Page 48 of Sea's Secret

I would love to be without pain, but that is not for her to fix.

“The curse hurts. I am sorry my nightmares affect you. I can sleep somewhere else if you think–”

“No–” she interrupted as I began to move as if to stand. “Please, I can help you.” She reached out for me.

“No,” I grunted, standing even though her hand clasped onto my coat tighter. I tugged until she released me, and I walked to the mouth of the cave.

“I can heal you. I have healing magic,” I heard her cry out to me.

Meria had told me stories that her people had passed down since the Great War. Humans had taken mermaids hostage for their magical healing abilities, but that came at a great cost to the mermaids. I did not know exactly what it took from them to heal another, and I did not know if she could heal an Ancient’s curse. Curses were most likely too powerful for that; I would never ask it of her.

I should have been kinder that night when she first woke me up, but I wasn't kind. It was better she found out on the island than later after we were rescued, I reasoned.

After that night, I still woke up from nightmares, at times, like I usually did during the night, but Meria was always near me. Sometimes, the pains manifested as grotesque nightmares, wherein I felt as if I were those people whose pain I had taken. I twitched, and I knew that I groaned and grunted in my sleep. However, we never spoke about it again. Meria was still beside me each time I woke up–constantly beside me–steadily, her warmth brought me back to the cave where we were and away from the pains I had taken from people–and also inflicted. Our eyes connected. Often she cried, and I wished I could wipe those tears away, but I had no gloves and would never take a chance on hurting Meria. So I looked at her, our eyes locking, and a small, sad smile covered her face, her tears dripping onto my arm.

In the dark, I nodded to her after our eyes connected, and I shifted, feeling her hand making circular movements on my arm until I fell asleep. And after I woke up like that and then fell back asleep with Meria beside me, the nightmares went away for the rest of the night.

However, the third night was the most different of all.

We ate dinner, as we always did, by firelight. I cooked a fish, and Meria ate some seaweed and a small part of the cooked fish, although she didn't particularly enjoy it. After dinner, we retreated to the cave floor to sleep. Meria placed the white sail underneath us, along with some sand to cushion us from the hard floor. It was a large improvement. As I was settling down in my spot, I felt Meria beside me; she was very close. Her side was pressed against my back.

“What are you doing?” I asked, turning my head to see her there.

“So, I am cold tonight and wondered if I could lay beside you, now, instead of waking up in the night, shivering and then laying beside you.”

It was true, we always ended up close anyways, so I did not see a problem with it.

“That’s fine.” I said, turning back around to face the cave wall. She shifted a little bit, and I tried to not move even an inch.

“I don’t like sleeping on land; it’s so different,” she whispered.

“How so?”

“The lack of movement. The constant movement of the waves always rocked me to sleep,” she said.

“It’s like that on a ship–it rocks back and forth. Some sailors do not like it, but I miss that.”

“That is promising, when the ship comes.”

I was on my back and turned my head to look over at her back. She was on her side, facing the small fire. I watched as my chest rose and fell, rhythmically back and forth. I had an idea, and my heart fluttered. It had been doing that often around Meria, which was new to me.

“Come here–” I began. She turned onto her other side, looking at me.

“What?” she asked, confused.

I turned to my side, facing her. “Press your back against my chest. I have an idea.”

She shifted, and her back pressed against my chest. My hands twitched beneath me, desiring to wrap themselves around her and pull her in closer for warmth.

“Like this?” she asked with her back pressed against my chest.

“Yes, perfect. Close your eyes.” I shifted a little bit, gathering part of the sail and wrapping it around one of my hands. I pressed it against her back and rocked her slightly, back and forth.

She chuckled. “Dominick, you are a genius, but you can’t do this all night.”

“I’ll rock you to sleep. Then I will fall asleep. You deserve a good night’s rest.”

“So do you–”

---