“We could go for a ride? If you wish, your majesty.” He had taken to teasing me with titles the more I had showed my annoyance at them.
“Really?” I couldn’t resist the temptation. I had ridden a little growing up, but it was an uncommon treat. Horses felt almost as safe as water.
The groom quickly prepared the horses and, in a moment, we were riding out of the stables and onto a manicured lawn that stretched as far as I could see before it disappeared into more jungle. With such an open expanse in front of my I couldn’t resist the desire to urge the horse on as fast as I was capable. The wind wiped my hair behind me and in a blink, I had lost Dorian somewhere behind me as I flew. I reveled in the freedom. I had felt trapped in one way or another for so long, I wrapped myself in the feeling of independence. I imagined for a moment that this must be what it feels like to have wings. I pictured myself as a siren taking flight above it all.
I loud whistle cut through my thoughts and I turned back to see Dorian over my shoulder, a panicked look on his face. I slowed and allowed Dorian to catch up to me.
“What was that?” He spoke in huffs of panicked breath as if he had been the one running and not the horse beneath him. I laughed lightly, still exhilarated from the speed.
“Too fast for you?” I asked and something like confused annoyance passed over his face.
“Have you… have you done that before?”
“Well, probably not so fast.” I admitted. “It was kind of amazing.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I was perfectly safe, really it’s ok Dorian.”
“No,” he took a deep breath continuing in a calmer tone of voice, “what were you thinking about just now? As you rode?”
I squinted my eyes, trying to make sense of his question. “Just about how it felt like flying, I guess. Have you ever met a siren? I bet this is what they feel like.”
“Sirens. Right.” Dorian answered but his mind was clearly elsewhere. I hadn’t expected my riding quickly to give him such a fright. “So, here’s the truth Cora, Fynn’s asked me to keep you out of trouble, and I’m realizing that this may not be what he had in mind.” I laughed in earnest now.
“Don’t worry about Fynn, I’ll be fine.” I spoke the words and remembered my run in with the syphon and thought better of my laughter. “Sorry, Dorian. I know you mean well. I’m pretty safe on a horse though. I think if you keep me from wandering into any monsters’ houses, we should be covered.”
“All the same, maybe no more Siren impersonations. I’m not sure I could catch you if you flew off entirely.” He said with a nervous laugh.
“Got it.” I laughed.
{MISSING SYMBOL}
In the evening Fynn found Dorian and I in a café within the castle eating and being seen some more. I caught sight of him first. His brown tousled hair bobbing above a group of formally dressed Asians. His black eyes light up and his smile curved up one side when he saw me. I felt a little piece of anxiety I didn’t know I was holding onto melt away. Dorian saw my change in expression and turned around in his seat looking for what had caught my attention. Fynn spared a concerned glace for Dorian before returning to look at me.
“How was your afternoon?” Fynn began cheerily.
“Uneventful.” I answered with a shrug. Fynn smiled, but looked at Dorian again, as if asking for confirmation. Dorian squinted half of his face in an uncomfortable smile. Some remnant of his panic from the horse ride still in his eyes. “I was completely safe.” I spoke looking at Dorian with mild annoyance. Fynn turned back to me, his black eyes alight with curiosity. “We went horseback riding.” I said cheerfully. “Dorian was not comfortable with my speed.”
“Really?” Fynn eyed Dorian dubiously. Dorian smoothed back his still perfect ponytail.
“I simply didn’t want her to turn into a siren and fly away.” Dorian answered dryly. I snorted and covered my face to disguise the gesture. Fynn nodded patiently with his friend.
“Well, while you were playing around, I found someone we should see.”
“Really? Like more dignitaries who need to see me or?”
“No,” Fynn dropped his voice, “like someone who might be able to help with Violet’s request.”
“Hmm.” I hesitated to say more, looking at Dorian.
“It’s alright, Cora. I can vouch for Dorian. He may not look like much, but I’d trust him with my life.” As Fynn spoke Dorian’s face went from annoyed to almost contented. I remembered Dorian’s comment about Fynn asking him to keep an eye on me. I wasn’t sure that I needed or wanted a bodyguard, but I appreciated the gesture. This world did hold dangers that I was still unfamiliar with.
“So, who is this person, and where?” I asked.
“Here, on the island, just on the far side. She’s a— um— reformed sea witch of sorts.”
Dorian looked knowingly at Fynn. “Can I not be invited to this? Cause I still hate her.”
“You don’t have to come, but I wouldn’t hate the backup.”
“We both know that she’s pretty much harmless now, but I still might kill her.”
I looked with curiosity from one to the other. “What happened? And is she really safe? Wasn’t it a sea witch that tried to kill Dylan?”
Fynn listed off the answers to my questions one by one. “She did a number on Dorian and she got punished for it. She’s as safe as any true human. And yes, it was a sea witch that went after Dylan, and while there are only a few of them it was not this one.”
“Ok, when do we go?”
