A Merman's Tale

Seirra: Chapter Twenty-Two

     “No!” Marina wept as she frantically tried to collect the disappearing bubbles in an attempt to bring Doris back to life. “I’ll heal her! I can heal her! Don’t disappear, dammit!”

     I was rooted to the spot—stunned by the things I just saw—that I was grateful that Erwann was with us to calm Marina.

     “Princess! Princess!” I heard Erwann say as he gathered Marina into his arms to comfort her. “She’s dead, Princess. There’s nothing we can do.”

     It was irrational for Marina to be so aggrieved by Doris’s death but I guess the princess just wasn’t the type who dealt with loss so easily. Erwann was slowly making progress in calming the princess but their voices had gone mute to me as another fact registered in my mind: the Hydrus seal. It was tattooed on the killer’s sword-wielding arm and visible only to Celaris. It was our clan’s mark, imprinted to distinguish ourselves during war and to avoid getting fooled by morphs or shape shifters. No magic could ever fake it. 

      It was one of our best defensive strategies.

     And currently our only lead to giving justice to Doris’s death.

     I ran a hand through my hair, exasperated.

     First, the kiss would not work. Then Doris died. And now the culprit just might be a member of my family.

     Great. Perfect.

     Just then, Erwann’s voice penetrated through my haze. “Seirra, we need to report this to your father immediately. I’m certain the culprit’s Aquanian.”

     “How can you be so sure?” Marina asked as she picked up the chain which was all that was left of Doris. She was still upset but it seemed that she knew it was time to think of what we should do next.

     Erwann turned to her to answer her question. “One of the most common spying techniques of any sea kingdom is the use of morphs. We can’t just enter enemy camps without disguising ourselves. Not because we know each and every single merman or mermaid but because the citizens of each kingdom have a distinct characteristic not found in others. Nor can it be easily copied. In our case, we’re the only ones with green eyes.”

     “You saw the murderer’s eyes?” the princess exclaimed in disbelief.

     “Our eyes tend to glint in the dark. As a soldier, we’re trained to take note of these things,” I informed her absentmindedly.

     “My eyes are glow-in-the-dark. You creatures are so weird,” she said as she shook her head.

     “They don’t glow. They glint,” Erwann replied with a snort. “And Princess, you happen to be one of us.”

     “Hmph.” She crossed her arms in annoyance then promptly went back to the matter at hand. “You said our eyes can’t be easily copied. Which means, it’s still possible that the killer wasn’t Aquanian.”

     “Unless the former Oracle turned out to be a bigger threat to the enemies, I see no reason why they would waste too much magic for absolute morphosis,” Erwann countered thoughtfully.

     “We can’t tell my father we saw the culprit,” I announced, addressing Erwann’s earlier concern. It earned me two pairs of incredulous eyes.

     “What? Doris just got murdered and you want us not to say anything about the killer? Are you dumb?” came Marina’s angry outburst. “And you call yourself the Celari leader?”