FLOOD

A Journey Still

Eli was staring at me, leaning back from the table. We locked eyes behind the King’s back, and I realized that he looked just as spooked as I was. He was realizing that his grandfather might be a part of something bigger. That failed experiments may very well have been going on for hundreds of years. And what did that mean for me that the experiments had failed? The other water Jotun had died. Their bodies had turned on them, just like Eli’s father.

            Did that mean it was going to happen to me? Or had the experiments become more advanced? If the man had been more recent, and he’d lasted longer than the woman, then that meant they were making advances. It meant they might have got it right this time, that I might not die. Or at least, they were getting better at their mistakes. Because that’s all I was to them, a mistake.

            Aegir must have noticed the expression on my face, and realized that people at the tables around us were starting to realize that everything was not as it should be, because he looked around the hall briefly and held his hand up to me, as if asking me to stop for a moment.

            “I know this isn’t good news for you—”

            “Good news!” I protested. “This is the worst thing you could have told me. It means I…” I trailed off, and Eli and I exchanged a glance. He was obviously just as freaked out as I was. The implications for him and his family weren’t good either. It meant his brother and grandfather were probably way in over their heads. Unless of course, his grandfather was now the leader of…whatever it was.

            All of this just made it more obvious how vital it was to get back to my people. There was no time for feasts and talking.

            “This could be bigger than I’d even though,” I said to Aegir, there was pleading in my voice, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. “It could be worse. I could be dying, and my people might never get my message. We need to leave. Now.”

            King Aegir ducked his head, running his hand over his beard. “Yes, it was selfish of me to keep you here for any length of time. I’m afraid I get bored without the company of the other gods.”

            It occurred to me how ridiculous it was to keep us waiting simply because he was bored, but I wasn’t about to back talk a god. He continued. “I will send some of my people with you to take you to the other shore, and to watch over you. We didn’t kill your pursuers in their little boat, so we will watch you less they come back.”

            The mermaids had said they didn’t kill Cain and his grandfather, but hearing the king himself confirm it, made me actually believe it. Eli and I both relaxed a little, and then I glanced away when he looked over at me. He was happy his brother was alive because…well, he was his brother. But I didn’t have any reason to rejoice at this news. Not that I was rejoicing, and I was just happy he hadn’t met a terrible death at the hands of bloodthirsty mermaids.

            It was a horrible way to go. I didn’t wish that one anyone, not even Cain.

            Perhaps on his grandfather though…

            Eli spoke up, his voice nervous and slightly muffled through his mask. “Uh, who are you sending with us?”
            King Aegir grinned and glanced in the direction Eli was looking, at the two mermaids who were still lurking directly behind him. They hadn’t sat down this entire time, like the rest of them, they had stayed glued to Eli. I especially didn’t like the way Cassa’s sister kept looking Eli up and down. She was somehow worse than Cassa herself.