Mutante

Chapter 5

Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs

Cross-posted on elizabethfrerichs.com and fanfiction.net

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Robert glared at her. "Are you saying that chivalry is dead?"

"No. I'm saying that chivalry has been updated. You don't have to use antique language to be chivalrous."

"You are an unusual mermaid," he said, studying her.

"So I've been told." She took a bite of the reef apple, hoping to forestall further questions. Robert might expound on the virtues of politeness, but even polite people poked and prodded.

They swam in silence for some time, taking turns eating and holding the compass, and gradually shifting their heading to match the starfish's arms. After a while, the darkness began to press in on her. Were it not for the movement of the light on the compass, Rosie would have thought they hadn't moved at all. Her stomach tightened, and she scanned the area around them, eyes wide, trying to see past the dark. Maybe she oughtn't to have eaten five reef apples.

Robert began to shift, trading back and forth between which hand he was using to hold the harness and huffing every time he glanced at the starfish, the bubbles loudly proclaiming his annoyance. Finally, after the fifth such occurrence, Rosie couldn't hold her tongue any longer. He ought to be grateful for the compass, not annoyed by it!

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Robert blinked at her. "Uh, no."

"You seem—frustrated."

"How much longer is it until we reach this cave?" he burst out. "It feels like hours since we got up here."

Rosie checked her timekeeper. "It's only been an hour and a half. When I'm on the path, it usually takes me about three and a half hours to reach the center of the forest. I don't know exactly where we were, but I'd imagine it can't take longer than that to reach the cave, especially since we're swimming through clear water rather than having to go around trenches or siren-plants."

"Fine," he said through clenched teeth, glaring at the compass again.

"It's not the compass's fault that it can't take us there instantly," Rosie pointed out.

"Huh?" he asked, his brow furrowing and his jaw relaxing. "Oh, no, it's just—" He shifted again. "Well, I don't much care for being in the dark, especially not when it's this dark and for this long."

"Oh." She surveyed the area around them again, wondering if the tales of giant kraken that lived in the blackness might be true. "I don't much like it either. Maybe—maybe it would go faster if we talked?"

Robert huffed again, but then nodded. "Won't your family worry if we wait in the cave for too long?" he asked awkwardly.

"They might."

"Yet you would put your job over duty to your family?"

Rosie snorted. "Says the kelp harvester who ventures deep into the forest, despite his mother's worries."

"I had a line!" he protested indignantly. "It broke when Waterdancer took off. It was—well, it was older, and it didn't hold up as well as I thought it would."

"Ah."

"I'm not an idiot—I wouldn't go past the first layer of kelp without a line."

Rosie nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. The kelp forest can be dangerous," she reminded him with a small smile.