The Golden Chalice

✰✦✰ Chapter 10 ✰✦✰

✰✦✰ Chapter 10 ✰✦✰
" Late Night Talking"

SEVEN HOURS OR so had passed since we'd set sail. Apparently The Shielder's explorers had already instructed the enchanted ship on where to go but we were all still clueless. The sun was already setting and I'd only just settled down in my room after spending the last hours in the library, reading up on different ways to poison kidnappers. Sure, it was a general poison type of book but I knew who I wanted my victim to be. Except I wasn't half as smart as those who concocted potions and didn't even half a quarter of their energy.

The bedroom was a quaint little cabin, a large double-bed with plain crimson sheets, a tall mirror in the corner and a spacey wardrobe attached to the wall beside my bed. A window with a seating spot magnetised my gaze from afar as I contemplated perhaps enjoying my evening there. I still didn't understand why someone as cruel as The Shielder of Darkness had given us such a luxurious space to live in for a while but I wasn't going to refuse it.

I stared out at the Blue Sea—that very much lived up to its name—before I slowly made my way back out, aiming to chat with Sarinne before we arrived wherever we were heading to.

But as soon as I opened my door, Luna crashed into me. I gasped and she shrieked.

I clutched a hand to my heart and said, "Bloody hell, Luna. Where are you going?"

"Sorry," she muttered, cringing. "I just want to get a swim in before we arrive."

I frowned. "You want to swim?"

Luna smiled softly. "I am a mermaid, Scarlett."

For a moment my heart skipped a beat when she said my real name. But then I remembered how every single person in this world now knew my true identity. I'd have to find some way to get used to it.

"Aren't you worried about the Sea Serpents?"

The blonde mermaid before me blinked and then broke into a gorgeous smile. "I don't usually worry about them when I can swim faster than lightning."

I cocked my head. "Fair point."

"Do you want to join me?"

"Do I want to join?" I had been on my way to speak with Sarinne but it wasn't as if there was anything important to discuss that we hadn't already. Plus, nothing was going to happen to me as long as I had a mermaid on my side, right? "You don't mind, do you?"

Luna dazzled her contagious smile at me. "Of course not."

With a word of thanks, I rushed back into my room and began rummaging through my bag for my bikini. Even though I knew this entire challenge was going to be deadly I also knew I didn't want to get my clothes wet unless absolutely necessary. So I'd come with the required fashion items, of course.

As soon as I'd finished changing into the black bikini—that hugged my body very respectfully—I darted back outside to find a very patient looking Luna.

I didn't know how she didn't lose her cool every once in a while. I knew I, for one, was very impatient. My mind most likely would've persuaded me I'd have to wait another fifteen years and I'd have gone off without her.

"Ready?"

"Yep," I nodded and we made our way up the stairs to the very top deck, the late evening's breeze caressing my bare skin. Soon enough I was staring at the sea below me. It glittered in the orangey sunlight while drinking in the last of the sun's minutes with us today. The Blue Sea was filled with magical beings, ninety percent of them harmless and usually just mesmerising, but the Sea Serpents had my stomach churning. My mother had told me scary stories about them as a child so as to keep me out of the water that she claimed was so dangerous. We were standing at least thirty feet above the water and I didn't know why it hadn't occurred to me that standing at this height was making me nervous to say the least. I'd never really been in a situation that demanded standing at such a high point before, and now that I was finally here, I couldn't get my body to move.