Kingdom of Salt and Sirens

by J. A. Armitage

  “No. Not today. I’m trying to take everything in. The last thing I want to do is meet your parents and run out of air. I don’t think that would go down too well, and anyway, they would know that you were taking the Rubins.”

  “Good point. How’s the air pocket?” The lump in her throat is getting smaller. I think we need to move closer to the surface before it runs out.

  “It’s good.” She runs her hand over the lump.

  “I think that’s enough for one day. Let’s make our way back up.”

  She takes my hand and follows me back up closer to the surface. I can feel her pulling on my hand as she gets tired.

  “Put your hands around my neck, wrap your legs around my waist, and hold on tight. I’ll bring you back up.”

  She does as I ask, and when she is secured on my back, I propel myself quickly through the sea. When we get to the surface, she takes a big gasp of air. We were just in time.

  “Oh my God! That was amazing. I loved it. Thank you for taking me down there. It’s so beautiful and your home’s gorgeous.”

  “It was a pleasure to share it with you.”

  “There you are, Nix. I’ve been looking everywhere for …” a bitter voice shouts across the wave and trails off as the owner sees Sophia.

  Quickly, I push Sophia behind me slightly as Eva swims closer.

  “What’s with the human girl, Nix? You know you can’t show the humans our true form.” She’s angry and I can feel Sophia shaking behind me.

  “Sophia isn’t just anyone. She’s my girlfriend.”

  “What? You can’t be serious. If you’re just saying that to make me jealous then it’s working. I want you, Nix. You don’t need to do this.”

  Sophia takes my hand in hers and squeezes it. She slowly comes around to my side. “Do you have a problem with that?” she asks.

  “Yeah, I have a problem with it. He’s not allowed to tell anyone about mermaids. He’s certainly not allowed to date humans. And lastly, what the hell does he see in you anyway?”

  God she’s disgusting. “Eva. Stop it.”

  “Nix, it’s okay,” Sophia says, squeezing my hand. “If she feels threatened by our relationship, that’s a good thing because it shows that we’re real.”

  I can’t help myself. I lean down and kiss her head, pulling her closer into my side.

  “Eva, you need to leave. I don’t like you being mean to Sophia.”

  Eva looks from me to Sophia and back again. “This isn’t over, Nix. She’ll pay for taking you away from me.” With that, she dives underwater and swims away.

  “Thank God she’s gone.”

  “Nix, how could you have dated her? She’s horrible.”

  “I know, Sophia. I know. Let’s get you back to shore. It’s been hours since we left. I want to make sure you get home before it’s dark.”

  She jumps on my back and I swim back to shore. As she climbs off she says, “I had a fantastic day. Thank you so much, Nix. I’m so lucky you came into my life.”

  “I think I’m the lucky one. Will I see you tomorrow?”

  “Of course. Try and make me stay away.” She reaches up and kisses me on the cheek.

  I watch her walking out of the water and putting her clothes on, even though she is soaking wet. She climbs the steps and turns to wave at the top, and then she’s gone. I hate not being able to walk her home, not being able to talk to her at night.

  When I know she’s been gone for a while and she really isn’t coming back tonight, I dive under the sea again.

  I can’t stop thinking about her, and when I swim into the palace, I head to Darya’s room to talk to her about Eva. As I open her door, I hear her crying and I slowly walk inside. She’s in bed and looks to be asleep and dreaming. Rushing to her side, I look over her as she sits up in the bed and screams, “Anna, no!”

  9

  Sophia POV

  Yesterday feels like a dream. It’s not often you find out the guy you’re dating is a merman then get taken under the sea to see his world. It was such a good day and I can’t wait to see what today brings. I slept really well last night and didn’t have any mad dreams, and I didn’t feel sad about Anna either.

