When it saw Ari and me, it swam toward us. Ari increased his grip of my hand and began to pull me away from it.
Stop swimming. The shark is under the command of my grandfather. I’ve asked him to make it follow us.
Ari looked at me then back at the shark unconvinced. Why would you do that?
The shark swam alongside us quietly and obediently. It was as tame as a puppy dog...for now, at least.
It would take an army to kill it, and we don’t have time to gather an army. We don’t have a cage, and my grandfather is on the verge of death.
All the more reason to get out of here as quickly as possible, Ari replied, eyeing up the shark warily.
And let more people die? No. I need you to take us to our cave.
It was my favorite place in the whole world. I loved that cave. Only Ari and I knew about it, and we’d spent so many hours swimming in the light of the phosphorescence hidden away from the rest of the world. I hated that it would now become a cage for a shark, and we’d never be able to go there again, but it was a small price to pay for saving the lives of the people of Havfrue.
Ari understood and pulled me quickly away from the city. The shark followed. Once at the cave, I swam inside for the last time through the small tunnel and pulled myself up onto the little beach. The shark really had to squeeze to get its giant body through, and when it did, it almost filled the cave.
“Stay!” I commanded, as though it was a stray dog. The shark looked at me with murder in its eyes, but through my grandfather’s fading magic, it was compelled to obey. It wasn’t, however, compelled to enjoy it. I quickly jumped back into the water, and with Ari, we swam around the shark’s body and back through the tunnel. On his arm, Ari had picked up an interloper.
“Ollie!” I marveled at the little octopus who loved the cave as much as I did. At the entrance to the cave were a number of rocks. All we had to do was fill the entrance of the tunnel with them so the shark couldn’t get out. It was a laborious task, especially as Ari couldn’t let go of my hand for any long period of time or I would drown.
We were just over halfway through when the unthinkable happened. Something had happened back at the palace because the shark that had remained placid was now chomping angrily at the stones we’d placed there.
In a panic, I let go of Ari’s hand and began shoveling the stones much more quickly while holding my breath. Even Ollie helped by picking up the smaller stones and throwing them into the pile, but it wasn’t going to be enough. The shark was chomping through the stones quicker than we could put them down. I touched Ari’s arm to take a breath, but the panic I felt, knowing that the shark was soon going to be free made it difficult to breathe. If Acania was here, there might be a chance that she could help us with her magic, but she was a couple of miles away with my mother and grandfather in Havfrue.
Two people, one of which couldn’t breathe on her own, plus an octopus that was really still a baby were no match for a razor-toothed killing machine who wanted nothing more than to eat us whole.
We should get out of here!
There was nothing left we could do. The shark would be out in minutes. We had to get as far away as possible so as not to become a tasty entree before it started on the rest of the people of Havfrue.
Ari took my hand, but he pulled me upwards rather than out. A few seconds later and we had breached the surface. I didn’t recognize where we were at all. I could see the boats in the distance, but the Trifork palace was nowhere in sight. Large steep cliffs to one side told me that we were just a little further down the coast and that the palace was obscured by a jutting out cliff face. Just a little way ahead of us were more rocks like the ones I scrambled over every day to see Ari. These rocks were so much bigger than the ones we’d been piling up under the water. I followed Ari’s lead as he rolled one down into the water.
“You push them into the sea. I’ll take them from there and roll them down to the cave entrance.”
I nodded quickly and clambered out onto the seaweed covered rocks as he disappeared back under the water. Pushing the rocks into the ocean wasn’t as easy as Ari made it look. He was much stronger than I, and many of the rocks had lain as they were for centuries. Using other rocks for leverage, I pushed against them with my feet, rolling the biggest rocks I could into the water, one after the other. The muscles in my legs burned with pain as I pushed them to the very limit, knowing if I wasn’t quick enough, the shark would escape.
I pushed the last rock in as the sea nearby turned red with blood. I was too late. The shark had escaped.
Sirens Retreating
I raced down to the edge of the sea, my heart beating wildly at what I might find. I’d only just got Ari back, and now I was about to lose him again. The sea was dark and with the red coloration, I couldn’t see beneath the surface. Part of me wanted to dive in, but I knew it was madness to think it. All I could do was wa,it. I tried seeing if I could feel him. I instinctively knew when he was near or when he was hurt, but now I couldn’t feel a thing. Ari was gone, and my heart turned to stone. Something popped up out of the water, and for a second, I had a hope I was wrong, and it was Ari, but it was only Ollie. I held out my arm so he could wrap himself around. At least he was safe. I waited for over an hour for Ari to surface, but he didn’t. Nor did I see any sign of the shark. When I could wait no longer, I turned and scrabbled over the rocks to the shore. When I reached the small pebbled beach, I realized I did know the place. It had rocky steps cut into it. If I climbed them I could walk over the land to the palace.
