Kristian waited for the month to pass with none of the patience of a saint. The prince argued with his father, tried to appease his mother yet vexed her more than not, and avoided Father Dominick, even to the extent of missing every church service. He also fought with Blaise some, although Blaise had no problem squaring off against him as they fenced so Kristian could blow off some steam.
At last, the day arrived. Kristian had no appetite and ate little, which made his mother pleased. Probably thinks I'm lovesick over a princess. Last week, his mother had hosted a ball, with several ladies and princesses in attendance. Unbeknownst to his mother, Kristian had ducked out after two dances.
He searched throughout the castle, unable to locate Blaise. His mother approached from the far end of the long corridor so Kristian ducked into the library. To his surprise, his friend was not only in there, he was engrossed in a large tome.
Kristian walked over. "I didn't know you could read," he teased.
"Very funny," Blaise said dryly as he blinked and rubbed his eyes.
"What are you… Oh." Kristian stared at the colorful image on the page, that of a part-female, part-fish creature. She would have been beautiful if not for the viciously pointed daggers for teeth that overcrowded her mouth.
"There are legends of many sea creatures." Blaise flipped through the pages, and Kristian caught glimpses of other pictures. "Selkies, sirens, water fairies—"
The prince groaned. "I thought you would drop this folly."
"Today's the day, right? Why not ask her?"
"I will not," he barked, the back of his throat tickling.
"What harm could come of it?" He stared up at Kristian's face and sighed. "Fine. Then ask her to bathe beside you."
"I will not!"
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Sunbathe. Calm yourself."
"I will not do anything to jeopardize my relationship with her." He reached over. Blaise made no move to stop him as he closed the book.
"What kind of a relationship do you have, if you keep secrets from each other?"
"How do you know she's hiding anything from me?" Kristian retorted.
"Have you told her you're a prince yet?"
"She knows." The prince winced, knowing full well the only reason Sirena gained such knowledge was not because he had shared that detail with her.
Why had he kept his identity a secret?
Because everyone treated him differently once they knew who he was. No one treated him as an equal. That was, no one save for Sirena.
Would she still do so, now that she knew the truth?
He hoped so and sent up a quick prayer that was the case. Although would God bother to listen, considering he hadn't made the time for Him as of late?
Kristian sighed and tugged on the ends of his short hair.
"You've been doing that a lot these past few weeks," Blaise observed.
"What?"
"Pulling your hair. You used to do that when you were little and someone wanted you to do something you didn't want to."
Kristian crossed his arms and tapped his foot. He sat across from Blaise. "I'm sorry. I've been an awful person lately."
"Yes. And the source of your unhappiness is this girl. Don't you think that means something?"
The prince did not want another lecture and shifted his gaze from his friend to the wooden bookshelves behind him. Tomes of all colors and sizes lined them. He read the titles until he recognized the silence as Blaise waiting for a response. Despite knowing Blaise wanted him to be happy, he felt anything but, and knew that would change the moment he saw his sea-maiden again.
"If you're trying to tell me I shouldn't go see her…" he started.
Blaise held up his hand. "I know better than to suggest that. I only want you to think about your future and whether or not your future can include her."
Kristian nodded. Blaise was a good friend, his best friend. How could he be upset with Blaise when he only wanted to help?
"Don't worry about your parents. I'll cover for you like I always do."
"Thank you. You deserve more than I can give you," he said eagerly, his thoughts swimming toward Sirena.
"Actually, you could give me a great deal. Gold, treasure…"
Kristian snorted, willing to give anything for the chance to have time with her. "Name your price."
"The first girl you danced with at the ball. Introduce me to her."
Kristian furrowed his brow. "The … brunette?"
"The blonde." Blaise rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you remember her name."
The prince shrugged, remembering little from the ball other than his loneliness.
Blaise shook his head and clasped his hands to his chest in an exaggerated dramatic fashion. "Can't say I'm not surprised. Now go. Have your time with Sirena."
Kristian clapped his hand onto Blaise's shoulder and waltzed out of the library. As he strolled out of the castle, he couldn't help shaking the sudden feeling that his time with Sirena would be short. Exceedingly short.
****
The sun sank low on the horizon until it melted into the dark ocean, but Kristian refused to leave the beach.
