The Little Mermaid

Chapter 7

Kristene was alone in the ocean that day, fully immersed in the water. To her ears, the waters were usually quiet. She closed her eyes to listen to the tranquility that she loved. Then, she heard a voice.

It was too muffled for her to hear clearly, so she opened her eyes, looking around in search of the direction from which it came. All around her, there was no one--every sea creature left her well enough alone. Wherever she arrived, it was her territory. She stayed still then, waiting.

The muffled voice seemed to be calling her name, but something didn't quite sound right.

This time, she resurfaced, poking her head out of the water.

"Kristene." She finally heard it clearly now. The masculine voice came with a tinge of power. The voice seemed to be speaking directly into her mind, she couldn't tell from where it came. At the same time, she knew the speaker had to be far away, and that whatever he wanted to say, it had to be important. Far enough away that he had to speak directly into her head, and important enough that he had to speak to her even given the distance.

When she could finally hear the voice clearly, she got a vague idea of whose voice it could be. Only a powerful being could speak into another powerful being's head, and Kyron was close enough to not need to do that.

"And he's after you," Kyron had said to her.

"What is it, Lord Asa?" she asked in her mind. If he could speak to her mind, he could listen to her too. That was what she believed.

"So you recognize me without having ever met me," Asa noticed in amusement.

"And you located me without having ever met me," she responded.

"I am curious about you, Lady Kristene," he said. "Why do you stay in the water all the time?"

"Because I swim," she answered. "Why else?" She didn't understand his question. She didn't have legs, and her wings were only big enough for decoration purposes. What could she do, if not swim?

"You have wings."

"They're too small."

"Have you wondered why?" Asa was guiding her thoughts to a conclusion. When he asked, she knew, it was because he knew why.

"I thought I was born this way."

"Think again," he said. "If you want to know, come to me."

He sounded so confident, it was as if he knew she would do exactly as he suggested.