Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series (33 page)

The princess’s eyes shone with grace.
“Because he sensed compassion within you and knew that you’d free
me.” Not letting him respond or question her further, she, as if
remembering something, swished her tail back and forth while
speaking, “My father awaits you in the throne room. I will rejoin
you after the meeting.”

Dazzled by her words, he couldn’t think of an
elaborate farewell and so merely murmured, “Thank you for all
you’ve done, Princess. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Then, staring at her absentmindedly, he
touched his sapphire necklace, as he reflected over her words with
ashamed bewilderment; it felt embarrassing to be called
compassionate, for he wasn’t that nice at all--at least, he didn’t
think so.

Not only had he wounded Eddy twice this week,
he’d also been disrespectful to his chemistry teacher, slightly
cross to his mother, and rather infuriated with Kenn Ashton. Either
the king had just said those words to be polite, or he actually saw
some real potential in him. Whatever the case, Ian hoped the king
would still sense kindness within him when he met him in the throne
room.

Following behind the princess, her face
radiating with a joyous smile, Ian was quickly escorted into the
throne room and then left alone, as the princess closed the golden
doors behind her. As soon as the doors shut, a strange thing
happened: his courage entirely diminished and fear rushed into his
mind to quickly replace it.

Though he knew that he shouldn’t be afraid as
he was here as an honored guest, he couldn’t force his emotions to
comply with this, and he suddenly dreaded that he’d talk to the
merman king as he’d talked to the elven princess Saeya--with
impoliteness and disrespect. Even though he’d learned from that
horrible mistake, and had been treating the mermaid princess with
great respect and dignity, it wasn’t too far-fetched to imagine him
regressing and relapsing into rudeness and incivility with the
king.

Nervous and disheartened at those thoughts,
Ian anxiously took in the scene before him: the merman king, fifty
paces in front of him, sat elegantly on his shimmering pearl
throne, garlands of jewels and precious stones adorning his head.
Ten dignified elders, appareled in silvery-white tunics, stood to
his sides; five female ones on his left and five male ones to his
right.

A lone crystal chair sat facing the king, its
seat glittering with silver dust, its back carved into an ornate
seaweed design, its five legs made of polished opal stone; the
transparent water came up eight inches above the seat of the
chair.

Before Ian had time to marvel at everything,
the king addressed him: “Welcome, Ian Hansen. Take a seat.”

As he motioned for the crystal chair, Ian
swam towards it and sat down on it, his tail dangling to the side;
the position was completely weird and awkward at best, as he still
wasn’t happy to have a tail, and sitting on it just felt bizarre.
Squirming around in his seat, trying to find a comfortable
position, Ian smiled faintly at King Jayan.

Smiling warmly in return, the king spoke,
“Ian, a kind act such as yours never goes unrewarded in Yavara. As
the world of Vaiya stands, you will no longer have to fear the
water anymore.”

But these words made no sense at all to Ian.
Setting his hands near the sides of his tail, sitting as motionless
as possible, Ian just gave him a blank look.

Seeing Ian’s bewilderment, the king quickly
clarified himself, directing Ian’s attention to a crystal container
and an onyx container held by the first male elder to his right:
“Ian, I offer to you the gift of breathing underwater in your human
form, along with the gift of perfect vision, allowing you to see
underwater even in the darkest cave or the murkiest pond. Come,
accept them.”

Hesitating before the king for several
seconds, Ian eventually dove off the chair into the water and once
he was near the king’s throne, he knelt on the floor beside him,
his tail touching the floor, as he trembled with anticipation.
“Thank you, Your Majesty! I am very grateful for these gifts.”

Laughingly approvingly, the king swam off his
throne and motioned for the elder to open the lids to the
containers. Once they were both opened, the king gazed proudly at
Ian. “Now drink them, Ian,” he said rather casually, his cerulean
blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

Rising up out of the water, very worried
about how the liquids would taste, Ian took both of the containers
into his hands and sniffed the crystal container first and then the
onyx one. To his surprise, the first smelled sort of like passion
fruit juice, while the other smelled like wild berry and
pomegranate juice.