  She would have loved the thought of mermaids; she was obsessed with them. She had them on her wall in her bedroom and she had mermaid ornaments. Thinking about her, I walk into her room to sit on her bed for a while. Looking in her bedside locker for a special mermaid she had, I see her notebook which she used for drawing. Anna was an artist and she was freaking amazing. She drew with a pencil and managed to get the thick and think lines perfect. Reaching in and taking it out, I flick through the pages.

  There is lots of sea life in the pictures, and as I flick the pages, I see something I recognise. The Lost Caves. She drew them from outside, inside and, strangely, from under the water. The detail was phenomenal, and they could belong in an art gallery. Turning the last page, I see a mermaid. She drew lots of mermaids over the last year she was alive, but there is something about this mermaid that draws me in.

  She looks familiar. Almost real. The detail on the tail is beautiful, in reds and greens. I can’t stop staring at it. It looks so realistic, almost like she’d met a mermaid in real life. But that can’t be right. She would have said it to me.

  Flicking the page, I gasp. There is another mermaid on this page and, again, it is expertly drawn. But this one is different; she isn’t friendly. She looks vicious, and again, almost lifelike. I can’t stop staring at her. She looks like Eva, Nix’s ex-girlfriend. Shaking my head, I know it’s not true.

  I close the book and put it back in exactly the same place I found it. Walking out of her room, I close the door quietly and make my way downstairs for breakfast.

  “Mam, is it okay to bring Nix for lunch today? I asked him yesterday and he said he’d love to come and meet you all.”

  Mam looks at me and smiles. I’ve never brought a boy home before. “Of course, sweetheart. If he’s special enough for you to bring him to meet us then we would love to meet him.” She goes back to making pancakes; my favourite.

  “Thanks, Mam. I’m excited and nervous. You won’t ask him too many questions will you?” I laugh nervously.

  “Ah, not too many, pet. Just about his family, his house, his intentions.” She turns and smiles at me while I’m looking at her with my mouth wide open. She starts laughing. “I’m joking. Of course we won’t interrogate him.”

  Relaxing, I laugh with her.

  After eating too many pancakes, I get dressed to go on the beach and meet Nix. We can spend some time together before going back to my house. I pack two towels to dry ourselves with and I rob a t-shirt from Jack because Nix can’t come to dinner in just his shorts. Dad would have a freak attack.

  “See you later,” I shout as I close the front door and almost run down to Kizzi Cove.

  I’m so excited to see Nix that I run down the steep steps and almost fall down. That slows me down and I stop to look out at sea. Now that I know what’s really underneath the surface, it all looks different to me. I can see what I thought were dolphins and now know that they are possibly mermaids playing. I wonder if Nix is one of them.

  Walking down the rest of the way, I take my shoes off when I get to the sand. The warmth of the sand envelopes my feet and make a cushion beneath them. As I step onto the rocks, my feet hurt. All the sharp pointy parts are sticking into the soles of my feet, but I push on to the end of the rocks, around the corner from the sand.

  I need a moment to myself as I think about Nix.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he says as he bobs up onto the rock.

  “How did you know I’m here?”

  “I told you. I feel you here,” he says, pointing at his heart. “It’s amazing and it’s never happened to me before.”

  “It’s weird and freaky.”

  He makes a face “No, it’s not. It feels right. Are you coming in today?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got you a towel to dry off and a t-shirt to wear. You can�
��t come to lunch wearing just your shorts.”

  “I’m coming to lunch? That’s great. Now jump in and we can go to the caves. I want to talk to you about something.”

  Intrigued, I take my shorts and t-shirt off and fold them up into my bag. Then I dive into the icy water and start shivering. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the coldness in here.”

  Nix comes up and wraps himself around me. “I’ll warm you up.”

  Laughing, I wrap my arms around him too. After a few minutes, when the blood starts flowing in my extremities again, I pull back. We both swim to the Lost Caves, and once again, I’m struck by their beauty. Almost immediately, it reminds me of Anna’s pictures. The detail is phenomenal. She must have brought her book, in a sealed bag so that it didn’t get wet, so that she could draw the caves. She couldn’t have remembered every detail that she did.

