Water (18 page)

Maya dressed quickly in a liquid honey fabric that highlighted her eyes, and accompanied me back to the cave as the rest of the Oceanids were beginning to arrive for the dinner celebrations.

Sabrina whisked me away from Maya with an almost protective air, her greeting slightly stiff, before she hurried me off to her aven to get ready, tsking about what I’d done to the beautiful piece of fabric she’d given me the day before.

This evening she chose an iridescent coral pink fabric. It seemed to cling to my body, almost wetly, before letting go completely and floating around me like gossamer in the breeze.

She didn’t have time to fuss too much with my hair, fixing it expertly into a twist at the nape of my neck, before floating a soft gold, almost transparent veil over my hair again.

She provided me with moccasin-type shoes in the same fabric. When I asked her whether they would last the evening, because they looked so fragile, she simply laughed and instructed me to trust her and put them on. They felt amazingly warm, and luxuriously soft, despite my being able to see my foot through them.

Merrick wasn’t in the opening when we exited Sabrina’s aven. I was surprised at how empty and lost I felt without him. He’d become my confidant and friend and, if I was honest with myself, probably a lot more than that. I missed him, feeling lonely in the throng of people that surrounded us, and regretting more than anything the spat we’d had.

I noticed Maya drifting between groups of Oceanids, greeting them all as she went. They seemed to welcome her warmly, holding her hand and smiling at her. Their reaction made Sabrina’s stiffness seem even stranger to me.

I glanced at her, taking a step away as a pale green something twirled in lazy misty circles around her. It lasted only a few seconds before she noticed me staring and fixed a carefree smile on her face.

“Do you have an issue with Maya?” I asked her quietly.

She tossed her hair. “No,” she replied, smiling.

“Are you jealous?” I asked, incredulous.

Sabrina stared at me. “How do you know that?”

“I saw something writhing on your skin for a few moments, a sort of misty twirl,” I told her, “It was green, and you were looking at Maya at the time.”

Sabrina’s eyes were very wide. “I didn’t know you could see spiritus,” she whispered.

I grinned at her, the bubble of excitement returning. “I couldn’t,” I replied before telling her about the progress Maya and I had made that afternoon.

“So why are you jealous?” I asked her again.

She ducked her head, looking sheepish. “We developed feelings for the same man – Marinus… even sick and ugly… he chose her,” she said, staring at her toes.

I squeezed her arm in sympathy.

She smiled at me again before taking a deep breath and guiding me through the throng of Oceanids that crowded into the space. Her embarrassment forgotten, she kept rushing off to chat to someone, before remembering she had a duty to me and darting back to walk by side for a little.

Eventually I encouraged her to go and have fun, assuring her that I’d be fine.

I stood slightly to the side of the gathering, watching in detached fascination as the various groups formed. I recognised the Mami-Wata again and waved shyly at Undine as she greeted me from the other side of the tree.

I searched the crowd for Josh or Luke, spotted them on opposite sides of the cave, and moved to Luke who was closest to me.

“Hi, Luke,” I greeted him, waving my hand slightly. He was standing beside Aerowen who immediately turned towards me, her smile just a little too wide, showing very white, small, sharp teeth.

“Um… oh, hi…” Luke seemed to be searching around for my name, his expression confused. “Do I know you?”

I stumbled backwards, shocked. He clearly didn’t recognise me.

Aerowen used the opportunity to lead him away, throwing a wickedly triumphant grin over her shoulder.

My mind was reeling. They’d already removed my memory from Luke, already set it up so that he wouldn’t be an inconvenient witness. The thought made my blood run cold.

I turned and headed determinedly over to Josh.

“Josh,” I called to him, a little too loudly.

The Oceanids that surrounded him and the exquisite woman beside him-who must have been Indra- parted, their expressions a mixture of pity and disapproval, as if I was committing some social horror by greeting him so loudly.

He turned and smiled at me, lifting his hand in greeting. I felt weak with relief. He remembered me!

“How are you doing?” he asked, his eyes sliding over the incredible outfit I wore. “You look amazing!”

“I’m doing great!” I told him happily. “What have you guys been up to?”

“Oh, lots of climbing and fishing.” He trailed off, looking a little less confident and a little more confused.

The silence between us grew strangely awkward as he gazed around the cave.

The Oceanid he’d been standing with earlier stepped up to him, pressing herself along his side and whispering something into his ear.

