Mermaids are Menacing (Book 2) Complete

14.) Carnals

I backed away. Looking at this beautiful face, a word came to mind. Cunning. His eyes narrowed at my retreat. With a splash a large body fell infront of my feet just above the waters edge. I jumped back startled, it was what the Orcs called, a fish. Chunks were bitten out of the scaled sand colored tail.

When I looked up from the carcus the man had moved closer, sitting so still it was as if he had been there the entire time. He had definitely been farther away a second ago. He looked at me expectantly. Horns and a small blue gem protruded from his forehead, but what was most surprising was the dark blue tail fin where his legs should have been. He was a fish too.

"It wont bite you." He said pleasantly.

I looked back and forth between him and the fish, confused. If I dont watch him he might get closer without my realizing it.

"But you might." I replied. Hes quick the moment I reach for it well... If he would do this to his own kind, what's to stop him from doing it to me? But things with flippers probably cant come out of the water I reasoned.

"You. your a fish too?" I asked, pointing at the partially eaten body before me.

"I'm not a Carnal." He said in an annoyed tone. "I'll let that comment slip, given your situation."

When I didn't respond he moved closer.

"You can eat it, its fresh." He continued gesturing to the body.

"Why are you giving this to me, I'm a stranger to you." I asked suspiciously.

"Isn't offering food the usual way to form a courtship. If eating after me is the problem I can catch you another one." He leaned his elbows on the sand. His blue tail waved back and forth behind him. Shiny bits of scale shaped metal were tacked into the tail, dotting it here and there.

That statement was shocking in itself but what made me pause wasn't the flirtation but that he had tattoos. White ones that went from his right shoulder and down his chest in swirls.  Humans had black tattoos, rudimentary ones from ash or ink buut these were white. White like mine and my sisters and brothers.

"How did you get those?" I gestured to my own shoulder and chest. His yellow eyes looked down.

"The same way you recieved yours." He smiled a toothy grin and tilted his head to the side.

"I think your bond would be disappointed then." I sneered. I had no time for men that cheated on their women. Maybe there were crystals at the bottom of the sea but that had nothing to do with me.

"I dont have a bond." He said matter of factly. "Of course I dont really know what it is to have one in the first place."

I rolled my eyes. For a moment I had been overjoyed to see something familiar. A piece of home. The feeling passed. He must think im stupid. I know how these tattoos come about.

"A wife, mate, a spouse, or a partner." I listed off the words I could think of. "The one who wears a matching mark like yours."

"My mark is unique to me, there is no match." He leaned his head on his fist.  "Does that mean theres a match to your mark?"

"That's not your business." I said, shaking my head.

"I'd like to make it my business." He answered.

I swallowed. This man was very... direct. I needed to leave but the smell of blood was starting to cloud my judgment. The hunger was becoming painful in my stomach. I stared at the dead fish. I needed that.

"If I accept this, theres no strings attached?" I asked.

"If your grateful you could always come for a swim with me." His eyes creased like little half moons.

"I'll accept this but I'm not getting in the water with you." I disagreed. I moved forward very carefully never breaking eye contact. Grabbing the tail with one hand I dragged the half fish half human like creature further on land.

The top half seemed emaciated. Portruding needle like teeth, unusually large black eyes without pupils and no hair. It was different to the man in the water. I guess I would be offended to if I was compared to this creature. But I still wasn't going to be able to eat it. I use my sharp claws and cut away the top half. Picking up only the tail, my parents had always said that waisting a kill was bad, I think they would have made an exception this time. The yellow eyes watched me curiously.

"I wont eat the top." I said guilty. "Do you want this part back?"

"Are you asking to share a meal with me already?" He beamed.

I grabbed the fish by the arm and tossed the top half back into the water before walking back down the beach to the fire.

A few long branches became skewers for the fish meat, as I grilled chunks next to the fire. The blue haired man followed but couldn't leave the water. It made me anxious to be watched but he did share his food with me. I tried to ignore it. Waiting for pieces to cook was excruciating.

"I hear they call you Bait." The blue haired man said.

"They do." I said casually.

"An unfortunate nomenclature for a pearl." He mused.

"Its not my name." I said twisting the fish on a stick. The fires heat was warm on my skin.

"What is your name then?" He asked.

"What's yours?" I said evasivly.

"Hmm should we make a game of it?" He said impishly.

"I'm not in the mood for games." I rolled my eyes. "Do I need to know it?" After all I doubt I'll ever see this fish man again.

"I'll have to call you something. Should I give you a name then." He clapped his hands together.

I couldn't wait any longer. I started eating the fish I had on skewers before they were fully cooked. The taste was fishy and salty. The texture felt weird on my teeth. It would have been nice to have grown sharper teeth rather than a tail but I didn't get to pick. With every bite fluid, either blood or sea water dribbled out the corner of my mouth. When I finished the skewers I started slicing of thin pieces of the tail with my claws and eating them raw. A bone ran straight down the center so I had to cut around it.

"I think I'll call you...pearl." he chuckled to himself.

Despite what Gorza said there must not be plenty of fish in the sea, since this guy was still trying to talk to me.
You would think that seeing me eat a creature with a similiar body composition to him in such a messy way would send him swimming. But he still sat about ten feet away, talking.

"You can call me Roka." He continued. "If your still hungry I can bring you more. The Carnals are thick in this area. Easy to catch."

Roka. Row-kah. I added the name to my memory without thinking much of it. The first part sounded similiar to my name.

"Of course, you could always come down to the palace. You would have plenty to eat there." Roka said watching me finish of the last of the tail.

"Thanks for the offer but I'm happy where I am." I said, rejecting his offer. "Humans cant exactly breath underwater anyway."

"That wouldn't be a problem." He disagreed.

"Maybe not for you, but it would definitely be an issue for me." I leaned back. My stomach was finally full and I felt sleepy. "You would be better off courting another one of.. you. I recently got out of a relationship and I'm not looking for another one."

"I'm sure I could change your mind." Roka grinned.

"I highly doubt that." I disagreed. I got to my feet and wiped the sand off my legs.

"Then I'll see you for another meal tomorrow?" He asserted.

"I don't think we will see eachother again." I shook my head. "Thanks for the meal."

"Anytime Pearl. Call me, I'll be around." He waved goodbye with his his tail.