One Thousand Tears

by Pauline Creeden

The reckoning came swiftly—faster than Adelaide could ever have imagined. The moment the waters turned cooler and started to recede from the shoreline, the day came. The center of the Long Island township filled with Mer of every age and every part of the clan. They all came to witness Jonas's abuse.

  Adelaide didn't want to be there.

  But she stood at the front of the crowd, not allowed to miss a single moment. As the elder's daughter, she was expected to participate. All eyes were on her... when they weren't on Jonas... and she was to be the picture of the perfect daughter, the perfect princess.

  The guards wrapped Jonas's arms around a barnacle encrusted post and tied his wrists together on the other side. His tail sunk into the sand at the bottom. He could have resisted, could have swam upward only a yard or so and he would have been free of the post, but instead, he sunk into the sand and accepted his fate. Adelaide's hands fisted. She wanted to scream her displeasure. But instead she remained silent, her emotionless mask hiding any true feelings.

  Then the elders began. Four of them, in turn, raked their mer-claws against Jonas's back, exposing the raw muscle and sinews beneath the naked flesh in five slices per strike. The wounds opened, crisscrossing his skin. Blood clouded around the injuries. Adelaide winced with each strike as they came, one after the other, knowing all eyes would be upon them at that moment.

  A lump rose in her throat. She wanted to scream for him, as he took the injuries with barely a whimper. She wanted to fight her way to the post and free him from this misery and stop them. Her eyes stung in the saltwater, and her jaw tightened.

  Then it was finished.

  His hands were freed from the post and he collapsed in a red mist of blood. And the crowd that had pressed against her, watching it all dispersed in a whirlwind of tails and fins. She closed her eyes against the onrush of sand and heat in the current. When her eyes opened again, she blinked several times, trying to see clearly through the clouded waters.

  Sand and concentrated salt stung her eyes. She blinked once more and found the post where Jonas had been tied completely barren. Nothing at all swam in the clearing any longer. Her brows furrowed. She shot upward several yards to gain a better view, to see more clearly, ignoring the feel of electricity that approached on the current.

  No matter where she looked, she couldn't see Jonas. He'd already gone. She didn't even get a chance to tell him goodbye. Aimlessly, she swam a short bit in the direction the blood trail led, wanting to follow, but knowing she shouldn't.

  "Adelaide!" her father's deep, baritone bit off her name.

  She blinked again, shaking her head, breaking from her moment of insanity. Spinning about, she found her father not far from where she swam. Disapproval marred his face, clearly visible even from this distance. She swallowed the lump in her throat and fought the chill that caused goose flesh to rise on her arms.

  He waited for her with his arms crossed over his chest. Laughter hadn't caused the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes the way the old wive's tales had said it would. Instead Adelaide knew they were caused the same as the ones on his forehead. Through worry. Over her, over the clan. Her father could nag and worry better than most. And today would be no different.

  "Where were you going?" he asked when she reached him.

  She shrugged and kept her eyes downcast.

  He lifted her face with his finger on her chin and then glared his disapproval into her eyes.

  "Don't lower your gaze for anyone. You are not a bottom feeder." Those last two words twisted the knife that already lodged in her heart at the disappearance of Jonas. He studied her facial expression, but she tried to school it, knowing she'd been unsuccessful when he frowned deeper. "I need you to do something for me."

  She blinked and straightened, her heart clenching in her chest. He didn't ask her to do much of anything, so a request would be new. "What do you need, Father?"

  He clasped his hands behind his back and began swimming away. Away from the blood trail and the electric current. Away from Jonas and his exile. Had her father gotten her ruffled just to pull her away from the thing that drew her most? Did her father know her feelings about Jonas, though she'd never told him?

  Part of her wondered if her mother would tell, but then she shook that off immediately. Her mother hadn't spoken in over three moons. The healer said he doubted she'd make it to the next full moon. And the way that her mother ate nothing she could keep down confirmed that diagnosis.