“I’m sorry, Ollie. You can’t come with me.” I’d been sitting with Ollie in a little rock pool, but he wouldn’t survive for too long out of the water. “Stay away from Havfrue, and you’ll be ok.”
I had no idea if he could understand me, but he seemed reluctant to be let back into the ocean. I hated doing it, but he would die if I kept him on land.
My heart was breaking with each step I took across the grassy field at the top of the cliff. I looked out to the sea, seeing the ships and boats filled with people, desperate to know what was happening. They would be selling newspapers for weeks after this.
When I got to the palace grounds, I didn’t know what to do with myself. My grandfather was surely dead by now as was Ari. The shark had probably gone back to Havfrue and was more than likely terrorizing everyone in it. Trifork would survive. No one from the land had been injured as far as I was aware. The people would enjoy the scandal, and eventually, it would die down and be forgotten. I’d go on to be queen and lead the kingdom in quite possibly the most haphazard fashion possible. I’d be alone forever.
Unusually, there were no guards by the gate that led into the palace grounds from this side. Anyone could break in easily. Not that I particularly cared at this point. There was so much going on; they were all probably busy doing other things.
The palace itself was equally free of guards. There was no one there at all. It was so quiet I could hear the squeak of my wet feet on the tiled floor. In the main entrance hall, I dithered, not knowing which way to turn. I could have gone up to my bedroom. It was the most sensible option. I was dripping wet and cold and taking a shower and getting dressed would give me something to do. My mind was numb as I climbed the stairs and not even the heat from the shower revived me. I was cold on the inside, my heart shattered into pieces. No shower could save me from that. I dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, not caring what the media would think of me. My mother was still out there along with my aunts. They would barricade the door to the Havfrue Palace, so there was a good chance that they would be safe. That, at least, was some consolation. I headed down to the office that John and Anthony now shared, but they too were missing. The phone on the desk rang, but I didn’t pick it up, knowing it would only someone wanting the gossip. I didn’t even know what I would tell them.
Instead, I headed out of the back of the palace. The only way I could think of saving my mother would be to get the navy involved. I didn’t know how they
would do it, but I was sure they would be able to kill the shark somehow. When I stepped out onto the promenade, a hundred or more light bulbs flashed from the gate that separated the palace grounds from the public grounds. I ignored them. Something else had caught my attention. Out on the rocks, at the spot I usually met Ari, there was a large group of people. A lot of them I recognized as palace guards because of their uniforms, but there were others too. So that’s where everyone was. Now I knew where they were, but it didn’t explain why everyone was out there. I slowly picked my way across the rocks, aware that I was being watched by every news station in the kingdom.
I pushed my way through the guards. At the waterline, Anthony was helping someone out of the water. When I saw who it was, my heart leapt into my throat. Ari’s long hair fanned out on the rocks as he was pulled up onto land. Beside him, my mother pushed him up along with Acania. Blood dripped from his arm, and he was unconscious, but I could see he was alive. His chest rose rhythmically with each breath. That was why I hadn’t felt him. It was not that he was dead, but that he wasn’t conscious.
“I cannot help him,” Acania stated. “I cannot fix normal wounds. You need a land medic. One of your people to help him. I think he will be fine though if you get help quickly.”
“Someone go and alert Lucy,” my mother ordered. One of the guards shot off in the direction of the palace while Anthony, John, and a couple of guards picked Ari up gently and began to carry him to the palace.
“What happened?” I asked, stuck between wanting to know that my mother would be safe in the water and following the others to the infirmary with Ari.
“There is time to tell you everything. Just know that we are all safe here. I am going back to Havfrue now. My people need me, but I will come home later and tell you everything. Go with Ari. He needs you the most.”
I nodded and rushed after Ari, my mind whirring. If my mother thought that everyone was safe, that meant the shark was dead, but I didn’t know how. As I passed by the photographers again, I noticed Josh and Seth at the very front.
I spoke to one of the guards quietly asking that they be let in and shown to the dining room. Once I figured everything out myself, I’d give them the exclusive. They’d certainly earned it.
When I got to the infirmary, Ari was already tucked up in bed with Lucy fussing around him. The others had been sent away, but Lucy knew that I’d not leave Ari’s side, so she didn’t bother to ask.
“He’s got a nasty cut on his arm. It looks like he’s been bitten. Do you know what happened?”
She rolled some fresh white bandage out and began to wrap Ari’s arm.
“I think he was bitten by a shark. Why isn’t he waking up?”
Lucy paused and looked at me to make sure I was telling her the truth.
“A shark! Goodness. He’s done well not to lose his arm then.”
I cared about his arm, but I cared about him more. I waited for her to finish bandaging him up before asking her again why he wasn’t awake.
