From the Depths
Breath of Life

Back on the beach once again, the sun had begun to sink beneath the waves, blanketing the area in an orange hue. Henry had insisted that they stop by the mess hall to get some food before their day, or rather the night continued. Her rumbling stomach not wanting to disagree, she was happy for the small amount of nutrition the slightly stale bread provided.

She’d had to light a lantern so they could descend the stairs, which was much more terrifying now in the approaching dark, as she couldn’t see all that far in front of her anymore. The tiny flickering light was all that stopped her from falling to her death, that and Henry’s strong grip on her forearm.

Henry had told her the King would likely come by way of the village, which was around the side of the beach, like he had when he was bringing supplies during the day. That made sense, though she did envision the King trying to take these death traps called stairs and falling... no, more like rolling down these very steep stone steps. She couldn’t help it, it put a smile on her face.

Now that they were alone again, she pushed the very question that still plagued her. “So, why do you think the King hasn’t been killed yet?”

He shot her a look, glancing around he sighed. “Use code words like with the King earlier at the very least, Christ, you’ll have our heads.”

Their feet hitting the sand they made their way over to the cliff edge, which now doubled as a hidden entrance.

“The leach has too much money to throw around, money and land equal power. He has the means to give it out and he does, to the right people.” He concluded.

“Don’t you mean the wrong people?” She corrected.

“Precisely, why get rid of something that benefits vial men’s needs?”

“It’s only the needs of the nobles though.”

“And who has the military control?”

“The nobles.” They both said in unison.

“Unless some vigilante for the people comes along, he will stay in power. All because people are greedy.” He was all too right and it stung. "Even on with his death one of his benefactors would just take over and the cycle would repeat."

"But he has no sons or daughter." She pointed out.

"Purcelsly my point, the nobles would fight and bicker over who would take his place next, but in the end, they are all the same. Cruel vial men that only care for wealth."

She sighed, he wasn't wrong. "No escape from powerful men when the world is so corrupt."

"Not the world, this Kingdom."

"Why stay then?"

Henry raised a brow at her, "Why do you say?"

"This is my homeland, I have family and friends that are at risk if I leave."

He huffed not responding to her statement, though she now knew the answer. It did beg the question, who was important to him that he would stay? But it didn't matter. Placing her hand on the rock wall to open the invisible doorway. “Give me a shout when the King is here.”

“It’s not treasure is it?”

She raised a brow at him. “I cannot confirm nor deny for fear of my head. But I will try to convince the King to let you in on this, I could honestly use a hand with it.” She slipped inside leaving him with more questions than answers since he’d not seen anyone use the entrance yet.

“You can hear me still?” He called out from the other side.

She giggled. “Yes, loud and clear.” She responded. "Henry?"

She waited for a moment when he didn;t respond she pooped her head back through causing him to yelp in surprise. "You can't hear me on the other side?" She questioned as a floating head.

He shook his head.

"Huh, interesting. Probably to our advantage. I can hear you just fine, so just call out when you see him."

He nodded again still open-mouthed and looking dumbfounded.

Disappearing from his sight she lit a lantern and tentatively walked to the water's edge. She couldn’t see much as the night sky that was mimicked from the outdoors was cloudy, no moonlight shone on the water’s surface, making the water appear deep, dark and ominous. All her tools and supplies had been moved inside, she lit a few extra lanterns and spread them out inside the cavern, the little lights slowly filled the area with a soft warm glow.

She searched the water for him, only spotting a deep dark mass in the pool. He had probably been pushed down pretty deep after he had been thrown into the pool by the magic stone. She needed to get him to the surface, the water wasn’t being aerated yet, that was her next project. For now, she needed to retrieve him and get him into the shallows so he could at least breathe the air from above the surface. Just like with small fish in a tank coming to the surface and gulping up the air when there isn’t enough oxygen in the tank water. The premise was the same, or so she surmised.

Stripping down she put on the unlady-like swimming garments. They were a pair of briefs that men wore and a tight-fitting shirt of the same material. She jumped into the water diving deep, forcing her eyes open they stung as the salty water invaded her vision. She pushed past the slight discomfort and swam for the Siren. It was darker in the water than out, but she could still make out his green skin against the dark stone of the bottom of the pool.

She reached his side and his head tilted to look at her, he was fully conscious, she hadn’t expected that. She waved a little hello under the water, inching herself toward him, he didn’t shy away, or maybe he didn’t have the strength to. He didn't seem to be moving much on his own.

She very gently hooked her arm in his, his eyes blinking at her a few times as their skin touched. She had expected his skin to be slick and scaly, but it oddly felt more human than she had anticipated. Kicking her legs she began to pull the Siren to the surface. She wanted to take him up slowly, but she was beginning to run out of air herself and he was heavy, much heavier than she had thought.

Her head burst through the water as she gasped for air, regaining her composure she lightly pulled him over the swallows. His body didn’t appear to be very buoyant at the moment, she couldn’t manage to lift him high enough out of the water to have him breathe on his own yet. He watched her curiously, his eyes seeming to dart around a little as he was closer to the surface, and yet he still didn’t seem to panic.

The next step was quite tricky as she found the spines that ran along his back and down his tail were extremely sharp. She had to be careful with the hand placement as she pushed him up onto the ledge of the swallow bank that had been created for them. To her surprise he managed to grab hold of the ledge and helped to flick his tail up, it erupted out of the water with a massive splash. Did he know what she was trying to do for him, was he that intelligent? Incredible.

Heaving herself up onto the ledge she positioned herself beside his head, gently taking hold of his neck, her hands replaceing the silky smoothness of his hair intriguing as she shimmied her lap under his head. The moment his head broke the surface he gasped taking in a huge breath of air. She kept his gills on his neck beneath the water as she held his head up high enough for him to take in the air. The gasping lessened as he began to breathe normally, slowly he appeared to relax in her hands and onto her lap, settling in. His eyes closed as he breathed through his nose and she could have sworn she saw a small smile on the side of his lips. His head lulled to the side as he nestled into her stomach, his eyes drifting open to look at her. She smiled down at him, it would be easy to become lost in those eyes, he was truly a beautiful creature.

She watched in complete amazement as his body slowly seemed to fill with colour, the dull horrible green turned to a vibrant emerald shade, and the burns on his skin slowly healed and disappeared completely. She couldn’t explain it, it was like nothing she had ever witnessed... well actually that was a lie, this day had been full of interesting endeavours.

With him nuzzled into her lap and abdomen, her hands were freed, though they lingered in his hair for a moment. Sliding the tips of her fingers over the silky tips it felt the same as human hair, smooth and full, not wirey as she had anticipated.

Her fingertips moved to examine his ears next, they were pointed out and finlike in appearance, though the internals were like nothing she had ever seen in marine life. It was almost as though he had a combination of deep-sea and land-dwelling manual ears, fascinating. Did they adapt and change according to the dept he was currently occupying?

Her finger brushed along the outside of the lope causing his shoulders to bunch up and his whole body to shiver. She abruptly pulled her hand back.

"Sorry, did that tickle?"

He blinked up at her his eyes slightly wider than before, was he trying to understand her? Those gleaming eyes held questions she only wished she could answer. She couldn't help but wonder what he thought of her and this situation. Did he understand that he was a prisoner to a horrible King who only wanted to keep him as a pet?

"Incoming!" Henry's voice rang out loudly.

Her breath caught, the sudden announcement startling her. Bringing herself back to the present. Sighing she smiled down at the Siren again.

“Will you be okay if I let you go for a few minutes?” She asked not expecting a reply.