The Heir of Depths
17

They kept this sword and combat training for an entire week until their departure from the island. Every time Merrick and Arline crossed words or swords, either of them ended up wounded, to the point where Zeroun had to intervene before they severely hurt each other.

The goodbye was short but the locals had the kind gesture to fill the ship with supplies for their voyage back home. Tua Nui, and the local goldsmith gifted Arline a sword made of black iron, sharp enough to cut through wood with one slash. Its handle was embellished with pearls, colored in dark shades of green and blue. The sword came next to a smaller box that contained a necklace made with the pearls that were found in the cave and that Merrick had shown her.

After the latest incidents, the crew had collectively agreed to have Arline working with them, but didn’t want her as close as before. At the end of the day, they weren’t her friends but sailors, very superstitious sailors.

The days on the ship passed with good weather, no problems and no lessons. Merrick and Arline weren’t talking to each other and she chose to spend her nights on the crow’s nest, just to be as far away from him as possible, something he didn’t particularly enjoy nor eased his bad mood.

But Merrick, or no one, could blame her. Arline hadn’t asked for anything that had happened. She was there by pure coincidence of destiny. Since the moment she had fallen on that cursed island a few weeks ago, her life had been a succession of disgrace after disgrace, and only got worse.

“He wants to see you” one of the members of the crew said to her from a distance one night. She just nodded and headed to his quarters. As she entered, she could tell it was empty and headed back outside.

“He’s not in-“ she was saying when a big hand covered her mouth and easily lifted her up, carrying her down the stairs to the deck. Arline started kicking her captor and tried screaming for help, but they muffled her with an old piece of cloth that had a mix of disgusting odors. For the first time in days, Arline wished she was by Merrick’s side.

“He won’t like this” she tried articulating through the muffle. I don’t like this she thought, she was very angry, but as Merrick had lectured her, don’t let your emotions control your powers. She received a slap across her cheek that left a burning feeling. She tried screaming until her throat stung hoping the Captain or his right hand would hear her, feeling as if it was cut open from the inside.

“It is not as if you have been close this past days, witch” one man said while tying her limbs together.

“No, but you clearly don’t know how to follow simple orders sailor” Merrick said from behind him with a grim look on his face. His sole presence was intimidating. Not to mention he was livid. His orders were disobeyed and Arline was compromised once again.

“Sir she...” a young boy tried to explain but the Captain just had to lift an eyebrow for him to shut up.

“Untie her now” he ordered calmly, but with an imperceptible growl on his voice.

Those youngest were instantly regretting taking part in such thing and disobey the Prince, but the oldest members were surrounding the Captain. They wanted to attack him. To have a mutiny and take the ship as a protest for making them part of this voyage, for compromising their lives in such a way and, most importantly, for making them travel with a “witch”. Merrick had to laugh when he realized what they were trying to do.

“Very well” he said with a smug.

In the dark night, shadows with dragging limbs emerged from the dark corners of the ship, only lightened by candles and the moon light. They were crawling to meet the stubborn sailors who had the nerve to disobey the Dark Prince. The shadows tickled their bodies as they climbed up and rested their long hands on the sailors’ necks. Then they applied pressure, closing their airways and making them fall to their knees.

Merrick didn’t need to ask who the responsible for the murder attempt on Arline’s life was. It was who captured her and who dared slapped her. The Prince headed towards him. A young man who couldn’t be much older than Larsin was trying his best to replace air.

“Give me a good reason” Merrick questioned him. The look on his face was of emptiness, as if this boy’s life didn’t mean anything to him.

“She’s a witch” the boy managed to say with a raspy voice as the shadow barely pulled away.

“I don’t know if you remember what I said at the beginning of this trip” the boy looked confused as the Prince whispered this words in his ear “Anyone who stepped a foot out of line with her, would have his head hanging from the spear” The boy’s face was filled with terror in an instant but his eyes were very telling. He wasn’t sorry for putting the life of the Prince’s guest on the line.

The shadow surrounded the poor soul’s neck again. This time lifting his body across the deck and letting him fall above the spear. The scene was macabre. The spear had pierced across his body and killed him instantly. His eyes and mouth were open and started dripping blood like a waterfall.

“Remember your positions sailors” he loudly spoke to his crew as he released from his shadows, that returned to the dark corners from where they’d come from “And you remember yours” he said to Arline on their way up to his cabin.

