Part Three
"Please, Father, he was only trying to save his friends."
"You weren't supposed to be there."
"I was worried about my Grindylows," Araxie tried, sitting on the rock edge of her bed. Her father paced her room, hands clasped behind his back and tail swishing angrily. She had tried batting her eyelashes at him, but he wasn't having any of it.
"You could've been hurt," he repeated for the seventeenth time, eyes blazing. "What were you thinking? And don't bother with the Grindylow excuse, I will not buy it!"
Araxie sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her father simply would not listen to her. Had he not escorted her to her room himself, he would have been up above the surface, demanding that the green-eyed human be brought back down to him for justice. No human could be as rude and disrespectful as he was and get away with it.
"He was only trying to save his friends. I would've done the same as he did," Araxie tried again, pouting.
Trenton turned around, placing the full power of his glare upon her. She shuffled back a little, cowed by the storm in his eyes. "Did you save him because you love—" Shaking his head, he didn't finish the sentence.
Araxie gasped, shaking her head. She would never betray her family, her race to fall for a human. She had only admired his bravery, that was all… wasn't it? Tears pricked the corner of her eyes and she blinked them away.
Looking at her father with determination, she said, "No, Daddy, please, I would never—"
"I need to speak to the Headmaster."
Turning his back to her, her father swam towards her door. What a mess. A tear slid down her face, making it halfway down her cheek before vanishing in the water around her. Did humans cry? What happened to their tears? Squeezing them shut, she shook her head and stood up. She would never know if her father severed ties with the race.
Swimming forward, she gripped her father's arm, forcing him to turn around.
"Please, Father, please don't go there," she begged, locking her eyes onto his. Swallowing, she continued with the only strategy she had left, "What would you have done if I was tied there? He didn't know it those humans weren't in actual danger… If I was stuck up there on land, would you allow someone else to leave me there? Or would you want someone to rescue me?"
Her father blinked, the storm softening. In a strained voice, he replied, "I must go."
Araxie allowed her father to pull his arm away, sinking back into the sand. What had she done?
Bringing her tail up to her chin, she allowed more tears to disappear into the water. Why did she care, anyway? It was just a human. A stupid, unpredictable, disrespectful human. She could never be with him, even if she actually wanted to. Which she didn't. The gills were fake, the webbed feet were fake, and if she were to really get to know him, she would probably come to see that his bravery was fake. No, she didn't like him.
Blowing out a few bubbles, she waited for a few minutes before getting up. She may as well go and see the extent of the damage, or at the very least try and apologise to the human for not helping in the least with her father's temper.
Kai met her as she swam out, his face pulled up in a sheepish smile. "Uh, sorry I bailed on you," he said, taking her webbed hand in his.
Funny, her heart didn't erupt like it usually did at his touch. Perhaps she was tired. With a shrug, she followed him up the rest of the way, aiming for a break in the waves away from her father.
As they broke the surface, her eyes burned from the sound of cheering. Looking around, hands pressed over her small ears, she saw thousands of Wizards and Witches sitting on benches. They were waving pieces of material on sticks, mouths opening to create the horrendous sound. A few of them blew large, golden horns, only resulting in a bigger noise.
Kai tapped her shoulder, motioning that he was going to go back under. She nodded, planning on doing the same, when she clapped eyes on the green-eyed boy. He was surrounded by a few other humans who rubbed his shoulders. He was smiling; odd for someone who was to be taken prisoner in a lake.
Looking over, hands still covering her ears, she saw her father watching her. He dipped his head, a small smile on his thin lips. He had changed his mind and the boy was safe—at least for now. Beside him, a tall human with piercing blue eyes and a long, white piece of hair dangling from his chin waved at her, confirming her thoughts.
Smiling back at him, she turned back to the boy. He was too far away to speak with, not that that mattered. It was a miracle in itself that any of them had understood her clue to come to the lake in the first place. Still, her cheeks flushed at the thought of the boy hearing her song, and she found herself hoping that she sounded somewhat decent. If only he would look her way, she might give him a wave.
The boy was looking around, apparently shocked that he was still alive. The brown-haired human was with him, and as Araxie watched, her smile faltering, it bent down and wrapped the boy in a tight embrace.
It was time to go. Feeling like she was carrying a stone in her stomach, she sunk back down into the safety of the lake. Kai swam to her, pulling faces at the strange ruckus the humans were making, but she didn't see him.
"We were meant to fall apart," she whispered.
"What?" Kai asked, clutching her hand.
Shaking her head, Araxie smiled. "Nothing," she said, squeezing his hand back. The human was safe, and she had Kai.
She would never fall in love with a human, for Mermaids and humans were only meant to fall apart.
