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As I hobbled along the cobwebbed, dimly lit corridor, the floor as cold as ice beneath my bare feet, a great sadness washed over me. The mass grave indicated that Kraja and her people had all perished at once. A civilisation lost in one strike.
A cold shiver slid down my spine as I wondered who, or what, had slain the people of this underwater city. The mermaid we’d found, even in its skeletal form, seemed so beautiful and at peace, which made it hard for me to believe that she or her kind could have done this to Kraja and her people.
My fingers stroked the smooth, stone wall as I stood outside her room, wondering how she must have felt in her last moments, knowing that her people were going to die.
I flattened my palms against the wall and another wave of sadness washed over me, as though the building itself had feelings. Was this what Lukas was feeling when he’d stormed out of my room without saying a word earlier? Had I mistaken sadness and sympathy for jealousy?
The cold stone warmed beneath my touch and within seconds allowed me entry into Kraja’s room.
Feeling every inch of me tingle not with warmth but with something special, something magical, I crossed the room to admire the multi-coloured light crystal control panel, careful not to touch the lever jutting out of the floor in the centre of the room.
I stroked a purple flashing light and wondered what it was for, wondered what this entire city was doing underwater – was the underwater city intended, or was Marin indeed a space craft that had crash-landed at sea.
The people drawn in the sketches on the wall appeared human and not mermaid or merman like at all.
I crossed the room and studied the women dancing, their pregnant bellies protruding beneath their wispy dresses, and then shifted my gaze to Kraja and whispered a silent thank you to her for allowing me into her secret room.
Just as I was about to turn away, a detail in the sketch caught my eye. On the far-right corner of the drawing stood a large tank of some kind, something filled with water and something swimming inside of it...
I squinted my eyes.
Mermaids and mermen. Many of them, all swimming in the tank.
I shivered but not with cold.
Something wasn’t right.
I studied the mermaids and merman in the tanks and noticed that Kraja was staring in the direction of the tank, along with a tall, blond man. Sadness was etched into both of their faces.
What did this mean?
Somewhere, outside of Kraja’s room and down the corridor, a door closed.
My heart beat rapidly as I hurried to crouch and hide at the foot of Kraja’s bed.
I sighed with relief when Lukas entered the room.
‘Hi,’ I said, standing up, my stomach fluttering with nerves, not because I’d been caught snooping in the secret room but because of how he’d left my room earlier. I still wasn’t certain if he was upset with me or not.
But to my relief, I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
His dark blue gaze travelled the length of me, up and down, a half smile on his lips, then shifted around the room and returned to me. He raised his brows and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.
‘I was bored and then... I decided to try to open your secret door. It didn’t work at first but then I...’
I stopped when Lukas closed the gap between us and gently touched the crown on my head.
This close he smelled like a pine forest and the ocean combined, and when I looked up his dark blue eyes were fixed on me intently.
If only he would speak.
Lukas stroked my cheek, feather-light with his thumb, and I took a step back, warm blood zipping through my veins.
He pointed to my leg and crouched down to take a closer look. I realised then that I hadn’t told him that my leg was injured last night.
‘I hurt it while out... exploring with Frano.’
Lukas nodded, urging me to continue. He didn’t seem jealous of me spending time with his brother at all. Frano’s reasons for keeping me away from his younger brother just didn’t seem to add up.
‘A bone from the mass grave went through my leg. A woman from between the hills stitched it up on both sides.’
Lukas gazed up at me, his eyes dark pools of concern, while his hand gently grazed my wounded leg.
He winced when I moved it.
‘It’s not too bad,’ I said, brushing aside his concern. ‘I can walk on it.’
He stood up and mimed sleeping.
‘I’ve slept too much. I don’t want to sleep anymore. I’m sick of it.’
He nodded and then whipped a pencil and paper out.
‘I will return and collect you from your room tonight, when the entire city sleeps, if you feel strong enough to explore.’
‘Will it be safe at night?’ my stomach fluttered in anticipation. ‘And will I be able to handle the walking?’
Lukas smiled and drew a picture of him carrying me and then nodded. He wrote.
‘You will be safe in my arms. I will protect my queen with my life.’
I blushed and felt silly now, wanting to take the crown off my head.
Lukas bent down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
He cocked an ear and then hurried me out of the room and back down the corridor to my bedroom wall.
‘Is someone coming?’ I asked, my palms warming against the stone.
He nodded, his eyes wide.
Lukas watched me, a soft smile on his lips, as the wall shot up and allowed me entry to my room.
Once inside, I turned and grinned at Lukas, my heart pounding unreasonably fast, before I sealed the secret passageway with my palms.
Twisting around, I gazed around the room to make sure nobody was in it and sighed with relief as I rested against the now cool wall.
The bedside clock told me Kris wouldn’t have returned yet.
I hobbled to the bathroom and then returned to my bed, wincing as I raised my leg up onto the mattress.
Glancing down at the bandage I could see a spot of red growing. I had to be careful otherwise the wound could reopen. That was what the nurse had said.
But I so wished to see the city.
Frano couldn’t expect me to simply lay in a bed with no company.
Surely, he knew that would be torture for someone like me.
A knock at the door and Kris breezed in to check on me and deliver my food.
She said she was busy, but answered any questions that I had, then rushed back out the double doors with a promise to see me in the morning.
Alone, with my delicious food, my books and my tea I sighed and glanced at the clock. When I finished eating it was 12.30pm.
‘When the city sleeps,’ Lukas had said. Twelve long hours away.
After I ate my food and attempted to read one of Frano’s novels, something I loved to do back home when I wasn’t swimming or fishing, but my lids grew heavy and I fell asleep.
Sometime later I was woken by a warm, wrinkled hand gently nudging my shoulder.
The woman from between the hills was smiling down at me.
‘Kris tells me that you’ve been bleeding again. I’d like to take a look.’
I nodded and gasped at the same time as the nurse when I saw that the spot of blood seeping through the bandages had now grown times ten.
‘This will not do.’ She shook her head and frowned, her kind smile long gone. ‘You must not get out of bed at all. Did you leave your room?’
I skipped my eyes away, feeling like a guilty child.
The woman tutted and set to work changing the bandages, pulling the covers up to my neck when she was done.
‘Now. You must rest. And if I ever hear about you gallivanting all over the city, I’ll be cross.’ She chuckled and patted my head, then left the room.
I stared at the spare bandages and the antiseptic the woman had left at my bedside and wondered if I should abandon my plans to explore the city with Lukas or not.
But at precisely one-minute past midnight, when the secret wall shot into the ceiling and Lucas appeared like a magician, my decision abruptly changed.
Lukas’ entry had awoken me mid-dream. In my dream, I was back in my beautiful bay, the cool water dripping from my back, the warm sun caressing my face.
The dream had served to remind me that nobody owned me.
I was free to do as I pleased.
Which is exactly what I was going to do.