“What the hell was that for?” She asked once inside where no one could hear them. She was shocked and her stomach turned when she saw that boy hanging like a lifeless puppet “Merrick” she insisted.

He went in front of the bowl and started washing his hands carelessly to what had happened, and didn’t care to answer to her question. She approached him but he avoided every part of her. “I’m sorry Arline” he finally sighed. Such thing took her by surprise, she had expected him to yell at her or to curse her, not to apologize to her “For everything that I’ve put you through”

“Merrick, I don’t care” she said.

“No, let me finish” Merrick insisted to her.

“Why?” Her voice denoted a confused tone “I don’t want your apology, I don’t care what has happened during this time” She was lying, she did care, in fact she hated everything that had happened, she was angry and annoyed towards him. But she couldn’t totally blame the one person who cared about her powers.

“You will hate me even more after what I’m going to ask you” he sounded ashamed for the first time since she had met him. Now she was even more confused. “Arline I need to know about your past” he requested her.

“No” she instantly said and went to the other side of the room.

“I need to know” he insisted.

“You want to know, there’s a difference” she said with a low tone.

“If you face what’s bothering you, it’ll allow you to master your gift in every way possible” he explained her “I won’t think poorly of you if you’ve committed a sin before”.

“You can’t assure me that” she quickly responded, sounding worried.

He went to her side and locked eyes with her. It was the first time they were alone in a while and despite how much she wanted to hate him and slap him again, she couldn’t because Arline knew Merrick just wanted to help her.

“How much do you want me to tell you?” She sighed.

“I’ll have to see it for myself” he said

“What?”

“I can read minds, I thought you knew” he was surprised.

“I thought about it but I gave up on the idea” she confessed “Does it hurt?” She asked him.

“Having your mind read? No, directly watching memories? Yes”

“God help me” she sighed under her breath.

“Come” he gave her his hand and they both kneeled on the rug, facing each other. He placed the tips off his fingers on the back of her neck, pressing his thumbs against her jawline.

One second he felt his knees on the soft material of the carpet and the next one, he was standing on hard soil, on a field were he could see a modest house and people, he quickly approached the gathering.

He chose to lean over a tree. Merrick knew they couldn’t see him and that he was just a spectator. It was just a family having lunch with a burning fire behind them, laughing and telling jokes and stories.

When he saw Arline laughing, he didn’t understand how this could be the same rage-filled girl who had been trying to stab him for an entire week, or how this could be the memory that didn’t let her powers blossom gracefully.

But her expression suddenly became more serious when a tough man came out of the main door. He had an angry expression all over his face. The Prince could tell that man was her father just by how similar they looked.

Merrick saw Arline close her eyes when he started speaking in her ear. Her lips were trembling but she got up and faced him. It took him by surprise the reaction her father had. The man grabbed her by her neck and pushed Arline against the brick wall and threw her to the floor, ordering her to stay there, the way you do with a bad-behaving dog. Some of the people there tried to stop and reason with him.

Arline was crawling to her father’s feet, with tears on her eyes, and sat there, facing him. In a split second, she chose to grab one of his ankles and he lost balance, falling backwards and slamming his head against the edge of the table and laid unconscious on the floor. Her family was just staring at her, in disbelief to what she had done.

She stood up but didn’t know what to do. Arline began running with tears on her eyes, all the way through the fields, away from her family. Merrick followed her. He understood it. That day was the day she had landed on the island, the same day Larsin had found her.

He came back to the ship to replace Arline screaming in pain, holding his wrists trying to pull him away. But he didn’t, he embraced her in a hug. Arline left everything wrong between them behind and accepted the hug, she was breathing heavily and he just stroked her hair and caressed her back lightly.

As soon as she felt his touch, Arline tried giving him explanations for her reaction, trying to clean her soul “Don’t think you’re a bad person for what you did” Merrick said after her breathing began slowing down.

“He’s my father” she said on a whisper.

“You don’t owe him anything” she looked at him with tears forming on her eyes and her voice felt tight, as if she was holding back her crying “He is supposed to protect you from any harm, not to be the one thing that is putting you at risk” he cleared those tears with his thumbs.

“Don’t tell anyone, please” she begged him.

“I get nothing from it Arline” she assured her.

She got up slowly and washed her face. Then she placed her tired frame on the couch were she fell asleep instantly. All the exhaustion, terror and adrenaline of the past weeks settling on her like an anvil.