A Thousand Salt Kisses (Book 1 of Salt Kiss series)

><> Chapter Forty <><

Once I had come out of my trance of disbelief, Llyr and I mounted William. At first I was very worried, I didn't want to sink him with our weight.

I got on first, ever so gingerly, despite much reassurance from Bright and Nephys. Once I felt my legs on either side of him I could feel that he was a big strong creature and I probably wasn't too much of a burden to him.

I leaned forward and stroked the side of his face. It felt just like velvet.

I felt another body behind me and turned and saw Llyr now sat astride the unicorn too. I leaned forward to check if William was coping with the weight and saw to my relief that he looked completely unphased. In fact, to the contrary he was looking rather alert, as though he were aching to get a move on.

Llyr rested a hand on my thigh. "Hold onto his hair," he said.

"Are we going to bareback ride him?" I asked, my eyes wide with worry.

"Bareback?" said Llyr, looking at Nephys and Bright for help.

"Without anything to sit on or leads to hold onto...I think," said Nephys.

"Oh, yes, of course," said Llyr dismissively. "You don't need any of those things."

"Okay..." I said reluctantly holding onto William's silky white mane. I tried not to make a big scene but I was a little apprehensive, as any normal person would be, might I add.

"Where are we going by the way?" I asked.

"To your beach," said Llyr. "It's not far. Bright can you anchor this boat for us please?"

Bright did a little bow for Llyr, his head dunking briefly under the water. I giggled, I think this was meant to be a 'yes'.

There was a splash as Llyr kicked William in the side. He neighed and suddenly we began to move forward. I looked below us and I watched in awe, as I saw his little white hooves peddling through the water.

We waved goodbye to Nephys and Bright and soon we were far away from them. 

I suddenly found my initial fears were now displaced with joy and excitement.

If someone had told you a couple of months ago that you would be riding a unicorn through the sea with a merman, you would have thought they were on drugs. It's kind of trippy, lets be honest.

"Llyr?" I said.

"Mmm?" he murmured into my ear.

"How comes he's called William?" I asked.

"Oh," Llyr laughed, "yes, he has a human name. It's because George named him when he was little."

I blinked. William must be quite old in this case.

"I found him on a Dream Journey about sixty years ago," said Llyr, reading my thoughts. "At first when I saw him, I couldn't believe it. I had heard of such things but I thought it was a myth. He had a little foal by his side. I think something had happened to the mother."

"So you brought them back?" I asked.

"No, they just followed me... I don't know why."

"Maybe they liked you," I said, leaning back into his chest as we moved along. "I would follow you too."

He kissed me on the cheek. "I wish you could," he said.

***

The purple cliffs of Crystal Bay soon came into view.

As we got to the shore, William increased his pace, I think he was keen to get onto the land. As we got nearer, he put his feet down and cantered out onto the beach. I had been lounging back against Llyr and was caught off guard. I grabbed his hair and dug my knees in to keep myself balanced.

"Pull on his mane," shouted Llyr over the thundering of his hooves.

I gave it a little tug and William slowed down, but we were now trotting up and down the beach. I let out an elated laugh. This was so fun.

Eventually we de-mounted William and left him to do his thing. He appeared to graze on some seaweed by the cliffs.

"Is that what he eats?" I asked laughing.

"That, and he loves sea cucumbers," said Llyr "I have to go out far, even way passed Evergreen to get him his treats."

I stood on my tiptoes and put my arms around Llyr's neck. I had never been so happy as at that very moment. He picked me up in his arms and I wrapped my legs around him.

"You are the most romantic guy in the world," I said, beaming.

There were quite simply no other words.