Lark was still unsure why it was so important that she die. He found it hard to believe that it was still all in the name of love. Andreus barely knew Fin before she was betrothed to him. Lark couldn’t see him being so bitter. It was all so puzzling. Lark’s plan was to make it to Malibu and then return. But before he left, he needed to get word of Fin’s ordeal to Ziege, Arfusei, Rotiro and Casio. They would need to round up the men in his short absence. They were pressed for time. He was stretched to the limit. He needed them more than ever.
L
ance tossed and turned. His dreams were vivid. The chilling images of Fin in tears had him squirming and blurting out her name in his sleep. Lance jolted awake then looked around. His breathing was fast paced. Sweat beaded over his entire body. He wiped his forehead. “Why am I so hot,” he said, as he moved to the edge of the bed. He took a sip from a glass of room-temperature water sitting on his nightstand. Lance heard a light noise. He quickly turned around. Nimah stood at the opposite side of his bed.
“Aww sweetheart. Did I wake you. Come here. I didn’t mean to scare you. Daddy was having a bad dream,” he said. Nimah walked around to the side he was sitting on and raised her arms so he could pick her up. Lance sat her on his lap and cut his lamp on. “You want to sleep with me? It’s late. You shouldn’t be up,” he said. Nimah pulled her pacifier from her mouth and sat it next to his water. Lance chuckled. “You’re a big girl now. You don’t need that. Now let’s get some sleep. You want to sleep here or back in your bed?” he asked. Nimah pointed to the window. Lance chuckled then kissed her on her head. “Outside? Really! It too late to go outside. Now come on. Let’s get you back in your bed,” he said. Nimah twisted her body so he would put her down then ran to the window and looked out. Lance walked over slowly. “What is it. Is it mommy?” he asked, his heart pounding. Nimah pointed again. And Lance was overcome with excitement.
Lance’s ran down the stairs. He slid down the last two in a frantic effort to hurry to the dock. Nimah ran behind him. Lance made it to the end and looked out at the ocean. The moon shimmered on the waves. He could barely catch his breath. He looked down then grabbed his baby’s hand. He had forgotten about her in the heat of the moment.
Lance waited, desperate for Nimah to be right. Suddenly he heard a helicopter flying close. Lance looked up. It was a strange sight. Helicopters didn’t fly over his house often and especially at night. “What the hell?” he said, as he looked at the visible letters on the side of the aircraft. NOAA, in big bold visible yellow lettering, made him upset. “Go away!” he yelled. Nimah covered her ears. Lance was furious. He picked up Nimah and ran back into the house and called his brother Allan.
“Allan? Listen I need your help. Do you have any law contacts in California. Maybe close to Malibu,” he asked. Allan looked at his clock. “A lawyer? At four in the morning? What happened?” he asked. Lance paced. Allan immediately picked up the tension. Something was happening with his brother. Again.
“I am being harassed by some government agencies. It’s a long story. I need a lawyer. The best. Get me someone now! I want them to make contact with these muthafucka’s right now. They are going to stop this harassment. It threatens my life. They are trying to catch Fin,” he said. Allan sat up. “Catch Fin…Okay. The whole mermaid thing is getting out of hand. This is serious. I only agreed because you were so bent on that being the answer to her in the water. But this has gone far enough. They will lock you up. Commit you, if you go around saying the government is trying to catch your wife like she’s some sort of fish,” he said. Lance sighed. He felt a headache coming on. He looked at Nimah then walked to the window. “They’re gone for now. But they’ll be back. Just get me the lawyer,” Lance said, as he abruptly hung up on his brother.
“Come here sweetheart. It’s okay,” Lance said, as he picked Nimah up. He walked to the window anxious to see Fin emerge. Part of him believed Nimah was mistaken. But she was so serious, he wanted to believe it.
“Mommy is not there baby. She would have come out of the water by now,” he said. Lance looked back. He could see someone approaching. His heart pounded. But then a glimmer of light dimmed his hopes. The silhouette was tall. The person appeared to be male. As the person walked by a lamp post, Lance could see it was Lark. Anxiety took hold. Lark’s presence meant possible bad news. Fin should have been with him. It looked serious.