His anxiety quickly vanishing, Ian quaffed
both the small containers in no time and immediately felt a strong,
yet pleasant sensation go through his whole body. His vision,
though already incredible as a merman, improved to an even greater
degree, and he had the strange feeling that even if he removed his
necklace and became human again he could still breathe
underwater.

As Ian stared at the king with deep
appreciation, his fear for the merman king now completely
evaporated, the king smiled at him again, motioning for Ian to
arise. “You may leave now, Ian. I hope you use these gifts wisely
and don’t get into too much trouble with them.” Here he winked at
Ian.

“Of course, I won’t, Your Majesty.” His heart
filled with gratitude for the king, as the elder took the empty
containers from his hand. “Thank you so much.” Then he paused
briefly to say goodbye.

But his farewell fell strangely upon the
king’s ears, and he gave Ian a weird look. Fortunately, though, his
face didn’t remain that way for long, and several seconds later,
his eyes once again brimmed with happiness and peace, his lips
curving into a smile. “May the ocean’s blessings wash over you,
Ian.”

Bowing to him, Ian slowly swam out of the
throne room, feeling the eyes of the king and his ten elders alight
on him, watching him as if he were some famous actor or musician
exiting through the back stage. It made him thoroughly
uncomfortable.

Exiting the throne room through the golden
doors, Ian swam quickly towards the right, and, not paying
attention to where he was going, plowed straight into an icy
blue-haired merman.

As they spiraled through the water, the young
merman, who looked to be about fifteen, nearly scraping his chin
against the floor, Ian rammed his forehead straight into a red
marble wall right below a painting of a sandy beach causing it to
throb in pain. Crimson flooded his cheeks; he felt terrible.

“Sorry. I didn’t see you there,” he
apologized hastily. He was reliving his head-on collision with
Coach Sandler, only now it was much worse for he was bumping into
people who weren’t even of the same race.

Expecting a harsh scolding from the
well-dressed merman clothed in an elegant silvery-blue tunic that
swept down to his tail, Ian instead saw him grinning, a boyish
smirk on his face.

“Don’t apologize. I know you did that on
purpose.” He laughed, not at all annoyed, his green tail glimmering
in the water from the bright lights above them. Before Ian could
protest to this, the merman bolted through the water towards him
and tagged him, striking Ian’s arm gently with his tail, before
saying emphatically, “Try to catch me, Ian!”

Not even caring how he knew his name and
surprisingly not feeling a bit sickened that the merman’s tail had
touched him, Ian smiled in wonder, feeling completely relieved. It
appeared that he would no longer have to fear getting a sick
stomach here, for the necklace had somehow completely transformed
him so that he didn’t even mind fish anymore. The fact that he had
a tail now didn’t even bother him at all, and he actually reached
down and felt it, finding it very smooth yet tough. Bizarre. This
was the last sort of thing he’d ever expected to happen. Now his
sister couldn’t scare him with fish anymore as she had nearly every
April Fool’s day....

“Wake up, Ian!” the young merman slapped him
a bit harder with his tail, cutting his daydream short, a
mischievous grin on his face, as he quickly backed away from Ian.
“Just see if you can catch me!”

As the young merman darted away from him, Ian
shook his head and sped after him, already liking the playful
attitude of the merfolk, while at the same wondering what his
sister would say if she saw him now. She’d probably call him
immature or childish. Still, why should he care? Rowan pretty much
fit both those terms yet she was Melinda’s best friend.

Swimming rapidly towards him down the
corridor, darting past amused onlookers, nearly crashing into a
somewhat startled mermaid in a lovely pearl-colored dress, Ian
turned down another long hallway, chasing after him. Though Ian was
slowly gaining on him, the young merman was faster than he looked
and had years more practice swimming with a tail.

As Ian raced towards him, only ten feet away,
the merman zigzagged, twisting his body around, and headed straight
down into a large square hole in the floor. Surprised, Ian followed
him cautiously, darting down through the hole, the slope gradually
lessening until he was going straight again.

Hurrying past three mermen who were talking
to each other and laughing, he scanned the area; the young merman
wasn’t anywhere in sight.

