A Thousand Salt Kisses Later (Book 2 of Salt Kiss series)

Love Like This

That night Nephys pulled me close, and I slept in her arms in her moss nook. I had always been struck by how tactile these mers were. It was nothing sexual; it was some form of innocence or base animal instinct. When I had first met Nephys it had put me on edge, but after everything I'd been through that day, it was actually nice to have the comfort of another's touch.

I thought of Jemima's reaction should I ever try to snuggle up to her and had to keep a giggle from escaping my lips. This merriment was, however, quickly replaced by a stab of worry. It was her engagement party tomorrow, and I just hoped and prayed that I could somehow get my legs back and go to it.

She must be wondering where I was, and I began to worry whether or not George had thought to communicate anything to Rosie. Even if I did get my legs back, Jemima would be furious with me. I was the lousiest maid of honour in the world.

And the worst thing of all was that I could never tell Jemima what had happened to me, I would have to make up a really lame excuse, and she would probably hate me forever.

A hurricane of worries continued to rattle around my brain, but somehow in the midst of it, I managed to doze off.

Suddenly I was back at the lighthouse. I looked down and saw to my relief that I had my legs back. I looked at the pretty purple sparkly nail varnish on my toes and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. I didn't have to worry about Princess Kara and her evil empire anymore, I thought dreamily, as I looked out to sea.

But what about Llyr? A voice inside me asked. I still wanted to see him, to be with him. I wanted him so, so badly. I took a step onto the rocks, to get closer to the sea. Maybe he would come to me if I just got closer. So far, so good, I thought, as I looked down. The rocks were flatter than in my last dream; these rocks couldn't cut me. I took a few more steps until I was halfway between the lighthouse and the sea. It was a wonderfully hot day, and I could feel the sun beating on my skin. It felt so good, after all that time in the cool depths of the ocean.

Suddenly I felt pain on my feet again and looked down. Oh, dammit, the rocks were sharp slates again, they had turned.

I froze, as the pain shot up through my legs and I looked around, now frightened. I was stuck; I couldn't go to the lighthouse or down to the sea without slicing my feet any further. I looked out to sea; maybe there was a mer nearby who could help me.

But what was this? There was a fire out at sea. How could this be? Fire on water? Black smoke began to move from the flames towards me, and I could smell its toxins. I began to panic and took a step backward, but I stumbled and fell. I screamed as I felt the sharp rocks penetrate the back of my body.

I jumped in Nephys's arms, as I awoke.

"Oh goodness, what's wrong?" she shrieked, waking and snapping bolt upright.

I looked around me and saw from the purple glow that I was still in the Amethyst Palace, in Nephys chambers. I took some deep breaths and lay down again.

"Horrible nightmare, Nephys," I said hoarsely. "There was a fire on the sea, and it was coming for me."

Nephys stroked my hair. I was too drowsy and confused to explain any further, but I was starting to work out something; that dream had been telling me to stay away from here and now I was stuck.


***

I opened my eyes the following morning; sunlight streamed into Nephys's chambers and the walls sparkled under its gleam. I had not paid much attention to my surroundings yesterday, but today I let my eyes roam freely around the vicinity.

Nephys was no longer beside me, and I lay on my own in a big spacious room. I could see big gaping tunnels that wound around corners, probably into other rooms. I wondered if Nephys was down one of the tunnels somewhere. I hoped she was fixing us some kind of mer-equivalent to coffee.

Her chambers were as pretty and glamorous as you would imagine them to be, decorated with purple and green flowers and fitted with chunky crystal furnishings. Big marble rocks were also dotted about the room, and I had seen Nephys perch on them from time to time. They were like their chairs.

I focused my attention on where the light came from; a big bright hole just to the right of the bed. I sat up and floated towards it, stretching out my arms and peering over the edge.

Wow, I thought as I looked down. I could see the entire kingdom from up here, and it was quite simply the most incredible site. All the crystal houses appeared as little gemstones from up above as they twinkled pink, green, purple and amber under the daylight. I could see too, the broad pale sandy streets that encompassed them, and as my eyes traced backward towards the palace, I marvelled at the luminous lawn before it.

The kingdom had a sense of quietness compared to yesterday. I could see a couple of mer winding through the streets but nothing like the throngs yesterday. It was the calm after the storm.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" came a voice behind me.

I froze. I knew who that sweet, gentle voice belonged to, but I just didn't know if I was ready to see him yet. You have no choice, I thought, as I slowly turned.

His warm green eyes were lit up by the morning sun, and they watched me with that calm intensity. My heart beat faster; I realized I loved him even more than I had thought possible.

"Yes," I replied slowly to Llyr. "It really is quite splendid."