Lucia's Reign

Chapter 16

~Sera~

I was sitting with Mahdi when it happened. The door to his room burst open. A guard swam in with urgency played all over his face.

"Your highnesses," he says. "The mermaid Astrid has arrived at the palace."

I try and sit up, but my head spins a little, so I sit back down. Astrid is alive! Des needed to know immediately.

"Thank you. Where is she right now?" I ask holding my head.

"She has been rushed down here for minor injuries, but she doesn't look well."

"Thank you. Please go inform my brother that she has arrived, and she is in the infirmary."

He bows and leaves the room. I continue to wince as my head pounds.

"You're still not feeling well Sera. You need to rest," Mahdi says as he squeezes my hand.

I shake my head. "I know," I respond. I knew I wasn't going to win this with him. Best to quit now before it gets worse. "I'm going to go back to my room."

He gives me a small smile, and I return it. I lean down and kiss him, before standing the best I could, and swimming out of the room. As I make my way back to my room, I run right into Des.

"Where is she?" Des asks frantically.

"I don't know. They must've rushed her into a room," I reply still holding my throbbing head.

I wince, and Des must've seen it. "Are you alright?"

"Not really. I'm going to go lay back down in my room. Tell me when you find her."

I swim past Des, and into my room. The lava lamps are dimmed for my condition. So I just go ahead and lay down on the bed. I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I see is an empty pit of darkness.

I'm in the duca's palazzo. I'm laying on a bed near the back of the main room, just under the entrance from the dry land. As I look up I see the duca hard at work with something. Becca is up near the surface, until she swims back down.

Suddenly I'm in excruciating pain. I'm crying out, but it is easily drowned out by banging at the door. Mahdi hears my cries, and races to my side. He grabs my hand and tells me that I'm going to be alright.

The pain goes on for what feels like forever. The banging doesn't go down. Instead they increase which somehow makes my pain worse. It only ends when I'm holding a small bundle in my arms. A girl. My daughter.

Out of the corner of my eye I see two little boys who swim up to the bed. They look exactly like Mahdi and me. I'm crying as I hold the bundle. I have no idea why. They aren't tears of happiness. They are tears of sadness. I guess I didn't know what was about to come.

I hear a splash from above, and look up to find the duca swimming down with a vial. I hand him our daughter, and he begins to swim to the surface. I watch as he pours the liquid onto her tail. Then with a bright light, her tail transforms into legs. He lifts her out of the water, and a part of me tells me that I will never see her again.

I lean over and sob into Mahdi's chest. He takes it all. The banging becomes aggressive, and I know that we are caught. So instead of hiding, I sit up straight, and prepare for the worst.