The Merman King

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Suddenly, Althea leaned down and pressed her lips to Olivette’s, breathing into her mouth.

  Olivette gasped in shock at the unexpected contact. The woman’s breath filled her lungs with the same healing energy.

  When the healer pulled away, she withdrew her hands and stood. She wobbled lightly on her feet. “I have done all I can, my king. She should rest as long as she needs to. I must do the same.”

  Olivette touched her throat. The soreness was gone.

  “Thank you, Althea,” the king answered. He nodded at her as she slowly walked from the room.

  Chapter Six

  “How do you feel?” Lucius found it difficult to meet his ward’s eye. He’d heard nearly everything Aidan had said to her. Perhaps it was for the best she knew his sins. If not Aidan, someone would have told her the story of their curse eventually.

  “Better,” Olivette answered. “I don’t know what the healer did, but…”

  “Healing has always been Lady Althea’s gift, an invaluable one of recent years.” He thought of the other women his people had managed to save from the surface world.

  She studied him for a very long time, so long that he shifted his weight, anxious for her to speak. In some ways, it had been easier when she was unconscious. He didn’t have to think about the words that would come out of his mouth. Normally, conversing with someone wasn’t his weakness. As a king, he had to be adept at putting people at ease with a playful charm. Some were intimidated by his power. Others were angry about a decision he had made. All his subjects were like his children, and he the supreme father meant to protect and guide them. It was a heavy burden.

  He glanced at the floor, wondering if he should leave the woman to rest as Althea suggested. Before he could go, she finally spoke.

  “I thought all kings wore crowns.”

  “Not in my home.” Lucius gave a meaningful glance around the elegant bedroom, prompting her to do the same.

  “I knew this looked a little too stylish to be a hospital.” Olivette gave a small laugh and pushed herself up to sit on the bed. He saw her struggle and instantly stepped up onto the circular platform to assist. He slid a hand behind her back and helped her up. Althea had dressed his ward in a plain cotton gown to keep her comfortable while she slept, but that didn’t mean his mind couldn’t picture every detail beneath the material. “I’d curtsy, but I have a feeling I’d collapse on the floor if I tried.”

  “You must rest.” Lucius pulled away from her. Touching her reminded him of his earlier shower. Fine, his earlier eight showers. For some reason, his affliction had run deep after this last swim in the ocean. “Though, I take it as a positive sign that you have awakened after three days.”

  “Three days?” She appeared surprised. He nodded. “I didn’t realize it had been so long. It felt like seconds. Well, the part in the ocean felt like years, but sleeping felt like seconds.”

  “It is natural that you would need to recover.” He made a move for the door. “I have food for you when you are ready to dine. Let me know and I will bring it in to you.”

  “I’m not sure I want to be here,” Olivette announced to stop him from leaving.

  Lucius glanced around his bedroom. He’s always thought of it as a fine room. “Is this not to your liking? It is the only bedroom in my section of the palace, but I will find you another. I will see which of the hunters is not yet back at the palace and—”

  “In Atlantes,” she clarified. “I’m not sure I want to be down here, in Atlantes. I’ll make a horrible mermaid. I was never a strong swimmer. Aidan pointed out that I have nothing to contribute to this society. Please, can I go home?”

  Guilt hit him at her words. Had he made the wrong decision in rescuing her? Was it a selfish decision? He hadn’t considered his actions too intently at the time. He’d simply acted on instinct, seeing her fall into the water as a sign.

  “For now, this is your home,” he said. “You should focus on your recovery.”

  “Don’t placate me.” She pushed her legs off the side of the bed. “Tell it to me straight. You’re not letting me leave, are you?”

  “I can’t. Once someone comes to Atlantes, their fate is sealed.” He watched for signs of hysteria. She remained calm on the exterior though he could detect the subtle shifting of her eyes as she considered his words.

  “You can’t swim me up like you brought me down?”

  “No,” he stated.

  “What if I were to go to the ocean myself?”

  “You’d drown.”

  “So, stay or die?”

  “No, not die. Drown. It is the final process in your transformation to become a mermaid. You won’t survive the swim up until after you transform. The change in pressure would kill you in your current state. It’s a miracle you survived the dive down. And, once you change, you won’t be able to return to the surface because…”

  He hesitated, remembering the feel of surface air in his lungs. They had decided not to tell the public he’d survived the test, but he didn’t want to lie to his ward either. If his people found out before he was ready to enact laws pertaining to surfacing, chaos would erupt in their paradise. He didn’t need more chaos, not with the ongoing problems with the Olympians.

  “Because?” she prompted.

  “Because the Merr do not touch surface air.” It wasn’t a lie. As a rule, they didn’t.

  Her eyes narrowed. “But someone did, didn’t they? I thought I saw a hand poke out of the water, but convinced myself it was a dolphin. It wasn’t, was it? It was one of you.”

  He gasped. “You saw me?”

  “That was you?”

  He took a step into the room, looming over her. “You can’t tell anyone what you witnessed.”

  She leaned away from him. “What did I witness?”

