Page 64 of The Princess of Nothing
“Don’t make me force you back,” I warned. “I really don’t want to do that.”
“Don’t underestimate my powers either.”
“You can’t hurt people.”
“We have tricks and loopholes,” he cautioned.
I sighed. “Please, Cedric. If they wanted to kill me, they would have, twice, but they didn’t. Let me find out why. Have faith, trust in me. Please.”
After a minute, he stepped back. “If they try anything, I’ll fly down to you.”
“I know you will.” I kissed his salt-sprayed cheek.
I was either mad or stupid... definitely both. I lowered myself into the mer-filled waters, feeling a tail brush my leg as I did. Darkness shadowed beneath the rippling waves. The mercreature’s wide, stormy eyes latched onto mine, unrelenting in her huntress nature. Her teeth bared as she fought to refrain from killing fresh meat when it was in front of her so readily. Her steel-like scales crashed through the surface as she disappeared into the murky depths.
Holding onto the rope on the side of the ship, I looked upward at Cedric. He didn’t wear panic well. The corner of his eye twitched when he looked at me. “I’m okay.” I mouthed, although I didn’t feel it.
They’d spared me, but I still didn’t know why, and just because they’d done it twice before, didn’t guarantee my life this time. Although it made no sense, as she’d not killed me yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if she fooled me so she could simply escape.
They weren’t always so cold, evil, and menacing. Being natural predators meant they would always enjoy the thrill of the chase, but over time, in the last five years, I was told how they changed. They more embodied the man who ruled them, the mer king, their master. His personality poured through them, influencing their base desires, turning them deadlier. Lately, they were more skilled at tearing into people, attacking for no good reason and going out of their way to sink ships.
If he was the totem in which they echoed, I feared meeting such a dark and hollow thing.
A crown of coral broke the surface, its red and orange matching the depths in his pointed eyes. His hair, which resembled seaweed, stuck around his diamond-shaped face. Barrel-chested and large, he looked more godlike than mer.
There was something sinister in his stare. It didn’t sit right with me. Then I realized what was making me so uncomfortable. It was their lack of humanity.
He swam toward me, the other mer following shortly behind. He ignored the ship. It was no threat to him.
“Winter Mortis.” He spoke with a low grumble. It resonated through the waters, causing the waves to pick up, and I clung to the rope tighter. “I am Aqugar.”
“Hello,” I said awkwardly. What was one to do when meeting the king of mercreatures? Was there any etiquette?
He interrupted my thoughts. “Your life was saved, under my orders.”
“Why?” I asked, licking my lips, then immediately regretting it as the briny taste hit my tongue.
“We are skilled divinators. We use the future to guide us.”
“So?”
His thin lips twisted in disgust. “I usually would not allow a human to live,” he spat. “However, you have been shown as the only one who can unite the Objects of Kai.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why do you care for them? You’re immortal, living in the ocean where no man dare swim to find and kill you.”
“You are correct, but you do not look outside to the bigger picture.”
“One of your people still bit me, you know. That’s hardly saving me.”
“He has been punished. He did not recognize your spirit immediately. When our waters touch you, we can sense you. We come to you.”
“That’s why all our boats have been attacked,” I figured aloud.
His tone sharpened. “You were supposed to be retrieved.”
“Why?”
“I wished to explain, as I will now, of your mission.”