  “Are you okay?” Nix asks as I turn round and round in the water.

  “I went into Anna’s room today and found a sketch book. When I looked through it, I saw her drawings of this cave. They were so realistic, down to that line over there.” I point to a particularly blue line in the cave wall.

  “Really? Are they good?”

  “They’re phenomenal. You feel like you’re in the cave when you look at them. I’ll show you them later. She drew mermaids too. They looked familiar, but then I suppose you all kind of look the same.” I laugh because Nix does not look like his sister or Eva.

  “Really? You think we all look the same?” He grabs my arm. “I know I resemble my sister but we look totally different. Look here.” He points to where his tail seamlessly meets his body. “All mermaids have this mark here.” I squint to see what he’s talking about.

  He jumps out of the water and leaves his tail swishing in the water. As I lean up on the rocks so that I’m eye level with where he’s pointing, I can see the mark he’s talking about.

  “What’s that?” I reach out and run my fingers over it. It’s bumpy and stands out from his body.

  “This is the mermaid mark. It’s rumoured when we’re born we are human, but only for a short time. As new born babies, we can breathe underwater, but not for long. The mother makes a mark on your body, which is your clan or family mark. However, each one differs slightly. After the mark is made during the birthing ceremony, the baby grows a tail from the mark and turns into a mermaid.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing. Is yours like Darya’s then?”

  “It’s similar but not identical.”

  “It’s beautiful.” I reach out again and run my fingers over it. He stops my hand and takes it away from his mark.

  He holds out his hand to help me up out of the water so I can sit next to him. It’s warm in the cave; the air doesn’t have a chill about it at all so I’m not cold, even though I’m wet.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he asks quietly.

  “You just did,” I say, laughing.

  “Smart arse. Do you know if your sister knew about the mermaids?”

  “Why do you ask that?”

  “Because she loved this cave so much and we come here regularly. Do you think she saw one of us?”

  “No. She would’ve said something to me. She loved mermaids and if she thought they were real she definitely would have told me.” I look around the cave and think of her drawings, and then the ones of the mermaid. Maybe she did see some and that’s what her drawings were about.

  “It’s just… when I went home yesterday after watching you leave the beach, I heard Darya having another nightmare.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “Yes.” He smiles. “She was having a nightmare and when I went into her room, she sat upright and shouted something in her sleep. I haven’t seen her to ask her about it. She keeps avoiding me today. I think she knew I heard her.”

  “Well we all shout out in nightmares, so why is that strange?”

  “She shouted, Anna…no!”

  “What?” Sophia’s mouth drops open and tears spring to her eyes.

  “I know. I know. It’s freaky. She shouted your sister’s name out in her nightmare and she was scared and upset.”

  “Do you think she knew Anna?”

  “She’s been different for about a year…”

  “That’s how long it is since Anna died,” Sophia whispers.

  “Well, something happened and my carefree sister changed into someone who has nightmares and chases demons in her sleep. She’s super sensitive and cries at the smallest thing. If I didn’t know better I’d say she has the weight of the world on her shoulders.”

  “Nix, what if they knew each other?” I turn to look at him. His eyes are searching mine for something, but I don’t know what.

  “I think they must have. She never told me she had met a human, but then again she doesn’t really tell me much.”

  “This is too much of a coincidence.”

  “I know. I’ll talk to her about it later on after I’ve met your family.”

  “Perfect.”

  We spent the next couple of hours swimming in and out of the caves, sitting and talking about our lives and just getting to know each other better.

  “We need to be going to lunch soon, Nix. Let’s swim back. Did you get some Rubins?”

  “Yes I did. It was hard, but I got a supply so I can come and visit more often.”

  “You won’t get into trouble, will you?”

  Nix laughs. “I will, but you’re worth it.”

  Blushing, I can feel my cheeks getting redder and hotter.

  “Come on, fish boy. Let’s get this show on the road.” I climb out onto the rocks and grab my towel, opening his ready for when he gets his legs.

