The Cursed Mermaid

Chapter 19: badass jeans guy | Nam

After Arya's fierce declaration to protect me, I was stunned into silence. I couldn't get a single word out, not even when Tristan thanked me profusely for healing him. I had no idea how I'd done it, and even though everyone had faith in me, I didn't know if I could replicate what I had done.

My biggest fear was my magic failing on me when others needed it most. I pictured Arya in Tristan's position, slowly being consumed by a demon, and my pulse quickened in fear. I shoved the mental image out of my head, never wanting to think of it again. Without my magic, I was useless. I had been useless on the battlefield. Once I'd been injured by the demon that had murdered Caspar, I was of no help to anyone.

I had come down here, to Narmia, but Narmia didn't need me. Penny didn't even have magic, and yet she was more useful than I could ever be. If I died right now, it wouldn't make a difference to the outcome of the war.

I was well aware that I was nothing.

But once Oli voiced the obvious, I was suddenly aware of how much danger I could possibly be in. With my newfound abilities, if I was able to cure those from demon possession, I could take away an edge that the demons had over the merpeople. Penny and Brendan had already given us a chance of winning a war. Combine that with Kameron, Justina and Cailyn, and the kingdom of Narmia had a legitimate shot at winning.

I hoped my ability to banish darkness could also help, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it again. What if I couldn't? Everyone would be disappointed in me. I couldn't voice the possibility of my failure aloud, so I kept my mouth shut while Oli described how I could potentially become a new target for the demons if I was found out.

Maybe I should be fearing for my life, but I wasn't. Perhaps being hugged by Arya was clouding my thoughts, but at the current moment, I felt the safest I had ever been.

"How did you do that?" Tristan croaked, his voice raw. Tom sidled up closer to him. "How did you...heal me like that?"

"I don't know how I did it," I replied honestly. "It's sort of something that just came to me." It was a poor answer, but the others' expressions didn't change.

"Arya, you cannot be the one protecting him. You need to be protected," Sreya glared at the Princess, daring her to disagree.

Naturally, the ginger haired mermaid did. "You can protect me. Just because I need to be protected doesn't mean that I can't protect someone too. Besides, it should make no difference whether we are royal or not. We should all be protecting each other. That is the point, is it not? We stand with one another, we die with one another. We are together, until the end." When she finished speaking, the room fell silent, for it had not been the usual adventurous and daring mermaid we were used to speaking with.

This mermaid had spoken with the voice of a Queen.

Sreya sighed. "As you wish." Then, a heartbeat later, "You would make a good ruler."

Arya laughed, sounding more like her usual self, and just like that, the tension was broken in the room. Tentative smiles returned to the others' faces. "Don't be silly. I don't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom. That's more of Tom's job."

She said it casually, but Tom still flinched as if she'd hit him instead. Arya froze, realising what she'd just said, and released me (she was still hugging me?) to shoot an apologetic look Tom's way. He averted his gaze, his expression unreadable.

Once we'd determined that Tristan was quite alright, we left the infirmary. Harley was on watch duty, so he hurried up to the top of the barracks, while the rest of us entered the mess hall, where the soldiers that could still stand were helping themselves to large helpings of food.