Lance slid the door open. Lark stepped in. “Let me get you a towel,” Lance said, as he walked away and hurriedly scaled the stairs. He wanted to put Nimah in her bed. She had experienced enough for one night. “Stay here. Lay down and try to get some sleep. Daddy needs to talk to Uncle Lark,” he said. Nimah clutched Isla’s unicorn. Lance glanced over at Isla. She had slept through the entire ordeal. He walked to their bedroom door and closed it carefully then grabbed a towel from his linen closet and ran down the stairs.
“Where is Fin? Tell me! I know something has happened,” he said. Lark wiped his face then looked seriously at Lance. “They have her,” he said. Lance took a deep breath then walked to the counter and held on to it. It wasn’t real. She couldn’t be captured. If it were true, he wanted to go to Madaka. “Is it him? The prince? He has here?” he asked. Lark nodded. “And? What happens now? Will he kill her?” Lance asked.
“Probably. We move on them at first light. We will get her back Lance,” he said. Lance turned to him quickly. “You better. We talked about this. You promised me this wouldn’t happen. That you would keep her safe. The only way she should be captured is if you are dead. So why are you standing here. You allowed them to take her,” he fumed.
“No! Fin is stubborn. She wouldn’t stay back. She wanted to do everything. You know how she is?” he said. “No! I don’t know. That’s not the Fin I know. She is soft spoken. Easy going. We rarely fight. And if I am stressed, she is the voice of reason. I do not know this Fin you speak of. I just want my wife back. You go and get her. As a matter of fact…I’m going with you,” he said, as he walked swiftly towards his home office. Lance picked up his phone to call Maria and ask if her daughter Rebecca could come to his home. Lark followed him.
“You cannot go. The depths of the ocean are hard on the body. I have to expel all my air, then I can descend to Madaka. And there is a layer that burns when you enter it. You would never survive it. Let me find her,” he replied. Lance sat his phone down. It hurt that he couldn’t help save his own wife.
“You get her Lark. You find her and bring her home to me. She does not belong there. This is her home. Your world has to find a way to function without her. She is just one person. She cannot sustain a whole civilization. She is human too. Did you know that? My daughter found a picture. I gave it to a friend who works as a private investigator. Turns out that the people in the picture died in a boat fire. They never found the baby. We did some more digging and found out that a large ship spotted Fin right where the boat caught fire. Same coordinates. Exact! So the boat caught fire right over your world. That is no coincidence. Fin told me about the large vessel full of men that saw her. She said she had just emerged from Madaka and swam straight up,” he said. Lark stood quiet.
“I know,” Lark said. Lance shot him a look. “What do you mean you know? Does she know all of this. What else are you keeping from her?” Lance said. Fin had told him about her childhood. About her parents and Lark. He was sure she didn’t know. She had only just found the photo and was unclear of the details surrounding it. Lance ran up to him and got in his face.
“You will tell me now! What is going on?” he shouted. Lark remained silent. Lance grabbed him. “Tell me!” he fumed. Lark shoved his hands off of him. “I only know that we are connected. You probably know her better. She is your wife. You live with her. You are united with her. Answer your own questions. Is she happy here? Or does she look for me. Long for me. She does. I know it. She is not at peace here,” he said.
Lance was in shock. The words cut deep. “What are you saying? How dare you. She doesn’t long for you. She misses M
adaka,” Lance interjected. “No! She misses me. She only wants Madaka to be free. Was she happy before I arrived? Or is she living like a tortured soul. We are only not together because she thinks of me as a brother. I am not her brother. She fought it her entire life. And now that we are apart, she realizes it. I saw it in her eyes when I arrived. She loves me,” he said. “Say it again and you will wish you hadn’t. I don’t know what you think is in her heart. But she does not belong to you. She had time to love you. If she wanted you, she wouldn’t have come here. We wouldn’t have fallen in love in the very waters under my dock. Of all the places in the world, she ended up here. That is what you call destiny. Fate. She loves me. This is all in your head! Now get out. And don’t return without my wife.”
