Chapter 11 #2
She laughed, a harsh sound setting my teeth on edge. “No, no, no. What a wonderful idea.” More laughter. “If only.”
A shame. “How do we cross the seas?” I wondered.
The Summer Sea sat between Summer and Spring, where the Autumn Sea separated Spring and Autumn.
“The bridges are too precarious,” she said. “They will be watched, as Kormac will know.”
The human nodded. “We avoided them.”
“And the Bridge of Stars is out of the question,” she added.
It would have been the quickest route to Winter but the route of quickest death.
Starlight Sea, separating the northwest of Summer and the southeast of Winter, was the most violent sea on Faerie.
Gentle on Summer’s shores, the mood maliciously twisting further out to sea.
Over the centuries, the situation had become more precarious, ever since the Tuatha’s demise.
With the Bridge of Stars gone to disconnect Winter from Summer, it only left crossing by boat. No boat or ship ever made it across.
“Do we have a boat to cross the water?” I asked.
Crossing the Summer Sea could be volatile in the wrong conditions, the Autumn Sea also a stormy crossing—a prospect already making my stomach lurch.
“We crossed by boat,” Kormac said.
Him and Ren.
“Yes, yes,” the old woman said with a wave of her gnarled hand. “A boat is well and good, though not the safest method unless we can find you a galleon ship.” She laughed. “I think not. I have a much better plan. A deal set and ready.”
We both waited for her to carry on with this.
Of course, she ate another shrimp first.
“There are mer once again lending me a favor,” she said after her rather loud mouthful of crustacean.
She had the exact same amount of fingers as before, missing some from the mer having taken them in exchange for mer algae. The mer algae had restored Kormac’s tongue after I…
“Are they to be trusted?” I asked, chasing my words with water.
I took his tongue. I saved his life.
“I loathe the mer,” she said. “As you know. But they have skills I will not deny, and I will call upon them should I need to.”
“And lose all of your fingers?” Kormac countered.
I expected her to laugh. Instead, she glowered at him. “They do not require a flesh price this time. Luckily for me, and luckily for you.”
“Did I offend you?” the human asked.
“I do all I can to help, even give my fingers.” She held up her hands, nodding at the stumps, which no longer looked infected. “Respect me, Kormac.”
“I do. I’m sorry.”
She grinned. “Never mind. This is a challenging situation.” She put her hand down. “May I finish?”
We both said yes.
“You have a merman to thank for this waiving of payment,” she said. “He knows you, Valance, and he is more than willing to help you cross the seas without having to risk the surface.”
“Adrian?” I asked.
“Yes. That’s him. A lovely young man.”
Indeed. A merman who’d fucked me in this year’s mer festival. “He really is.”
She chuckled. “Naughty prince. Anyway, he is waiting in the Summer Sea for you. And before you ask, there is a solution to you breathing underwater.” She laughed again and reached inside of her cloak.
Two small balls came out with her hand. A greenish blue, both of them smooth orbs.
“These are Breath of Water spheres. Made by the mer, not often used. They transform a human body into a mer body upon consumption, for as long as that human body dwells beneath the waves. Break the surface completely, and the transformation ends.”
“So we stay under there until the shores of Autumn,” I said.
“Correct, Valance.” She tossed a sphere to each of us. “You’re very clever.”
Thank you for the sarcasm. I caught mine. It was soft and rubbery. Cool to the touch.
“Chewy,” the old woman said. “Much like this shrimp.” She ate another, clearing her plate. “Though I think not.”
What did that mean?
“Take them when you are ready to leave,” she added.
Underwater. A mer body. Goodness, the oddities of this situation were relentless.
Swimming to Winter would be perilous, the waters there far too cold, even for mer. But how to pass through the mountains?
Get there first…
“I suppose you must clean up first,” the old woman said. “Do you see that over there?” She pointed her left middle finger to a shack that wasn’t there before. Made of logs with a pointed roof of the same, silver glimmers shining around its edges.
Strange magic again.
“What is that?” I asked, sitting upright with alert.
“A bath, Your Highness.” There was another plate of fresh shrimp in her lap. “You both stink.”
I looked to the human.
“After you,” he said.
“No, no, no,” the old woman interjected. “There are two baths in there.”
“There are?” I responded.
“Go and look for yourself. Everything you need is in there.”
“You put the shack there?”
“I did.”
“You can bring things into being, but you cannot send us north with odd magic,” I said.
She stared at me, eating shrimp without closing her mouth. Disgusting.
