The Cursed Mermaid

Chapter 17: stay with me | Nam

The remaining guards at the palace who weren't on duty were racing around frantically, spreading the news and rounding up whoever they could to come to the gates. 

Apart from the guards, Prince Tom had also made it clear he was going, and not even Queen Cassidy's pleading could convince him to reconsider.

And since Tom was going, Arya was too.

"You're too young!" the Queen insisted, trying to embrace her daughter, but Arya pulled away.

"Mother, you can't stop me. I'm not a little girl anymore. I swam all the way to land and made it back alive. I can do this. I want to do this." She swam away without looking back, which was cold, even for her. Tears prickled in Queen Cassidy's eyes.

Tom patted his mother on the shoulder, even though he looked like he'd rather do anything else but. "Don't cry, Mother." Then he swam after his sister, after telling me to grab the others.

Unfortunately, due to today's earlier events in the training room, half of our group was pretty much still out cold - and they were the strongest in terms of magic, too. I stopped at the doorway to Penny and Brendan's room, where I found the two sitting on the bed. Penny's head was on Brendan's shoulder, and his arm was around her, as if he were comforting her.

"We're going to have to leave them," Brendan deduced, not sounding optimistic at all. Penny bit her lip, looking guilty. That was when it clicked - Penny felt bad for almost burning down the castle with pearl fire. No one blamed her for it, however. It had been dismissed as an accident (well, Kristian and Sreya conveniently avoided reporting back to King Rohan), and Kristian had passed the blame to himself, saying that he should've considered the braziers as a hazard when he'd come up with the idea of a race.

"If it wasn't for me," the onyx eyed girl mumbled, "they'd be awake, ready to help."

"Hey. Don't say that," Brendan scolded her, but there was no trace of a glare on his face. "What's done is done." He took a deep breath. "Penny, I'm going to go with Nam to the gates. Might as well help out, you know? Will you come with me?"

Penny flapped her black coloured tail against the side of the bed, making a loud thumping sound. "I guess. But I don't know if I can fight a demon..."

I don't know who was more surprised, Penny, me, or Brendan - when Brendan took her hand in his. He leaned forward, and said earnestly, "You're an amazing fighter. Maybe not so much in close combat, but when you shoot...it's hard to believe that you're just a girl from Earth whose biggest problem right now is studying at university."

Penny glanced down at their clasped hands. "But, Brendan, I - "

He hushed her, putting his index finger to her lips, causing her to flush crimson. "You're amazing. Really. And if one of those demons tries to hurt you, I will backhand them to oblivion."

Penny's lips curved into a smile against his finger. "Okay."

I coughed loudly, reminding them that I was still here, and they both jumped (despite the fact that I'd been standing literally a metre away the entire time). "I hate to break it to you, but we have a battle to be at."

Brendan smirked at Penny. "Later," he said simply to her, which made her go even redder, before rising from the bed. "Let's go fuck some demonic shit up."

It was apparent that Tom and Tristan wished for Kameron and the Elementalists to join us, but they continued to lie unmoving in their beds. Harley had suggested waking them, but I was against it. They needed time to heal. Narmia could face a battle without them, for now.

Harley looked about ready to protest with me, but Tom shook his head. "He's right. Besides, we don't need to rely on outside help to win." His grin told me he meant no offence.