Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I give Silas a smirk as I walk into my room. I walk to the end of the room and whistle, signaling Kia. I strip off my clothes as I approach the pool. It smells of sea brine and it appears bottomless, like a cavern. We’re not too far from the sea, and Alier does have enough staff to dig a tunnel to the sea.

I smile as I dive into the water, it’s been so long. I start swimming downward, allowing my skin to absorb the water. The pool is indeed a cavern. Schools of fish swim around freely in it, while random balls of light float, trying to increase visibility. The colors are phenomenal and warm my body. By the time I reach the bottom of the cavern, my legs have merged, and my fingers have webbed together. My scales begin to form in alternating turquoise and seafoam green patterns, covering my arms, breast, and legs/tail, and up my neck, forming gills.

My suspicions are correct. Alier did indeed build me a tunnel to the sea. It’s surprising since it’s five miles long. I have more than enough room to move around. The sea is starting to darken due to the setting sun, but I wish to stay. I’ve missed this home. The safety I feel here. My life was much less complicated before I ever set foot out of the water. The amount of sea creatures surrounding me is outstanding, as if welcoming me home.

Reluctantly, I start heading back to my room. Right before I enter the protected cavern I turn around, almost feeling as if something is watching me. It’s not enough to alarm me, but it’s enough to make me hesitate. In the colorful world, I see nothing strange. My eyes have adapted to see in the darkening water, so there is nothing I wouldn’t be able to pick up on. After a quick shudder, I turn around and start swimming back to my given room.

When my head surfaces the water I see Ileen. She has her hair braided and twisted, wearing a navy colored dress. Relief fills her as she sees my head pop out of the pool. She has Silas standing next to her.

“Senja,” She breathes in relief as she runs into my room. “You’re safe.”

I give her a confused smile. “Of course I am.” I say as I look at Silas, guilt tugging at the corner of his face. “You told her!” I demand, once realization hits me.

His face grimaces, “It might have slipped. I asked if she knew someone named Greyson. She said no and asked why. I might have mentioned the threat.”

“Might sounds an awful lot like definitely.” I growl as she spreads open a silk black robe.

“He was just looking after you,” Ileen says soothingly as I pull myself from the water, using the robe as a shield. After I have my waist out of the water, I can feel my scales shrinking, reacting to the air. My scales become microscopic when mixed with air, giving me the body of my land relatives. I turn around and sit, trying to pull my tail from the water.

Ileen kisses the top of my head then gives me a wide hug, trying to avoid getting water on her dress. “Silas, watch her while I get Senja her costume.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.” I say as I look over my shoulder to look at her. “I’m perfectly safe Ileen. Kia is here if I need help.” I point upward, showing her the great snoring cat. “If that noise doesn’t scare him off, nothing will.”

“Senja,” She warns. “Humor me.” I groan while she adds on, “And don’t even think about going back into that water.” She quickly leaves the room after giving me a piercing stare. Silas is wearing a red robe, looking more uncomfortable than I am annoyed.

He rubs the back of his head. “So…why isn’t Kia going for my head this time?”

“You were with Alek.” I explain, touching my slimy tail, watching it shrink. It takes longer than my arms, since my legs have grown and molded together. It’s a reaction that happens when I go into the water. Air destroys my webbing and scales, while water makes it expand.

“What is it with you two?” He asks, coming to sit next to me.

“Well, one, he slept with my sister while we were dating. And two, he told my parents that I was enrolling with the Guardian Committee full time.” I flip my wet hair, a little annoyed it’s only halfway dry. When you’re part fish, everything dries fast.

“Why is being with the Guardian’s a bad thing?” Silas asks, looking intrigued by my tail.

“When they disown you because of it, it’s kind of a big deal.” I say, watching his arm tense. “You can touch it, you know.”

Not wasting a second, he touches it, his face growing in wonder, while I enjoy the warmth of his skin. “You’re a mermaid?” He asks, awe evident.

I chuckle. “Mostly. Have you never seen one before?”

He shakes his head. “I was pretty sheltered. I only ever went to school with vampires. I wasn’t allowed out much.”

I give him a small smile and then giggle when my legs return to normal, his hand landing on my thigh. Immediately he yanks his hand back. “I’m so so sorry.”

“Relax,” I say as I roll my eyes. “It happens. So how are you going to unite all of us, if you only really know about vampires?”

He slouches as he leans back. “I’m not sure. That’s one of the reasons I insisted that I go with Alek while we searched for Morgain.” A sadness touches his grey eyes, that I just realize are the exact shade of storm clouds

“Are you okay with what happened?” I ask him, careful not to bring any form of the word death into my question. Since I technically killed him, that might be a bad thing.

