After Ice

I Heard a Rumor

"Miss!" 

I keep walking, head down, heart a wild thing in my ribcage.

"Oy Miss! Where you going!" 

I stop, take a deep breath, and spin around with a smile on my face. The guard takes note of my blue eyes, and his expression darkens. Keep smiling. 

"Where're you going, Missy?" he asks again gruffly. 

"I wanted to see the Mer, sir," I say, pitching my voice higher and swishing my tunic. "My sister says she saw him today, and I got a little curious. She's not the most truthful of girls you see, and I don't believe her. I was wondering if maybe you could show me? She's been going on and on and I just couldn't take it. Siblings, you know?" I smile some more, tilting my head so the light doesn't illuminate my eyes as much. 

My heart begins beating traitorously faster until he lets out a rough laugh.

"The Mer's real alright. Gave a few of our crew some bruises to remember. Be out quick, Miss." 

"Oh thank you, officer!" I beam, cringing to myself. Never hurts to lay it on. The guard escorts me down echoey corridors until we reach the very end of the building.

"Just down there. Got a bit of an attitude if you ask me." He chuckles to himself as I nod and descend the cobblestone stairs, careful not to slip in my rain boots. The stairway leads into a chamber with a singular cell in it. A lonely torch casts a dim glow over everything, throwing my flickering shadow onto the damp wall. Taking it off its rack, I head over to the cell, holding the torch up. Flames dance back and forth as if straining to be free, illuminating the holding space.

Inside I can see the outline of the Mer, his dark form melding with that of the wall. He's leaning against it, eyes closed, legs splayed out in front of him. In the dark, the blood on his hands and feet appears black. 

"Who are you?" My voice echoes off the walls of the cell, but the boy shows no sign of hearing me. "What are you?"

"You know what I am." His eyes open, but he doesn't look at me, only the bars of the cell.

"I know you were one of the Merpeople," I say carefully, knowing my curiosity will kill me one day. "Was, anyway."

"Was." He sighs, craning his head up at the mildewy ceiling. I wait in tense silence that can only be described as awkward.

"Why'd they banish you?" I ask finally. He lets out a snort as if exclaiming 'this is getting a bit too personal.'

"Why'd you come down here? I'm not for your entertainment." The boy looks at me, the light of the torch making his eyes shift. Navy, green, grey, teal. 

"My sister said there was a Merperson-" I being, pouting. 

"Oh shut it," he scoffs. "You don't have a sister." 

I clamp my mouth shut, staring back at him angrily. Still angrily, I reach inside my rainjacket and pull out the sandy bread, setting it down inside the cell. He eyes it but doesn't move, his eyes drifting back to my face which begins to burn as if he's making fun of me. 

"Why aren't you running from me, little girl?"

"I'm not very fast," I snap back. The boy does not seem to find this amusing. "And I'm not a little girl, I'm quite mature for my age too."  The Mer still just looks at me, and I want to slap that look off his cold face. 

I leave the cell with my nerves rattling, thanking the guard outside and heading home in the oppressing dark. 

*

When I come back the next night, the sandy bread is gone. 

Thank goodness because I brought another one, and it would be awkward as hell if I just kept stockpiling them in here. Assuming he ate the last one, I set the new loaf down inside.  

"What's your name?" I ask, trying to be more civil. He's moved a whopping two arms since last time, elbows on his knees. 

"What's yours?" 

I'm about to pull out the I asked you first, but the fact that he's willing to talk overrides my need for being a smartass. 

"Shai." His eyes widen, and I narrow my own at him. "Well, my full name is Shailene, but that's what everyone calls me-" I don't finish because he's suddenly just there in front of me, a foot away. 

I don't step back. This stupid pride move might get me strangled through the bars. 

"Your name is Shai?" Slowly, I nod. Did I not say it clearly enough? We're directly on opposite sides of the cell, close enough that I'm uncomfortable. Close enough to be in range of him. One of his hands grips the bars, the other hesitantly hovering as if making up its mind. The Mer glances at me quickly, and I raise my eyebrows. And then I don't think I can move.

Rough fingers gently push my jaw to the side, inhumanly cold. I clench my fists to keep from slapping him away when he pulls back just as fast as if burned. Don't think about the blood he might have got on you-

"What?" My voice doesn't shake, but I can tell there's something...off.

"Shai is a Mer name you know," he says flatly. I stare at him, weighing in to see how much he's kidding. "You have the mark and everything."

"The mark? Oh," I laugh. "Yeah, it's called a birthmark. Apparently, it gives me superpowers and makes me super deadly to Merpeople-" his face doesn't budge. I clear my throat again. "It comes just as naturally as your tattoos." And then this sea boy turns his own head. Behind his left ear, a tattoo curls up. Blue.

"Yeah, mine isn't blue," I retort. "We don't come in that color." He grins wickedly and points at his own eyes, and I feel the urge to cover my own. 

"You're a child of the sea."

"No-"

"That's why you're not running."

"Why won't you tell me your name?" I snap quickly, lungs feeling unnaturally empty. It's the Mer's turn to glare at me, and I glare right back. It's hard to concentrate, my eyes feeling the need to flicker down to the latticework of tattoos that cover his forearms and high up on his chest. 

I jump when I hear the guard I saw last night come down the stairs. He glances at the boy, then back to me cautiously. 

"I-I was just leaving," I stammer, moving towards the door. One of the guard's arms comes out to block me, and I stare at the ground, heart hammering. 

Shit.

"May I go, sir?" I ask quietly, feeling the Mer's eyes on my back. 

"No, Miss," he coughs, and my stomach clenches. "I have a job for ya."