Fynn
I was glad to have her with me again. While I trusted Dorian, it wasn’t the same as being there myself. But being near her brought its own set of challenges every time. The secrets I had to carefully guard. I wasn’t sure how I would be able to keep it up for much longer, but I knew it was essential that I did. All of the secrets would come pouring out eventually, hopefully at the right time, and then she was going to hate me. That much I was certain of. I would enjoy her company and the way I could always get her to smile while I could, but the understanding that it would come to an end was always at the back of my mind.
There were moments when I would allow myself to hope. When I would think that perhaps she would learn to forgive me, when she saw that I kept these secrets to save her life. I held on to the hope whenever she was near. She had held up so well with everything she had learned up to this point. I was certain that she would be disgusted with me when she knew this much. She hadn’t grown up in this world, the manipulation that was a steady undercurrent to the life among the mer was something foreign to her. She had been stronger than I had expected. She had been a surprise since day one. Sometimes I was surprised how little she understood, and others I was surprised how well she adjusted.
She had been quiet recently, ever since we left to come to Ellinghead Isle. It was harder to gauge her thoughts, but I was glad about it in some ways. While her thoughts were a mystery to me, it meant they were a mystery to the others here as well. She wouldn’t make herself into a fool by some naïve admission or by acting like she knew more than she actually did.
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride when I saw her dancing that first night we arrived here. Annoyance too, plenty of annoyance. The king was usually clever and calculating, but here he was wrong. It wasn’t his fault; he didn’t have all of the information to make an informed decision. And that was my fault. I was the one who should have made sure he had all of the pertinent information, but that was information I couldn’t give him. Secrets that had already gotten enough people killed. Hopefully, those secrets would keep her safe. Yet those secrets were also supposed to keep her hidden. And yet there I had been standing on a stage, singing like I didn’t care that she swung around in the arms of others. Being introduced to a slew of people I would have done almost anything to keep her hidden from. Because plenty of those people would happily use her if they had the chance.
Still, I had been proud of her. She had changed so much a
lready. She wasn’t as naïve now as she once was. She listened more and talked less. Even if she did have an uncanny ability to find the most dangerous places to be.
I hoped that Proteus was right. He had never been wrong before, and if anyone had the right to give the order it was him. And so here I was left guarding her without her knowing it, trying to keep her hidden in plain sight. And more complications were coming up by the minute. She would have new questions soon. Questions that I knew how to answer and would be bound to keep from her. Until the time was right. And when that time came, she was going to hate me.
The car moved silently through the dark night, reflections of the streetlights bouncing around the car interior and along Cora’s legs. Legs I was not looking at because I was definitely paying attention to the road while I was driving. I knew it was necessary right now for her to keep some distance from me. Just like I knew it was my role while in this place to pretend to be flirtatious and interested in everyone. Just in case someone or other of them would need to be ‘nudged’ to do the will of the king. It was a lie to its center.
There had only ever been one girl for me, and she had no idea. I had watched her from a distance, doing my duty. Pulled between two obligations and neither of them allowing me to do anything but watch from far away. It was a relief when I was finally drawn in by her. I had expected her to understand what she was doing; I had convinced myself that she did it on purpose. And too soon I had been pulled away, but still with the obligation to keep her safe and hidden. Life around her was never one thing. I could never be what I wanted to be. It was a torture that I was glad to take on for her.
We drove in the silent car, me trying to be content to have her near and safe for the moment. While all the while I knew I was lying to her and allowing her to be thrown into dangers she didn’t fully understand. Maybe she wouldn’t hate me. She would probably hate me.
We had left the lighted streets some minutes ago and continued onto quiet side roads and finally we pulled onto the dirt road. We were only a few minutes away now.
“Remind me again why I have to be here?” Dorian piped up from the back seat.
“Backup.” I answered.
“Backup against the once-was-a-sea-witch who you yourself said was no longer a danger?”
“No.” I said, not wanting to go into details with Cora there. She had to act ignorant of certain things, and the best way for that to happen was for her to actually be ignorant of them. Dorian knew almost as well as I did what the stakes were.
“Alright, I’m backup. Can I be backup from the car?”
I sighed. “Fine, but if I find you napping, I will cut off your ponytail.” I knew he was reliable, but I couldn’t resist the chance to tease him about his ponytail. Ever since the incident he held onto that ponytail like it was his old life. He would have stayed awake anyway, I knew.
I caught sight of Cora out of the side of my eye. She watched me openly and my breath hitched. Years I had waited for her to see me. I wondered now what she saw. She was going to hate me. I gave her my best smile.
“Unless you want to cut it off Cora?” Joking was better, it was easier to keep some distance this way.
“Cut off what?” I imagined that I could see her face redden even in the glow of the dashboard lights. Whatever she had been doing, she hadn’t been paying attention.
“Whatever you think is appropriate should Dorian take a nap while we’re inside.” Cora looked from Dorian to me a hint of panic on her face. I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and laughed. “His ponytail Cora. I said his ponytail.” I laughed harder still amidst Dorian’s offended silence. I quieted as we pulled up to the small rickety cottage surrounded by the jungle growth lit by soft moonlight. A light flickered in one window.
“Fynn,” Cora said my name and I felt the same warmth as the first time I heard it on her lips, “I’m glad you brought me, but why do you need me here?” It was a simple question.