“I-I just don’t understand. Who would turn him feral? He was the sweetest kid and was always looking to protect me. It wasn’t until I saw him attacking you that I realized he was truly too far gone. When he turned to dust…I just want to know who did this to my brother. Did you see his face? Did anything stand out?”

I think about it. “Not really. He was wearing a hood, like how I usually do when I’m travelling. Attached to your top and what not. I did see a nick on his chin, from like a blade or something. Probably from shaving. His skin is on the pale side, so it really stood out to me since the scar was dark. He was almost a foot taller than me, and a lot of muscles.”

“Anything else?” Silas demands.

“Really long and thick fangs. There was one point he almost lost his hood and I caught sight of an extremely jagged scar on his neck.” I touch my neck where it would have been. “It wasn’t smooth like he got it from a blade. More like a claw or something.”

Silas groans. “I don’t know anyone like that.”

“He seems to know your family.” I say. “Especially if he knows Elayna’s pet name.”

Silas looks over to me. “How do you know my family?”

I wave him off. “Long story, but I was Elayna’s guardian in her final years.”

Silas falls silent before speaking. “Why was she sent to Linru?”

“Thank you Silas,” Ileen says, stepping into the room. “I’ll take care of Senja now. I’ll see to her safety. Again, thank you for making the threat of her life known.”

“Yes, thank you,” I say with sarcasm dripping from my voice. “Thank you for being so concerned you told your mother while you’re in your bathrobe.”

Silas looks down, realizing that I caught his lie, and blushes deeply. “Yes, I’ll leave you two.”

Ileen looks at me after he leaves, the smile on her face leaving her. “Don’t you dare tell him.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I say quickly. “But do you want to explain his question?”

She groans as she helps me to my feet. She sits me on a curved branch in the shape of a chair. “I don’t know. They were all so young.”

“They were not,” I snort as she starts brushing my hair.

“Okay, it’s because I didn’t want him to feel guilty.” She hisses, just above a breath.

“It’s not like it was his fault.”

“It’s not, but he will blame himself.” She tells me, keeping her voice low.

“What makes you think that Silas won’t find out?” I ask then silently yelp as she pulls a strand of my hair.

“Because he won’t. Miyla is the one that begged us to keep it secret, and I’ll honor that.” She tells me and she begins braiding the side of my head.

“It wasn’t Miyla’s fault either,” I argue. “There was no way for her to know.”

“Let it go Senja. Miyla will be here tonight, and I don’t want Elayna’s death brought up on the same night we have to tell her about Morgain.” She pins the braid to the back of my head.

“You do know you can stay in tonight, right?” I say as I turn my head to look at her. “No one will blame you.”

Ileen quickly shakes her head. “I want to keep this under wraps until we can talk with Miyla. She was their biological mother, and it’s the least I can do.” I groan. The royals never have time to properly grieve.

Ileen kisses my head. “Finish getting dressed. Miyla should be here momentarily. The party has started already, so please get dressed and join us as soon as you can.”

Her mood shifts are hard to keep up with. “I’ll see you down there Ileen.” I say as she walks out of the room.

I walk to the mirror vanity that is sitting in the back corner of the room, manipulated into the wood to appear as if it is part of the tree. I lean into the mirror, looking at my crimson red lips. There is a small cut just on the top of my lip that I got from my younger sister. I put on a fresh coat of red lip stain; made from the vultrin fruit. Anything that touches it’s juice is stained in a ruby red. I pinch at the skin on my pale cheeks, bringing a healthy pink color to them. Carefully, I line my sapphire eyes with kohl, and slightly drag it out in a small flourish. My small nose is crinkled while I try my best to make my right eye match my left.

I look at my ebony hair, flowing in waves down to my midback, the ends colored in turquoise, a sign of my lineage. I flip it as I look to the chair I had previously been in. There is a slender silver dress waiting for me. I walk over to it and groan. It’s backless. Once the dress is on my slender waist, it clings to me like a second skin. My breast are covered in a thin cling fabric that is connected to thin straps that tie around my neck, and delicately run down my waist. The gown is long, and I have to put on a thin set of silver high heeled shoes to keep from tripping on it. I look at the mask and groan. It’s black and outlined with silver pearls with a hint of blue. I place it to my face and allow for the magic spell connected to it to mold it to my face. As tradition, no jewelry for the single girls. I strap my blade to my thigh, noticing the slit to my knee. At least it’ll make it easier to grab. Show time.