Lance exhaled as his eyes penetrated Lark’s soul. He could kill him for what he said. Words that he dreaded. He turned from him, then held his face in his hands. It was shocking. Some of what Lark had to say hit home. Fin wasn’t happy. She seemed to long for something he couldn’t give. And he couldn’t be sure if it was Madaka or something else altogether. He had caught her gazing out at the ocean many nights. Always in a blank stare. Her words appearing to be in constant contradiction with what he was seeing.
Lance flashed back to a time when he walked up to her slowly. He called her name but got no response. She stood at their window looking out in the night. Lance got close then touched her. Fin jumped then gave a half smile. He wondered what held her so captive. He assumed she was home sick. But now, it was obvious there was something calling to her spirit. She was not free. Her parents were dead and there should have been nothing else for left in Madaka. Fin had told him, on many occasions, that she loved her new life and had no desire to move back home. She spoke of loving him completely and of being spoiled with the amenities of what her new life had to offer. And how impossible it would be for her to return to Madaka. They were stone ages behind the advances of this side of the ocean. And she had adapted to it. He believed in it. Believed in their love.
“Leave,” Lance said, his voice cracking. “What should I tell Fin? She won’t return here just for me. She wants to help Madaka. Even if I find her, she won’t come back until Madaka is free,” Lark said. Lance looked intensely at him. “I will let her decide if she wants to return. I cannot live in your shadow anymore. Or the shadow of your world. She went there for you. This is more than about a takeover. This is about making you happy. Being there for you! It is why she has gone. Instead of giving you the tools to defeat, she went herself. Forsaking her husband and her children. I have been in denial for too long. And I will not fight for her love. She has to want to be here. If she loves you more then she should be with you but my children stay,” he said.
Lark felt bad. It wasn’t Lance’s fault. He simply fell in love with a beautiful goddess of the ocean. The grandchild of Contessa and Hershiel, the goddess and demigod of the sea. And Lark was still trying to figure out what that meant. Something had happened to him within the last year that he couldn’t explain and he was still trying to get answers.
His confusion about his life was nothing new. The sketchy stories surrounding his birth and early family life were questionable. And the only man he referred to as father, died when he was nine years old. The man was a close confidant and guard of King Zanders, who perished in the Palimora Sea for reasons no one ever spoke of. Lark, only nine at the time, believed it was an attack by tetras. And King Zander never offered any other reason. Lark was left to believe a shark attack had killed his father. The man who had raised him since he was three.
Lark couldn’t answer Lance’s questions because he still had some of his own. And one of the burning questions was where he had originated from. It was a source of rumors that spread through Mojarro during his childhood. Some stated he was the product of a forbidden union and given away to hide his existence. Another rumor stated he was the illegitimate son of Zander himself. Some believed the latter because of Zander’s fondness for him and quick decision to take him in.
King Zander even made threats to citizens that refused to put the rumors to rest, threatening to persecute anyone who spoke on it or against Lark. Even Ziege had heard the rumors and kept them to himself. Lark was kept in the dark and was only recently putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
But he was missing the big piece of his own puzzle. And he never believed he was an orphaned boy. He believed he was fated to be with Fin and that Lance and Fin were doomed from the start. Only his death would release her to love him completely. He was sure Fin loved Lance. But she was his twin flame. Destined to be with him. The reason life was so hard for her. The reason for the longing, that she didn’t understand.
Lark walked into the kitchen with Lance closely behind him. A lot had been said. A lot had been left unsaid. Lark had no plans on telling him those things. It would only hurt him and Lark had grown fond of Lance. He was family. And he had children with Fin.
Lark also had no plans on revealing it to Fin. He wanted her happy whether that meant with or without him. Lark was still heavy in thought as he walked through the kitchen. He approached the sliding door and looked back at Lance.
A gust of wind blew through the crack. Lance looked at the door. It was slightly ajar. “Did you leave the door open?” Lance asked. “No!” Lark replied. The men looked at each other then tore up the stairs towards the girl’s room. Lance burst in the door. Isla sat up quickly.
“Daddy,” she said. Lance looked under the bed. Lark ran into the bathroom. “She’s not in there,” he said. Lance ran back down the stairs with Lark right behind him. The men ran onto the patio and looked around calling Nimah’s name. Lance ran down to the end of the dock. “Oh my god. My baby. What if she entered the water. You have to find her!” he shouted. Lark jumped in the water. After several minutes he emerged. She’s not in here.” he said. “Keep looking,” Lance shouted.