“He’s got a bit of a bump on his head. Something has hit him. He’s breathing normally, and his pulse is fine. There is nothing else I can do. We just have to wait for him to wake up.”
I was about to ask her how long it would be when Ari began to moan.
“Ari!” I sat up closer to him as he opened his eyes. When he saw me, he smiled before wincing.
“I’ll fetch some pills for the pain,” Lucy said, before bustling off to her little room.
“I thought you were dead!” I said, tears dripping down my face and onto his.
He smiled up at me. “You are going to have to try harder if you want to kill me.”
I gave him a puzzled look.
“One of the rocks you pushed off hit the shark right in the middle of the head as he was biting my arm. It was heavy and sharp and killed him instantly. You saved my life.”
“So why do you think I was trying to kill you?”
Ari laughed. “Because that wasn’t the last rock you pushed down. I was in agony thanks to the bite and didn’t get out of the way in time. Thankfully, unlike the shark, I didn’t get a direct hit to the center of the head. It must have just hit me on the edge. Not enough to kill me but enough to knock me out.”
I brought my hand to my mouth knowing how close I’d come to killing him. I bent forward to kiss him, but the movement on his bed made him wince once again.
“How did you get back here? My mother and Acania were with you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t remember. I only remember the rock hitting me and then waking up here.”
“You’ve had this stuff before,” Lucy said, handing Ari a couple of pills and a cup of water to his good hand. “It will knock the pain on the head, but it will probably make you sleep too. Sleep is the best thing for you right now anyway.”
“I don’t want to sleep,” argued Ari, but Lucy gave him such a stern look that he swallowed the pills right down.
I stayed by his side as the pills took effect. After an hour, Lucy suggested I go to bed myself.
“I’ll look after him. You can come back in the morning. Hopefully, he’ll be feeling better by then.”
Deciding not to argue, I left Ari in her care. There was nothing I could do for him anyway, but I wasn’t planning on taking her suggestion. There were too many things to clear up before I could think about sleeping.
Outside, the sky had darkened considerably and the photographers had finally had enough and gone back home or to their studios. I made my way out to the rocks to wait for my mother. The water lapped quietly against the rocks, and the pale moon glistened on the ocean surface. All the boats were now back in the dock, and the only one I could see was the half-sunken one in the distance. I waited half an hour before my mother emerged. This time she was alone.
I had never been so pleased to see her. It was strange to see her so at peace in the water.
“I’d forgotten how good it feels,” she said as though reading my thoughts.
“Do you want me to get some guards down here to help you back to the palace?”
“I’m not coming back, Erica.”
Her eyes were glassy, not with the water of the ocean, but with tears. Still, she had a determined look about her. I already knew why. She didn’t have to tell me. My grandfather was dead.
“You are the queen now?”
She nodded. She’d been a queen ever since she married my father, but on land, she was second to him. In the sea, as the heir to the Havfrue throne, when my grandfather died, she had automatically become its ruler as I had with Trifork.
I felt tears prick my own eyes, but she wiped them away. “Your grandfather was very old and died with his family by his side. He told me he was very proud of you. It was one of the last things he said.”
I nodded. It was a small comfort that my mother was able to be at his side in the end.
“When he passed, we knew that you and Ari were still out there. Acania helped me find him. He was lying next to the dead shark. How is he?”
“Lucy thinks he’ll be fine. He’ll probably have a scar from the shark bite.”
“It will make him look more manly,” my mother joked, but there was a sadness in her voice.
“Acania cured the sick in Havfrue. We still have some people with injuries because of the shark, but we will have to deal with them ourselves.”
So Acania had come through after all. “Where is she?”
My mother gave a wistful smile. “She took her tribe home. She told me she was too old and too tired to fight anymore. I think this past week did something to her. She took her magic ring, but she was broken.”
Sadness crept over me. Acania and the other sirens were hardly innocent, but they’d done the right thing in the end at a great personal cost to themselves. My heart went out to them, knowing how miserable their lives would continue to be.
I sat with her silently for hours. No one bothered us. It was such an irony that now we were in exactly the same position, both ele
vated to queen by the deaths of our fathers. For my mother, it would be much harder. She knew more about ruling a kingdom than I, but I bet she never thought she’d have to.
“You know, I’m sure Adella could run Havfrue if you wanted to come home,” I said eventually.
My mother sighed wistfully. “I’ve run away from my duties for too long. Havfrue needs me right now. Adella and my other sisters will help. We’ll rebuild together.”
I bent forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was strange to think of my mother as a mermaid living under water, especially as I’d only ever known her as phobic of it, but watching her swim out, her greying red hair fanned out behind her, she seemed much more at home there than she ever did on land. I gave her a wave as she disappeared into the depths.
The End and the Beginning
Blue Water (A Little Mermaid Reverse Fairytale Book 2) Page 19