A Merman's Tale

Seirra: Chapter Nineteen

     Marina’s anguished gasp brought my father and me into immediate action. We ran toward the king’s bed, trying to find out if he really was dead, and if he was, if we could still possibly revive him.

      Upon closer inspection, we found the king’s chest rising in short, obviously painful breaths. His face was too pale, his skin was too old and wrinkly, and he looked twenty years older than he really was, but he was still alive. It wasn’t visible from the door but our loud sighs of relief had brought Marina out of her frozen agony. She slowly moved forward and crossed the room to where her father was lying.

      The look on her face began to change into an inscrutable expression and for a moment, I wondered if she really felt any sadness a while ago.

      “His Magnificence is still alive, Princess. We are lucky,” my father announced. “Nevertheless, he’s terribly weak. We need to put a stop on his determination to keep feeding the Trident with his own power.” Kalus averted his eyes and stared at the wall. “It comes with great consequences for Aquania, however.”

      Marina gazed at her father for all of three seconds before she lifted her head and pinned me with her eyes. It was then that I realized that she was merely assuming an impassive facade to hide whatever she was feeling inside. I recalled all those moments that her expression would soften and I thought she wasn’t as spiteful and selfish as she pretended to be. She must have grown up feeling like she couldn’t trust anybody but herself.

      “I don’t want him dead,” she averred, her chin lifted high. “I’ll take the Trident.”

      “But Princess—”

      Marina’s statement rendered my father speechless so I hastened to continue his explanation. “The King must bestow upon you the possession of the Trident before you can use it, Princess. You can’t just take it from your father.”

      She sighed then announced in a regal manner: “In that case, move over. I have lots of questions for him and he can’t answer that when he’s dead. Let me heal him—or at least try to.”

      My father and I were both surprised at her seemingly confident manner; as if she had supreme healing abilities as compared to normal Aquanians.

      Kalus was the first to voice out his concern. “King Tideus’s condition is not as simple as a virus, my lady. His weakness lies in grave loss of power. You can’t just ‘heal’ him.”

      “I am aware of that, sir,” she replied. “And I think there’s nothing wrong if I try and heal him, is there?”   

      We had no suitable answer for that since there really was nothing wrong with it. When we kept silent for five seconds, Marina lifted a brow and began to move closer to her father. I stepped aside to give Marina her own space and my father walked back a step from the bed. She was not satisfied and motioned for us to move to the other side. We did as she asked then watched her closely as she took a deep breath.

      Her magic began to emanate from the tips of her fingers and she began to hum a tune that was both soothing and stimulating at the same time. Strands of green and blue light poured from her hands as she gracefully waved them over King Tideus’s body.

      I saw a glimpse of my father’s amazed expression and I couldn’t help but feel the same. For some reason, it felt as if Marina was healing everybody in the room with her voice.

      “She has taken after the abilities of the late queen, dear Neptune. As expected from a direct descendant of Queen Tethya,” Kalus whispered. “Ever since your aunt died and the queen was banished, there has never been anyone who could summon such tremendous amount of power just for healing. This is truly remarkable, son.”