I watched her closely. Only her head and shoulders were above water. She appeared to stand upright, but there was a constant, subtle movement around her arms and torso that I had first mistaken for the swells of the ocean and splashing of the waves.
“Can you see my legs?” she asked.
The water was clear enough for me to peer through.
“Yes,” I said, trying not to get distracted by gleaming swells of her breasts and the triangle of light-brown curls between her thighs.
Fuck. This lesson just got so much harder. As did my cock.
“The surf is pretty calm here,” Maren said, either not noticing or simply ignoring my aroused state.
I made the effort to ignore it too.
“There are usually enough sirens in the ocean to keep it calm around the reef, even during a storm,” I explained.
She tilted her head. “Really? Nice. This water magic would be handy to have in my world too.”
Oh, how much I missed my magic. It used to be as natural as breathing. I hardly even noticed it. As so many things in life, I had taken it for granted and failed to fully appreciate what I had until I lost it.
“See what I’m doing?” Once again, Maren’s voice yanked me out from the depths of imminent despair, giving me a breath of her refreshing presence instead.
I focused on the movement of her legs.
“They’re bent at my knees, and I’m rotating them like this,” she explained. “Left. Right. Left. Right. Like a propeller. That’s what keeps my head above the surface. My arms and hands are helping too. I can also use my arms for navigation, to turn myself around. Like this.”
She paddled with her hands, slowly making a full rotation in the water until she faced me again.
“Now, you try,” she challenged with a smile.
Apprehension seized my chest. The memories of helplessly thrashing in the water until Odine came to my rescue echoed through my mind with horror.
“Come on, Kye,” Maren encouraged. “You can hold on to the coral and just try moving your legs first. We’ll worry about the arms later.”
Hudding the coral with both arms, I left the safety of the underwater step. As if the Abyss opened under me, panic surged through me the moment my feet dangled in the deep water. I kicked wildly, with no purpose or coordination. The water around me churned into a frenzy, foaming with the spray splashing out.
“Slow down!” Maren chuckled. “With your strength, you’re risking propelling this entire reef into the open ocean like that. Just breathe, Kye,” she added gently. “Focus on your breathing first, and your moves will smooth out too.”
I closed my eyes, but then all my senses narrowed on the foreign sensation of the unresponsive water that cocooned me, threatening to smother me. I quickly opened my eyes again and found Maren’s lovely face to rest my gaze upon, only then was I able to still my flailing legs.
She watched me carefully from a distance, close enough to speak but far enough from my reach.
“Just like that,” she cooed approvingly. “You’re doing great, Your Majesty.”
Great?
I was hanging in the water while clinging to the coral like a wet cat. There was nothing dignified in it, let alone “great.” But her praise soothed my panic a little.
“Now, let's kick your legs, slowly for now,” she said. “Pretend like you’re walking. Exactly like that. Find your rhythm. One. Two. One. Two. A little faster now.”
I did what she said, dutifully following her instructions and grateful that no one could see us here. I imagined what it would look like to anyone of my subjects. The mighty king of the sirens taking swimming lessons from a magic-less human! What a scandal that would be. One that wouldn’t just have me feared, scorned, or hated. I’d become the laughingstock of all of Nerifir, no doubt.
My stomach churned at the realization of how low I had fallen. A leviathan accepting help from a tiny minnow.
I glanced at Maren. An adorable little minnow she was indeed. Fragile like a butterfly. Yet there she was, doing something I could not bring myself to do. She was swimming.
“Are you feeling confident with your kicks now, Kye?” she asked.
I nodded, not feeling confident about any of it.
