“Your tears.”
I lifted my fingers to my face and felt the wetness across my cheeks. I hadn’t even realized.
Hesitating only a heartbeat, I leaned toward the pool, the motion readjusting my body to where I was on hands and knees in front of her. I stretched forward, pivoting so my face and shoulders jutted out over the surface of the pool.
Please let her pull me under. Take me to where the others are. End it.
Long, thin fingers emerged from the water and stretched toward my face. Gently, her fingertips brushed across my cheek, leaving a trail of moisture as she pulled away.
She held her fingers in front of her face.
I couldn’t see how she’d be able to discern my tears from the water on her skin, but her eyes narrowed in concentration for nearly a minute before her gaze returned to me.“What are they for?”
I nearly laughed. Good question. What were they for? They definitely weren’t helping anything. Again, my nephews became real once more. Even more so than the mermaid in front of me.“They’re for someone I love.”
She considered that, as if searching for some meaning in the words. Maybe she found some; maybe she dismissed them for the useless gibberish they were. Her hand slipped below the surface as she rose farther out of the water. Through the ripples I could make out a grayish-white tail beating rapidly below her.
I drew back a few inches as she emerged to her shoulders. Long, thin blonde hair plastered against her face. She wasn’t beautiful like the merman had been. Just the opposite. Her face was off somehow. A bit asymmetrical. One of her ears jutted out between the wet ropes of her hair. It was malformed. The curve of the upper fold, thick and overly pronounced, came too far down, reminding me vaguely of pictures I’d seen of a wrestler’s cauliflower ear. Gwala had mentioned problems with inbreeding as he’d explained my responsibilities. Maybe she was one of the results, though I’d gotten the impression that such offspring were quickly taken care of.
She drew closer, her hand once again rising out of the water, and this time she grasped the edge of the pool. As she leaned against the wall, the ripples across the surface ceased, but her lower body was hidden. She looked like nothing more than an unfortunate-looking girl with oddly glistening skin, an attribute that had made the merman even more beautifully ethereal. On her, it only increased the impression that something wasn’t quite right.
“You spoke in the way of the mers.”Despite her less-than-beautiful appearance, her voice was gentle and soothing, though sad.
“I am a witch. We are able to speak without using our voices as well.”I nearly explained I’d only just learned I had such an ability, but doubted that would help the situation.
“I know what you are.”Again she inspected me. This time I sensed judgment within her scrutiny.“You are the same species as the other. The evil one. Though he never spoke to us in such a manner.”
No need to ask who she meant.“Yes, I am the same. He… he died. I am to take his place.”
“You are not evil.”
Her statement surprised me. Her tone had no question.
“How can you be sure?”
“We felt you. That is why I am here.”
“You felt me?”
She only stared at me, maybe not realizing I didn’t understand.
I tried again.“You came here to meet me?”
“Yes. Your presence was the same as the evil one, yet different. I wanted to see why.”
I glanced behind her, searching below the water.“Are the others here?”
She gave the smallest shake of her head.“No. I was curious. They were not. They believe it does not matter.”
Again she confused me.“That what doesn’t matter?”
“That you are the same, yet different, than the evil one.”
“Oh. That.”Yeah. I was the same as Omar. But different. Probably not for long.“How could you feel me?”
“We felt you through the water.”
I nearly asked her again what she meant but then remembered slipping my fingers into the pool. I hadn’t realized I’d been announcing my presence.