  Adelaide swallowed and followed her father reluctantly, her gaze drawn behind her and toward the direction Jonas had gone. But the blood trail in the water had already begun to disperse, and the magnetic currents of the sharks that were following him had gotten more difficult to detect as they pulled away. In her heart, Adelaide prayed for Jonas to make it to shore safely. It was the only thing that she could do for him at the moment.

  Then resolutely she swam faster to catch up with her father. Her curiosity was piqued. What could he possibly want her to do for him?

  Sunlight poured directly down from overhead as the sun reached its zenith. Adelaide had to shield her eyes from the glint off the metal dome on the sea floor in the distance. She tilted her head to avoid the sunlight. "What is that?"

  It was a portion of their lands she didn't often come toward, as it was near the border between their Long Island clan and the clan north of them, near Nova Scotia. The underground city here had been covered completely in a dome that seemed to be made of glass. Even from this distance, Adelaide could see the many windows and the people within the dome moving about. "Air Breathers?"

  Her father nodded.

  She blinked and wanted to pull closer, but didn't know she'd started to move in that direction until her father set a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a slight shake of the head. She swallowed. "What are they doing there?"

  Her father cleared his throat. "Reports from the surface have been grim. What's left of the land that's not been flooded by the melting of the polar ice caps has become inhospitable. There's massive drought. The water that has caused the flooding isn't drinkable to the landwalkers. They have little food, and their war-torn lands are not able to sustain crops and life as it once did."

  Adelaide blinked. She'd heard some of these things in schooling, but not put quite so succinctly. She had questions, but couldn't form them into coherent thoughts, so she remained quiet.

  "The smart ones have now taken to the waters. They can't breathe the oxygen that's available to them through gills, as they have lungs. So they are pumping in air from the surface through ducts. But they are finding that they can grow crops here, where the sunlight isn't so harsh, and the waters can be purified for their use."

  She shook her head. "That can't possibly be enough room for all of them."

  He squeezed her shoulder under the hand that he'd still left there. "That's right. I'm not sure how they decide who is able to come down with them under the waters like this and who remains on the inhospitable lands. But, we see them moving to and fro at this time of the month. Look."

  A hatch opened on the metal dome and three vehicles jettisoned out into the waters, propelling forward and a pace faster than most fish, but slower than a Mer using water magic. "Where are they going?"

  "Back to the surface." His hands grabbed hold of both my shoulders as he turned me to face him. "Don't you see the importance of our tradition, Adelaide? These traditions that seem barbaric are necessary for us to survive. Someone must go to the surface and learn what they can about what the humans are doing. Wolves and witches may be a thing of the past, but there are still too many dangers on the surface to send volunteers. A Mer must be chosen. A bottom feeder must go."

  Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut tight against her father’s words. She didn't need them. Didn't want them. Did he bring her here to convince her that his barbaric ways were right? She still couldn't agree to them. Even if it hadn't been Jonas who was exiled, she still wouldn't agree. She'd never agree.

  He shook her slightly and
then released her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, she found a sneer slipping from his face.

  Did he know all along the feelings she had for Jonas? Her teeth clenched together at the back of her jaw. No, he couldn't possibly have known. She schooled her expression once more. "What do you need of me, Father?"

  "We are meeting someone here."

  Adelaide blinked. "Here?"

  Her father nodded, and his eyes searched the waters to the north in the distance. Then the glint of something shiny caught her eye. She watched for it, and the glint returned again and again in a rhythm.

  "Morse code?" she asked.

  Her father nodded and then took her by the wrist. "Come on."

  She followed his lead, still confused. They pulled away from the dome enough to skirt around it to the ocean side. The pods that had jettisoned from the air breathers' dome had gone toward land. Once Adelaide's father knew she followed him obediently, he released her but checked back a few times to make sure she still came.

  They approached a reef near the continental shelf before Adelaide spotted two other Mer swimming nearby. Her father slowed so that they traveled side by side.

