wrath of the Sea Queen (175 page)

"
I am Michael
."

She and Michael became involved,
meeting in secret each time the moon was full.  It wasn't long before she
found herself with child. 
Rika
knew the child would be special, a true gift.  Michael informed her that there were few such children ever born
, and he was
extremely
pleased that she was willing to
bear
his child
. 
Rika was delighted with the development and shared the good news with her father. 
Rika's father, however, did not
fully believe
the story
of the man who
,
he decided
,
t
ook
advantage of h
is daughter
.  Therefore, he did not welcome the prospect of his daughter bearing a child while still unbound to a
proper
mate.  Rika and her father fought endlessly over the matter
.  I
t became a
growing
wedge between them.

Before too much time
went by
, and while her secret was still un
detectable
, Rika's father arranged to have her
wed
the son of a village elder on
a neighboring
island. 
Rika would be properly paired. 
He
r father
figured this would not only bring legitimacy to Rika's child, it would remove her from the reach of the man responsible for this egregious act.  She would not
be permitted to continue to
disgrace their family by
mating with a man whom they would never be permitted to meet and who she could not marry.  Her father found the entire idea of this man to be a romance unworthy of his daughter's station.  In fact, until she bec
a
me pregnant, Rika's father did
not
entirely
believe this man
even
existed.  He believed his lonely daughter
might have
invented
a companion
to fill a void in her life.  Now, of course, he knew that was not the case. 

Rika went to Michael with the news, but he was unable to help her.  He could not intervene directly in such matters.  Rika
was forced
to decide
for herself
what
course she would follow
. 
Michael
could not make the decision for her, nor could he change
her father's
decision. 
The weight of the decision was completely on
Rika
's shoulders
.  Michael did tell her that if she ended up marrying the other man, he would have
to end their relationship.  He w
ould not violate her commitment to another
, and he could never give her such a vow
.

Rika
consider
ed
all of this as the first signs of the island bec
ame
visible in the distance ahead of them. 
Her
emotions were in turmoil.  She would not marry this stranger, a man she
did
n
o
t know
.  Of this, she was certain.  She
had
defiantly
notified
her father o
f her choice, but he forced h
er to make the journey nonetheless.  The closer they came to the island, the more upset Rika became.  The more she worried, the worse the gathering storm becam
e.

The
boat was s
till a good distance from the island when a large wave caught them by surprise and
sent the passengers flailing into the angry waters as the small boat capsized
.  Rika's brother was not a strong swimmer, and he was quickly pulled under by the turbulent waters.  Rika began to panic.  Her last sight of her father was a moment etched in her mind.  The look on his face was one of regret.  He belatedly realized that he made a huge mistake in trying to force Rika to do something that she opposed.  He finally realized that her talent with water was more than a mere understanding.  His daughter
had been
given a special gift, and he did not
see it until it was too late
.  His daughter and her unborn child were also gifts, but he had been too stubborn to accept them
.  He died with th
e
dawning of that knowledge.

Rika was suddenly alone, struggling to keep her head above water long enough to draw a deep breath
.  Then she was
pulled under again.  On the third such attempt, Rika called for Michael to help her.  She desperately tried to use her skill with the water to her benefit. 
The results were double-edged.  The water seemed to cradle her briefly, and Michael answered her call.

"
I am sorry.  I cannot undo what you have wrought
.  That is beyond my ability.  Yet
,
I
am
not ready
to lose your companionship.  I can offer you one
final
choice. 
For a time, y
our spirit can endure within the water that has always supported you.
"

"
H
ow long
can I stay
?"

"
I do
n
o
t know.  I know that the longer your spirit remains, the further it will slip from humanity.
 
Also, i
f you choose this existence, your body will perish
.  Only y
ou
r spirit
will remain.
"  Michael's offer would allow him to continue to enjoy her company, but their liaisons would no longer be the same.  More than that, their unborn child would perish
, too
. 

Rika considered
Michael’s
offer.  When she realized that her child would die, the choice was more difficult
;
but she made her decisi
on.  She was not ready to depart this world
.

As
C
a
eli
slept,
she watched the scenes of Rika's life unfold as if through Rika's eyes. 
She
could feel
Rika's struggle.  She agonized over Rika's
choices and
decisions. 
It tugged at
C
a
eli's
heart to learn Rika's fate. 
I
t
also
helped C
a
eli understand why Rika was
relentless
in her pursuit.  C
a
eli
now
understood
firsthand
the depth of
sorrow
involved with losing a child.  She could
empathize with Rika's grief.

"
I did not want to resort to such
drastic
measures, but your stubbornness left me no choice.  I needed you to understand
the loss I suffered
.
"  Rika spoke to her sleeping mind.

"Rest assured, I understand.
"
 
Some of C
a
eli's words escaped her mind and mumbled
across
her lips
as she
slept
.

"
Yet, still you chose to inflict that same suffering on me.  How could you do such a thing?
"

"
Your stubbornness left me no other choice. 
It was the only way for you to truly understand.  I needed you to know
exactly
how I felt
.
"

"
You succeeded in getting my attention and my
sym
pathy, but not my friendship.  You intentionally stole something precious to
me to serve your own needs. 
You killed my child. 
You know the weight of the sadness I feel
,"
C
a
eli continued internally.

"
I will never forgive you for this.
"  There was no doubt
or hesitation
in C
a
eli's assertion
as Ben continued to listen while she talked in her sleep
.

"
You still don't understand.
"

"
Oh, yes I do! 
I understand
completely
.  I understand that
it was
your own selfishness
that
left you where you are now.  That same selfishness causes you to seek a new situation
out of boredom
.  I understand your motivation, and I will fight you more vehemently because of it,
" C
a
eli was furious with Rika's revelation. 

Most of the time,
C
a
eli
work
ed
her way, step by step, through a puzzle to reach the proper ending.  This time, however,
she
was quick to solve the mystery.  Rika previously mentioned that she chose C
a
eli because of her
ability
with water and two additional traits. 
After seeing Rika's life as it had been,
C
a
eli
easily
disc
erned
those
two things
.  First and foremost,
Rika
wanted to exist physically. 
Her own life
had been
cut short, but her infatuation with Michael initially lessened that loss.  After uncounted centuries, Rika was finally
tired of being trapped in her watery existence.  C
a
eli
discerned
that Rika could only join with someone
from
the proper bloodline.  Not only that,
but
the person
would
also
ha
ve
to be a willing volunteer or too feeble to prevent it.  C
a
eli
had
c
o
me close to the latter, but would never
intentionally choose
that fate
.