“I need your help, but I’m not appearing on TV. This is important. I’ll get one of the kingdom’s naval ships and a crew ready for first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at the dock at nine am.”
The grin almost split his face as I stood up and shook his hand. I wasn’t sure what I was letting myself in for, but I was pretty sure I was going to regret it.
I left him there and headed back to the palace. I was so unbelievably tired, but there was still so much to do. My first job was to wake John. He lived in the palace in one of the larger staff quarters. I almost never walked down the staff wing as it was their private home, and I didn’t want to intrude, but he’d understand.
He was bleary-eyed as he opened the door.
“Ma’am, what’s the matter?” He asked in concern as he took in my appearance. I hadn’t seen my reflection in hours, but I knew I wasn’t looking my best.
I explained the situation and asked him to bring one of the naval ships into dock for me.
He was reluctant to let me go, but I assured him I was in good hands. The mention of Josh’s name put him at ease. I guess it wasn’t just the ladies that fell for Josh’s charms.
After everything was done, I fell into bed, but not before setting my alarm clock for seven. It was only a few hours away, but there were things I needed to do before joining Josh on the ship. I closed my eyes and drifted away almost the instant my head hit the pillow. It felt like a lot less than four hours when the blaring of the alarm clock woke me up.
After dragging myself out of bed and checking up on mother, who had been moved to the palace infirmary overnight, I asked a maid to pack me some clothes and then headed out to the ocean. I stripped down to my underwear and dived straight in, expecting my grandfather to be there. He wasn’t, so I began the long swim to Havfrue alone, hoping to meet him somewhere along the way.
After swimming for a full half-hour, I was exhausted, and still, my grandfather hadn’t shown. It was a clear day, and the sea was calm, but I’d already swum further than I’d ever swum before, and I was exhausted. Without my grandfather’s help, I wouldn’t be able to dive below. When I was about where Havfrue was, I dived under the ocean, holding my breath.
My eyesight wasn’t the best without a merperson holding onto me, but the spire of my grandfather’s palace was hard to miss.
I swam back up to the surface and took a few deep breaths, holding my arms and legs out wide so I could float on the surface and conserve the little energy I had left.
There was no way I’d be able to make it back to land now. The only option I had was to hold my breath and hope someone got to me before my lungs imploded.
There was another way. I lay bobbing on the surface looking up to the clouds and wondered if I should call for Ari. He’d hear me for sure. I was definitely close enough, but I knew I wasn’t ready to see him, to confront him. Instead, I breathed deeply and evenly for a few minutes and then with one enormous breath, I plunged under the surface of the water and dove down, right into the heart of Trifork. It was one of my mother’s sisters that found me. The youngest one whose name was Cordelia. As she grabbed my arm, relief flooded through me as I no longer needed oxygen from the air. She swam with me into the great underwater palace and into the room that used magic to fill it with oxygen. I always felt strange in here as though the atmospheric pressure was somehow wrong, but it was the only way I could speak to the merpeople.
“What are you doing out here?” Cordelia asked, her long red hair now falling limply over her shoulders now that we were no longer in water.
“I came to speak to Grandfather. I told him I’d meet him out at the rocks this morning, but he never came.”
Cordelia squeezed my hand. “He’s not very well, Erica. He couldn’t come to you.”
“He told me that the people of Havfrue were getting sick. My mother is sick too. I have the best physicians in the whole of Trifork looking after her, but she’s getting worse. I just lost my father. I can’t lose her too.”
Cordelia was only a few years older than me, but it seemed that she was much older as she took control and pulled me into a hug.
“It’s not everyone. Just those that sought out magic from the sea witch.”
I pulled back and looked into her eyes. They were green just like my mother’s and just like mine.
“Did you know she wasn’t a sea witch?”
Cordelia pulled her eyebrows together. “She was as far as I knew. I barely ever saw her. She scared the heck out of me. Besides, after your mother left, my father banned me and my sisters from ever going to see her.”
“Have you ever heard of a beauty siren?” I asked. I hoped she’d say yes because if even so much as one other person had heard of them, I’d feel less like I was about to venture out into a wild good chase, but she shook her head.
Why did I have the feeling I’d be wasting my time with a complete moron while my mother and grandfather were getting weaker. Not that I had any choice in the matter. I needed to do something, and I was all out of options.
I could feel the pull of Ari near me, which wasn’t helping me keep a clear head and keep my emotions in check. If I didn’t get away soon, I was going to start crying again, and there was already enough salt in the ocean without me adding to it.
“Is Ari okay?” I asked. He was one of the last people to have been tricked by the sea witch or beauty siren or whatever she was. If my mother and grandfather were ill, it stood to reason that he’d have the same sickness.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen much of him. Do you want me to take you to him?”
