Page 109 of Found at Sea
With broad shoulders and a lean, muscled torso, he looked more like a warrior than an old, decrepit man. His clothes had changed as well, no longer bundled up for warmth but instead he stood bare-chested except for a thin net that covered his shoulders, with gems tangled within it. His formfitting pants showed off his strong legs.
The conch still hung around his neck, and its surface shone with a faint, shimmering light.
I stood and placed Fletcher behind me, staring with both awe and suspicion at the stunning man.
“I must say you’ve surprised me, Captain,” the man said with a quizzical expression. “Choosing this boy over your very soul.”
“What are you?” I asked.
The man walked closer, tilting his head. “You should know. You’ve killed enough of my kind.”
“Triton?” Fletcher gasped, peeking out from behind me. I tried to hold him back, but he stepped forward a little.
Triton stared at Fletcher with a kind smile and bowed his head. But when he returned his gaze to me, his eyes were cold. “When I became aware of your slaughtering of my kin, I wanted to gut you and hang you from your own sails. To act as a warning to any other human who thought of harming us.”
He moved closer still, and the scowl on his face looked to be a permanent fixture. “But then I saw the mage aboard your ship. How you cared for him. My own heart had once been stolen, not as the stories say, as you can see by the item around my neck. I fell in love with a human woman who was taken by sickness and died before my very eyes. I suppose the legend about a sea witch stealing my heart was a more enthralling tale.”
“What does that have to do with me?” I questioned, not letting my guard down.
If he thought to attack, I’d have my sword drawn and slicing across his neck in a mere second.
“Love changed me,” Triton answered, glancing from my face, to the sword at my hip, and back up again. “Before falling in love with my beautiful Annette, I allowed my rage to drive me. Much like you. When I saw that your heart could be saved, I sent the witch to bestow upon you a gift.”
“A gift?” I scoffed.
“A second chanceisa gift,” he spoke, narrowing his eyes. “Make no mistake, Captain, I still have the desire to kill you, but I am a man of my word. You’ve solved the riddle, and therefore, you have a second chance at life. To be the man you’ve always dreamed of being, but never having the spirit to be.”
“I’m still cursed,” I said, becoming increasingly agitated.
“Are you?” Triton lifted a brow and lowered his blue eyes to my chest.
Fletcher was an unstoppable force. Catching on quicker than I had, he ripped open my shirt and looked at where the mark should’ve been.
“It’s gone!” he said before beaming at me with the biggest of smiles. He then flipped around to the king of the merfolk. “What was the answer to the riddle? I thought finding your heart—the conch—was the key.”
“No, my dear child,” he answered. “Unless he find another heart. By saving you, even though it meant his own damnation, was the most selfless of acts, one that can only be done out of love. His heart was changed this day, leaving the egocentric and wicked man behind and embracing the one you helped him become.”
“But you said if I didn’t take the heart, my chance of salvation would leave with it.”
“I lied.” Triton shrugged as a sly smile spread across his ethereal face. “It was a test. And you passed. Don’t waste your second chance, Captain. Your soul is saved, but do not think I won’t be watching you. I’ve lived for centuries and will live for many more. I do not forget and will not hesitate to rip your still beating heart from your chest if you ever harm another of my kind.”
The threat didn’t trouble me, for I knew I’d never do such a thing. I slipped my arm around Fletcher and brought him closer to my side.
“And if you ever dare threaten my son again,” Triton added with a snarl, “I will tear you apart.”
His son?
“As for you, dearest boy,” Triton addressed Fletcher. “My words to you ring true. Always follow your heart and it will forever guide you where you long to be.”
The sea king then turned and approached the cliff’s edge. His flowing silver hair blew around his muscular body before he spread his arms and jumped.
Fletcher took off out of my hold and ran toward the edge. Panic arose in me at the thought of him losing his footing—which wasn’t unreasonable given his clumsiness—and I shot off after him. He peered over the cliff, and I snatched the back of his coat, holding him.
I followed his gaze and stared at the rocks jutting from the water below us. The water crashed against them as the winter storm raged on.
Triton was nowhere to be seen.
***