“I thought you would want to know whatever answers she might have, and I hoped it would be helpful for you to get whatever this is firsthand.”
“Do you expect me to talk to her?” She asked and I tried to read her expression in the dark, hoping to give her the answer she wanted to hear.
“Only if you want to.”
“I think you should. If she has answers I really don’t want to screw it up.”
“Ok.” I answered and resisted the temptation to hold her hand. I had a persona that was supposed to be on display on this island, and while we were secluded, it wouldn’t help to have Amirah think I was attached to Cora. Weakened though she may be, she could still cause me trouble. I looked briefly at Cora’s small hands. So close and still so far away.
“Stay awake cupcake.” I called back to Dorian as Cora and I got out of the car. My boots crunched on the gravel in the driveway, a contrast to the stillness and tree frogs calling in the darkness.
Cora
In the darkness that closed in I wanted desperately to reach out and hold Fynn’s hand, just for the comfort of not being alone. An inexplicable feeling of foreboding hung over me and I wondered if it was intuition or my own imagination running away with me. With every potential nightmare being a possible vision of the future I was feeling more anxiety than I had before.
Was I now afraid of the dark? No. I was afraid of this though. Fynn had told me so little about this woman we were about to meet, I didn’t even know what answers Fynn thought that she might have. I was grateful that he had agreed to do the talking.
Recently I felt like everyone expected me to be so capable, except I wasn’t ready for it. I was confident enough in my own environment, but the consequences of my falling short here seemed too severe to take the risk. And in barely over a day, I was supposed to meet with someone else who I was supposed to manipulate in some way that I still didn’t fully understand. I could barely master myself. Fynn knocked on the front door and we stood on the front step, the moon our only light. A dark curl had fallen into his eyes and I squeezed my own hands to keep from smoothing it out of his eyes. Self-mastery was hard enough.
The light that had been flickering in one window moved and shadows stretched out in new directions across the small lawn. The door opened with a creak and a face was hardly visible in the dark recess of the house. The woman inside squinted and opened the door an inch further. When she seemed to recognize Fynn she stepped back and shut the door. There was a soft click as the knob was locked from the other side.
“Amirah.” Fynn’s voice was low. “This door may fall off if I have knock again, don’t make me break your house.”
“What do you want?” Her voice came from behind the still closed door.
“Just some information.” Fynn answered. I kept my mouth shut. There was a shuffling behind the door and again the soft click as she undid the lock and opened it, wider now than before. Amirah was dark skinned with wild curly hair. Her eyes darted from Fynn to me and back.
“And her?” She asked.
“What about her?” Fynn answered, an easy smile on his face.
“She looks like trouble.” Amirah looked me over again, taking her time.
“She is.” Fynn said, his smile broadening. Amirah scowled, but stepped back into the room leaving the door open behind her. Fynn followed her into the dark house and I trailed behind, wanting desperately to reach out and hold his hand because now I was afraid. The house was eerily silent, and the candle that Amirah carried threw long shadows across the walls and floor as she walked. Peeling wallpaper hung from the walls casting its own spectral shadow in the flickering light. The wooden floorboards creaked with each step I took, deafening in the still night. The bobbing light settled as she set her candlestick down on a round wooden table. Amirah took one of the three chairs and sat near the table. She gestured to the other chairs.
“By all means, have a seat.” Her tone was impatient. Fynn sat and I followed suit. “Forgive my accommodations, it seems that my fortunes haven’t been so favorable sin
ce our last interaction.”
“Clearly.” Fynn’s voice was calm and even. “You should have known better.”
Amirah blinked slowly. “How is the sweet little puppy these days? I would have thought he would appreciate the upgrade.”
Fynn’s jaw tensed, but with a breath he looked as relaxed as ever. “We need some information.” He continued, not answering her cryptic question. Outside the open window some animal screeched in the night.
“You said as much already. Information has a price among my people.” She said coolly.
“I thought seeing as you aren’t exactly one of your people anymore, we might forgo that particular.” His words seemed a calculated barb and she did not like them.
“Please,” she said impatiently and then looked me over, “does trouble have anything worth bartering? Or you could just get your information and leave her. If she’s causing you trouble, I could take her off your hands.” She looked me over, appraising.
“I cannot even begin to tell you how much worse off you would be if I let you have her.” Fynn looked around the room, thoughtful. “Don’t you get electricity out here?”
“Like I said, my fortunes aren’t what they once were.”
“How about I see what I can do about you getting some electricity out here?”
“You’ll see what you can do? Is that how you make deals these days?” Amirah raised one eyebrow. “I’m sure that you are well aware of how few of my people are left. I should think that would make my information a valuable commodity. There are only ever three of us at a time.” She tapped a finger against his nose. “And given all the upheaval lately I believe that leaves you only one other option. So, unless you want to wait for the replacements to appear or make the trip to my remaining sister…”
Fynn nodded. “Provided you give me the information I need in a manner that is helpful and proves accurate, I will make sure that you get electricity to your… home.” There was music to his voice and I felt that it carried weight. Amirah seemed contented as she nodded her head.
Then We Fly Page 18
