The Broken Queen

Chapter 20

Despite Noah's announcement the day before (and all the tumultuous emotions that had resurfaced with it), I woke up the next morning with hope in my heart. Jay was still sleeping soundly beside me as I rose and quietly got dressed. Taking a deep breath, I swam outside and closed my eyes. Feeling the tug of the current and the brush of various sea creatures against my body relaxed me.

All of a sudden, I felt something cold brush against my tail. I cried out as I felt the sharpness of a dagger slice into my tail. My eyes flew open, scanning the water around me for threats, both seen and unseen. Grey eyes met mine, filled with such hope it took my breath away. Before I could so much as open my mouth or raise my hands, they were gone.

A shiver ran through me, as cold as the darkest reaches of the ocean. I glanced down at my tail, eyes widening as I saw the slice on it, the blood pooling in the water. I floated in place for several moments, breathing deeply. When the hand slipped into mine, I almost jumped out of my skin. Dark-blue eyes met mine, sparkling with malice.

I tried to wrench free of her grasp, but I was too weak from blood loss. Alyssa. My lips formed the word, but, of course, I had no idea if any sound came out. I was helpless as she roughly took hold of my arm. It took everything in me to stay conscious as we swam, my body a dead weight in the water.

I conjured images of Jay in my mind, holding onto them with all I had. His green eyes; the way his entire face lit up when he smiled or laughed; the way he bantered playfully with David or Bella. I clung to those images. They gave me strength. As did the ring on my left hand, the diamond sparkling in the dim sunlight on the surface.

Just when I was letting unconsciousness drag me under, we suddenly stopped in front of a large manor, the exterior looking brand-new. The front door opened a heartbeat later, a merman with green eyes and short brown hair grinning as he looked at me, then Alyssa. "Now we can begin."

I blinked rapidly as he spoke, trying to read his lips and stay conscious at the same time. The last thing I felt was Alyssa tugging on my hand before darkness overtook me.

I knew I was dreaming when I opened my eyes. For one thing, there were three young children—two mermaids and one merboy—playing cometball, smiles on their faces as they laughed and shouted. I looked around, a sob escaping me as I saw another mermaid, her brown eyes shining with tears as she smiled at her children.

Drew. Carla. Ella. Faye. When the former saw me, his eyes lit up. He discarded the cometball in his hands, speeding through the water towards me. I laughed as I felt his arms twine around my waist. Two more sets of arms came around me, brown and grey eyes, respectively, widening as they noticed me.

Carla swam to her kids, whispering something. They laughed, nodding before speeding over to me. Drew tugged on my hand, laughing as he did so. I followed him, a smile on my face.

He picked up the cometball, took a breath, then threw it as hard as he could through the water. It whizzed past my face, so fast I could hardly follow it. Ella sped through the water, eyes alight with laughter as she did a flip in the water and caught the ball. Laughing, she gracefully sank back down to the seafloor.

I smiled, clapping and cheering loudly. My smile quickly faded however, as the world tilted in my vision. Dizziness swept through me, so violently it turned my stomach. Carla noticed, concern on her face as she swam to me.

Gasping, I sank to the seafloor, struggling to push back against the unconsciousness tugging at me. My eyes fluttered closed, images flashing behind my closed eyelids. A brown-haired merman, his green eyes wide with fear as he looked down at a mermaid on a bed.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she thrashed around, the muscles in her neck bulging as she arched her back. The merman had a death grip on her hand as he glanced at a merman wearing a doctor's uniform. "Can't you do something to help her?"

The doctor glanced at the mermaid, then back at the merman, regret in his eyes as he shook his head. "Not without severely injuring her or the babe."

Seeing the merman's confusion, he quickly explained further. "Mermaids have android-shaped pelvises, which means there's often not enough room for the baby to pass through. If we go in and try to operate, we risk fatally injuring the babe and mother."

The merman turned bone-white, his mouth opening and closing. He looked down at the mermaid, tracing a line along her cheek, then back up at the doctor. A determined look was in his eyes, though his heart pounded with fear at the mere thought of it. "Do it," he replied hoarsely.

Several hours later, the mermaid awoke. Her black curls were plastered to her sweaty forehead, her dark-blue eyes filled with love and exhaustion as she looked down at the wrapped-up bundle in her arms. As she and the merman watched, a tiny fist—no bigger than my pinky finger—poked out from inside the blankets. It unfurled to reveal five fingers, each perfectly formed.

The mermaid's smile was wider than the farthest reaches of the ocean. She looked down into dark-blue eyes, smiling as they gazed at her. I was suddenly jolted back to consciousness by a gentle hand on my shoulder.

At first, I couldn't make sense of my surroundings. An all-white room, bare except for the bed I was currently laying on, and a machine beside the bed. Various wires crisscrossing each other led from the machine onto the hospital gown I was wearing.

I was in a hospital? Except for a pounding headache, I couldn't see or feel any other injuries. Something had happened—I could feel it—but I couldn't remember anything. All I could remember was a merman with brown hair and green eyes. Who was he?

I groped for my dagger as the door to my room opened. A merman with jet-black hair and a doctor's uniform swam in, a gentle smile on his face as he bowed. He pulled out a notepad and scribbled something on it before handing it to me. Your Highness. My name is Dr. Justin Carter. How are you feeling?

My hands shook as I carefully took the notepad from him. As soon as I gripped the notepad, images came back to me. I had just turned five and was floating in front of a merman with dark green eyes and a cruel face. He was clutching a dark-blue pendant around his neck.

A heartbeat later, I suddenly clapped my hands over my ears, eyes squeezed shut as ghosts came out of the pendant and zoomed around me. They let out ear-piercing shrieks, the sound deafening. I crumpled to the ground, motionless.

As quickly as they had appeared, the images vanished, replaced by two mermaids. One had brown eyes and red-gold hair, the other blonde hair and emerald-green eyes. In my heart, I knew these mermaids, just as I knew the brown-haired merman from the first vision.

I wrote my response on the notepad, clutching it so tight my knuckles were white. Where is he?

Dr. Carter must've known who I was talking about, because he held up a finger and disappeared from the room. A few minutes later, the aforementioned merman swam in, his gaunt face stark against his pale skin. He rushed to my side, clutching my hand. His hands were raised before I had so much as blinked.

Nerissa, thank the gods you're okay. We were so worried. He looked like he wanted to say more, and probably would have, had the door not opened just then. A mermaid swam in, her curly golden-brown hair framing her face as she clutched a tiny wrapped-up bundle in her arms.

She swam to us, gently passing the bundle to the merman. She's beautiful, Jay. Her grey eyes shined with tears as she signed.

Jay. This was my husband. He turned to me, green eyes bright. Nerissa, meet Isadora Meri Singh. Our daughter.

I blinked back tears as my daughter was placed in my arms. She was perfect. Her full head of curly black hair framed her face, accented by beautiful dark-green eyes. The smile slid off my face abruptly, tears filling my eyes as a realisation smacked me in the face.

I didn't remember her. I didn't remember giving birth to my daughter. Jay, sensing my panic, firmly grasped my hand. We'll figure this out, Nerissa. I promise.

I closed my eyes as silent tears leaked down my cheeks, overwhelmed. I thought that it would go back to normal. That everything would go back to the way it was. Staring at my husband and newborn daughter, one thought played over and over in my head: My life will never be the same again.

Final chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favourited.