The Hour of the Crow

Chapter 27: The Merfolk Tribe

The only reason why Arran had a remote idea of what the Qazri Lagoon looked like was the poorly done painting in Zohra's storeroom, which she had made as a young woman during a vacation. However, if the fortune teller's amateurish work still had managed to capture the magical allure of the landscape, reality magnified that beauty tenfold.

A shell-shaped bay curled into a long, white lane of sand. About fifty or so paces inward, the beach melted into a lush forest of palm trees and exotic flowers in the most beautiful shades of red. The lagoon itself glimmered azure and turquoise in the late afternoon sun, the water transparent down to the rocky bottom. Even from this height, Arran spotted large schools of colorful fish swimming around lazily, unafraid. A natural archway carved into a high rock protected their home from the open sea, its passage too narrow for the largest predators.

Except for one type of predator. At least a dozen members of the merfolk lay nearby on a rock, sunbathing with their fluorescent tails on full display. They were all long-haired women, their naked upper bodies clammy with salted water. His mouth turned dry at the sight. Embarrassed, he averted his gaze, only to find Inna staring at the mermaids with a similar blush on her cheeks.

"Enjoying the view, are we, princess?" he teased, elbowing her gently in the ribs.

She snorted, though it didn't sound very genuine. "Only as much as you do, thief."

The wind wiped the grin off his face as the carpet began its swift descent and his stomach plummeted along with it. Curious, a few mermaids lifted their heads to follow their course down to the beach. The merfolk were said to be fond of human visitors, and he imagined they would be all too delighted to meet the newcomers in their bay. Indeed, two of them already dove into the water to get a closer look.

A little crab, its cream-colored legs and pincers the perfect camouflage in the sand, scurried away when the carpet settled down near the shoreline. Arran checked his immediate surroundings for any more of those six-legged creatures before sticking a cautious toe into the sand. It burned hot under the soles of his feet.

Inna's neck popped while she rolled it. "Gods, I'd love to go for a swim now."

"Come join us, then," a high, husky voice spoke from the water. A mermaid with carmine red hair had surfaced about five paces into the lagoon, her moist lips pulled up into a beatific smile. Her blue eyes had no pupils, a stark reminder of the god who had created her kind: Urika, the god of the rivers and seas. His creation had inspired his brother Baldaruh, the god of nature, to mould his own intelligent species from the newly shaped continents, the humans.

Inna answered the mermaid's smile with a dazzling one of her own. "Sounds lovely, but I wouldn't want my friend here to get jealous, right?" She winked at Arran.

"Oh, but I wouldn't mind his company either." Though her tone conveyed innocence, he felt his cheeks warm up all the same.

His eyes glided downward, to where her wet hair splayed out across her bare breasts. He felt a spark of arousal, but not for the mermaid. Inna had moved closer to him; her hair brushed his arm and her breath was hot on his neck, a constant distraction that sent ripples of desire down his spine.

"I think the heat has gotten to his head," Inna commented dryly. When he turned his head, she glared back at him. Her lips formed a taut line.

His own mouth softened around the corners. "Robbing me of my fun?" he whispered, so quietly the mermaid wouldn't hear.

She gave him a look that said he could jump into the lagoon and drown himself. "Anyway, we're not here to play in the water," she continued, giving him a wide berth. She had resumed her role of authoritative, impatient princess. "We would like to call on the expertise of the merfolk tribes to help us with solving a mystery."