by Dee J. Stone
I nod, glad to hear that. They are one of the most remarkable species I’ve seen in the ocean.
Kiandra tries to convince me to eat more, but I have no appetite. Syren joins Damarian and me as we travel to Eteria. Our sharks swim by our sides, though I guess it’s out of habit now, since there isn’t a threat anymore. Shoney must sense how nervous I am because she prods her nose into my ribs.
When we reach the beautiful sapphire castle, I realize it looks a little different than the last time I was here. There aren’t as many sharks patrolling the area, and the place is bustling with merpeople.
“This is how Eteria had been before the rebel threat,” Damarian tells me. “We were not afraid to go as we pleased.”
“I still can’t believe it’s over.”
I make out an Emerald tail near the entrance to the palace and recognize him immediately. “Kyle!” I wave. He smiles as we come to a stop before him. “What are you doing here?”
“I figured you can use some moral support.” He flashes me a grin, then his expression changes. “I’m also here to, um, visit someone.”
I just look at him, not understanding what he means until it hits me. “Oh. Someone in prison.”
He nods, his expression solemn. “A friend of mine. Or an ex-friend. I don’t know.”
“How’s the Emerald clan doing?”
He shrugs. “As good as we can, I guess. The place has a whole different feeling. Many people have loved ones in the palace prison. I mean, we all understand the gravity of what the rebels have done and agree with their sentences, but it still sucks.” He gives me a small smile. “Are you nervous about your hearing?”
“Major understatement of the year.”
“You’ll be fine. It’s just a formality.”
“So I’ve heard.”
He puts his arm around me. “Just be honest and open. You’ve got nothing to hide because you didn’t do anything wrong. It’ll be okay.”
“Thanks.”
“Observing the two of you interact is quite intriguing,” Syren says, his eyes moving between the two of us. “It is as though you speak your own language because you are from land.”
Kyle holds out his hands. “Hey, I’m from the sea.”
Syren chuckles softly. “Forgive me. I only meant that you understand each other in a certain manner. Your friendship is very important. Do not lose hold of it.”
I look and Kyle and he looks at me, and we smile warmly. Then I turn to Syren. “Thanks. That’s really nice of you to say.”
Syren inclines his head.
“Makes me wonder how I’ll ever meet the right person,” Kyle mutters.
I rub his arm. “She’s out there somewhere. You’ll meet her at the right time.”
“Thanks.”
Damarian takes my hand. “Are you prepared, my love?”
I suck water into my gills and let it out. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
King Kiander and Queen Flora sit on two large stone chairs at the head of the room, with a few members of the Guard, including Callen, on their right and left. I’m seated next to Damarian, and Syren is a few feet away, and everyone else is behind us. What I mean by “everyone” is Kyle and a few curious merpeople.
I’ve never stood trial or had a hearing of any sort on land. It feels a little weird to be having one here in the ocean. My heart can’t stop pounding and I can’t get my breathing under control. Damarian gently squeezes my hand from time to time.
“We are now to discuss Cassie Price of the humans,” Kiander announces.
My heart sinks. He called me Cassie Price of the humans, not the Sapphire clan. Maybe this won’t go as smoothly as everyone thinks.
“Cassie Price, you have consorted with the sea serpents,” Flora says. “It is due to you that they entered the sea, invaded our home, and slaughtered many sea creatures.” Her eyes flick to mine. “Do you feel any remorse for your actions?”
It feels like she just launched fifty daggers at me. My throat is so tight, I think I might choke. Damarian squeezes my hand.
“It is all right,” Flora says, her tone much gentler than before. “There is no need to feel apprehensive. Please respond.”
I wet my lips. “I do feel guilty,” I say. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt guiltier in my life, and I know I will carry it for the rest of my life.”
Flora watches me for a few seconds before nodding.
“During the time of your transformation to the sea serpent,” Kiander says. “Were you aware of your actions? Were you aware that you destroyed the ocean? That you claimed lives?”
The images of what I did swarm my mind, eating away at it until all I feel is antagonizing pain. I must be whimpering, because Damarian puts his arm around me, pulling me to his chest and murmuring, “It is all right, my love. It is all right.”
I know they need to ask these questions. But I didn’t think it would hurt so much.
Someone from behind me touches my back. “You can do this, Cassie.”
Kyle.
I gulp in some air. “I…I wasn’t aware. At least, the human me, the child of the sea me wasn’t aware. It’s like I was possessed by another being.” I lower my eyes. “The sea serpent, Cassila.”
“You do not remember shifting?”
“No. I was still human when they threw me into a pool filled with sea salt. I felt like I was dying. The next thing I knew, Damarian was trying to wake me up. He tried to draw me out.”
Flora’s eyes move to Damarian. “Had you succeeded?”
He nods.
“Cassie was not aware of the events that were taking place?”
“She was not. She was willing to sacrifice her life to eradicate the beasts.”
Flora nods, then glances at her husband.
“You fought valiantly on our side,” he says. “We are aware that you, the real you, was not the one who was causing all the deaths.”
