Damarian (A Merman's Kiss Novel) (2 page)

“Dammy?”

I stop at the exit to the Sapphire colony and turn around to face my little sister, Zarya. She surges toward me and wraps her tail around mine. “Do you travel once again to Eteria? Will you see the princess?”

“Why have you awakened so early?”

She rubs her eyes. “You were quite noisy when you left.”

I had asked Mother of the whereabouts of Father, and when she informed me he had gone to speak to King Palaemon, I had a need to leave. To make sense of my thoughts. They refused to allow me to sleep last night, and it seems they will not leave my head now, either.

“I apologize,” I say, “but you should not have left home. You are aware Mother does not like you swimming alone.”

She pouts. “I am not that young.”

“You are still a fry.” I kiss her forehead. “I will return soon, all right? Now hurry home before Mother grows worrisome.”

She sighs. “All right. Will you tell Princess Flora hello for me?”

I nod, my throat constricting. I do not enjoy lying to anyone, especially Zarya, but I cannot tell her where I am indeed traveling to. I trail her, and once I ascertain she has safely returned home, I leave the colony.

The Sentinel sharks, who guard the entrance to the entire colony of the children of the sea, eye me as I head for the exit, but they do not stop me from leaving. It is their job to monitor who enters, not leaves.

Damarian, to where do you travel?

My swimming once again comes to a halt as the familiar voice enters my mind. When I look to my left, I see the small great white shark heading in my direction.

You are leaving the colony?
he asks.
Allow me to accompany you
.

Are you not needed with the other sharks who are training as Sentinels?

It is all right. I am still able to accompany you on your travel
.

King Palaemon assigned our family a great white shark, Vinx, many moons ago, before my siblings and I entered this world. It is customary for one shark to serve each home, unless one is a member of the Guard or Scouts, or the royal family. But at times, a shark may choose a child of the sea as his or her master. That was the case with Fiske. One day, I had been swimming far from the colony and came across Fiske, who seemed very curious about me. It was not long before he and I grew close. He is not my official protector, which is why he is training to be a Sentinel as well.

It is my wish to be in solitude
, I tell him.

He swims closer to me and looks at me with intense eyes.
You are to travel to the surface again?

My gaze drops to my tail.

Damarian, I do not need to tell you how dangerous that is. If King Palaemon—

I am not concerned with what the king thinks
, I nearly snap.

His eyes grow soft.
Forgive me. I understand you have many thoughts in your head
.

I move closer to nuzzle my nose with his.
Forgive me for my harsh words. I only wish to be alone
.

Please allow me to accompany you, for safety. I will remain far enough that you will have your privacy
.

He will not yield until I agree, for it is his duty to protect me. Sharks are very loyal creatures. I rub the top of his head.
Thank you
.

I swim out of the colony with Fiske by my side. As promised, he does not utter one word to me, only remains close. If we are to see a human or a human vessel swimming about, we must dash away as quickly as possible. But fortunately, I do not see any humans. Fiske occasionally catches fish in his mouth, and offers some to me, but I do not have an appetite.

Thoughts of Princess Flora, of the crown, of my future enter my head. I shove them away. I do not want to constantly think about them.

As soon as my head breaks the surface, I see the humans in the distance, near land. Many of them are in the sea, thrashing their arms and legs as they attempt to swim. Some lie on hard objects while others sail on them. I have witnessed quite a few humans sailing on the sea in this manner. It is quite intriguing, though it seems dangerous. Farther in the distance, I see humans lying on the dry sand.

Humans. They appear so free. They are not tied to the water like the children of the sea. They do not have to remain hidden. I wonder if they have the same duties as the children of the sea. Perhaps there is a human who has a duty to his people, just as I do. Perhaps he does not feel as free as his fellow humans.

Fiske does not swim too close to the shore, for that will cause panic amongst the humans. I have heard a story of a young tiger shark growing confused and accidentally swimming too close to the surface. The humans killed him. But I suppose I cannot hold them accountable—it is the nature of the sharks to attack humans, and the humans need to protect themselves.

I continue watching them. If the king and queen were aware that I occasionally leave the colony to watch the humans, I am certain they would be most upset. Perhaps they would not grant me permission to mate with their daughter and be the king.

I am still not certain if I do indeed want the crown. Does one actually have a choice, or does one only have a destiny?

The humans shriek and splash around in the water. They seem quite content. King Palaemon constantly tells us that humans are nothing but horrendous creatures. They steal our food, throw their wastes into our sea, they trap turtles in their nets. They are the cause of the near annihilation of the large whales. We are told to fear them, for if they learn that children of the sea dwell in the ocean, they will destroy us, just as they have destroyed many other creatures in the sea.

I cannot help but wonder how these humans can be as evil as my king claims when they seem peaceful in the sea. From this distance, I am able to hear them. They talk in a strange tongue and I do not understand some of their words. I do not know what a “car” is, nor do I know what is a “Florida.”

A sound in the distance causes my head to whip around. I see a female human sailing on the sea. Her legs must be quite strong, for she balances on a hard object very effectively. I do not see birds often, but this female human resembles one. Her arms are spread outward and her head and neck are lowered, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She seems carefree and alive, as though this is the only time she feels at ease.

She is the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes upon.

