Page 4 of Siren Wishes
Marit nodded and started singing a low song, meant only for the sea creatures to hear.
Before long, there were several fish, a shark, a whale that swam by, and a small pod of dolphins that had answered her mothers call.
Marit spoke to each dolphin in their language, but after a moment, she shook her head in defeat, and the dolphins swam away and the other fish left when they knew the summons weren't for them.
“They don’t have a nursing mother in their pod. But they promised to try to find one.”
Soraya felt discouraged, having heard the same story before from a few other pods of dolphins.
She would just have to do her best to keep the small calf alive until she could find one then.
“Thank you mother.”
“You could have done that yourself you know.”
Soraya shook her head, “I have, but I don’t sing too often or too loudly. It scares me. You know why.”
Marit grabbed her hands, “It was a long time ago Sora. You can’t keep your magic locked up inside you forever. It will not end well when it finally breaks free.”
Soraya knew that her mother was right, but said nothing and her mother went on, “Love, you are so lonely. Your father and I know how much you hurt being so separated from everyone else.”
Soraya hung her head, “I will survive. I did then and I will now.”
Marit touched her chin and lifted her head, “Is there no way to convince you to come back? There is supposed to be another meeting of the tribes soon. Will you come find your mate there?”
Soraya shook her head, “I have met all the men in each tribe before mother. And they have all been affected by my magic, remember?”
Marit nodded sadness written on her face, “I remember.”
She blew out a few bubbles, “Well, if your mate isn’t a merman, then who? Will you try to find him amongst the humans? We will not care if you do, I just worry about you leaving us, even more than you already have.”
It wasn’t unheard of for merpeople to find their mates in the human population, but it was rare.
The only males and females who could be a mate to merpeople were called the Protectors of the Sea. And they were marked with a small trident birthmark on their body somewhere.
They were the only human males that could live freely with the mermaids in their tribes.
The mermaids could take a fortnight to find their mate among the humans, to try to find their Protector. They could grow their legs for that length of time, with small exceptions.
After they found their Protector, the males could take on their traits and become a merman at will.
And the mermaid could also become a human at will.
But there hadn’t been any Protectors found in a very long time. Their breed seemed to be dying, which made the mermaid population sad.
Soraya shook her head, “I don’t think love is in the cards for me. It doesn’t seem possible. You know how Ulyana tried to see what my future held and couldn’t.”
Marit shook her head, “Ulyana isn’t all knowing Soraya. She can only see what you want her to see, and for some reason you refuse to show anyone your future.”
“I don’t mean to. I just don’t know how to fix it. I worry about my song, and my life. My magic is so powerful that I am afraid of it. That I will get another killed from my recklessness.”
Marit took her by the shoulders, “My darling daughter. You have punished yourself for years about that incident. You can’t even prove it was your song that enticed them to fight. Don’t keep blaming yourself for something you did as a child and didn’t know the consequences of. You had no idea that you had that much power flowing through your veins. It is still shocking to the elders that you have the power you do. It's so rare to be able to control the elements as you can. Not without a trident.”
Soraya shut her eyes, “I know mother. I can still hear the song that made those men fight. I can still see the blood in the water. The way it flowed from their mutilated bodies.”
She shuddered and shook her head, “I am afraid mother. To sing loudly and without a care in the world and lose control. To have the weather be affected by me in any way again. That’s father’s job. And Tridenton. I will gladly let them handle it. I would rather live in solitude, with no one to love, than to ever possibly hurt another.”
Marit kissed her cheek, “My sweet girl. I wish you would embrace your heritage. You have great magic inside of you. And I know that someday you will be able to control your powers if you work at it. I just know it Sora.”
