A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 14

I stretched luxuriously and enjoyed the feeling of something silky and warm around me. That wasn't right. My eyes flew open and I sat up straight. The sudden movement made my head spin slightly, and I had to take a few deep breaths to settle myself. Once I was feeling steady, I took a good look around. I was in Arthur's room.

"How are you feeling?"

I turned quickly to my left. Arthur was sitting in a chair next to the bed I was lying in and watched me closely. His deep green eyes were observant and calculating as usual, but there was something else in their mysterious depths. Worry.

"I, um...how did I get here? What happened?"

He sighed. "I had to pull you out of the center of that vortex. Did you do that?"

"Yeah." I nodded. It was my desperate attempt to get away from our executioners. "How did you get me out?"

"It wasn't easy," Arthur grumbled. "Almost couldn't pull you out, especially since you were unconscious. How did you make something so bloody big?"

I bit my bottom lip. It would probably be best to tell him everything I've deduced since we met with my father and the Council. "I made it with something called ocean magic. The merfolk can use two kinds of magic, ocean and mermagic. Mermagic is rather limited in its uses, and there's only so much I can use at once. Ocean magic has a much wider range of uses, and it's practically unlimited in how much I can use."

Arthur listened intently. "So that's what the Council meant by ocean magic. If that's the case, why did they say you would die if you ran out? You just said it's unlimited."

"Normally it is, but ever since I lost my fin..." I swallowed. "Ever since then I've been cut off from the ocean, I can't tap into its magic supply, so the only ocean magic I have is what I had before I was cut off. It doesn't naturally accumulate like mermagic."

The pirate's eyes darkened. He stood up from his chair and took a few steps before speaking again. "You endangered your life to save us. If you had used up all of your ocean magic, you would be dead. I would be too..."

"I'm sorry. It's a risk I had to take. I didn't mean to put your life at risk too. I wasn't thinking..." It was true. The thought that I might have killed Arthur never crossed my mind. All I could think about was getting him back to his ship alive.

I was suddenly surprised by his hand tilting my chin up. "Never put yourself in danger like that again."

My bottom lip quivered. "I w-won't." How could I have been so stupid? I didn't want to be responsible for Arthur's death.

He didn't move his hand, but his eyes dropped to the floor. "If anything were to happen to you...I..."

"I know," I whispered on the brink of tears. "You'd die too."

That caught his attention. He met my eyes with such an intense gaze that I felt kind of uncomfortable. "What? No! That's not what I meant! I just..." His jaw tightened, and his cheeks flushed. "I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you, (y/n). You drive me crazy, you're annoying, and you're incredibly infuriating, but I need you."

It wasn't obvious, but I was pretty sure there was a compliment in there somewhere. Arthur let my chin drop and turned away from me. All I could see was his broad back, clenched fists, and unruly blonde hair. My heart skipped. What was this feeling welling up inside me? I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew that Arthur was someone I wanted to protect. Was this what people called love?

"Arthur-"

I was cut off by his lips pressed against mine. They were warm, fierce, and surprisingly soft. I didn't make it a habit to fantasize about kissing Arthur, but I didn't think his lips would be this warm and alive. His hand tangled itself in my hair by my ear, and he pulled me closer to deepen the kiss. I imagined this is what flying felt like. I grabbed the front of his jacket to pull him closer, even though there was no way our faces could be any closer than they already were.