My eyes snap away from her exquisite form when I see a massive wave heading toward her. She does not see it. Her eyes are narrowed as though she is deep in thought, as though she is trying to escape a part of her life, just as I am. I watch in horror as the wave washes over her. She does not reappear, only the hard object does. The wave crashes over it again before pulling it under.

“Emerge, female human,” I hiss. “Please emerge.”

She does not.

I dive into the sea and immediately see her. She is sinking toward the bottom of the sea, her arms and legs spread out on either side. Her eyes are shut, and I notice a bump on the back of her head.

I race toward her and wrap my arms around her torso. She is quite soft and light. As soon as I break the surface, I raise her as high as I can so her body can absorb the air these humans need to survive. She does not move. I shake her slightly, but she remains still in my arms.

Glancing around, I notice a large boulder in the sea. I swim toward it and carefully place the female on it. Her eyes do not open, but I am glad that her chest rises and falls, a sign she is absorbing the air into her body.

But why does she not awaken?

Damarian?
Fiske’s head surfaces. When his eyes land on the female human, he startles.
Damarian! That is a—

Keep your distance. I am not certain whether blood runs from her
.

Fiske does not swim away, he moves closer.

Fiske
!
You will harm her
.

I do not have a need to feast on this human. I wish to help her
.

My eyebrows furrow.
You still do not salivate over human flesh? I thought you would have outgrown this
.

He shrugs.
I suppose I am quite different from other sharks of my kind
.

Yes, perhaps
, I say before returning my attention to the female.
She does not awaken.

Perhaps she is dead?

I shake my head. No, she cannot be dead. “Please, female human,” I whisper. “Open your eyes.”

Though her chest rises and falls steadily, she may still be dead. I do not know anything about humans. If she is not dead but injured, can I leave her here? I am certain a human vessel will eventually find her, but I cannot abandon her like this.

I reach for her hand. How…peculiar. I am aware that human bodies differ greatly from children of the sea, but I did not imagine their hands would look like this. There is no flesh between each finger. I gently touch one of them. Yes, they feel like mine, though the temperature of her body is much warmer than mine. There are as many bones in her finger as there are in mine, but I cannot fathom the partition between each finger. My gaze moves to her body, down the black coverings that end at her tail—no, not her tail, for humans do not have tails. They have legs. And the part in the middle, which I believe is called a knee, is where her skin starts to be exposed. Her skin is of a peculiar color, darker than mine. I gently put my hand over her knee before wrenching it away. It is hard, made of bone like my fin.

Now this is even more peculiar. She has fingers on her legs, and they are parted as well. Her hair, which is a lighter shade than mine, is bound in two. I have never seen hair bound in this manner. The children of the sea allow their hair to flow freely.

I nearly crash into the water at her sudden movement. She is alive! My hand seeks hers again, and my fingers involuntarily rub hers. This feels…soothing. Her hand is soft and warm and I enjoy the way it fits in mine. This human smells quite good, a scent I do not recognize. I suppose it matches the greenery that grows on land.

As I hold her hand, I realize her kind is not much different from mine.

Her eyes slowly open and stare into mine. Her eyes are beautiful, the color of land.

“Cassie!” a voice calls in the distance.

I dive into the water and disappear under the surface. Another female human approaches, riding on a noisy vessel. I had not heard the sound, for I was captivated by the beautiful human and her curious body. The other human grows near.

What if she will hurt her—my human? I cannot just abandon her like this. I swim as far away as I can without losing sight of them, and break the surface.

“Cassie!” the other female calls again.

Cassie…is this the human’s name?

The other female is at her side and shakes her shoulder, and I worry she will hurt her, perhaps throw her into the sea. But then I notice the expression on her face—she looks apprehensive. She must not be here to harm the human I rescued. She has come to help her.

The human has opened her eyes again and says, “Leah.”

Leah. Cassie. What peculiar names humans have.

Cassie attempts to sit, but I suppose she is too weak, for her head falls back. Leah removes herself from the vessel and wraps an arm around Cassie. She murmurs comforting words to her and assists her in sitting. Cassie is confused and scans around, and I worry she may see me. A part of me
wishes
she would see me. But I quickly eradicate that thought from my head. She may have been helpless as she sank to the bottom of the sea, but I cannot trust her. She is a human.

“An angel saved me,” she tells Leah.

Is she referring to me? What is an angel? My chest feels heavy at the thought that this human may attempt to raid the sea until she finds me. Perhaps I should not have risked exposure. But I could not have allowed her to drown.

Now Leah looks around, and I pull my head under the surface. She does not seem to see anything of interest. She says a few more words to Cassie before helping her onto the noisy vessel. I stick my head out and watch them sail away. Cassie looks back, searching the water, but she cannot see me from such a distance. I do not go underneath the surface until I see Cassie safely on land.

She has seen you
. Fiske swims to my side.

For only a brief moment. We locked eyes and I felt…I do not know if I can explain it. It was as though I had lost myself completely inside her eyes. But though it was short, did I expose myself?

She is not foolish, Damarian. She will know someone rescued her
.

Why do you scold me? Would you have rather I let her perish?

Fiske shakes his head.
It is my duty to protect you
.

It is our duty to safeguard every creature of the sea
. I start swimming back toward the colony.

She is human
, Fiske says.
She is not part of the sea.
He swims before me, causing me to halt.
You can never see her again
.