Page 19 of Whispers Beneath the Deep
I swam slowly, taking my time to circle around the area, swimming in between homes. I made my way to one specific house, looking around before trying the back door. It swung open with ease and I darted in, closing the door behind me.
The house was as dark as the waters outside, but like the outside, I knew every nook and cranny of this place.
I swam to the corner of the room where I knew a chest was located. I dug through the contents until my hand came in contact with something cold and sharp. I wrapped my hand around the hilt of my black blade and pulled it out. Though the weapon was dark, the obsidian shone in the room.
The blade was the length of my forearm, bigger than the one Maisie wielded, though no less deadly. They were mates to one another. Hers, studded with a single sapphire gem, while the hilt of mine glittered with the hint of black diamonds. I dug into the chest again, pulling out the black leather scabbard and belt. After securing the blade in its place, I pulled out a long, black tunic.
After stripping, I changed into the clean clothes, strapped the belt around my waist, the sheathed blade bumping against my hip and tail with comforting familiarity.
Just then, a door opened to the room I was in. Defense came easily. I whipped the blade from the scabbard and held it out before me. A bright blue light shone from the inside of a lava globe, a globe held in the hands of an old and bent merman.
My weapon lowered, and I sheathed it back into its rightful place. The old merman’s face was set in a wrinkled frown, cast into the soft shadowing of blue and white light. His expression changed as he saw me, eyebrows rising, mouth dropping open.
“Elias?” he asked incredulously.
“Mr. James, sorry if I disturbed you.”
“Not t’all, son.” He gestured that I follow. I did so without reluctance, following him out of his back storage room and further into the small house, to the kitchen and dining area. He placed the lava globe in the center of his table—a slab of stone with piled rocks holding it up—and pulled out a chair, seating himself.
I kicked out a chair with my fins and sat myself in it.
“Heard you had an exciting day, son.” His face was clearly amused, though with a slight undertone of worry.
“Yeah?” I pressed my elbow into the table, resting my chin on my palm. “What have you heard?”
Mr. James rolled his eyes at me. “You have ears, son. Don’t act like you don’t know what the mer are saying about you and the princess just so I can stroke that big ego of yers.”
“And what are the mer saying about the princess?” I asked, genuinely curious. I hadn’t heard what they’d said, though I could imagine.
The old merman’s thin shoulder lifted before his palms met the surface of the rough stone table. “There are a lot of rumors going around that you hurt her.”
I leaned forward, eyebrows raising. “Really?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed. “Load of bullshark if you ask me. You wouldn’t hurt a mermaid, let alone a princess. But the things that are floating around abouther, that stuff I can believe.”
“What exactly are they saying about her?”
“So many things. The loudest of the rumors is that she’s a changeling.”
My skin tingled at the sound of that.Changeling. I schooled my features into a mask of nothing but sarcasm, so as to not give anything away. In a way, a changeling was what Maisie was. Someone put into Princess Odele’s place. Impersonating her. Living her lavish life.
But if there was one thing I was absolutely certain of, was that Maisie was nothing like Princess Odele.
“Indeed?”
Mr. James gauged my reactions, to see how much I cared. Whatever he was trying to read on my face, he would find nothing. I would show nothing.
“It’s all so strange…” Mr. James continued. “How quickly someone can change…”
Strange, indeed. I smiled and got up from my chair. Mr. James followed the movement with his eyes. “Thank you for keeping her safe for me.” I patted the side of my sheathed blade. “And for hiding the rest of my belongings.”
Mr. James got up himself. A sign of respect towards me. I didn’t bother telling him not to. It wasn’t as though he’d listen. The mer revered me despite my protests. They treated me like a hero. I was, but a real hero did not want recognition and neither did I. I just wanted change. “No problem t’all son. It’s the least I could do after all that you’ve done for us.”
I frowned at that. There was always endless heaps of gratitude among these mer. As if I was doing it so they’d owe me. I didn’t want that, either.
“I’ve done nothing, sir.” I denied.
Mr. James snorted. “You’ve done plenty and you know it. And should you need anything else, the mer here are loyal and would gladly help.”