“It’s been really great to meet you… um… I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?” He stood there, smiling at me kindly and waiting for an answer.

“Alexandra,” I managed to whisper through the tears that clogged my throat, “it’s Alexandra,” I said again, taking a deep breath and smiling at him.

He cocked his head to one side, thinking. “Alexandra, that’s a very pretty name – leader of men – that’s what it means…” His face clouded over in confusion. “I knew someone with that name… at least I think I did…”

He turned as the Oceanid took his hand, pulling him away from me.

“See you around, Alexandra.” He smiled before walking away with her.

“I’m so sorry.” Merrick’s voice curled around me like a warm blanket.

I turned to him, burying my face in his chest, the tears streaming down my cheeks as he wrapped me in his arms.

“They don’t know who I am,” I whimpered. “We’ve been friends for years and they couldn’t even remember my name.”

He pulled me closer until I could feel the heat from his body down the full length of mine.

“It’s what is keeping them safe,” he whispered, still holding me tightly, for just a few moments too long for it to just be comfort, his breath fanning the veil that covered my hair, his breathing a little too ragged.

I nodded, pulling myself away from the comfort of his arms and wiping the tears from my face, feeling confused by my own feelings and uncertain of his.

I risked a glance at his face, blushing at the excitement I just caught before it cooled in his eyes.

He chuckled, taking both of my hands, and purposely weaving his fingers through mine.

“I owe you an apology,” he said, still watching our hands, before lifting his head and looking straight into my eyes, with such intensity I couldn’t breathe properly.

“OK,” I fumbled, “for what?”

He smiled. “For placing your entire species’ ignorance and terrible conservation efforts on your shoulders.”

“Oh that.” I grinned back at him. “Yeah, you do, but that’s OK, I forgive you.”

He beamed. “There are some Oceanids I think you will very much enjoy meeting,” he said, before beginning to lead me across the cavern.

“I have someone I’d like you to meet too,” I told him, enjoying the surprise that flashed across his face. He indicated that I should show him the way.

Maya was chatting animatedly to a group of what I assumed could only be Miengu – the Oceanids Merrick had warned me about. They were enormous, their bodies rippling with muscle, their stance dangerously alert as they shifted their weight from foot to foot listening to Maya.

Merrick hissed under his breath as we drew closer, pulling me slightly behind him.

They’d had their backs to him and Maya rattled off a phrase I didn’t understand, while extending her hand to me, palm up.

They turned uniformly aggressive, looking as if they were ready to spring at any moment.

“And here she is,” Maya told them, taking my hand and pulling me away from Merrick to come and stand beside her within the semi-circle they’d made, blocking Merrick from following them.

“Maya tells us you intensified her healing talent,” the tallest one growled at me.

I nodded mutely, trying not to allow the instinctive fear that had my heart racing to show in my face.

The Miengu who had spoken to me grinned viciously.

“Does this work across all of our talents?” another asked.

“I don’t know,” I told them, pulling myself up and faking confidence.

“Oh I’m sure it does,” Maya piped up, seemingly oblivious to the threat they posed, so tangible to me I could almost taste it. “And can you imagine how amazing it’s going to be when we combine my healing with, say, Merrick’s heightened senses? We’ll have a group of Oceanids with the best sight, the best hearing, the best sense of smell and touch… I mean we could not only restore the pod’s health, she –” she placed an arm around me and pulled me into her side affectionately “– could probably help the sick be even stronger than they were before they got sick.”

The light that her statement sparked in their eyes made every hair on my body stand on end. The menace they exuded smelt of metal and dark decay, its cloying fragrance sticking in the back of my throat.

Merrick darted into the group and took my hand, bobbing to the Miengu and Maya while rattling off some apologetic phrases in their language.

“Just walk,” he whispered to me as he guided me as quickly as possible to a secluded corner of the space.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded.

I did, from the discovery I’d made with Maya, to the green wisps I’d seen on Sabrina to the smell and flavour I’d just experienced with the Miengu.

He listened carefully before pulling me into another lingering embrace. When he released me, his expression had softened a little although his eyes were still wary.

“I wish Maya wasn’t as completely trusting as she is,” he muttered.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She’s just given the greatest warriors of our species a lot of very interesting information to think about,” he replied.

“I’m not sure I understand.” I pulled him back so that he’d explain himself properly.