About to give up, he heard a voice in the
distance:

“Hurry up, Ian! We’re almost there.”

Not having a clue where he was being led, Ian
raced towards the voice, anxious to find out where he was taking
him.

As Ian swam through a pair of velvet-colored
doors, flung open as if waiting for him to enter them, he gazed at
the sight all around him.

Everywhere he looked, kelp-like plants
towered upwards of two hundred feet, swaying back and forth in the
ocean currents. There were thousands of them. Some were a pumpkin
color, others a royal blue, while others were an eggplant purple,
wine red, golden yellow, lime green, or carnation pink.

Astonished, Ian stared at the rainbow-colored
maze, hypnotized, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Darting
his head around, he gazed into the smiling Prussian blue eyes of
the young merman, who was surrounded by seven of his other friends,
all of whom looked lighthearted and high-spirited.

What struck him the most though, was the sea
creatures with them. Some of the merfolk were sitting tail-down on
dark orange dolphins as if it were the most natural thing in the
world, while one was laying his head on a giant yellow-spotted
white clam that opened and closed so frequently that it would have
seemed the merman would’ve gotten a headache from it, but,
surprisingly, he didn’t seem bothered at all by it but rather
amused. Another carried a small olive-colored oyster in one hand
while blowing hard on an oblong shaped flute in the other that sent
strange rumbling sounds and ripples throughout the water.

Before Ian had a chance to look at the black
crabs scattered around the area, the merman who’d brought him here
spoke up cheerfully. “I see you like the Zaryan Forest, Ian.” He
laughed, and then grew somewhat serious as he bowed his head in
shame. “I apologize for not saying so earlier. I am Sardin.”

Then, suddenly, as quickly as his solemn
behavior had come on, it left, as Sardin glanced around warmly at
his friends, three mermaids and four mermen all around his age, who
all gazed at Ian strangely, likely wondering why they’d never seen
him before.

Fortunately, before the awkward musings
continued, Sardin cleared up all confusion, introducing him to them
rather impulsively, a proud look in his eyes, as he slapped Ian
gently with his tail, “Oh, my friend here is Ian Hansen, the human
who rescued Princess Taeria from the Forest Scourge.”

A deep hush immediately descended upon them,
though out of reverence instead of awkwardness. They all stared at
him as if they were in the presence of a famous statesman, powerful
king, or military hero.

Embarrassed by the high praise, Ian lowered
his eyes. “It was nothing really. I just...”

Arms suddenly wrapped around him tightly, as
a light-skinned mermaid had swam up to him while he wasn’t looking
and hugged him.

“May the ocean’s blessings flow through you,
Ian!” She wept, her voice soft and hesitant, deeply affected by
what he’d done. “You saved our friend. Without you … she’d be gone
forever.”

Face a flaming red, like he was in an
inferno, Ian feverishly awaited to be released. After what seemed
like forever, she finally let go of him and backed away, still
looking upon him with deep respect and wonder as if she were in the
presence of a valiant prince who’d just saved her friend from an
ogre’s lair.

Not knowing how to respond to such gratitude,
Ian continued looking at the merfolk with embarrassment, while his
face ever so slowly returned to its normal color. The first thing
that he noticed about them was their hair and he latched onto it:
some had wavy olive green hair or royal purple hair, while others
had icy blue, cerulean, steel blue, or indigo-colored hair. None
had normal brown or black hair. Surprisingly though, their hair
didn’t seem at all out of place and actually seemed to fit them
perfectly.

As for their apparel, the mermen all wore
vivid-colored tunics, embroidered with seaweed designs and adorned
with clam shells, conch shells, and periwinkle beads, while the
mermaids wore beautiful, close-fitting silken dresses, adorned with
pearls, sapphires, onyxes, and other precious gems.

Their faces, fair looking and gentle, greeted
him with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment, while their kind
eyes, various hues of blue or green, lightened up his mood, putting
him at ease.

Done studying them, he noticed that the
purple-haired mermaid who hugged him was staring at him wide-eyed.
As he unwillingly made eye contact with her, she spoke her mind.
“Is it true that you’re a human?”