I didn’t have a watch, but I already knew I was running short on time. Just getting here had taken a whole lot longer than I had thought and if I didn’t hurry back to shore, I’d be late in meeting Josh.
“I can’t. I’m going on a trip. Someone is taking me to a group of islands where there might be the magic we need to stop this sickness. Please, will you tell Grandfather I’m going to do my best to find the cure?”
“Of course, would you like me to tell Ari the same thing?”
I thought back to Ari with that other girl. She’d be looking after him now. I shook my head. “No, but please can you take me back home? I don’t think I have it in me to swim back on my own.”
The journey back to the shore was so much quicker than the journey out, but I’d lost so much time. I ran into the palace up to my room where I got dressed in dry clothes and picked up the suitcase that the maid had packed for me. At the door to the entrance hall, I asked the guard to put it in one of the cars and have the car ready for me.
Downstairs, I found John working away in his office. Anthony was right beside him.
“I heard about your little trip,” Anthony said when he looked up and saw who had entered the office. “I know Mother is sick, but do you think now is the time to go gallivanting off on some treasure hunt in the weeks before you become queen. The other kingdoms are wondering why Trifork remains without an official ruler and I’m sure some of them smell weakness.”
“Trifork isn’t a dog, Anthony. This is the only way I know to help Mother.”
“She has round the clock care,” he said, standing up. “Meanwhile, our trade deals are beginning to fall apart, people on the borders of Eshen are getting tense, and basically, everything is going to shit.”
He slammed his fist down hard on John’s desk, making everything on it jump up in the air.
I opened my mouth wide. I’d never seen this side of Anthony before. Where was my dorky, nose-picking younger brother? At some point, while I’d been caught up in all my own problems, Anthony had become a man. At sixteen years old, he was already running the kingdom better than I could. I didn’t even know about any trade deals.
“It’s hardly my fault that Trifork is without a ruler right now. You two are the ones that were supposed to be dealing with the building works at the Minster. I was happy to hold the coronation here, but that wasn’t the right way, remember? It seems that yo
u both have everything in hand, so until the time comes when I can actually be the queen, I don’t think the kingdom will fall apart if I go and try and save the people of Havfrue.”
Anthony rolled his eyes. “You are needed here. Havfrue has its own people to look out for it.”
Unlike everyone else at the palace, Anthony had never really accepted his merman roots. He stayed out of the way when our grandfather came to visit and didn’t particularly enjoy talking about the sea.
“The point is moot anyway I’m afraid, Erica,” John stood, seeing the fight between siblings about to blow up. “All our naval ships are out at sea. I wasn’t able to procure one for your mission.”
“What is the fastest time we can get one of them back?” I asked, suddenly feeling panicked.
John shook his head sadly. “The nearest one is over a week away.”
A week. I had a feeling that my mother, grandfather, Ari, and the rest of the merfolk didn’t have a week left.
The Ruined Honeymoon
It was with the heaviest of hearts that I pulled up at the dock. Throughout the short journey, I’d been wracking my brains trying to think of a way to get help to us more quickly. I remembered what Josh had said about Thalian magic being almost useless in this situation, but I didn’t see that there was any choice. Some magic was better than none. I’d already decided to send some of my guards over the Thalian border when Josh sauntered up looking strangely chipper for someone who’d spent half the night playing poker or roulette or whatever his particular game was.
“I can’t get a ship out to us in time. We can’t go.” I said it straight out. There was no point beating about the bush.
Josh sucked in his lips and raised his eyes over my head to something behind me.
“What about that one?”
I turned to see what he was looking at. Behind me was the ship I’d brought in for Hayden and Astrid’s wedding, and by the look of it, it was about to set sail.
A grin spread across my face. I hadn’t been planning to take over their honeymoon, but if I knew Hayden and Astrid like I thought I did, they would relish the chance of an adventure. Just as long as we let them have their own room.
“Hold up!” I shouted to the dock guard who was untethering the ship from the dock. “You have two new passengers.”
The gangplank was let down and the ship door opened as I grabbed my bag of clothes from the back of the car.
“Tell John I found a ship,” I called over to the driver. “And ask Anthony to send some guards to Thalia to bring a mage back to the palace.”
However much I was needed in Trifork, the people of Havfrue needed me more, not to mention my mother. Josh was already on board as I pelted across the dock and jumped across to the ship. Almost as soon as my feet hit the wood of the deck, the ship set sail. Slowly at first, but as soon as we were out of the dock the main sails were let out, and we picked up speed.
“Brilliant!” exclaimed Josh looking out to the wide expanse of blue ahead of us. Early morning sun sparkled, sending glints of light bouncing off the surface of the water. A cool breeze pushed us on our way through the perfect sailing conditions.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life!” I cried out, filled with excitement about my first adventure abroad. In my giddy excitement, I hugged Josh, before remembering I didn’t like the guy and dropped my arms to my side.