Sirena will come; I know she will. She will not break her promise.
He waded forward in the fast cooling water until he was neck deep. Time passed. His arms and legs moved slower, and he drifted toward the shore. The reflection of the moon shimmered in front of him, and he slammed his fist into it. Where was she? Why hadn't she come?
The answer came to him swiftly, and he hunched over, as if someone had punched his stomach. She had not come because of who he was.
No, that didn't make sense. He knew Sirena better than that. His being a prince would mean little to nothing to her.
Perhaps she was disappointed in him for keeping his identity a secret from her. He could only place the blame for that on himself.
He thought of Blaise and his crazy ideas that Sirena was more than she seemed. Could Sirena truly have kept that large of a secret from him all these years? After all, he had hidden one about himself.
They always spent time together just before the darkness of night came. Kristian never saw her when the sun was high or without shadows crossing her face. He never saw her legs. The two never swam together, or if they did, Sirena did seem to keep some distance between them and always stayed behind him.
Could Blaise have been on to something?
No. Of course not. Legends were just that — legends. Nothing more.
Muttering curses, Kristian swam to the shore. Sirena had abandoned him. She had broken her promise.
When he reached the beach, he stood and closed his eyes. Water dripped down his face and tickled his neck. He ignored it and focused on the memory of Sirena's face. Her eyes, her hands clasped to her chest — she had meant every word of her promise.
Something must have prevented her from coming.
Dread replaced the angry bitterness in his chest, and he ran to the shed where the diving equipment was located. As far as Kristian knew, no other country had technology this advanced. The king had hired scientists to study da Vinci's plan and develop better gear for exploring beneath the waves. Far more sophisticated than the diving bells other countries used, the new equipment allowed divers to travel down much farther and be able to breathe underwater with the use of air tanks. It wasn't fully tested yet, and only two sets of gear had been made thus far, but several successful dives had been completed already.
If Blaise was right — Kristian didn't know what to think anymore — then Sirena would be somewhere within the waters. The prince knew he should go and find Blaise, that he shouldn't dive alone, but he couldn't see the gear in front of him or the water in the distance. All he could see was Sirena hurt and in pain, tears streaming down her face. He couldn't hear the call of the gulls or the crashing of the waves. All he could hear was Sirena crying out for him.
He had to find his Sirena. Whether or not she was human or selkie or anything else. All that mattered was her.
****
Far more time had passed than he liked before he plunged into the water. He had grabbed both weight belts but even the added weight didn't bring him down fast enough for his liking.
Kristian had only been on two dives before, all supervised and never alone. Diving could be dangerous. If something should happen to him while he was down here, he would be dead.
Nothing would happen though.
He checked his air gauge and realized he was consuming oxygen faster than normal. Cursing in his mind, he closed his eyes and took several slow breaths to calm down.
When he opened his eyes, he realized he was deeper in the ocean than he had ever been before. Although the world above was sleeping, there was no day or night here, and plenty of marine life swam about, happy and carefree. Normally he enjoyed the sights and tried to recall the names of the fish and algae and plants. Now all he cared about was finding Sirena.
He covered more ground than he thought possible. Even so, he knew the likelihood of finding Sirena was remote, a thought he tried not to think of because it made him panicky, which, in turn, made him hyperventilate and consume his oxygen too fast.
Far below him, he could see the floor dotted with coral. Fish darted and hid within colorful plants. He couldn't see any sand, so plentiful was the flora here. A huge, unhurried tortoise swam in front of him and blocked his sight.
Glancing to the left, he spied a large cave. A small school of tiny orange fish swam into it. Swimming forward, Kristian saw that the ground bottomed out much lower here. The current picked up, and he strove back toward the cave, but he made no progress. If anything, the cave was moving farther and farther away, like the nightmares he'd had as a child when he tried to reach a door at the end of a never-ending hallway.
He unbuckled one of the weight belts, but still the current yanked and tugged on him. Unlike his arms, the current did not grow tired, a battle he could not win. Still, he fought until his arms were so fatigued he couldn't move them anymore. The current claimed him and forced him lower and lower until after a few minutes, he was dragged all the way down to the bottom. A plant wrapped itself around him. Kristian struggled in vain to free himself. If anything, the plant had a stronger hold on him now. His air was dangerously low.
Sirena…