“The only family I had that would look at me like that, was my husband.”
Araxie's normally black scales tinged pink. “Leena, I'm sure that you're misreading things. He only had me sleep in his tent because—.”
“I'd do the same for anyone under my command.”
She didn't think that she could be any more embarrassed, and yet, her scales were looking more pink than black at the moment. When she turned around, she found that Proteus was indeed behind her.
Leena smiled. “I'll leave the two of you to talk.”
As the silver scaled knight returned to camp, Araxie almost wished for a current to take her away.
He leaned a hand on the hull of the ship. “You can't seriously think that I'd only want to help you because of your title?”
“I don't disbelieve it.”
He sighed. “Araxie, if anything it has more to do with other things.”
“My curse?” Araxie asked. “It's under control.”
“No.”
“Is it because I only just graduated from the Academy?”
“It's not that.”
He turned to look more closely at the beam of the ship under his hand. She moved to his side so she could still see his face.
“Then what is it?” she asked.
He was silent long enough that she thought he'd tell her. He opened his mouth to say something then paused again before saying, “It doesn't matter.”
“Of course it matters. If it's not my crown, curse, or experience why would you treat me differently?” She moved to be between him and the ship, so he had to meet her gaze.
The spark in his eyes held questions she couldn't put words to. “Because you've been through so much so recently.”
“What specifically have I been through?”
“That blue finned idiot.”
“Jett?” A flare of anger rose in her at his name, and she saw enough red to make a rose jealous.
She focused on breathing and putting the anger back in the box. Proteus's voice a murmur on the current as shadows started to tinge her vision. Only the shadows reminded her of that cell. They swirled together and apart, some towards her and others away. She reached out a hand for the closest one to her right, and it dispersed as quickly as a burst bubble. The others moved faster, and a buzzing started in her skull. The swirls and sound made her nauseous, and she reached out another hand to steady herself, and her fingers touched warm metal.
The darkness broke apart, and the only red she saw was Proteus's tail.
“. . . I don't think I want to either,” he said.
He waited for her response, but she had no idea what he'd said while she was dealing with the shadows.
“I'm sorry,” she said as she shook her head trying to clear away the last of the shadows.
“I see.” Proteus leaned back, and her hand fell off his metal chest plate. “It's probably time to return to camp anyway.”
The shadows surged back across her vision, this time aiming for him. Araxie lunged for him, grabbing his arm before he could leave. The darkness melted away leaving a very confused Proteus looking at her. She looked around, but didn't see anything aside from the ship behind her and Proteus in front of her.
“I just need to sit. Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought.”
“I'll get Tertis.” Proteus moved to leave.
“Stay,” She insisted. “I don't want the shadows to come back.”
“Shadows?” he asked. “What shadows?”
“Let's sit first.”
They moved slowly around the side of the ship for a place she could sit. As they rounded the bow, they found a large hole that had been blasted around the side. Gems and coins were spilled inside the ship. Proteus found a barrel that was mostly intact for her to sit. When she was settled he sat on the ground in front of her, so that she didn't have to let go.
“Explain.” He gazed at her intently. “Your eyes.”
“What?”
“They've turned red.”
“While we were talking, my vision turned as red as a rose.”
He lifted a brow, “A what?”
“It's a flower. Aquata loves to make perfume from them.”
He shook his head and refocused their conversation. “Do you still see red?” he asked. “Or shadows?”
“No just earlier, then the shadows surged everywhere. They moved so swiftly, and my head started buzzing so loud I felt sick. It didn't go away until I touched you.”
“Was this before or after you I told you how I felt.”
“I missed that actually.”
He let out a half chuckle. “Of course the first time I tell a mermaid I love her, she misses it.”
“Love?” Araxie's mouth popped open. Of all the things he could say, she hadn't expected that.
“There's the reaction I thought I'd get.” He smiled. “It's how I feel, but I know I have terrible timing. Years ago, I was enamored by your presence in Theia's workshop. I left Calder there because I had to find out more about you, but Alea was waiting in the hallway and pulled me away on a fake emergency. Then you met him and I lost my chance to be anything other than a friend.”
“Is that why you've been so distant?” She asked.
“I wanted to throw him in the darkest hole I could find when I found out about that night in the club.”
“Why didn't you say something?”
“I convinced myself you needed time and space to heal. Then the curse happened, and I've hated myself for not being able to stop it. I shouldn't have left you alone that day.”
Picking at an orange gem on the side of the barrel, with her free hand, Araxie wished for the right words to say to him. “I'm broken right now, just like this ship.”
Proteus looked away, “This ship may be broken, but I'd argue that the future for it will be more valuable than all the gems it lost.”
He pointed to four purple fish swimming in and out of the broken chest. More fish in other colors swam in and out of the gaps created by the shattered beams. As she watched the fish move about to build a new future from the wreckage she started to feel lighter, hopeful.
She let go of his arm slowly, relieved when the darkness didn't appear. “Let's deal with the curse and then we can have this conversation again.”
“Where do we go now?” Proteus asked. “Where’s Duxor?”
She pulled the clues from her pocket. “Find the lair of fire. What does that mean?”
Proteus picked up a discarded sword from the ship's wares. He began drawing a map of sorts in the scattered coins.
“We're here,” he said pointing to a red ruby. “Those cliffs are behind us to the north. To the west is the mountain of Ignis Dei. If we go east we have open ocean for days.”
“Ignis Dei, doesn't that mean god of fire? Didn’t Poseidon drown a volcano?”
He snapped his fingers. “Yes! Hepheastus sank Atlantis and Poseidon took out his volcano to keep it from happening again.”
“Hepheastus is a blacksmith that uses volcanoes as a forge that sounds like a lair of fire to me.”
“Let's tell the others.”