Page 91 of Sworn to My Heart
Luckily, I’m underwater now; otherwise, tears would be streaming down my face again. I’ve had more than enough of those lately.
I lie down, and she follows, turning her back to me in her favorite sleeping position. I smile to myself at the familiar feeling it brings and hug her back as we fall asleep. Tomorrow I see Luca again and we’re going to fix everything. No more running away; it’s time to fight back.
I wake up with a start as Bay shakes me with excited shouts in the morning.
I look around and remember where I am—I’m home.
“Are you crazy? I didn’t come back here to die of a heart attack,” I snap at her, and she laughs. Looks like there will be no peace for me today.
“Come on, we have to make the most of your last day as a single woman,” she giggles, and I roll my eyes. “The messenger returned with approval for the wedding from Zale.”
I swim out of bed, trying to ignore the anxiety threatening to take over my body. I’m home right now, and I need to make the most of my time here. There’s no telling how much time I have left.
“So, how are we going to spend the next few hours?” I ask with a fake smile, trying to hide the rising panic.
“I’m sure Flipper missed you...” she hints, and I jump in place, swimming toward her with excitement that replaces my fear in an instant.
When I returned to the ocean with my father, Flipper was still a tiny dolphin. We taught each other to swim fast, jumped above the water’s surface, and played endlessly.
“Shall we go visit?” she asks with a smile as we head toward the main exit of the castle.
“Alianna,” my mother’s voice echoes behind me, stopping us just before we step out the door.
“We barely managed to convince them to come to the surface. I hope you’re not planning to run away again,” she warns.
“No, Mom. Just going out to have some fun,” I fake a hurt tone, but I understand her. If I didn’t have a plan, I’d definitely be trying to run away again.
“We’ll be following you to land later today; be at the city gates by noon,” she requests before disappearing upstairs with her assistant. This reminds me, “Where’s my maid? I was sure she’d be here breathing in the drama,” I ask Bay with a chuckle, and her laughter echoes through the corridor.
“When you left, she started gossiping with everyone. When your parents tried to cover up the fact that they had no idea what was happening, she gave the monarchy a bad name, so they sent her to prison,” Bay informs me, still giggling. “What’s funniest is that even the guards in her cell want to cry. She never stops talking.” Now I join in her laughter, unable to hold it back. She got what she deserved.
“Alright, let’s hurry, so we have some time to enjoy ourselves before noon,” Bay urges, pushing me out the large door. The bustling morning atmosphere of merfolk swimming from place to place makes me smile. We gauge the hours by the sun’s position and the dispersal of darkness in precise locations, so we’ll know when to get back.
We swim out of the city, weaving through the bustling merfolk darting between shops and homes. The guards trail us, struggling to keep up. They won’t let me out of their sight this time, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun. I flash Bay a mischievous smile, and she, reading my thoughts, grins back. Without a word, she surges ahead, slipping through the crowd with me. The vibrant colors of the marketplace blur aswe dart past, laughter bubbling up between us as we leave the bewildered guards in our wake.
When we look back, laughing, we see their confused faces on the other side of the stalls, searching for us.
“You’re so bad, Alin,” Bay laughs, pushing me playfully to the side, and I feign surrender.
“Okay, okay, no trouble today,” I promise with a smile and shout to the guards, revealing our location.
They swim toward us without hesitation, and we continue to the wide seaweed fields where Flipper is always found, but there’s no sign of him.
We swim along the entire field, trying to locate him for a long time. I don’t understand where he could have gone. He loves this field the most.
“I’ll handle this. I learned a few tricks with the hunters,” Bay says suddenly with pride, beginning to mimic dolphin sounds.
Bay was always terrible at the languages of sea creatures. What did the hunters do to her? I wonder, when suddenly the familiar, beloved sound responds to her.
Flipper swims toward us excitedly, and without thinking twice, I swim toward him as well.
He recognizes me immediately, swimming circles around me, nudging my body playfully with his nose. It’s clear how much he missed me, but definitely not more than I missed him.
I press my forehead to his, kissing this grown baby swimming before me and rubbing my tail against his body, holding his fins playfully.
He responds with excitement, swimming forward quickly, pulling me along as my hands hold onto his fins, and Bay catches up with us, laughing behind.
He leads us to his pod and approaches two tiny dolphins,signaling me to go to them with his nose.