I feel myself perk up.
“Therefore, we do not hold you accountable for what you have done when you were overcome by the sea serpent.”
“Thank you,” I say.
“We commend you for aiding those in need,” Flora says. “For your willingness to sacrifice yourself to defeat the beasts. For your unwillingness to allow us to harm your brother and sister.”
“Thanks.”
“Cassie Price of the humans, you are found not guilty of consorting with the enemy,” Kiander announces.
I sigh in relief and am about to throw my arms around Damarian, but Flora says, “However, there is another manner we must address.”
My entire body sags because I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming.
“Your constant travel to and from the sea puts the entire colony as risk,” she says. “Our kind is not meant to travel to land. We are aware of what shall be our fate if the humans learn of our existence.” She looks at her husband and the Guards. “We would never be safe. We would be forced to relocate.” She shakes her head. “Though, I am not sure what that would gain, for the humans can enter all our waters.”
The entire room gets quiet. My heart is beating so hard I can’t hear the worried thoughts skipping through my mind.
Damarian opens his mouth, probably to defend me, but I put my hand on his arm. “It’s okay,” I tell him. “I can do it.”
He nods.
“When I first saw Damarian,” I tell them. “He was unconscious on the beach. At the moment, I could have alerted people. They would have taken him away. He would have eventually turned into his true form and would have exposed the children of the sea. But I didn’t alert anyone. I knew that I needed to protect him. That’s why I brought him to my house. And when he shifted to a child of the sea, I could have told everyone. I would have fame, maybe even fortune, but I didn’t tell anyone, other than my best friend who promised not to tell anyone, either. Ever since I learned his secret, I swore to protect it.” I swallow a few times. “I’m not arguing with the fact that every t
ime he or I shift on the beach, we’re risking our safety and the safety of every child of the sea. But I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to guard your secret. I love Damarian with every part of myself, and I love his family. I love the world underwater. I want to be part of it for the rest of my life.”
Kiander and Flora exchange another look. He raises his eyebrows at her. She turns back to me. “You and Damarian may have a lot of love for one another, but it does not change the risk you pose when you shift.”
“You cannot ban her from the sea,” Damarian says. “For if you do, you will ban me as well.”
“And me,” Kyle says.
I twist around to stare at him. “Kyle, don’t.”
Kyle stands and bows before Kiander and Flora. “My king and queen, what Damarian and Cassie share is magical. Their bond is the strongest one I have ever laid eyes upon. It is my hope that I will have the chance to experience it one day. It would not be fair to take that away from them.”
“My family would be broken,” Kiander says. “We cannot.”
She touches his cheek. “We must think of the entire colony, my love.”
“There is a solution,” a voice says from behind us. We all turn to see Ryter floating in the opening to the room.
“Grandfather,” Damarian says.
“Please explain yourself,” Flora says.
He swims toward the head of the room and bows before the king and queen. “I believe it may be possible for Damarian and Cassie to shift at will.”
He and I gape at each other. Is Ryter serious? Is it really possible we can shift on our own, without having to be tied down to land or sea?
“It is not possible for a child of the sea to shift at will,” Flora says. “Many have attempted.” Her eyes flick to Kyle, who lowers his head.
“If I may?” Ryter asks.
“Yes.” Kiander nods.
“It is true that it is not possible for any other child of the sea to shift at will,” Ryter says. “But it may be possible for Damarian and Cassie.” He turns around and moves closer to us, and for the first time, I see his eyes animated. “It has just occurred to me as you left for Eteria. You have mated with a human, Damarian. It was your love for her that caused her to shift into a child of the sea. It is my belief that it is through your love for one another than you may train yourself to shift at your own will.”
Damarian and I look at each other. “I…” Damarian’s eyes move to his grandfather. “I do not understand how we can achieve that.”
“You must try.”
“King Kiander and Queen Flora,” I say. “If we can manage to learn how to do this, you’ll let me stay?”
“We are not certain we would have banned you, Cassie,” Kiander says. “But it would definitely alleviate our concerns regarding the risks you pose when you or Damarian shift.”
“We must attempt it,” Damarian says. “It is not my wish or Cassie’s to put the children of the sea at risk, either.”
Kiander nods. “You may go.”
Damarian stands and bows before Kiander and Flora. I do, too. He takes my hand and leads me out of the palace, followed by Ryter. Damarian turns to him once we’re outside. “Grandfather, I do not understand…”
He puts his hands on Damarian’s shoulders. “All your love and willpower lie in here.” He touches his heart. “You possess so much love for your mate, Damarian. Love is one of the greatest powers of the world.” He moves a few inches back, takes my hand, and places it in Damarian’s. “That is all you need.”
Damarian reaches to stroke the side of my face. Then he faces his grandfather. “Thank you.”
I nod my thanks, too.
Ryter lowers his head.
Damarian gently pulls on my hand as he swims away from the palace. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“The sandbar. We must attempt what Grandfather has suggested.”
