Page 7 of Mermaid on Heels
Sharks and dolphins! Pirate?
However, pirate or not, humans couldn’t swimunderthe sea. They certainly cannot breathe. That was what she was told by her parents. So, what wasthishuman doing down here if humans cannot breathe underwater?
Wait!Liriya jolted as a certain thought crossed her mind.Is he drowning?
She slowly turned on her torso and peeked over the bushes. Far from where she was, further upward, Liriya saw him again. He was in the exact position as she saw him before hiding, his arms and legs moving back and forth to keep him in place in the water.
Liriya summoned the courage to stay put and view him instead of ducking away. The human was facing his back to her, but he did look youthful and lean.
Her wide eyes took in every detail of the enigmatic being. His legs moved with an elegant grace, a motion so foreign to her own fin-propelled sways. A strange mixture of awe and confusion gripped her as she observed his attire—intricate fabrics clung to his form, unlike anything she had ever seen among her fellow merfolk. His hair was dark and they danced over his head with the water, every movement of his body a graceful display.
However, his even breathing truly baffled her. Humans were said to be creatures of the land, struggling for each breath when submerged in the sea. Yet here he was, moving through the water as if it was his natural element, his chest rising and falling with the same ease as hers, glidingeffortlesslythrough the water.
The daylight had to be playing tricks with her eyes.
How was this possible?Did he possess some hidden magic, or was he simply a rare anomaly among his kind?And what is he doingunderthe sea?Her heart was a chorus of questions and amazement.
As she continued to watch in awe, Liriya willed him to turn so she could see his face. She had never seen a human before and wanted to know if he looked anything as she conjured a human’s face in her mind. She wanted to clarify that the only difference between the appearance of Humans and Merfolk was their legs and tails.
Liriya didn’t know where did all this curiosity come from. If someone asked her a few moments ago if she hated humans, she would have saidyeswithout hesitation. Where was that merprincess who hated humans? Because right now, she was lured to the intriguing aura about him, as if he was the mystery she had always wanted to solve and the distraction she had wanted all along.
Liriya waited patiently for him to turn, preparing herself to duck and watch him through the gap among the bushes when he would. However, disappointing her, the mysterious human glided up to the surface. The higher he swam, Liriya felt him pulling her heart with him.
She felt a sudden, enormous urge—one that she didn’t dare to fight off—to follow him to the surface. Liriya had never been there before, other than beingalmost therethree months ago.
The surface was forbidden for Merfolk.
Merfolk are not allowed on the surface, we should not leave the under waters because we could not breathe out of the sea. Therefore, you should never dare, not even near that place. It is an entirely different world from ours, filled with danger for Merfolk. Thus, we are forbidden.
Mama’s words rang in Liriya’s ears like a warning as she rose from her hiding spot. She hesitated and backed away for a moment, but seeing the human ascending far from her sight, she plucked up her courage.
I am so sorry, Mama, but I have to know this.
Pushing aside the warning reminder, Liriya followed him determinedly.
Chapter 2
Luke broke through the surface and swam towards the sea arch that stood next to the shoreline. He spied his cousin sitting on the fallen tree trunk with his nose stuck into a book. Luke smirked. Cedric wouldn’t mind waiting a decade for him, alone on a secluded shore, as long as he had a book with him.
Luke reached the arch and leaned against it for a moment, catching his breath and relaxing his limbs that had been on restless work for the last one hour. Then, he splashed water at his cousin.
Cedric jerked back to reality and looked at the sea. Seeing Luke, he abandoned the book and rose to his feet.
“Thank the heavens you are safe, Luke! You almost caused me serious heartache.” Cedric touched a hand on his chest, a gesture Luke couldn’t help but count as dramatic. “I had half a mind to summon the search party from the castle.”
“And search for me in the sea?” Luke called back, amusedly. “I would’ve loved to see that. What stopped you?”
Cedric snorted. They both knew the answer to that; he was too invested into a world of dragons and knights to worry about his cousin undersea who couldn’t drown even if he wanted to.
Luke pushed himself off the arch and walked out of the sea, spraying the water out of his hair. Cedric threw the towel around Luke’s shoulders when he stumbled on the rocky shoreline and Luke patted his cousin on the shoulder in appreciation, just before a cough escaped him.
“Ah,nowyou’re in trouble,” Cedric tusked. “If you werethatdetermined to earn Mother’s wrath, you didn’t have to spend an hour or so in the sea but simply asked me to join you in something thatIcan do as well, and we would’ve been in trouble together.”
“And that is why I call you my brother.” Luke sputtered a laugh, drying his hair with the towel. He walked to the tree trunk and sat on it.
A moment of silence passed between them as Luke dried himself and Cedric grabbed back his book. Luke wondered if his cousin could ever breathe without his books. Although he had teased his cousin about his love for fiction when they were younger, now, he was convinced that Cedric got his wits and unbeatable intelligence, even his supreme confidence, from reading a lot of them.
“I just wanted to make my perhaps-last chance in the sea worthwhile.” Luke broke the silence, placing the towel aside and huffing out a long breath. “I don’t know when orifI will get to be down there again.”