  “The others can’t know that I surfaced. My people have not breathed or touched surface air since we came down. It should kill us, but we’ve been working on a cure. It’s too soon to create hope where there might only be disappointment. My people have accepted their fates because they assume that this is all there can ever be.”

  “How do you cure air that’s poisonous to you?”

  “We discovered that a small sect of mermaids called the Olympians were eating a special seaweed diet. There were rumors they were breaking the surface and luring humans to their deaths, taking some of them as slaves. We have no proof of this but have been analyzing their diet. The day I rescued you from drowning, I was the first to surface to test out the theory.”

  Olivette studied him with a strange expression on her face. “Okay.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I said okay,” she dismissed.

  “What are you thinking? I see,” he gestured toward her face, “something here.”

  “I find your story a little peculiar.”

  “How so?”

  “Why would a king be the first to test out a theory that would most likely lead to his death?” she questioned. “It seems odd to me, especially when I gather from Aidan that you don’t have an election system in place and you’ve been king since the dawn of time.”

  “It is my duty to protect my people.”

  “If you say so, but it sounds a little bit like you’re either, one, an adrenaline junkie who likes the rush of doing stupid things, or two, don’t care if you die.” She eyed him. “You don’t look stupid to me.”

  The succinctness of her deduction caused a sharp pain to radiate through his chest. If this woman, who had been in Atlantes for less than a week, saw his secret, who else detected it?

  He crossed his arms protectively over his chest as he stood in the doorway.

  Her eyes widened slightly as if she were reconsidering her words. “But what do I know. I just arrived and am probably still delirious from the dive.”

  “No, you’re not delirious,” he stated.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” She moved over on the bed and patted it. “I worked in a bar for three months. I’m
told I’m a great listener.”

  Lucius approached her cautiously at the invitation. He couldn’t remember the last time someone offered to listen to his problems. Normally, they brought him problems. The invitation did not feel sexual, but that didn’t stop yet another wave of affliction from attacking his body. His arms ached to hold her, to lie on the bed and cradle her to his chest, to whisper into her ear, to kiss her neck…

  “You don’t have to talk about it, just sit with me,” she offered.

  Lucius sat on the edge of the bed, his back stiff as he refused to sink too comfortably into it. He glanced at her.

  “Is anyone else here? Can they hear us?” Olivette leaned to look out the door.

  “No. They will knock before they enter my home.”

  “Why did you try to hurt yourself?” Her voice remained soft and gentle, like the undulating currents of a calm ocean.

  Lucius started to answer but stopped himself. He was king. He was not allowed to be weak. “What happened to you? Why were you thrown into the ocean like that? Why did those loud humans not try to save you?”

  She glanced up at the ceiling as if contemplating the surface far, far above. “Since my business went under, it’s been a little tough trying to find steady work, so I was waitressing on that boat. Things got a little rough with one of the partygoers and I ended up in the ocean.”

  Lucius began to nod his head, turning to look at the floor, before the full scope of what she might be saying hit him. He stood and again stepped off the platform, this time in agitation. “Are you saying you were…?” He glanced down her body before turning his attention toward the ocean’s surface. His breathing became choppy with anger. The urge to swim up and find that boat was strong. He fisted his hands. He should have overturned it when he had the chance.

  “He tried. I screamed and managed to hit him.” Olivette touched the side of her head where he’d seen the wound as she drifted past him in the ocean. “We must have struggled because I hit my head and became too dazed to fight back. No one came. The music was too loud. I remember being dragged to the side of the boat and then falling. The shock of the cold water woke me but by then it was too late. I was being pulled under. The salt stung my cheek and choked my lungs and…” A tear slid down her face. “I remember not wanting to die. I was so scared. And then there you were, holding me, breathing for me.”

  Lucius relaxed some to hear she had not been violated, but his anger still simmered for the man who had disrespected a woman in such a way.

  “Thank you for saving me.” The bed shifted, and she touched his shoulder. “When I ask to go back to the surface, I don’t intend to sound ungrateful. I didn’t want to die in the ocean.”

  “You can’t go back,” he said, not daring to move lest her hand leave him. All his attention focused on the tingling sensation her touch caused. “If this makes you unhappy, then I am to blame for that as well.”

  “Why did you go to the surface? Surely someone else would have attempted to test your air theory.” Her fingers made small linear movements against him.

  The tingling became more intense, traveling down his back to focus on his stomach. The affliction grew, and he adjusted his hips without trying to draw attention to it. “It was my duty to go. It is my fault we’re down here. How can I ask anyone else to take the risk?”

  Her hand pulled away.

  “I wanted to go.”

  He wasn’t sure why he said the words out loud. Her hand returned, this time touching his back in longer caresses, urging him to speak.

  “I have been king since what feels like the beginning of time. I have tried to name a successor so I may stop, but this life does not end and my people refuse to acknowledge another ruler. My being king gives them the normality they crave, a tie to the past. I am king because I have always been, and will always be.”

  “That is a lot of responsibility for one man. Do you not have someone to help carry the burden?” Her hand stopped. It was if he could read her thoughts with the movement of her fingers.