  "Salutations, Grayson," her father called out as they drew closer.

  The elder of the two Mer called back, "Greetings to you, Milton."

  When the two elder Mer reached each other, they grabbed each other's forearms in greeting.

  Next to the elder Mer swam a younger male, about the same age as Adelaide, perhaps younger. His dark, wavy hair had a distinct patina, and his thin, frail body was not much bigger than hers. He studied her with lazy, half-lidded eyes.

  Grayson set a hand on the Mer's shoulder. "This is my son, Cornelius."

  Adelaide found her father's hand resting on hers in a similar gesture. "And my daughter, Adelaide."

  The two elder Mer continued to exchange pleasantries before getting down to business. Adelaide's father cleared his throat. "It's my understanding that there are at least four more air-breather housing units up the coastline. We haven't yet heard from our brethren in the Pacific yet, but it wouldn't be surprising that there the number could be as much as double."

  Grayson nodded. "Yes. Our European brethren report three more pods such as these. It seems that many of the air-breathers are taking to living underwater."

  "Has there been any council about it yet?"

  After shaking his head slowly, Grayson said, "I'm sure one will be called. It's only been half a year now that the units have been occupied. Air-breathers notoriously do not do well with pressure changes, so our deep water living brethren have no worries. It is those of us who live on the continental shelf that need to stay alert."

  "At least it appears they are self-sustaining units for now. Though they cast nets from the unit and bring them in daily to capture some of our wildlife, it's not an unsustainable amount just yet." Her father's gaze lowered to the sand.

  Light played upon the seafloor from the sun overhead and had begun to redden. Nightfall wouldn't be more than an hour away. Adelaide's stomach growled, and she suddenly realized she hadn't eaten all day. Her arms wrapped around her waist, and when she looked up, she found all eyes upon her.

  Grayson nudged his son's shoulder and gestured toward Adelaide with his chin. After a sigh and an eye roll, Cornelius pulled a small net bag out from behind a portion of the reef and offered it to Adelaide without a word or even making eye contact with her. The elder Mer's shoulders dropped a degree. "Please forgive my son, he's shy and mannerless. Accept this small token of food as a gesture of goodwill."

  Adelaide accepted the net bag with a bow of her head, thanking them both specifically. Within the bag were a dozen or so oysters. She blinked and then offered them to the others. "Would anyone else like one?"

  All around they denied her, Grayson doing so with a wide smile. "They are yours, young miss."

  She frowned slightly. It wasn't a moniker she was used to being called by. But she accepted the generous offer and pulled upon the first of the oyster shells with her claws. After sucking down the insides, she looked up. "It's delicious. Thank you again. I hear that even the air-breathers eat oysters raw and treat them as a delicacy."

  Another big sigh came out of Cornelius as he folded his arms back over his chest, but he didn't say a word.

  The conversation continued between the two elder Mer, while Adelaide ate and Cornelius seemed to be in his own world, studying the reef nearby or the nails on his claws. It seemed as though he had no reason to be there any more than she did. When she'd finished a little over half the oysters, her father and Grayson slapped forearms once more and said their farewells.

  "It was a pleasure meeting you, young miss," Grayson said with a smile, nudging his son once more in the side.

  Cornelius bowed slightly before turning around and lazily swimming away. His father gave a wan smile in apology.

  "The pleasure is all mine. Thank you once more for the token of food."

  He nodded and then swam after his son.

  Adelaide turned to her father in the waning light. It wouldn't be long before the sea waters were pitch black.

  Her father led her back toward the south and west. "That was a productive meeting, was it not?"

  Adelaide shrugged, but because she was a little bit behind her father, she knew he couldn't see her, so she offered her non-committal answer, "It seemed so."

  "What did you think of Cornelius?" Her father slowed again so he swam next to her, and then studied her expression.

  She'd frowned in thought. "I'm not sure. He's rather quiet."

