Ocean's Secret |on hold|

12 | Plans Gone Wrong

Meredee sighed and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear, then continued scrubbing the heavy iron pot in the water-filled sink. She had been helping Judson with his business for a few hours now, but she wasn't really comfortable with the idea of working with total strangers. But, she reasoned, it was only for now, and Judson had been very considerate in helping her when she stumbled through his doors earlier, her mind a totally confused mess. It hadn't cleared much yet either, in regard to her memories, but she was functioning well enough in practical matters; she'd worked in a café before, so finding her way around the kitchen and helping with the dishes was pretty easy. She'd only managed to break one stack of plates and a glass pitcher.

Judson had also figured out she was from Earth when she'd asked for his help in getting back to Cyrus' mansion. He'd pondered her request, leaning back on the kitchen counter in a way she figured was his habit when thinking, then nodded his head in realisation. He had been there, fighting in the battle for their entire land, and had a vague recollection of seeing her in the distance. He'd agreed that he would take her to the Great Lake early the next morning, as it was only a short trip by horse. He could be there and back before his usual customers even missed him.

"How's it going, Mer?" his presence interrupted her thoughts as he came into the kitchen through the door by the main serving counter.

"Ok...you got anymore soap?"

"Sure," he handed her a small pot of some sort of flaky substance that lathered up when she added it to the water. "Did you hear about the village in East Tarsus?" he questioned, and she raised her eyebrows for him to continue. "A couple men who just passed through mentioned that an entire village was burned to the ground! Like, who would do that? Especially with the new peace agreements?"

Meredee's hands stopped working and she looked at him blankly, pieces in her mind sluggishly clicking into place.

"—some say that it was a dragon, or some other ancient creature. But everyone knows most of them disappeared over 50 years ago," his voice was muffled as she processed the information.

"A dragon?" she managed a whisper, her head growing light.

"Yeah—Are you ok? You look pale," he moved closer, but her eyes were on the floor, a frown creasing her forehead.

She suddenly felt sick as images rushed unbidden into her mind; flames bursting into the black sky, the heat warming her from the inside out, buildings burning into ashes as she rushed further over treetops and mountain streams, smoke curling in front of her face as it came out her mouth and nostrils.

She was the dragon!

"Meredee? Here, sit down."

But she'd already sunken to the floor, the strength completely leaving her legs as the horror of the previous night dawned on her just as the sun had early this morning, reflecting off the waves as she glided over the silvery surface of the ocean. She had caused the destruction that Judson was talking about; she had hurt the villagers all because she was bent on vengeance. But was she? She would never do anything to hurt anyone, so what had come over her?

"Here's a drink," Judson's voice was worried, and he helped her stand, leading her out the back door into the fresh late-afternoon air.

"Thanks," she said, sipping on the tin mug, feeling the cool liquid wash down her throat that burned in memory of the flickering flames.

His dark eyes studied her, and she knew he deserved an explanation. Not the whole one, but something.

They sat down by the open cooking fire on the logs that surrounded it. "I'm sorry to hear about the village. I hope everyone's ok?" Meredee asked.