“Where’s Nimah,” Isla asked, as she ran up to her father. “I’m trying to find her,” he said. Lance took her by the hand andwalked back to the house. He needed her full attention. She was smart. Aware. Her nermein blood gave her gifts and understanding that he didn’t completely understand. He believed she knew things she didn’t speak on. And he hoped she could shed light on Nimah’s whereabouts.
“Would she get in the water?” he asked, holding her hand to help ease her. He waited. Isla wouldn’t answer right away. Lance was desperate. “Issie tell me. She’s not in trouble. But she could be in danger. Did she go in the water?” he asked again. Isla looked down then nodded slowly. Lance’s heart dropped. He jumped up and paced while he waited for Lark to emerge again.
“Come on Lark. Find her,” he pleaded, pacing the patio as Isla sat on the lounge chair. “Come on baby. Where are you,” he said, as he stared out at the water. Lance glanced down at Isla. She had her eyes closed. He waited. He thought maybe she was making a wish. “What’s wrong?” he asked. She opened her eyes. “She’s going where mommy is,” Isla replied.
After several minutes, Lark emerged from the dark water. Lance and Isla sat on the edge of the dock. Their faces bearing the looks of hopelessness. Lark swam up. Lance shook his head slowly. “My baby has gone to Madaka,” he said in a lifeless tone. “I will get her. I promise you I will return with Fin and Nimah. Do you hear me. Don’t lose hope. I will bring them back,” he said. Lance didn’t respond. Lark looked at Isla. She was mature. She gave him a reassuring glance then laid her head on her father’s arm. Lark turned and dipped in the water. Nimah was his main concern. Fin would want him to save her baby first.
10
Sea Foam
T
he men carried Fin in a metal cage with four long poles on the top corners. Fin lay unconscious from poison they forced in her mouth. The ruff berries were deadly but only in large quantities. The soldiers gave Fin just enough to make her succumb slightly to the sedative effects. The men jogged in unison to King Andreus’ castle. They had just emerged from the adjoining river that separated them from P
iratchu. And they were still several miles out.
“Did you see that,” one of the soldiers said as he glanced at Fin. “See what soldier,” Ithicus asked, as he ran beside them. “Her legs. They turned a strange color. With a pattern like scales,” the soldier stated. Ithicus glanced over in the cage. “Her legs? Scales? Like those on her tail. You’re seeing things soldier. Do you want me to take your position? You must be tired,” Itacus remarked. “No sir. I am fine,” he said. The soldier shook his head. He was certain of what he saw. Fin wasn’t heavy. He was not tired or fatigued. Her legs flashed a blueish green pattern that was similar to fish scales. The pattern glowed. The young man had never seen that before. It wasn’t possible. Their legs turned into a tail with real scales. And their scales didn’t glow. This was a pattern. And he was convinced a miracle had just occurred.
Prince Andreus stood beaming as he watched his large army approach. Every soldier from Eulachon was present for the festivities. It was to be a grand celebration. Eulachon would celebrate the capture of the queen, then watch as he removed her head. Andreus couldn’t be prouder of his men. He ordered everyone to return from Mojarro so that every soldier could enjoy a glass of haku and celebrate their success.
“Your Highness,” Ithicus said, as they approached. Andreus stood along with an army of hundreds of men all standing in rows. He ordered the men to carry Fin to the end of each row then down and around, so that the soldiers could bear witness that they had indeed captured enemy number one. Many men hated Fin. Andreus had convinced them she was an evil witch. One who had brought filth and degradation to their world.
The men walked hurriedly then picked up the pace and jogged to the end. Some nermein soldiers spit on her. Others threw rocks. Andreus chuckled. He imagined ways he could bring her pain. Her death was imminent. But in the meantime, he would have fun with her. It was a long time coming. He would now be redeemed. Her death would erase the rejection. She would no longer be alive to turn her back on his desires. The only thing he wanted more than the capture of Fin was the capture of Lark. The man he held responsible for his emptiness.
Pretty Fin- Raging Seas Page 18
