Double Life - Book 1 of the Vaiya Series (29 page)

Glad that she seemed to be calming down, he
hurriedly searched for an opening to the cage and quickly spotted a
simple locking mechanism. Brushing back the sticks and leaves, he
pulled back the steel bar, grabbed onto the door of the cage, and
flung it open.

“You’re safe now,” he assured her, as her
fearful blue eyes, wandering with dreamy paranoia, focused first on
him, then the ground, then onto the woods. She didn’t look too
convinced by his words. Her light pink lips still trembled, her
fair hands still shook, and her tail still curled anxiously.

Wondering what he should do now, his mind
soon struck on an idea, really, the only safe idea, as his mouth
contorted in disgust at the very thought. Why did he have to be so
weak? Now was not the time to let his petty aversion to fish affect
him.

After wrestling it over in his mind for a
short while, he finally gained enough courage to go ahead with his
plan. Looking at her anxiously, he murmured in a faint tone, “Don’t
worry; I’m going to carry you out of here.”

Nervousness sweeping over him, he put his
plan into action and gently put his left hand underneath her warm,
slippery tail, which felt smooth rather than slimy to his touch,
his other hand holding firmly onto her back, before lifting up her
delicate form and carrying her out of the cage. Though, he wasn’t
feeling sick yet, he knew that if he had to carry her much longer,
things could get ugly. The very feel of her tail was making him
rather nauseous.

After she was safely outside of the cage, Ian
stood, bewildered, his shoes lodging between a crack in the
branches, holding the mermaid who likely weighed one-hundred
pounds. What could he do now? The lake was at least ten feet away
from here and there was no way he could throw her from that
distance. Dropping her down to the sand seemed a bad idea as well
as she’d likely get hurt--some rescuer he’d be then.

As his arms began aching under the pressure,
an idea suddenly came to him. “Put your arms around my neck and
hold on tightly,” he said sternly, as if instructing a child, while
he blushed from the awkwardness of the situation, the mermaid
gazing at him as if she were a frightened deer. “I’m going to carry
you down from here. You’re not going to get hurt.”

Setting her down gently on a thick branch of
the tree with her back against the tree trunk so she wouldn’t fall
down, he then turned around and kneeled down, waiting for her to
follow his instructions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.
Apparently, piggyback rides were not common among the merfolk. It
took her some time and a lot of scrambling, readjusting, and small
tips of advice from him before she found the right position, and
even then, it was clear she’d never done this before in her life,
which was very likely given that fact that she wasn’t human.

Crouching down, he placed his first foot on a
wooden spike while his arms held a sturdy branch above him. The
mermaid’s long tail dangling behind his legs, her arms wrapped
firmly around his chest, her face too close to his, he bit his lip
in embarrassment, as he imagined his sister videotaping the scene
and posting it on YouTube. He flushed. It was too awful to think
about. Why did being a hero have to be so awkward?

The mermaid’s hurried breathing, and her
trembling arms hugging him tightly, brought him back to reality.
Why should he care how humiliated he felt? How queasy he felt as
her fish tail swished back and forth against his legs? All of this
was worth it. It pained him to even think what her capturers would
do to her.

With those thoughts encouraging him, slowly,
methodically, he turned around, amidst her soft cries, and lowered
himself onto the second spike. Then, taking his right hand off the
branch, he clutched the spike, soon repeating it with his left
hand.

The rest of the way down was tedious,
agonizing, and suspenseful. Not only did she continually panic and
shriek into his ear whenever he slipped a little, his fingers had
now become so chafed and raw, that he thought they would start
bleeding any second. Moreover, a few splinters had likely dug into
his hands as well. Whoever made these footholds didn’t factor in
comfort.

After two more minutes of suffering, at one
point nearly losing his footing and falling out of the tree, to her
utter terror, he finally made it to the soft grass below. Upon
stepping onto the solid ground, he fell to his knees in exhaustion
and sat in silence, examining his scraped knuckles, bruised
fingers, and cut hand, before she interrupted him, loosening her
firm grip on his chest.

