The Little Water Elf

20- Lure

「 Yet, unless he married her, she
could not receive an immortal soul;
and, on the morning after his
marriage with another, she would
dissolve into the foam of the sea. 」

The ship left shortly after sunrise the next day, and Viren couldn't believe how easy everything was. Everything was going according to plan, and it was perfect. The elf girl was with Ezran, overlooking the receding shoreline and sharing a plate of jelly tarts as the young heir spoke excitedly to her. Callum was nearby, leaning against the railing and sketching something in that stupid book of his.

What the elf did with her time on the ship was nothing to him, though. His hand slipped into his pocket, resting on the tiny vial that held the entire essence of Callum's feeling of love. It was tampered, of course. You couldn't simply just delete someone's feelings for another, but what you could do was fabricate an intense desire to be with someone else. As long as his lingering feelings for Claudia were strong enough to drown out his affections for the elf, everything would be fine.

Right next to the vial was a small bundle of cloth, warmth gently seeping through the fabric and to his hand. After all, her voice was far too precious to leave at the castle, even for a few hours at most.

If everything went according to plan, they'd be back at the sea-side palace before sunset, and he'd have every bit of the elf girl's magic in his grasp.

Closing his eyes, he pulled at the magic of the voice in his pocket, mumbling a spell under his breath.

"Saes eht fo kcis mih ekam."

As if on que, Callum seemed to grow pale, and Viren grinned. He casually walked up to Claudia, vial in hand.

"Claudia, dear, would you do me a favor and take this to Callum? He's looking a little sea-sick."

Claudia, as expected, agreed, and Viren could only watch as Callum gratefully took the potion from the girl. The seasickness spell would only last a few minutes. Just enough time.

He downed the entire thing in one sip, and Viren made his way to the back of the ship.

Time for part two of his plan.

"Stnerruc eht tfihs."

•  •  •

The day passed slowly, and by the time lunch came around a blanket of grey clouds had made their way over the sky, covering the seas in a dim shadow and blocking off the sun's relentless late-summer heat. Viren could almost feel the weight in his pocket growing as the elf girl's magic drained.

The water was still, alarmingly so, and the winds were all but inexistante. It was as if they'd entered the doldrums of this sea, only there weren't any doldrums on this side of Xadia and the human kingdoms.

The cold presence of water droplets began falling from the sky, slowly covering the deck in thin, dark speckles of rain. Those on deck frantically began hurrying below deck, nor wanting to be covered in the cold cloudburst. It was stunningly silent, a simple beauty that could rarely be replicated.

They had to be nearing the Xadian border at this point, the currents assured that.

Then, he heard it.

The small, almost unnoticeable melody that drifted over the still waters. A song echoing through the air and urging him to throw his entire being into the sea, where it was safe, warm, away from the troubles of land.

There was no distinct tune or tempo, yet it formed the most lovely song Viren had ever known. He closed his eyes, disturbed at the comforting thoughts that drifted into his mind.