Raine stood on the threshold and watched Derrin leave. When he disappeared around a corner, she shook her head and walked down to the beach. More cautiously this time, she made her way to where her family kept a small rowboat. Unlike the larger boats that they used to sail from her home to the islands where Derrin lived, the rowboat was barely used. When her father was younger, he used to enjoy taking it out to go fishing. But she could honestly say, that had not happened in her life. Still, they held on to it, in case he ever got the urge again. As she untied it, she reminded herself that her cousins had used it more than once. And nurse had used it recently, so at the very least she knew it wasn’t going to sink.

Looking over her shoulder, she pushed the small rowboat into the water and wobbled in after it. Grabbing the paddle, she spun slow circles before she found a rhythm that would take her out over the deeper waters. Panting, she watched the shore grow smaller.

Her arms ached by the time the shore had vanished from sight. In the distance, she could see a larger ship sailing towards Zaudiname. She prayed they wouldn’t spot her. Perhaps they would assume she was a whale or a log. Pulling in the paddles, she massaged her forearms and looked around. Before her, the world was blue. Behind her, she saw small rocks that she hoped were the coral reefs where Lewisil lived. “I can do this,” she urged herself and began paddling anew.

Panting, she pulled the small boat onto the rock ring. Collapsing in the shallows, she swallowed what little saliva remained in her mouth and splashed the cold salt water on her face. Shakily she stood up and stumbled around the outer rim of the reef. “Hello?” she called. She wasn’t sure if he would hear her, but she wasn’t entirely sure how she would get his attention. If he’s beneath the surface, I need to send a message down. Bending, she dug a pebble out of the mud and threw it as hard as she could into the center of the ring. Again and again she tossed the small pebbles and bits of broken off coral.

Bubbles foamed the middle of the water. Gasping, she clutched the pebble in her hand tightly and backed away.

Lewisil’s head appeared in the center of the bubbles. “Raine? What are you doing here?” Using his arms like paddles, he swam closer to her.

“Please,” tears brimmed in her eyes again as she sat on the damp and rocky ground, “I just need someone who understands to cry with me. I have no hope left.”

“For Cidaris?” He hoisted himself on to the coral beside her and patted her foot.

“Not just him. I’ve been condemned to marry a man from Zaudinaume on Thursday.” She wiped her eyes and fixed her gaze on Lewisil. “Please tell me you know how I can prevent this?” She jumped up and started pacing around the narrow rim. A slim blade slapped her palm as she tapped it over and over. “If you can’t help me, I swear, I will use this knife on myself. My heart has been joined to Cidaris’. You were there to see it done. Before anyone can try to force me to give my hand or my heart to someone else, I will kill myself.” Stopping in her tracks, she panted as she tried to regain what little breath remained in her body as her heart tried to pound all of the air out of her lungs. “Please,” she said turning to Lewisil. “Please tell me that in all of your years you have come across some form of wisdom or way out that I can use. Or please, watch me die if you can’t. I have some paper, I’ll write a note for my parents to explain to them what happened, and you can deliver it to them.” Breathing out deeply, she wiped a solitary tear from her cheek. “But please don’t take long to answer, I can’t wait anymore to be put out of this agony.”

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“Come sit beside me child. You don’t need to slay yourself. I do see some spark of hope for you, but, I should warn you, that the act it requires will be as desperate as the one you are thinking of already.” He ran his wrinkled hand through his hair and pulled out a snail that had gotten tangled in the strands. As he carefully put it down in the water, he clicked his tongue and turned to Raine. “I suppose if you are willing to kill yourself, the task I have in mind won’t deter you. If you are sure you are willing, I can give you a potion to help.”

“To avoid marrying Derrin, I would do anything. I have already rowed out into the middle of the sea without a map or knowledge of the waters and sky to guide me. I will do whatever you ask of me as long as it frees me to be true to my love.”

Lewisil nodded and pushed himself back into the water. “I will be back.”

Raine sat down on the rocks to wait as his head disappeared beneath the surface. Her fingers played with the blade that she had yet to set down. Every time she was tempted to press hard and draw blood from her fingers, she reminded herself that Lewisil had a solution.

She watched as an albatross landed a stone’s throw away. The bird shrieked and squawked as it crashed into the rocky ground before righting itself. Before it settled down for a brief rest in its seemingly perpetual flight, the albatross shook itself and swung its head from side to side as though to check and make sure that no other birds saw it crash.

“They are rather clumsy,” remarked Lewisil, causing Raine to jump.

She turned to face him as he heaved himself out of the water.

“Here,” he held out two small shells that were stoppered with a mucus-y sand. “I will guide you home. When you get there, tell your family that you will marry Derrin.” He held up his hand as she glanced at him askance. “Then, the night before your wedding, make sure that you go to bed on your own. Don’t let anyone in the room with you, not even your nurse. Then, slip down to the cave where we met before and drink both of these vials. The first will cause your pulse to slow so no mortal will be able to detect its existence at all. The second will transform your body into a mermaid. It is a painful transition, which is why you must drink the first vial first. Trust me when I say you will want to be unconscious for the transformation. It shouldn’t take long, so once you wake, slip into the pool and hide there. I will send for Cidaris. He will meet you in the cave and together you can swim off to his new home.”

Raine bit the bottom of her lip as she restrained the urge to dive on the merman and grab the shells, and potentially break them. “Oh please, give those to me. I will gladly do that and swim the seas for the rest of my life.” She giggled as she carefully placed the shells in her pocket.

“Come, let’s get you home. Then I can return and send a message to your love.”

Scrambling up, Raine clambered back into the boat and pushed it off the ring reef with the paddle. As she fought to get it turned around and facing the direction she came from, Lewisil popped up from beside her and grabbed the boat. Grunting, he began to push her back to the shore and her suicidal salvation.