“Please, will you take me back to the water?”
Her young girlish voice sounded like gentle ocean ripples lapping
against the side of a sailboat, drenching him with thoughts of
peace and happiness.

Nodding his head, overjoyed at her emotional
transformation, he lifted himself off his knees and began trudging
towards the beachy shore, and then into the shallow part of the
water. Once the water was up to his ankles, completely soaking his
shoes and socks, she let go of him, falling into the shallows.

As she darted towards her father, applause
rang out from the merfolk, who’d now gathered to watch. Tears
filled the merman’s eyes as he warmly embraced his daughter,
kissing her on the cheek, and then clapped a pearl bracelet onto
her arm. “May the ocean’s blessings flow through you, human! Our
kingdom is bound to you forever.”

Ian blushed, shrugging his shoulders, unsure
of how to respond. Not only did he feel more than a little guilty
over his previous harsh thoughts towards the merfolk, but he also
felt very ill from having to carry a half-fishlike creature for so
long of a distance. His stomach was entirely in knots and only with
the utmost effort did he resist throwing up.

But whether he were just oblivious or had
other things on his mind, the merman didn’t seem to notice his
discomfort. Smiling with eager gratefulness now that his daughter
was rescued, he felt that it was time to introduce themselves to
one another: “Who are you, young man?”

“My name’s Ian Hansen,” he replied weakly,
subconsciously washing his hands off in the water. “And you
are?”

Not seeming to mind Ian’s informality, he
replied with a bright smile, “I am King Jayan Shalan, ruler of the
water realm of Yavara. This deed of yours will not go
unrewarded.”

Nothing could’ve surprised Ian more, even if
he’d heard that his brother Erik had just won the spelling bee. His
eyes widened in shock, his heart surging with emotion. To think,
he’d just rescued a mermaid princess from the hands of savage men.
It sounded like something from a children’s book, a tale that he
would’ve avoided reading like it were the plague. Now, ironically,
he was the protagonist.

As he considered this with amusement, the
king turned to his daughter, whispered something to her that he
couldn’t catch, and then looked back up at him. “Ian, seldom do we
find a human as valiant as you.” He embraced his daughter again,
tears still glimmering in his eyes. “Your name and your deed will
forever be remembered in Yavara.”

Ian smiled meekly, greatly embarrassed by the
high praise coming from such a powerful person. He didn’t believe
for a second that he deserved the compliments being heaped upon
him. After all, it wasn’t really that hard to rescue her. “Thank
you, Your Majesty,” he murmured sheepishly. And then, finding no
other words to add, he simply stared down at the waves lapping
against the beach.

While he continued staring at the ocean, the
mermaid princess swam over to him, tranquil gratitude in her
previously frightened eyes, stopping only once she couldn’t go any
farther. “Ian, I must reward you.” She folded both of her hands
across her neck and bowed once.

With nervous reluctance, Ian faced the
mermaid, his cheeks reddening as he saw other young mermaids
giggling at him and diving into the water, showing off either their
flashy purple, pink, and red fish tails, or their expert swimming
skills. Regardless, he felt unworthy of such attention, and he
definitely didn’t need any reward; he was just happy that he could
do something nice for a change.

“You really don’t have to, Your Highness,” he
replied, his tone slightly argumentative, as the ripples continued
to wash over his new tennis shoes without him even caring. “I’m
just glad you’re safe.”

“No, you must receive my gift,” she urged
him, hurt flooding her voice at his rejection. Stretching up her
hand to him, she held out a gold-beaded necklace, laced with a
silvery thread. In the center of the necklace shone a perfectly cut
diamond-shaped sapphire, which sparkled brilliantly in the dazzling
sunshine.

Stunned by its radiance, not willing to hurt
her by refusing her generous gift, Ian slowly took it out of her
hand, thanking her quietly, and then examined it closely, wondering
what he should do. If he were a girl, it would be easy. He’d wear
it. Yet as a guy, it’d just feel wrong. Perhaps in her culture it
was alright and even common for guys to wear such things, but that
offered little consolation to him. After all, he was a human and
they were part fish.