  As he steps beside me, I hand him the towel and he wraps it around him, copying me. I pull on my shorts and t-shirt and hand him the one I took for him. After giving him some shoes, he watches me put mine on and then does the same. He looks so cute in the shorts and t-shirt. I can’t believe he wants little old me.

  “Are you ready?” I ask nervously.

  “Yes. Let’s go.” He takes my hand and leads me off the beach and up the cliff steps. When we get to the top he looks around, puzzled.

  Giggling, I stand in front of him and pull him alongside me. “I’ll show you the way. I don’t live far.”

  Nix keeps looking around, taking in the houses and gardens along the way.

  “This is where you live?” he asks, looking at a small cottage.

  “I live up there, but yeah, we live in these houses. We love our gardens and plants. Lots of flowers to make them look pretty.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  As we come closer to my house, I point it out to him. “That’s my house.”

  He looks in the direction I’m pointing and smiles. “It’s so pretty, just like you.” I blush.

  As we approach the front door, I turn to Nix. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? They’re going to ask you lots of questions and try to embarrass me.”

  “It’s not a problem. Honestly. It’ll be fine.” He smiles at me and I almost melt on the spot.

  Taking a deep breath, I open the door and walk in. “Mam, I’m here.” I think I overcompensated for my nerves by being extra loud.

  “We’re in the lounge.”

  I let go of Nix’s hand, and he follows me into the lounge, where Mam and Dad are just getting off the couch. Mam holds her hand out to Nix for him to shake. He looks down at it and extends his own. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Nix.”

  “I know you are. Sophia has told us all about you.” His eyes leave my mam’s and travel quickly to mine. I shake my head so that he knows I’ve not told them about his secret.

  When he drops Mam’s hand, Nix turns to face my dad and extends his hand to him. They shake and Dad says, “Good to meet you, boy.”

  I dare to look at Mam, who is already looking at me with a smile on her face. She mouths to me, “He’s good-looking.” Blushing, I turn away and look back to Nix who is staring at me.
/>   “Lunch is ready,” Mam says as she walks out of the room. We all follow her into the kitchen.

  * * *

  Lunch was good. There were no awkward silences and Nix handled himself really well. He managed to answer all their questions and he’s still here.

  After helping to clear the dishes away, I took him upstairs to my room, but as we passed Anna’s room, I took him inside.

  Looking around me, sadness washes over me.

  “This is beautiful. She really liked the sea and mermaids, didn’t she?”

  I turn to face him. He’s staring at her walls and slowly turning around to see them all.

  “She sure did.” Walking over to her drawers, I open the top one and bring her sketch book out. Before opening it, I hug it to my chest, hoping to smell Anna or just feel her presence. But I don’t. I show Nix the drawings of the caves.

  “These are amazing.” He scans the pictures which were drawn from different angles. He points to one. “Do you know where this one is?”

  Looking at the picture, I can’t work out where it is. “No. It looks familiar, but I can’t work it out.”

  “This is a view taken from under the sea. Either she had an underwater camera that she used or she went under lots of times to get this view. It’s absolutely gorgeous and so detailed.” He stops and holds the book closer to him to examine one part of the picture.

  “What is it?”

  “This rock formation is in the cave, but it’s very far down. She would have had to hold her breath for a long time. Did she have an oxygen tank for scuba diving or anything?”

  “No, not that I’m aware of. She wanted to have one, but Dad said that she would have to get some proper lessons before just getting the tank. How far down are you talking?”

  “I’m saying that she would have to hold her breath for longer than five minutes to get to these rocks and then study them in such great depths.”

  He flicks the page over and then drops the book.

  “What is it?” Picking up the book, I turn it to the page he was looking at.

  “That’s Darya. Look at the detail of her tail that she has. Darya had an accident when she was small and she lost a part of her tail. She has a small imperfection, just there…” He points to the part on the tail where there is what looks like teeth marks. “Anna must have known my sister. And not just met her, but they must have been good friends.”