Tidal Vortex-Book One

Chapter Seven

Teal:

Wakefulness comes and goes like an illusion I cannot fully grasp as it slips away. The few times I wake, I'm filled with so much emotional grief and aching pain that I pass out yet again. Once when I gained consciousness, I caught tiny snippets of things happening around me. Just before passing out, I could make out a man's deep, attractive voice, along with a woman's firm voice.

"Will she be, okay?" the man asks.

"Yes, we will treat the wounds on her legs. Once we get these splinters out of her, the fever should ebb, the broken bones and wounds will heal fast as they normally do for our kind. You will be in charge of helping her to get used to our customs and ways," a woman's voice says.

"How do you know I will be assigned to look after her?" he asks.

"The same way I know other things before they even come to pass." The woman speaks sharply in a scolding manner.

"Do I really have to babysit the spoiled princess?" he asks with disdain dripping in his voice.

"Connor! Just because other royals have been horrible to you does not mean you can peg them all the same. Now pull that inflated ego of yours out of your ass. You don't know the first thing about this young merwoman, and yet you have judged her harshly already. Should I honor someone else to look after her and help her?" berates the woman.

The man sighs, "No you're right maybe I'm being a little harsh, I'm sorry I will look after her." Before I could hear more, I pass out yet again.

Sometime late in the night I awoke groggily to stare up into a pair of gorgeous green eyes belonging to a handsome face with chiseled cheekbones. He wears no shirt, and I can't help but stare at his muscular tattoo covered chest. Waves are inked up his right side from hip and up over his shoulder. Symbols that look tribal in nature sit in circles within the waves. I swallow a lump in my throat as I notice he's an incredibly attractive man.

"Where am I?" I ask groggily.

I shiver weakly as I attempt to look around the room.

"You're in Atlantis, another dimension. Rest now you're safe," the exceedingly good-looking man says, as he wipes my forehead with a damp cloth. I wonder what his name is as I slip back into a feverish dream.

Hours later, I become slowly aware of my surroundings. The first thing I notice is the wood ceiling with what looks like a bamboo fan circling above. Turning my head to the side, I notice a small bedside table and a wooden railing built around an enormous tree trunk. I wonder, where the hell am I? Was I in a tree house? I take in what looks like a balcony with white sheer curtains blowing in the wind. For a moment I have to quell the panic building up inside me, as the curtains remind me of that night long ago when my life was derailed. I breathe deeply through my nose, reminding myself that was then, and this is now.

Pushing myself up into a sitting position, I wonder where I am and how I got here. Suddenly it all comes back to me. The shipwreck, the sharks I scared off somehow, breathing underwater when I should've been dead. The Captain died. How was it all even possible? Why the fuck didn't I die? Maybe I'm insane, I thought. I cover my face with my hands and sob. Looking up, I let my tear-filled eyes pass over the room. The smell of the sea drifts in through the balcony. What looks like tribal artwork of some sort adorns a few spots on the walls. Candles in clay holders sit around the room on bookshelves that line the right wall. To the left is an open doorway leading to a hallway where I can see a railing with what looks like wooden stairs. I stare down at my hands and bitten nails. Then I continue to bawl for everything I've lost. A light knock on the door frame makes me look up and sniffle as I try to stop the tears. In the doorway stands a tall woman who looks much like I would expect a woman from an amazon jungle to look. Her skin is caramel, tanned, as if she has spent every day in the bright sunlight.