  Her father nodded. "That much is for certain. Perhaps with maturity he'll grow into a more outspoken man. Or maybe he was just shy around a potential mate."

  Every muscle in Adelaide's body froze for a split second and she felt suddenly cold. "Potential mate?"

  Her father stopped with her, the night shine in his eyes feeling suddenly ominous. "Yes, Adelaide. I asked you to come with me to gauge the possibility of an advantageous marriage. The joining of the Long Island and Nova Scotia clans could only help make all of our brethren stronger. It was the reason for this evening's meeting. And I believe the meeting went well."

  He nodded in affirmation and continued forward with his hands fixed behind his back.

  A mating. Between her and that mute, shiftless, flaccid Mer. Surely her father couldn't be serious.

  3

  Three weeks passed in monotony, and Adelaide’s mother grew weaker every day. Adelaide had to stop going to schooling in order to care for her mother entirely. Her mother’s frail body barely took in breath, and each time her breathing would stop, Adelaide would watch her with anxiety in her heart to find out if she would ever inhale again. Her father on the other hand, seemed so busy with his duties as the elder, that Adelaide rarely saw him.

  The sun rose in the East, and Adelaide stared at it wondering if Jonas was looking at it to. Adelaide held her mother’s wafer-thin hand in hers and rubbed the papery skin on the back of her hand. Her mother’s hands were way too cold even though the water temperature has remained warm. In her anxiety and worry, Adelaide had lost weight herself. It was hard to eat, when she spent most of her time cleaning up after her mother sickness and worrying for the fact that her mother didn’t eat all.

  She checked her mother’s face and could only tell that her mother was still alive because of the contorted look her muscles had made of her mother’s face. Her mother never looked peaceful when she slept anymore even though most of her time was spent in a state of shallow slumber. She continued to talk to her mother even when there was no response. If nothing else, she could remain cheerful just for her.

  “Good morning, mother. It’s a new day, bright and early.” It was the same thing that her mother used to say when she would wake her as a small child.

  Her mother’s eyes fluttered open and the vibrant blue they once were had become more of a dull gray. Adelaide had no idea that someone’s eye color change based on their health. Her
mother focused her eyes on her for a moment, and then her gaze slipped away like it usually did because her mother barely kept focus on anything anymore, as if everything that she really looked at now was within rather than without.

  “Do you feel like sitting up just a little bit, mother? I have your pain medicine.” Adelaide mixed the medication in the clamshell that it came in and then helped her mother lean forward just a little in order to pour the mixture in between her cracked lips.

  Her mother sputtered, as if the very act of swallowing choked her.

  Adelaide bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood. The copper mixed with salt water lingered on her tongue. She rubbed her mother’s back and then laid her back down gently. Still rubbing her mother’s forearm and hands as if to try to get them to accept the warmth of her fingers. But nothing seemed to help – her fingers remained cold as ice.

  Outside their nesting area a commotion caught Adelaide's attention, but it was far enough away, that she couldn't see what was going on from her vantage point. The elder's nesting was a bit far from the beaten path. Not many Mer swam nearby, which suited her mother, who had wanted peace in her home even before she grew sick.

  The commotion grew louder, making Adelaide frown. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to be disturbed, but it seemed whatever was going on was drawing closer. She squeezed her mother's hand and patted her on the shoulder so that her mother's eyes would focus on her again at least momentarily. "I'll be right back, okay?"

  Her mother didn't nod, only blinked once and then let her gaze slide out of focus once more. The commotion outside grew louder, and Adelaide swam out of their nesting area in the cove of a reef and rushed toward the noise that wasn't very far away.

  When she found a group of angry-looking Mer heading her direction, she held up her hands and stopped them. "Salutations, citizens of the clan. What are you doing?"

  The group had four elderly males and three older females, they swam slowly through the waters as though their backs couldn't work the water as well as they could when they were younger. They fussed and cried out, yelling their dissent.