)O(
"Well they can't have just disappeared!" Harrison had never seen Admiral Chambers so upset. He was, if one dared to have said something, more upset than the Commodore's wife.
"My apologies, Admiral, but there's no sign. It must have been sharks. You know how they are when there's blood in the water. And we did hit the little bugger--Your Ladyship's pardon--square in the back. I saw it myself."
Chambers glowered at him then gave the widow a somber look. "Charlotte?"
The Widow Dunbar had been staring out the great-cabin's window at the calm sea surrounding them. The brandy they had poured a small glass of for her sat untouched on the table. After a moment, her eyes bright with something that might have been tears, she smiled at him. "I suppose it didn't really matter, did it? He's where he belongs now."
Chambers nodded and gave her a grateful look. "I suppose you're right. Finish sinking her, Harrison, then head for Nassau. Mrs. Dunbar and her family need to be returned home and I have business to attend to there. On your way."
Harrison snapped a salute to the Admiral then carried on. He would never mention how the naked young man's legs became a gleaming blue fish-tail the second he touched the water. He had obviously been hallucinating.
)O(
Aaron's eyes opened as he took a ragged breath through his gills. A pair of strong arms held him while Henry gently stroked his face. It didn't occur to him that there was anything different until he saw Ike over Henry's shoulder, smiling at him. It was at that moment he glanced down to see a green tail wrapped around his own. Whirling, he found himself gazing into those ocean green eyes, a sweet smile lighting the young face under the cloud of dark brown hair. Jamie pulled him into his arms and they were both wrapped in the embraces of Ike and Henry. He snuggled into their warmth with a sigh.
The legend goes that men of the sea are born different. When they die, they need to go back to the sea, as she is their only home. This is why sailors are commonly buried at sea. But the true reason is that they are then given eternal life and youth as mermen. Though they lose the memories of who they were and what happened to them during their brief lives as humans, it is a small price to pay for the opportunity to become one with the lady of the sea.
Then again, there are bonds that eclipse even the sea's rough magic.
)O(
The Sea's Rough Magic Page 40