“Damarian, if we can do this…”
“I know, my love. It would change everything.”
We would no longer have to worry about Damarian needing salt water. I would be able to surf again. Damarian would be able to have a job. We could finally live. I want to do a somersault, but I remind myself that this isn’t a sure thing. Maybe we won’t be able to do it.
When we see the sandbar in the distance, we break the surface and face each other. “Now what?” I ask.
Damarian shakes his head. “I do not know.”
We hold out our palms a few inches off the water and press them to each other’s. My eyes close. I have no idea what I’m doing, and it doesn’t seem like Damarian does, either, but it’s not too long before I feel his energy blend with mine.
“She is the one I love most in the world,” Damarian whispers. “I have not known such a thing existed until I gave my heart to her. I cannot bear the thought of parting with her. But I do not know if I could bear being apart from my family. From little Zarya, from Syd, Syndin, Doria and her beloved Kytero, Mother and Father. Kiander and his queen, Flora.” He swallows. “Cassie Price and my family are the most important beings in my life. I do not wish to choose. Please, do not make me choose.”
I don’t know who he’s begging exactly. Maybe the forces of the universe? It doesn’t seem like they’re listening, though.
“It would seem unnatural,” I say. “The fact that I, a human, have turned into a mermaid. Some people would call it abomination. Some people would find it impossible. But it is possible, and the only reason is because we love each other to death.”
“It is past death,” Damarian says. “It is for all eternity. My love for Cassie Price is as vast as the sea.”
“My love for Damarian of the Sapphire clan runs all the way to Earth’s core.”
“And nothing,” we say together, “is ever going to keep us apart.”
Suddenly, a rush of wind passes through me. It’s instinct to open my eyes, but they feel like they’re pasted shut. In my mind, I see the outline of two bodies, one a female human and one a merman. Small balls of light appear all over the bodies, blue on the merman and white on the human. Little by little, more and more appear, until the bodies are completely covered. A second later, the bodies move toward each other. They fuse into each other, the lights going off and leaving just a silhouette. Then, lights come on again, big blue ones that are engulfed in white ones. The merged body gets filled with these lights, until every spot is taken, and then they become one. The light flashes out of the body and disappears into the air.
My breath gets knocked out of me. My eyes slowly open and I stare into Damarian’s face. Both our chests are heaving. I feel…I feel different. “You feel it, too?” I ask.
His hand slides down his neck and upper chest until it lands on his heart. “Yes. I cannot explain it. I feel…”
“Whole,” we both say.
He looks down at both our bodies. “We are children of the sea.”
My eyes trek to the sandbar. “Hop on.”
He helps me onto it, then I pull him on. “What shall we do?” he asks.
“Let’s see if we’ll change into humans.”
He nods, his eyes filled with hope.
I rest my hand on his. “It might not work.”
“Yes. But I am hopeful.”
We’re wrapped in each other’s arms as we wait for our bodies to dry off. Like so many times in the past, it’s taking forever.
When I feel like I’m going to go out of my mind, I say, “I swear half an hour passed.”
“Perhaps it has worked. Perhaps we can now shift at will!”
His excitement leaps off his body and enters my soul. I don’t know if I will bear the disappointment. “Okay. Imagine shifting into a human,” I tell him. I want to take his hands, but we both need to do this on our own. If we can do this. I need to hope we can. We have so much riding on this.
I imagine myself as a human, running on the sand, surfing, hanging out with Leah and my siblings, feeling the wind blow through my hair as I twirl around on the beach
.
A cry escapes my lips as a burning sensation originates in my pelvic area, then travels down my legs, all the way to my toes. Even though all I can think about is how much I want this unbearable pain to end, a lone thought slips inside—I’m changing. I’m changing into a human!
I fall back and land on something soft and hard. Damarian.
“Cassie,” his weak voice says. “Cassie.” His hands tangle in my hair.
It takes all my strength to sit up and stare down at him. “We’re human, Damarian.”
He sits up, too. “We have shifted on our own will?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
I take hold of his hands and stand up, pulling him to his feet. Together, we dive into the ocean.
And nothing happens.
I stare down at the lower half of Damarian’s body, at the waves that crash into his stomach and below. “You’re human and you’re in the water,” I say, my mouth gaping so wide it’s hard for me to talk property. “You’re naked and in the water!”
His arms come around me and lift me a few inches. “I am human and I am naked in the water!”
We both laugh like we’ve had too much to drink.
I wrap my hands around the back of his neck and press my forehead to his. “We did it, Damarian. We did it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Zarya and I have our backs pressed against each other as our eyes scan the ocean. This is useless—there’s no way we can beat Syd and Syndin.
I tighten my hold on my squid that won’t stop squirming. “Do you want to give up?” I ask Zarya.
“No!” she whisper-yells. “We do not surrender. Ever!”
I laugh. It didn’t take the twins too long to take down Damarian and Doria. I know we’re going to fall to the same fate. As close as I feel to Zarya, we are no match for twin telepathy.