“The Miengu are convinced that the only way to save our species is to kill humans.” I nodded to show I was following. “The odds of winning such a war have always been stacked against them, until you came into the picture.”

“But I don’t want to kill any humans.”

He nodded. “At this point that is the greatest tactical advantage we have over them, because if you did join their side you would be able to transform them and the other violently oriented Oceanids into an incredible offensive weapon.”

“How?” I asked, purely out of curiosity because I knew I would never be part of something that would destroy my friends and family.

“Imagine a combination of brute strength, the ability to manipulate water, my sight and pin-point accurate hearing, venom, and a whole lot of other potentially lethal elements all combined together.”

“Humans wouldn’t stand a chance,” I whispered, horrified at the idea.

“Good thing you’re so intent on peace then.” He smiled at me lightening the mood and changing the subject. “There’s another talent I want you to master this evening.” He was grinning mischieviously.

I raised an eyebrow in question.

“Dancing with me.”

I pulled him up short. “We’ll be what?”

He laughed, continuing to lead me forward. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fantastic.”

I was about to start complaining when I was interrupted by a deep, musical voice.

“Good evening, Alexandra,” it said.

“Er…. Hi,” I muttered, feeling awkward as I stuck out my hand to the man and woman who had just joined us.

The owner of the voice smiled and, taking my hand, twisted it out of the handshake I’d intended and kissed my fingers instead. It was not the reaction I’d been expecting and I blushed.

The couple had the stance of royalty, their bodies poised and sophisticatedly draped in softly flowing clothing that seemed to almost come from within them.

I was surprised to see smiles on their beautiful faces as they watched my reaction to them.

They were each other’s physical antithesis in every way. He was strong and tall with deep chocolate skin and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, everything about him radiated vibrancy and energy. She was willowy and almost translucently pale, her eyes the faintest shade of blue, as if her irises were trying to blend into her perfectly proportioned pale face. The contrast between the two of them enhanced the other’s beauty.

“We wanted to tell you how brave and compassionate you’ve been since your arrival,” she murmured beside me, forcing me to whip my head around to look at her, as I disengaged my fingers from his grasp as graciously as I could.

She was smiling, her perfectly bowed lips a pale shade of pink against white teeth.

“Er, uh, thanks,” I stammered, unsure if I’d been brave at all. “Um… who are you?” I asked, the question sounding coarse and rude contrasted against their perfect manners and eloquent, otherworldly behaviour.

A deep chuckle from him had me turning my back on her again to follow his reaction.

“I am Llyr and this –” he extended his hand to the woman beside me “– is Muirgel.” She smiled shyly at me.

“I’m Alexandra,” I stated a few seconds before I remembered that they’d greeted me by name.

They smiled again and seemed to be waiting for me to say something.

“Uh… so what is it that you can do?” I asked.

Merrick chuckled beside me, making me wonder which Oceanid etiquette blunder I’d committed now.

Muirgel just smiled and said softly, “We collect the stories of our kind.”

“Oh cool,” I replied enthusiastically, “I’d like to read those someday!”

Llyr laughed heartily as did everyone else within earshot.

I ducked my head down, staring miserably at my toes, another bungle to add to my growing repertoire!

“They are blessed with extremely long memories which are passed down from parents to children,” said Merrick, the tone of his voice instantly quietening the laughter that surrounded me. “They know more about our species than anyone else.”

“What do you do with the knowledge you hold?” I asked, earning a faint smile of approval from Merrick at the question.

Muirgel answered, “Well, we ensure that our species remembers where they have come from,” she replied. “We would very much like to add your story to our history.”

“Why?” I asked bluntly.

“As you are to play such a pivotal role in our futures, we thought a good grounding on your history would be useful information for future generations,” murmured Muirgel, her face strained as she tried to maintain civility.

I nodded. “OK, I guess that makes sense.” They smiled at me, inviting me to settle around the tree as the other Oceanids around us did the same.

Over dinner I told them about my family, how my Mom had left her previous husband when Brent was a baby and met Dad three years later. What I knew about how he’d courted her and married her and my early childhood.

When I told them about the day Brent had died, I was surprised at how many questions they asked me, pushing me for details I’d never even thought of before, like whether the water had changed colour while I was beneath it.

