Predators

Chapter 4

I suck at a piece of bone until all the marrow is drained from it before I discard the empty shell. Ari and I had returned to the ocean hours ago and she had left to speak with Miriam. I sit on a rock and position myself that I’m half in the water and half on land. We had claimed a little cove off the coast of Gynae several hundred years ago just for the two of us. It was secluded and provided a welcome escape from the rest of our mersisters. There’s only one other mermaid who know how to find out humble home.

My tails laps in the water as I watch the sunset. The water strokes my fins and the feeling is heavenly. For a mermaid, I spend far too much time on land. I’m just about slip into the water to go for a nice long swim when Auqeua pops up and sits next to me. I glare at her.

“What are you doing here? You are supposed to be with Talla learning how to hunt,” I say before even going into greetings.

“Ari thought you might need my company, so she sent me3.” Her moss colored tail beats into the water excitedly. I lean over to her with a sigh and brush her unruly red hair from her face. The guppy still had so much to learn.

“That was quite presumptuous of her.”

Auqeua shrugs. “Every time I come here I’m reminded what a nice place this is. I think I finally see why you keep it from everyone.”

I scoff. “You know I come here to be away from everyone.”

“But not me! I know you like my company, you just aren’t willing to admit it yet. Which is cool. I can wait.”

As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. I always welcome her presence even on days when I pretend that I don’t. The little flounder has quite the effect on me. Which does make sense when I think about it. She’s like a daughter to me. Auqeua’s mother died when she was five, a thousand years ago. Essetele was a very close friend of mine, the only close friend I had ever allowed myself to have, and she died during child birth, leaving Auqeua without any family. I took it upon myself to raise her, considering it a debt I had to pay my departed friend. In many ways, I guess Auqeua is my daughter.

I squeeze her shoulder. “You should stop inferring the way my sister instants on doing. What really brings you here, Qeua? You wouldn’t simply have come had it just been by Ariaana’s request.”

She leans her head onto my shoulder, a gesture uncommon among our kind, but that I’ve come to get used to from her. “I haven’t seen you for weeks and I missed you. What more reason do I need?”

Again, I’m struck by Auqeua’s uniqueness among our species. An emotion as simple as love, which comes with great difficulty to the rest of us, comes so easily to her. Sometimes I envy her easy ability to such a powerful emotion. I’ve seen it in effect, the true strength of love, but have yet to experience it myself.

“Your soft heart could get you killed, just remember that, Auqeua.”

She straightens out and squares her shoulders. “So you keep telling me, but I’m still alive. Sowing affection toward each other shouldn’t make us feel so weak. It’s strangely liberating.”

I scoff. “Love and affection are emotions for humans,” or sorcerers. “Sure, it might seem beautiful, but all it does is leave them vulnerable.” I’m lying to myself as much as I am to her. But I can’t help it. Love is weakness. Love is bad. It has been engraved into my brain since I was a baby and it was difficult to resist the urge to do the same with Auqeua. Not that she listens to me in the first place.

My experience has shown me just how powerful, and frightening the force of love can be. I envy that. But perhaps that is why I’m so against it still. It’s still a force that scares me. Fear is always stronger with those things we cannot hope to understand.

A stir in the water current knocks me out of my depressing thoughts. Ariaana peeks her head out of the water, a satisfied smirk on her face.

“I did it!” she exclaims excitedly.

Auqeua eyes her in confusion. “What did you do?”

I frown. “She got permission to leave.”

Ariaana splashed water into my face. “Please, try to look less excited for me. You are an overflowing bundle of joy.” He smirk doesn’t disappear.

I use my fins to splash water into her face as well, earning myself a glare from Ari and a giggle from Qeua. I flash my teeth to my sister. “I am happy for you, Ari, but that still doesn’t mean I agree with this.”

She hoists herself onto my rock as well, sitting next to me with her eyes looking over the horizon. “As I have told you before, I need to make my own mistakes.”

“That still doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.”

Auqeua perked up next to me. “You are going off on your own, on an adventure?”

I groan. “Not you too.”

Ariaana beamed at her. “That is exactly what I’m doing.”

Qeua eyes me expectantly, or pleadingly – a combination of the two. I cross my arms over my chest. “No, not a chance.”

Ari’s eyebrows rise as she realizes what’s going on. She locks her gaze onto Auqeua’s. “You want to come with me?”

Qeua nods eagerly, too eagerly. Her big green eyes drift to me. “Please can I? Ari will be with me… most of the time. I’ll be fine… and then you don’t have to worry much about her either.”

Ariaana nudges me. “Come on, dearest sister. Auqeua could use this as much as I do. And we would take care of each other.”

“That’s what I’m afraid off,” I mutter under my breath and I’m sure neither of them can hear me. My gaze travels between the two, their wide, excited eyes. I take a deep breath, sure I’m going to regret this, but there is no way I can deny either of them this. “Very well, off with you two.”

They both throw their arms around me at the same time and I stiffen at the unexpected contact. Ariaana places a kiss on my cheek and reaches for Auqeua’s hand before they dive into the water. I absently wipe at my cheek after they disappear and watch as the last of the sun dips below the horizon. Once again I’m going to have to get used to being alone. Perhaps it’s better this way.