A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 21: Life is Dear to Everyone

"I always thought they were rumours you know, that Aeron captured a human family and brought them here," Myra fed me a paste made from the herbs that the healer had prescribed. "Maybe I never imagined him to do something like this. I certainly did not expect him to go beyond the boundaries of Odalis."

I looked at her but did not say anything. Myra wiped the corner of my mouth with one of her wet fingers- mers did not have the ability to remain dry in the water unlike the faeries and also me, I supposed, courtesy to the spell- they needed water in their gills to survive. She smiled, "Don't worry. Ryan will do everything to rescue your family. His too."

"He captured Ryan's parents too?"

"Yes. They went to the king-" she clicked her tongue, "Aeron," she corrected herself. Maybe she did not like to address him as the king- I would not too. "They assumed Aeron will stop looking for Ryan and release the humans- your kin, if they came back and went to him. Instead, Aeron made King Aadish and Lady Eleanor prisoners too." Myra fed me the remaining paste.

I gulped down the paste while contemplating her words.

Were Ryan's parents kept at the same prison as mine or were they kept separately? Any clue, any direction as to where they were would be a blessing.

Myra patted me on the side of my good arm.

I glanced over to her. "Thank you," I started, "For letting me stay here, for taking care of me. It must be really hard and dangerous for you to keep a human in your house." I knew it was hard for her, for the healer to keep aside their hatred for my kind and instead provide for my well-being; and I really was grateful.

Myra smiled. "Venus, I don't despise your kind- I have no reason to do so. Actually," she thought for a while, weighing her words. Then, "It's you who should hate us- it is you whose family has been taken away by the fae. I am surprised that you don't."

That elicited a mock laugh out of me. But, as though she was right, and though my bones screamed hatred for Aeron, I did not want to loathe the entire fae kind for something they did not do. I told her so.

Myra tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. Her lips twisted. "I can see why Ryan would like you," Myra said circling me- her red hair like a halo around her head and her tail a flash of red and yellow.

I snorted at her words.

Myra gave me a puzzled look. "These herbs will help to reduce your hunger and thirst but in case you feel hungry, Ryan has gone to The Obsidian to bring some fae food." She plopped on a couch similar to mine.

"I would assume that human food is similar to fae food. Except the fae, everyone of us consumes raw food. Your kind don't eat anything raw, do they?" Myra added.

Well, sushi included raw fish but I never liked it anyway. "No," I said. Then, I remembered another thing- a place perhaps, she mentioned.

"Where is The Obsidian?" I had learned about the City and about almost all places of Kingdom of Water from the book Ryan had given me- even about the Mer Colony, where Myra's house was- but there was no mention of The Obsidian.

"You are better off not knowing." Myra kept the oyster shell bowl on a stool and reclined back on her couch, facing me.

She was probably right, but my inquisitive nature had already been triggered. Yes, I knew it was not always good but there was the fear of my curiosity blurring my judgements. So, I asked Myra about The Obsidian again, before I lost my resistance and did something bad- like going into the canals all by myself, in search of it.

She kept a firm hand over my shoulder. "Venus," she said smiling, "Know that The Obsidian is a trading place- like a market. I cannot tell you anything besides this. Ryan would not appreciate that either."