A Mermaid's Heart

Chapter Eighteen.

“What happened here?” Caleb’s frantic but calm and collected voice demanded. A trembling, warm hand gripped my limp right one, raising it as if to draw all eyes to its extended palm “Her hands healed on their own, I went to tell you and-.” there was a pause in the hastened, terrified female tone that was so familiar to me like the gentle voice of a loving sister but that voice quickly broke, trembling in fear when she glanced over my lifeless body “And when I returned I-I found her like this” Rebecca. How I wanted to embrace her in that moment to reassure her that I was alive, that I could never die and leave them without saying goodbye, it was a silent promise that I made to myself in those cold, desperate seconds before life was breathed back into my lungs. I gasped and shot up on the bed, coughing and wheezing with strong hands gripping at both my upper arms, a head of blond curls registering to my foggy, teary eyes. Ben was on his knees in front of me, not Caleb like I had been expecting and his brown eyes looked terrified like they had the day I had told him of my intentions to be sacrificed. He thought he was losing me, had thought that I was dead “Evangeline, are you alright?” he demanded, his hands moving to touch my face, my leg but I didn’t have the time to answer him, to reassure him or even hug Rebecca who was knelt at my side, instead my eyes drifted beyond Ben to Caleb who stood near the steps, watching the events unfolding with hurt, fear and betrayal in his eyes. My own moved past him to the woman dressed I black clothing, her hands clutched in her lap as she observed me, free of all worry as if she had expected me to awaken “You knew this would happen” I accused her, my face void of emotion, chest rising and falling with one hand gripping at Rebecca’s and the other tightening against the bed sheets. Aurella shifted her feet beneath her and hummed, her head raised higher “I had my suspicions” she confirmed, neither of us caring to explain things to those around us. Not Caleb, Rebecca, Ben nor the Irishman stood in the corner or the sea nymph perched on the armchair in the corner. I gritted my teeth and tore my hand from Rebecca’s grasp, pushing Ben aside to stand before the witch “And you didn’t care to warn me of this prior to the spell?” I questioned, my body no longer in any form of pain since the power of the jewels had healed all my wounds allowing me to move as freely as I wished. Caleb’s eyes followed my every move, choosing to stay silent in an argument he knew nothing about “I though it unwise seeing as if you had known you would have thought twice about going through with it” Aurella admitted without a moment’s hesitation. I searched her ivory eyes, hoping to find some form of remorse, regret but she was cold, empty and ruthless. My hands balled at my sides to hide the fact that they were trembling with both rage and shock from my heart having stopped for some time “I am not a goddess, nor am I a pawn to be toyed with!” I could feel my eyes glowing and my fangs extending from the surge of anger that shot through me having yelled those words. I sensed Ben’s unease, Caleb’s weariness and Nolan’s shock for standing up to a woman so much stronger than I was. Aurella’s lips tugged upward, the smallest hint of emotion I had yet to see in her “Yet you harbor the authority of a queen-.” my lips shut at her words. She tilted her head slightly to one side and glanced me over, eyes flickering down to my bare feet then back to my pale face and glowing mismatched orbs “You were born and raised a noble, taught to carry books upon your head-.” Blue sat up straighter, her eyes boring into the witch with her webbed hands gripping one of the chair’s arms, leaning forward at the thought of having me as her ruler. It wasn’t a matter of a common woman marrying a king to become a queen, no, I could only wish it was as simple “Perhaps it is time it carries a crown instead” Rebecca, who had pulled herself to her feet during the argument sunk down on the foot of the bed, her hands gripping at the fabrics of her skirt. The room went deafly silent as everyone, including myself took in the heaviness of Aurella’s words “I make my own decisions and nothing you can say or do will convince me otherwise” my shoulders straightened before I’d spoken, my chin raised to look up into her eyes with determination and threat clear in my own. Aurella glanced in Caleb’s direction when she took a few slow steps toward me to speak in a much smaller tone “But I do not need to convince you of anything-.” there was something so smug in the way she said her words as if trying to taunt me, trying to boast of how she had tricked me to take every step she had expected me to “You will go through with the entrapment-.” her lips were so close that I could feel her breath on my face, her nose almost touching mine “If only to stop Neptune from coming in between you and the man you so deeply love” she then stood upright, glancing down at me like a queen would a filthy beggar. My jaw muscles tensed at the thought of slashing her face with my extended claws but I restrained myself, biting my tongue for a time when I would have my vengeance “Now that you are healed I suggest you hurry with our plan for you to seduce the sea god-.” Caleb stiffened in my range of sight, his posture changing and his aura growing colder at the mention of my seducing Neptune despite having to do it for the sake of our love “For when you touch the oceans water he must not hesitate to seek you out” those were her last words before she turned and shoved her way past Caleb, ascending the steps to the Captain’s quarters. Blue played with her own hair, eyes lost deep in thought while the rest chose to only stare at me. From the day I was born I was merely a tool to be used for the purpose set out before me, it was decided when my eyes and hair matched those of Nereida. Aurella had found me, watched over me to escape her prison, shackled at Neptune’s side “What have ye gotten yeself into las?” Nolan asked, wording the question everyone else was thinking. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath in, holding it for as long as I could then, released it in a slow drawl. When I opened my eyes again I turned to face them “I need to be alone” Caleb left as soon as the words were out then they slowly, unsurely started to trickle out one by one until it was only Blue and I left in the room. The nymph hadn’t spoken yet but that changed when I headed for the feather mattress ‘The Hearts will follow you as their queen and the humans will worship you as a goddess’ I went to snap at her to tell her to stop and that she sounded so much like Aurella but when I did she was gone, the arm chair empty and I was alone in that familiar room once more. I was left with the struggle of trying to fall asleep despite not having wanted to sleep in so long. It wasn’t easy despite the exhaustion that I felt from both sleep deprivation and having died for a few minutes to meet with the jewels but when I eventually did fall asleep, Neptune was right there, waiting for me like a lost soul hoping for its love to one day, return to him. I turned onto my side in my sleep and opened my eyes to find a familiar room of white and gold circling me. I hadn’t been aware that I’d fallen asleep so I slowly raised my head and pushed myself to sit upright, taking in everything around me. It was all so real, despite being a dream. My eyes found the man I had been searching for stood on the balcony, overlooking a vast ocean as azure as the midday sky. I crawled my way from the bed and stood, my feet bare and body clad in the dress that I had been wearing in the Captain’s quarters. I could feel the breeze wafting in through the open balcony doors, carrying with the curtains and the skirt of my short dress shirt along with it. Neptune looked lost in thought, leaning over the railing with his back muscles tense and his feet crossed. Everything in me forced me forward, forced me to go to his troubled self, to ease his burdens with the touch of my hands, the linger of my kisses but I restrained myself, instead slowly moving ever closer until I could fully see the sea outstretched before me. Seagulls sung overhead, dancing in the heavens as the water so clear revealed an abundance of life swimming both around and underneath the balcony that was just inches above the surface. If I sat on my knees and were to reach out between the railing, IK knew that I could run my fingers through the water and despite so desperately wanting to do so I restrained myself to do as Aurella had instructed me. I placed a hand on Neptune’s shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts and turning his eyes to me. Those sapphire orbs seemed to soften, the worry fading completely from their depths at the sight of me as if not seeing me had been his deepest fear ‘Your lip-.’ he realized, his own hand moving to run the padding of his thumb along my bottom lip as if to test whether the wounds were really gone and that it wasn’t just his eyes playing tricks on him. He glanced to my hand on his shoulder then took it lovingly in his, twisting it and turning it in search of any burns but found none ‘Your hands-.’ I couldn’t help but give a faint, sad smile at his relief, knowing that he had tormented himself with the knowledge of my wounded state while I was gone. For six days he had wanted to find me, wanted to help me, to heal me but had no idea where to start searching for me. I could only imagine the desperation, the fear and worry that had consumed him in my absence and I regretted having left him alone for so long, having wanted to stay away from him. His beard tickled my palm when he placed a gentle kiss to it and I found myself watching him, his lips, wondering what harm it could bring to taste them. I tore my gaze away from him when he caught me staring and turned my mismatch eyes to the ocean ahead of us, a place so beautiful, so mysterious, so enchanting that it could captivate even the most caged of hearts. If the sea was a woman then men would’ve flocked to her from various corners of the earth, traveling just to lay eyes upon her form ‘I often compare her to you’ I froze at Neptune’s words spoken beside me. He too was marveling the ocean with a calming peace across his features. I took him in, processed his words that had so shocked me since the ‘her’ he was referring to was the body of water ahead of us. The corner of his lips twitched upward when he turned his head to meet my eyes ‘Her water is the color of your eye, her sea foam that of your hair but her waves and storms-.’ he let go of my hand to run his fingers along the side of my face where my grey eye was located as if to examine it before he continued ‘Is like your passion, your stubbornness and fierceness-.’ I leaned my face into his touch, enjoying the feel of his palm against my skin, his fingers tracing my flesh so gently, so scarcely, almost as if to torture me with thoughts of how his touch would feel when I was go give into him ‘Your eye’ he finished, admiring me one last time before pulling away, leaving me feeling breathless and longing. My fingers twitched at my sides, wanting to reach for him in order to pull him back to me but I suppressed the need and closed my eyes, exhaling sharply as an attempt to compose myself ‘Where are we?’ I tried to distract myself by asking, eventually able to look at him again. He was looking back into the room through the glass doors to the bed with white bed sheets that were wrinkled where my body had been laying ‘We are inside your mind’ was his simple reply, sapphire eyes not daring to look at me while he propped his elbows up onto the railing with his back pressed to it. I tried speaking, tried parting my lips but before I could, he spoke up once more, his agonizingly sweet voice silencing mine ‘This place is whatever you imagine it to be’ what I wanted it to be? I closed my eyes and tried to picture the place where I wanted to go, creating a forest with trees covered in green leaves, a sunny evening not too hot but cool with a light breeze, a river, shallow that cut through the lush green grass and littered with smooth rocks. I could hear the flow of water, the rustling of the tree branches, the chirping of birds in the distance ‘It’s beautiful’ he said in a low whisper, causing me to open my eyes to the scene I had been picturing. I was stood in the river, the water going up to my ankles and moving past me toward a small waterfall that would trickle into a pool. I looked up from the water to the man stood some feet away, the bottom of his trousers soaked from the water with his head tilted back to savor the sunlight. I began moving through the water, my feet stepping on the slick rocks while the skirt of my dress elongated until it too dragged through the waters behind me, my hands gripping at its skirts. My gaze was locked onto the man, a need for him rising within me, a desire to feel his touch, his kiss so intense that Caleb was lost to my mind. Neptune watched me, having heard my movement through the water until I came to a sudden stop to bend down and cup some of the liquid in my hand to flick it at him. He raised his arm to block then did the same. I yelped at the cold of the water against my skin and felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins before I dared attack him again. The water droplets reflected the light of the overhead sun when we would throw it, running, dancing around each other and laughing at the fun. My giggles echoed out around us, my smile wide and carefree, so joyful. I gasped when Neptune bent to pick me up with his arms wound below my rear, only to giggle when he spun me around, my torso pressed up against him through the see through fabric of my gown. My hands gripped his shoulders to keep myself from falling when he stopped moving, gasping for his own breath while staring up at me, lost in a mix of wonder and awe. His gaze caught my attention, drawing it down to him, eyes searching his features as my hands moved from his shoulders to tenderly cup the sides of his face. He was my home, the place where I belonged. I leaned forward to press my forehead to his like he had done before and closed my eyes, listening to our rapid heartbeats that tangled into our hurried breaths. I wanted him, wanted to stay with him. His worry for me, his word and actions were enough for me to slip into him, to give myself to him. I leaned down to place a small kiss to his lips, pulling back to search his bright, sapphire eyes. He set me down on my own two feet, slowly, my hands gripping at his arms to catch myself if I was to fall but I didn’t and as soon as my feet met with the surface of the rocks, his large hands gripped the sides of my face. I was taken off guard by him capturing my lips with his but later responded to him, my lips parting to deepen the kiss with my hands tightening on his forearms. That is until I wrapped them around his neck, my nails gently scratching at his skelp, fingers lightly pulling on the strands. His hands moved to grip my waist, pulling me closer with desperation in his sudden movements, wanting to erase the space between us. I gasped when they moved to tighten on my thighs, lifting me and wrapping my legs firmly around his waist so that I could feel him. I couldn’t fully catch my breath before I kissed him again, this time fiercer, hungrier than the prior. If it wasn’t for the world around us fading away, I wouldn’t have stopped but I had to pull away, to look into his eyes with swollen, parted, panting lips and pink stained cheeks ‘Come find me’ I whispered, leaning my forehead against his. He watched me, nostrils flaring and eyes wild with desire, consumed by need. He began to fade along with the darkness until I was plummeting through it ‘Find me’ I breathed once more moments before my body collided with a feather mattress, the one located in the Captain’s quarters. I was drawn from my slumber with tears streaking my cheeks, tears of longing, tears of joy from having seen him again in so long. My hand tightened around the bedsheets, trembling when I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture Caleb, his face, his body, our memories together. I could see him on the bow of the ship as it sailed into Port Alice, I could feel his touch from the night we had made love in that very bed, I could hear him promising to protect me, brushing my hair out of my face. In my dreams I struggled to remember him like I could in reality, it was only Neptune and I and it only grew harder for me to keep fighting for Caleb with Neptune’s lure wrapped around my throat. I pushed myself onto my hands and knees and wept, knowing what I had to do, that trapping Neptune was my last resort, my only hope of saving mine and Caleb’s relationship. I had to go through with it, I had no choice.