They were particularly interested in the part where I relayed the pain and the jolting sensation, asking me for the timing of each element, how I’d felt afterwards, and wondering why I’d struggled to remember the breathing element Undine had been trying to communicate to me.

After the meal, their curiosity sated, I was able to start asking them some questions of my own.

“Tell me where the prophesy or legend of the fortieth generation Gurrer comes from?” I asked, sipping the honey-sweetened spring water that had been served as dessert.

“Our people have always lived in a threatening environment,” Llyr began, smiling as some of the other Oceanids gathered around. “But we are survivors.” The pride in his voice was unmistakeable, and a thrill of pride ran through me that I was part of these brave people.

“We have always found a way to adapt to our environment until a great shaking happened many thousands of years ago. The earth spewed poison into the water and for the first time in our history Oceanids were forced to flee to the land.”

“The tragedy of this time was twofold,” Muirgel continued, her voice tragically low, her eyes distant. “All of the Oceanid children were left behind, their parents forced to listen from the land to their tortured screams as they suffocated in the water.”

“We were not welcomed kindly everywhere by the humans.” Llyr picked up the story. “In some countries the beauty of our women resulted in them being taken captive and held in castle prisons for the pleasure of the king. In others we were seen as threats to the local dignitaries and particularly the church and massacred on sight. Many died, and even fewer were able to return to the ocean. But those that did never forgot how cruel the humans were to them.”

“One of the greatest Shaha – that is the name for Llyr and me,” Muirgel said, “foretold during this terribly difficult time of another shaking that could end our species if the fortieth generation Gurrer did not take her place. We have been searching and waiting for you ever since.” She smiled.

I was relieved when Maya, who had appeared in the little group that had formed around Muirgel and Llyr, interrupted her.

“Have you ever heard of Oceanids pooling their resources?” she asked.

Muirgel and Llyr both closed their eyes momentarily.

“There is history of two or even more Oceanids using their talents for one specific goal,” Llyr replied. “There is one specific story where some Oceanids used their powers on a King who had a beautiful daughter whom he loved very much. Princes came from miles around to win her hand, but none of them were good enough for the King. This King was the ancestor of one of the humans who had held our women captive a few hundred years before. In revenge three Oceanids who had got wind of the story approached the King to win her hand, one of them posing as a prince. One of the Oceanids had the gifts of persuasion, much like Aerowen,” he pointed at the Oceanid beside Luke, “and Indra,” he pointed at the Oceanid draped over Josh. “Another had the ability to implant dreams like Undine and the final had the ability to manipulate emotion. Working together over a few months they introduced the idea to the King that if no one could be found for his daughter she should be given to the sea. Within six months he had a large ceremony at which she was set adrift in a small boat, covered in flowers.”

“That’s awful,” I interrupted him.

He smiled, looking suddenly very inhuman.

“It is the power of a well planted and expertly watered idea, my dear,” he replied. “And we can be exceptional gardeners.”

He and Muirgel stood and bowed before moving fluidly across the space to take their place among a series of couples who had moved to surround the fever tree.

“What was that story about?” I murmured to Merrick.

“Right now they are trying to decide where their alliance is most strategically place.”

“They would consider war?”

He nodded. “Readily, they have no sympathy for humans, not with the knowledge they carry. The pod, and indeed the whole species is split as to the best way forward. You represent the peaceful alternative to the war that many have been planning for some time.”

I watched distractedly as the pairs of Oceanids arranged themselves around the central tree, mulling over the story Llyr and Muirgel had told me. There was an interesting concept in their story of gardening. If the idea could be planted, that fossil fuel was not the way forward, not viable, somehow… then maybe there was hope for the Oceanids. It meant trusting Aerowen and Indra, which I didn’t at all. And therein lay one of the biggest issues, with so much division and politics splitting the pod: I didn’t know who I could trust just yet.

One thing was abundantly clear though, I needed to work out exactly what it was I could do, exactly which talents coursed through me, because if I knew that, then maybe, just maybe we could come up with a viable plan for peace. And I was realising very quickly that I needed to find a peaceful resolution for two reasons I was desperately passionate about.

The first had been born when I’d held that first little Oceanid’s damaged hand. I couldn’t bear the idea of the Oceanid children, or any of them really, being hurt like that, and I was sure any war would have terrible casualties. The second I’d realised stupidly slowly. The Oceanids cared very little for humans and my mother and Josh and Luke’s safety now rested in my trembling hands.