The ship cut through the sea like a warm knife through butter, and as I held onto the rail and watched the shore get smaller and smaller, my heart felt lighter and lighter.
“I’m not topping myself!” I warned Josh as I stepped onto the lower rail and leaned far over the side. The feel of the wind on my face and the smell of the fresh sea air made me feel like I was flying free like a bird.
“Even so, I’d feel safer if I held onto you. I wouldn’t want you to accidentally fall overboard.”
“I’m a half mermaid. The ocean is my element.”
I had no idea why I said that. Up until a few months ago, I could barely swim at all. Still, I guess it sounded impressive. I could tell that Josh was more interested in me now that he knew my heritage and not in the same creepy way he’d been interested before.
I still didn’t like the guy, but I had to admit, without him, I’d be sitting by my mother’s bedside watching her die and feeling more and more hopeless with each passing second.
“I know we are close, but I wasn’t expecting you to join us for a threesome.”
I turned around to see Hayden. He had a grin on his face but also a look of curiosity.
I ran to him and gave him a hug.
“Or should I say foursome,” he whispered in my ear. I punched him playfully on the arm.
“I’m sorry, Hayden. We’ll leave you and Astrid alone, but we needed the ship, and you said yourself that you had no particular destination in mind. Think of us as your tour guides to a strange new world.”
He arched his brow. “Come again?”
Just then, Astrid appeared behind Hayden.
“Erica!” she squealed in surprise. “What are you doing here? Oh, and...”
“Joshua Davenport,” Josh ambled over to her, took her hand and kissed it, making her giggle. The action elicited a grimace from Hayden that almost made me laugh.
She looked over at me expectantly, and so I told them both in fine detail what we were doing here and why we had to hijack their honeymoon.
“Why doesn’t it surprise me that you ended up with us on our honeymoon?” said Hayden, his voice full of laughter. “You just love playing the third wheel, don’t you?”
“Shut it, unless you want me to throw you overboard,” I retorted.
He held his hands up and grinned.
“I promise that after we’ve found these beauty siren people and saved the people of Havfrue, you can have the ship to yourselves...unless we end up going to war which we possibly might the way Anthony tells it.”
“Do you even know where these islands are?” Hayden asked, his tone changing to something more serious. I probably should have felt more serious about the mission myself, considering half of Havfrue was dying, but I knew we were close to it which meant the bonding had kicked in again. Being bonded to a merman who wanted someone else was awfully inconvenient.
“Not exactly,” I admitted.
“I don’t have a map, but I know approximately where they are rumored to be,” said Josh stepping forward.
“Rumored?”
I took a deep breath, knowing how crazy it sounded as Josh spoke again.
“The islands are legendary and are not plotted on any map, but if you’ll permit me to go and speak to the captain, I can give him a general idea as to which course to plot.”
“Soooo....” Hayden spoke slowly, and I already knew what was coming. “These islands and these beauty sirens might not exist?”
Josh nodded his head cheerfully as though the actual existence of them was second only to the adventure we were embarking on.
Josh was saved having to answer by Astrid chipping in. “Hayden, go and introduce Joshua to the captain. I’ll figure out somewhere for these two to sleep.”
Just then, I heard someone coughing. We all turned as a man with a long, shaggy beard, and a camera came out of the shadows. It looked like he’d just finished filming us.
Josh walked toward him and clapped him on the back.
“Everyone, this is Seth, my cameraman. He’s going to be filming the adventure.”
“Filming?” inquired Hayden.
“For my TV show. This is going to be the best series yet.”
If looks could kill, Josh would have been double zapped. It seemed Hayden was equally as unimpressed with having a cameraman on board as I was. Astrid, on the other hand, patted her hair and then held her hand out to shake Seth’s hand.
I pulled Josh to one side and hissed in his ear. “When did he come aboard?”
Seriously, I’d not taken my eyes off Josh or the ship for one second while we were at the
docks. Had Josh stashed him on there before I’d even turned up, knowing I’d say no to having him here?”
Josh shrugged. “While you were getting your bag from the car. Didn’t you see him? I told you I was going to film this. This is the adventure of a lifetime. I was hardly going to pass up the chance to share it with my fans.”
I stared at him in what I hoped conveyed the message that I was angry. It was difficult as my heart was pounding with my proximity to Ari somewhere below us. “I said I didn’t want a cameraman on this ship!”
“What you actually said was that you don’t want to appear on TV. You said nothing about the others. I’ll ask Seth to keep your airtime to a minimum. I can always have you edited out.”
Blue Water (A Little Mermaid Reverse Fairytale Book 2) Page 9