any faith in me, brother.”

  “You’ve never given me reason to,” Harmon murmured.

  Creeb wrapped his hand around Harmon’s forearm and waited. When Harmon’s webbed fingers clasped Creeb’s, he said, “You never gave me the chance to express my gratitude, that you made it home safe, brother. And I’m sorry I offered your medal as partial collateral.” Creeb grinned sheepishly, releasing his brother and pulling Harmon’s Honor and Bravery decoration from his winning’s pouch.

  “You returned to Prosb’o’s?” Harmon checked the front and back of his award before handing it back to Creeb.

  “I did. I went to the trench, but his Mers said you charged in, caused a scene and fled. Now Prosb’o himself is hunting for you. He has a special favoring for pearls. One might say they are his weakness, if a Mer such as Prosb’o suffers from vulnerability. So, brother. Where is it? Where is the Pearl of Pau’maa?”

  Harmon paused, thinking of Miki. “What did you mean? When you said I was slow to love?”

  Creeb’s head tilted with curiosity.

  “Harmon,” he started, “yours is a mind of strategy, and you cannot accept any female who does not hold the same high values as a soldier. The honor and integrity you embody, the need to always do right no matter the cost. Love is that, but it is also about being impulsive. When have you ever pursued anything without having every flip of the fin planned out?”

  Harmon considered his brothers words and thought back to his pursuit of the pearl. He had no plan. He’d followed blindly. Harmon conjured Miki’s face in his mind, remembering the fury in her voice at the thought of her people suffering, the bravery she displayed fighting an eel twice her length and girth—in the water. His heart squeezed hard with wanting.

  • • •

  Miki had watched Harmon swim until the deep dark waters swallowed his tail fin. She waited, staring, silently counting the beats. The sun’s warmth dried the strands of hair near her face, and she sighed with longing when Harmon far surpassed the time she could remain submerged. To pass the time, she turned her attention to the rows of buoys.

  What was happening on the Inito side of the island?

  Hating to leave the spot where Harmon said he’
d return, she reluctantly moved away, treading water forward but glancing back, checking for his white-blonde hair to rise through the surface. He said he would come back, and Miki found herself wanting to see him, craving that jolt of desire she experienced when his soft lips touched her fingertips.

  It’s been so long since I’ve felt a gentle touch, she thought.

  Holding the pearl hampered her swimming, so she laid back and floated towards the closest buoy. With the pearl in her hand, and the sun on her face, she closed her eyes and let herself dream of what it would be like to swim with Harmon, hand in hand, never needing to rise for air, to gaze at him and have him look back at her with smiling eyes.

  Her head tapped wood, and she turned over, grabbing the large, floating bulb with her free hand. She braced her feet against the dangling rope to support herself, the gentle slapping of water against the buoys pushed at her body from all sides. Miki fingered the weaving on the rope, recognizing Taigo’s skill.

  It appears Taigo has been tying knots from sunrise to moonrise, Miki thought, trying to count the wide scatter of man-made domes bobbing in the ocean. What’s at the end of this rope length? She stuck her face underwater, straining to see, but the rope stretched too far.

  The only way to know is to dive, she thought.

  Clutching the pearl, Miki steadied her breathing, readying for one more plunge.

  She submerged, handling the rope, using it to pull herself down. The struggle to greet the deep concerned her, but the desire to know what was tethered on the end of the line pushed her on. She reached the halfway point, and her eyes widened, seeing Taigo’s skill applied to its most proficient array of knots and joinings.

  He had worked the cord to form a pocketed net for a tall row of oysters. Miki had never seen mollusks hung like a string of fish before. Island pearling took great skill to work the shells on the ocean floor. Miki considered the number of divers needed to gather and hang the oysters before her.

  All of them, she thought, all of the divers who died. She was as sure of that as she was certain of the salt on her lips. The Inito’s would have some explaining to do to the elders, Miki thought.