  “No. I never married. When I took the crown, I didn’t realize how long my reign would be, or how heavy the weight would become. When I was mortal, I thought I wanted eternity. I thought I wanted to be a god. I was a fool, and did not understand the breadth of what anything meant.”

  Her hand pressed fully against his shoulder. She hesitated before she took his hand. They sat on the bed. “Then you did go up to the surface to die, didn’t you?”

  “To die…to do something…to find an end to this cursed existence.” He watched her fingers intertwine with his. “It could be any of those things. I don’t know why for certain.”

  “What things do you know for certain? What things gave you a reason to carry on and live before this urge to surface found you?”

  “Why do you care?”

  She touched his face, turning his head so that his gaze met hers. “You saved me. I feel it’s my duty to return the favor.”

  “Hope. That is what I have held on to.” Lucius studied her, unsure what to do with his hands. Did he return the gentle caress? Did he hold the one in his lap to continue to hide the effects of the affliction?

  She leaned closer and her voice became softer. “Hope for what?”

  “I hope as we all hope—that one day the curse will end and we’ll again stand in the sunlight.”

  “What else?” Her voice was softer still.

  “That the gods would choose me, bless me.” His voice dropped to match hers in tone.

  “Bless you how?”

  “With a family, a wife,” he paused and lowered his eyes, “with love.”

  “I imagine it is very lonely down here.” Olivette’s eyes lowered to his mouth. “Even more so for a king.”

  “Should I have pushed you back up to the surface and hoped they came back for you?” He liked the feeling of her being close, of her soft breath against his chin. The truth was, she made him nervous as if all decision-making logic swam right out of his head. He didn’t know what to say or do. His hand began to lift toward her and he forced it back down to his lap.

  “They would not have returned. Everyone was too drunk. They probably didn’t realize I was missing until the next day when I didn’t stop to pick up my paycheck. Even then, I doubt Patrick would have reported it to the police. He didn’t come off as the most aboveboard employer. I don’t believe my neighbors will think anything is wrong. We barely run into each other as it is. The work agency that contracts me by the job won’t expect me in, especially if I don’t answer their calls. I have friends, but we’re all used to being busy; they might just think I’m working. My landlord will notice when I don’t pay my rent in two weeks. He might say something when I don’t turn up after another two. I don’t talk to my mother as often as I should, so she won’t think anything about it.” She took a deep breath and placed her hand on his. Her fingers trembled. “I don’t know what you remember of the surface world, but it can be very lonely up there, too.”

  “I…” Lucius tried to think of the perfect thing to say but again failed. What was it about this woman that made him doubt himself? “I will make sure you are welcome here.”

  “Thank you for not letting me die.” She leaned closer and he could barely think.

  “Thank you…for not being angry that…I saved your life.” The words kept coming out in a stuttering mess as if he’d not spent the past centuries being thoughtful and diplomatic.

  She gave a small laugh. “Fair enough.”

  “I have feelings,” he whispered, unable to stop himself from glancing down at her lips.

  “I have feelings, too,” she answered just as softly. Her lips curled into an amazing smile. “What are your feelings?”

  He wanted to kiss her, but that hardly felt appropriate, given her newly arrived status, her illness, and the fact she was his ward and he was charged as the king to take care of her.

  At that moment, he felt the loneliness worse than before. The ache inside him became so bitte
r and hard that he had to put space between them or he’d scream with the agony of it.

  Lucius stood. “You need rest. I will leave you.”

  “I’m sorry. You said you had no queen. I didn’t realize you were seeing someone else.” There was questioning in her tone.

  “I see many people.” He frowned.

  “‘Seeing’ as in ‘dating’.”

  His frown deepened.

  “That you have a lover already,” she stated bluntly.

  “Maia?” Lucius stiffened in shock that she would know about that. He did not hear Aidan talking about Maia. “No. We have not been lovers for many, many years. Things did not end well between us. Who told you of her?”

  “You just did.” She drew her feet back onto the bed. “You must have cared about her.”

  “I did care, but I did not love her, and that became a problem,” he answered. “Some believed I should have married her and stopped her from defecting to Mt. Olympus to start her own mermaid cult. But I believe she would have been worse as my queen. I wish this war we are in could have been avoided, but the Olympians have gone too far. The hunters are in the forest looking for her now to bring her in.”

  Olivette stayed sitting on the bed as she stared at him.

  “Naturally, I feel bad about this, but I cannot allow her to keep drowning humans and taking males as slaves. Plus, she started attacking the dome. If this dome collapsed, all the souls within would become lost.”

  “The scylla,” she reasoned.

  “Yes.”

  “And I thought politics on the surface world were complicated.” Olivette gave a small shake of her head. “Atlantes. Poseidon. Curses. Mermaid cults. Slaves. Scylla. Surface air and seaweed. Crazy ex-lovers. No wonder you’re a little disheartened right now. You clearly must have a lot on your mind. Those are grave responsibilities you carry.”

  Lucius nodded. How was it she saw things so clearly? It was as if she looked inside him and read his soul, his mind, his troubles. Had the breathing kiss on the way down connected them somehow? Is that why the hunters had all ended up married to the women they saved? Did that mean this woman would become his…