Page 47 of Mermaid on Heels

How could he scare her to death—intentionally though—in one moment and make her feel immersed in a sea of love in the other? Her heart swelled with a strange longing, her own eyes dampening with unshed tears. No one had ever spoken to her like this before or told her that they saw a future when they looked into her eyes. This human now standing before her, holding her face, he looked at her as if she was the sun, the moon, and the stars in the heavens.

Not like she was a winning prize.

Liriya snaked her fingers around his wrists and closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. She stayed like that for a moment until Luke’s hands slid from her face. Her eyes fluttered open and searched for his, disappointed that he decided to let go soon, only to be tugged forward gently and find herself in his arms.

Liriya’s shoulders stiffened at first, but she rested eventually when the warmth exuding from him enveloped her like a lover’s embrace. She pressed her cheek against his chest and placed her hands behind him, while he rested his chin atop her head and wrapped her in a protective embrace, a deep sigh escaping him. Liriya closed her eyes and inhaled his wonderful scent; it filled her senses and clouded her thoughts. All the horror of dehydration left her.

Time suspended, and the world around them was forgotten. It was just them, Luke and Liriya, locked in a lovers’ embrace.

Until Luke’s voice broke through the silence, as soft as a feather, Liriya didn’t realize how long they had been standing like this—perhaps an hour or even a decade, she wasn’t certain, but it sure was a long time.

“Tell me about you, Liriya, I’m dying to hear.”

Liriya smiled against his chest. There was no denying that she truly cherished hearing him call her name. “You did not tell me how your parents met. I am curious. From what you said, it sounded like they were so much in love.”

She pulled her head back to meet his eyes and saw him smiling down at her with stars in his eyes.

“They were, really. However, you wouldn’t believe how they started off. Mother hated father.” Luke’s chest rumbled as he laughed low, and Liriya placed her hand absently against it with a smile. “She was the crown princess of Oceantuna.”

“Really?” Liriya’s eyes grew wide with surprise. Oceantuna was their neighboring kingdom, one of the four Tuna Kingdoms—Pearltuna, Oceantuna, Coraltuna, and Tridentuna.

“Yes, and that’s how Ced and I know about Pearltuna. Mother used to tell us the story of Tunatuna brothers and how the four kingdoms were born.”

Liriya had been taught that story in her history lessons, too; four mer-brothers from a powerful mer-family namedTunatunain the great pacific traveled to a certain region in northeast that was ruled by a sea witch. The merfolk of the region were captives under her power like slaves. The Tunatuna brothers had each unique weapon with them, and together, they fought the witch and defeated her. The merfolk of the region made them their sovereigns. The region was then divided into four, each kingdom going under each brother. They ruled in peace and harmony, and it was passed down to their generations.

Their weapons were now each royal family’s artifact; the Mermaid’s Mirror that Faelina had stolen from Liriya was Pearltuna’s. Oceantuna had the Dolphin’s Songflute, Coraltuna had the Tidecaller’s Amulet, and Tridentuna had the Leviathan’s Scale.

“This is marvelous.” Liriya couldn’t fathom her thrill of discovering that Luke knew so much of their underwater world already.

“It is, isn’t it?” Luke clasped a hand over hers on his chest and held it against him. “Mother was too reckless and such a rule-breaker for a crown princess; she was a frequent visitor to the surface. One such day, she saw a ship and glided near to it out of curiosity; it was the first time she saw one. And in doing so, she got her tail tangled in their fishing net.”

Liriya gasped in horror, her own father’s capture replaying in her mind’s eye.

“She tried to free herself but the ship crew got alerted that they’d had a big catch. They lifted the net and Mother struggled against it. Her efforts were futile; her fins broke and her flukes were injured in the process. They lifted her out of the sea. She transformed, and she was horrified. When the men saw her, they freaked out and called for my father—”

“Sharks and dolphins! She must have been naked!”

Luke choked back on his laugh at her horrified-facial expression and exclamation. “Don’t worry, Liriya. My mother had the longest set of hair my father had ever seen. He told me that it covered most of her when she was lifted out of the water.”

Liriya released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Before she became a human, the only nakedness she knew was of the chest, and every mermaid from a small age wore shell bras to cover them. Until Bianca told her the big deal of nakedness, she hadn’t realized, and she was grateful that the Creator gave her sense to find dresses for her and her sisters to wear on the land—double grateful that they were all female clothes. What if they had found male ones, wore them to the land, and freaked out everyone in the marketplace?

She shuddered.

“You’re cold, oh heavens, how careless of me!” Luke shrugged off his coat and flung it around Liriya’s shoulder before she had time to register his words—or what was happening. It took her a moment to realize that he felt her shudder and thought it was from the cold.

Liriya appreciated the gesture with a smile and hugged his coat tight around her. His care touched the deepest corners of her heart and she didn’t bother telling him that the cold never bothered her because it was always freezing cold underwater.

“Thank you,” she said instead, his scent lingered in the coat engulfing her. “So, tell me how your parents became lovers. What was your father doing at sea?”

“He loved sailing, and he was taking advantage of his time before he became the next king. That was when this happened, he met his soulmate.” Luke continued the story and told her how his father freed his mother from the fishing net and thought she was a human girl lost in the sea, until he forced himself to see the possibilities and believed she was what he thought as a myth, a mermaid. She was grumpy to everyone who tried to help her heal her wounds and kept insisting they let her go back into the sea, which confirmed to him that she was indeed a sea being.

“Therefore, he let her go. But when she transformed, Mother realized her fins were in dire need of treatment and without it, she couldn’t swim. Father offered to help her and she accepted it—shehadto—swallowing her pride.” Luke laughed with a shake of his head. “He personally tented to her wounds after she complained that the maids wouldn’t stop gawking at her. By the time she was healed, they got close, and departed in promise that they’d meet again.

“Something had transpired between them then, but Mother didn’t realize it until reaching her home. Her father was furious with her after he discovered what had happened, and locked her up. In his fury, he arranged a marriage for her with the son of one of his lords. Mother hated it and wanted to escape; she wanted to go back to my father.Thatwas when she realized the human prince had conquered her heart.

“Mother had a younger brother she loved dearly. She convinced him into letting her escape one night, leaving her crown to him. It was painful for her, she loved him and missed him even on her deathbed, but staying behind would cost her happiness.

“Mother found Father’s ship, found him, and told him everything that had happened. I remember Father telling me how hopelessly he was in love with his grumpy mermaid and was disappointed when she departed. He said he was the happiest man alive when he got her back onboard. They sailed right back to Lectoria, fearing a surprise mer-attack, and got married a month later.” Luke inhaled and smiled. “And that, my dear Liriya, was my parents’ love story.”