A Mermaid's Cry

Chapter 17-A Question Asked

🌻Hey y'all while your reading, if it's not to much trouble.

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Let's see if I can shock any of you😁.

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As soon as he's gone, Mother appears and helps me to my feet, while Octavia and Adila support my back and shoulders.

"Darling that was wonderful," Mother croons, as she grasps my hands. "But I think you should sit down dear. That took a lot out of you."

I mutely nod and let her drag me over to a small ring of sitting rocks. Far away from the log benches and the prying eyes. My friends sit down sit beside me, while Mother hurries off to, what I presume is to bring us back some food. I drop my head into my heads. The thoughts, worries, and emotions I forgot while I was dancing, begin to return like a barrage that pounds against my skull. In time with my beating heart inside my chest.

My dance should have scared him off. What male would want a mate that moves as if possessed? I suppose everything that I expected of Ares won't happen the way I think it should. His mood changes so swift and often. One moment he looks as if he wishes to devour me, and the next holding me gently as if I might blow away in the wind like the sand.

Oh how he confuses me, scares me for what he might do next. Will he threaten me? Chase me? Or touch me so softly that I would feel I will crumble like chunks of cinder in a fire? Regardless, I have other worries to dwell on, including the scolding for fainting during the celebration that Grandmother will no doubt unleash once I get home.

"I thought your dance was amazing," Octavia murmurs, laying her head on my shoulder while Adila stretches herself out on the ground in front of us.

"I agree," Adila adds, leaning on an elbow and winding her finger around a lock of her frizzy hair. "The best one yet, well besides mine of course."

She flashes us a cheeky grin, showing off the slight points of her teeth that she filed herself. Which shine under the light of the flames, casting shadows on the ridges that resemble the jagged edges of shark teeth. Octavia and I giggle at her confidence, although I may be as defiant as Adila. I'm not one for bragging, like Octavia I usually feel uncomfortable upon being praised for anything really.

Again Mother appears, her dress swishing back and forth as she carries over a tray filled with mouth watering delicacies. Buttered crab cakes, fresh guava, grilled fish, a slab of boar meat, and a small pot of delicious honey. Us three dig into the platter, with a little bit of restraint, we savor the sweetness of the fruit and the rich smoky flavor of the meat.

Mother watches happily while eating her own tray of mango and vegetable stew. Though she is wobbly on keeping Grandmother in check, I don't doubt for a second of her love for me. It's not her fault that Grandmother has Mother bending to her every demand. Although I wish it wasn't always me or Lucas that had to stand up to the old eel.

The reminder of the old woman makes my appetite disappear, and the mouthful of honey rolling down my throat tastes like liquid ash. The sounds of the other Mer begin to buzz in my ear, and the warmth of the fire threatens to suffocate me.

"Mother would it be alright if I took a quick walk?" I say, standing up from the stone and catching her wide eyed gaze. "Alone please, I think it would help my nerves."

Mother nods and beckons me over to her. Heeding her silent command I do, and nearly fall on my knees when she pats my cheek and pulls back a stray lock of my hair. "As long as you come back, safe and sound dear," she croons, and sends me off with a wave.

I wave back, and shoot my friends a quick smile before heading down the trail and past a Mer sized boulder as I round a bend in the path. Out of sight of the pod, I head into the jungle scrub and disappear into the trees. Darkness greets my eyes, but soon the world around me brightens as swarms of fireflies appear above my head.

My people fear the jungle from the lack of light and fear of dangerous animals. However, Elder Isolde has proven to me that their fears are ill placed. The predators fear us as much as we fear them. They prefer to live in quiet, and only wish to come out when their bellies growl for the taste of fresh wriggling prey.

Fronds brush against my skirt, and at times catching on the silky cloth. I breath in the smell of damp earth, and the scents of blooming white moon flowers catch small patches of moonlight seeping through the leaves of the canopy. Glow worms let of their iridescent golden and green hues. Their little bodies decorating the trunks of the towering trees, whose branches hold swathes of moss heavy with water.

Water that drips onto my head, and has me craving to dip my feet into the river nearby. Making my way through the scrub, I make my way towards the rushing water and admire the red water lilies lining the muddy bank. My ears prick at the sound of birds chirping in the trees. The whistle of the wind parting the branches, and the trickling water running over my skin as I step into the river.

Cold runs up my legs, through spine, and into my chest. I revel in the chill murky wet, that I can only feel if I'm not up to my waist in water. The end of my dress pools around me, as the river brushes by my knees. I exhale a low sigh of relief, for this is where I wish to stay. Wrapped in the cool night, breathing in floral pungent scents, and listening to the life that is the jungle. Sounds, that I soon can't hear, for the birds have suddenly gone quiet. Leaving only the wind and river to break the silence.

I quiet my breathing, and scan the layers of jungle greenery. Waiting to see what has caused the birds to go silent, hoping that it's a leapord and not something or someone worse. Breath after breath, I wait in growing dread. As the noise of bare padding feet sounds from behind me. By scent I know who they are, and fear is soon replaced my simmering rage.

I turn just in time to see him stop at the edge of the river bank, just ten feet away. That smile on his handsome face, is far more threatening than the flare of malice in his aqua blue eyes. The burnished gold of his hair, is muted in the darkness, but it doesn't stop his teeth from shining with bared intent. Just like the thin red ridge of a scar, peeking out from beneath his leather vest.

"You dare follow me," I hiss, wading over to the bank and leaving the icy chill of the water."Don't you know what happened after the last time? Well do you!"

Fiery rage threatens to burn me from the inside, but I pull it back. So I can take in his expression of glee, of pleasure at my outburst. It only makes the fury worse.

"I warned you what would happen the next time we crossed paths," I growl, not giving him a chance to cut in. "And you will tell me why. Tell me why did you follow me? Why did you push me into the eel pit Nox?"

That's all I'm able to say, before he lunges at me and throws me to the ground. I roll along the muddy jungle floor, colliding with one of the trees. One that when I see it through my blurry vision, has a single small X scratched into the bark. I smile as I grab the dark object at the base of the trunk, just as Nox grabs me by the hair and pulls me to my feet.

"I'll only answer your little drivel, once I get what I came for," he says, his voice dark and merciless.

Just like me, as I bring up my knee and plant it right between his legs. Only for him to let go of my hair, allowing me to knock him out cold with the hilt of my father's hunting knife. He falls to the ground with a thump, and as I stand over his unconscious body, I shiver in anticipation. Finally, I shall learn why I came to have my scars, and after I do. I'll give him some of his own, to remind him of this day and of me.