When she was done, she said, “I would ask you not to be so rude about my skills. They have helped you so far, and they can easily be kept inside my jar of hospitality.”
What did a jar of that nature look like? “I’m sorry, I—”
“You could go through this journey reeking to the high heavens. It does not affect me, though I suppose it does. I’ve had to sit here and endure the stench.
” She picked up a shrimp, the pink thing wobbling back and forth between her fingers.
“It almost put me off my food.” She shoved it into her mouth.
“Again, I apologize,” I said. “I mean no offense.”
“Good,” she replied with her mouth still full, spraying bits of shrimp into the air.
Revolting.
“We’re dealing with this as best we can,” Kormac interjected. “This is difficult for us, especially with the soul bond.”
She finished her food. “I know, but it is a key element in the quest. It keeps you both safe, as safe as you can be. Believe me when I say it is vital.”
“In what way?” I asked.
“Are we traveling these roads again?” She sighed. “Get to the heart of Winter. You will not question me any longer. If I have any information to relay, I shall do so. Such as where you can meet me again.”
“You can understand—”
She cut off my words. “Frustrating. Yes, yes, yes. Stop being so boring and listen.”
Did she value her head?
“You will meet me again in Autumn, slightly inland from the northeast coast.” She tossed something at Kormac. He snatched it easily.
“A new compass?” he said.
“Yes. Your other one is no longer with us.”
He reached into his pocket, finding nothing. “It’s gone.”
“Didn’t I just say that?” she snapped. “Now go and bathe and think about leaving soon. And before you ask another foolish thing, yes, the sea could clean you, but it would not be the same as taking a bath, would it?”
Rather than argue, I got up and walked barefoot across the grass to the shack, Kormac walking beside me.
“She’s the bossiest person I know,” he said.
“Indeed she is.”
Inside the shack were two baths, just about big enough for one person. Full of steaming perfumed water. Sponges floated on the surface of that inviting liquid. The floor was comprised of brown and white tiles, each one spotlessly clean.
“A part of me resists this,” I said. “That maybe all she wants to do is play with us, these baths somehow poisoned. But that is ridiculous.”
Kormac moved to check the water in both baths. “I understand. We’re putting too much faith in her.”
He didn’t keel over from a poisoning, and his hand did not melt.
“You’re being dragged along with me,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’ve no other choice. We have no choice but to let this run its course. It’s clear the soul bond won’t break until we get up there.” He bent his head, looking under the bath. There seemed to be an alcove there. “Towels.”
I saved you… Why did I save you? “I see.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I hate that she’s moving us like pieces on a Checkers board.”
“I loathe Checkers.”
“I prefer Goblin Draw. Maybe not so much now.”
Smiling before him felt strange, yet my lips spread into one. “I would be happy to never hear the term goblin again.”
He nodded. “How did hellpissers like them come up with such a fun card game?”
“I suppose everything needs a degree of pleasantness.”
“Like you.” He dropped his arms, looking puzzled. “By that, I mean…”
I waited for him to finish.
His olive skin flushed crimson. “Let’s get clean before the water turns cold.”
We’d both said things we didn’t care to admit.
He turned his back, I turned mine. I stripped quickly, slipping into the blissful water. Not casting a look over to him, blushing myself. A strange sensation for me. Nudity never sparked bashfulness in me—my own or that of others.
My how I was changing. Either that or losing myself temporarily while this saga lasted. Previously, I would have enjoyed seeing him strip, to finally see him in his full naked glory. I did want to see that, but my eyes would not drift his way.
So much for all that longing to be fucked.
“Oh, Danu,” I breathed, sliding into the heat. “This is incredible.”
Every part of my body luxuriated in it.
“It really is,” he agreed, releasing a deep purr of pleasure.
Goodness…
That tone…
The water was so full of soapiness, all it took was a few rubs of the sponge to lather up a creamy foam on my skin and in my hair. Bliss. The dirt was leaving me at last.
I didn’t linger in the water, wary of things turning sour.
As I stepped out, Kormac stood there, completely naked. Water sluiced down his body, the whorls of dark hair on his chest damp and inviting. His cock stood to attention, his arms pointed straight down at his sides. Panting. Hunger in his eyes.
Was it huger or rage? It couldn’t be rage, seeing as he wouldn’t be allowed such an indulgence toward me for long.
Then what? Was this in my head? Was I dozing in the bath, dreaming up naked scenarios?
“Kormac?” I said, my skin flushing in recognition of my own nakedness. Again. Goodness, I didn’t enjoy this timidity.
“You saved my life,” he said, his hands curling into fists.