As he puzzled over the necklace, fully intent
on never wearing it, she looked at him curiously, throwing her
golden hair over her shoulder, and offered him a reason to try it.
“This is not an ordinary necklace, Ian--it breathes with
magic.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, intrigued. The
other young mermaids continued to watch him, as if interested in
his every movement. It was the sort of thing that could get old
fast, like someone playing copycat and mimicking your every
word.

“If you say my name while wearing the
necklace, you will become one of us,” she replied. “Take it off and
you will become human again.”

Just what kind of magic was this? And why
would he ever want to become part fish? The thought was entirely
revolting and made his recovering stomach take a few steps
backward. “What? So I’ll become a mermaid if I wear it?”

“No, Ian.” She laughed tenderly, her eyes
warm and magnetic. “You’ll become a
merman
. For you to
become a mermaid you’d have to first be a girl.” She fixed her eyes
on him. “And I don’t think you are.”

Embarrassed, Ian smiled to himself, her words
reminding him too much of Eddy’s sense of humor. “Thanks for the
encouragement, Princess.”

She gave him a cute grin in return. “So, do
you understand how it works now?”

“Not exactly,” he replied uneasily. Even if
this did transform him into a merman, which was still very hard to
believe, what would happen to his blue jeans? They’d likely be torn
to shreds.

As if sensing his anxious thoughts, she
spoke. “Don’t worry about your clothes, Ian. When you become a
merman you will instantly receive new garments and when you change
back into a human you will have your old clothes back on, dry and
clean as the white sand dunes.”

Ian gave her a serious look. “That’s
impossible.”

“That’s why it’s called magic,” she said
charmingly.

“And you’re sure this is safe?” he asked,
still not at all convinced, though if it did really work, the
thought of the lower portion of his body becoming a fish tail made
him want to gag.

But she only laughed, her eyes shining with
mischief. “By the ocean’s currents, I assure you it’s entirely
safe, though the transformation itself will feel very odd at first.
It will be much more than just an external change.”

Now he was starting to get worried. “And that
means?”

“You will be changed completely on the inside
as well. Your lungs, heart, and all your other organs will be
altered.” As he stared at her with raw horror, already envisioning
this process, she just laughed. “You have to be able to breathe
underwater somehow.”

Trying to keep a brave face, he soon found it
impossible. “This won’t hurt, will it?” he asked, already telling
himself that even without any pain there was no way he’d ever use
it. Though he wasn’t the type to cringe in the face of a new
experience, this bizarre case warranted an exception. Just thinking
about his internal organs changing within him was enough to make
him shudder. Imagining his legs somehow morphing into a fish tail
was even worse. Nausea struck him at the very thought.

Likely sensing his inhibitions, the mermaid
tried to calm them. “Ian, do not concern yourself with the clams
and scallops; you have nothing to fear.”

“Thank you, Princess,” he said, smiling as if
convinced by her words. “Maybe I’ll try it on sometime.”

Without waiting for a response, he then
turned his face away from her so she wouldn’t see his lack of
excitement about the necklace, and observed seven young mermaids
competing to see which one could jump the farthest out of the
water. So far, from what he’d heard from a young merman who was
watching them in awe, twenty-five feet was the most. How that was
even possible was beyond him. They were like highly trained
dolphins.

As he continued staring at them, Princess
Taeria tossed her head to the side, drops of water falling from her
golden cream-colored hair, and struck her tail against the water,
drawing his attention back to her. “I really do hope you use it
soon, Ian. My heart is already anticipating what you’ll look like
as a merman.”

“Great to know,” he said, face somewhat
flushed, as he squeezed the necklace into his left pocket, hoping
that he’d never need to make use of its power. Besides the fact
that becoming a different creature, even if it were still
half-human, frightened him immensely, for some bizarre reason, it
also felt like too much of a victory for her to see him as a
merman. No, despite how much she wanted him to try it on, he didn’t
ever see himself using the necklace. She’d just have to live with
her undying curiosity.