Taken By The Shark

Chapter 6

The only thing Mark managed to find at the attack site was the clasp that had been holding on Chelsea’s tank, and the empty and damaged tank itself. Casting a sensing spell didn’t reveal the nature of the attackers either, so the only thing he could do was go down to visit his father and determine if he knew anything more.

Because all persons who presented themselves in open court were expected to take on mer-form, Mark usually tended to avoid entering the castle itself. Not because he had anything against the form itself, necessarily, but just because he was sort of what a human equivalent hippy might be like. He was totally into the environment and wanted to attune with nature and all that, and that included taking on only forms that appeared in the natural world.

Yet today it seemed he had no choice, so he became a merman and swam in. Of course the usual gaggle of mermaids, and even a few of the mermen, swooned when they realized he had arrived. Mark rolled his eyes at their antics as he approached the throne.

“Caerulus? I have been expecting you to contact me, but this is a surprise,” Paribdus commented dryly as he took in his appearance. “What was important enough to bring you directly into the titan’s den?”

“Last night a group of gifted attacked my potential bride,” Mark pointed out. “If you don’t find that important enough to warrant a visit, our priorities really have grown apart. By the way, she’s accepted the gift already, and we even sealed the union, but still a fledgling won’t be safe from the likes of them. I must teach her spells of defense before anything else.”

“The sea-witch seems to have been at fault, although I’ve no real way to prove it,” Paribdus explained. “You know that she’s been trying to recruit others to her cause and set herself up in a rival kingdom. Perhaps she’s gained more of a following than I had first supposed.”

“Sirenia’s the reason titans got such a bad reputation,” said Mark, his nose wrinkling in distaste. “If she were to obtain an actual army, who knows what kind of nonsense she’d get up to. She might even try to take over the human world again. If she’s involved in all of this, she must be trying to prevent the birth of another heir.”

“No, I believe there may be more to it than that,” his father said. “What do you really know about this girl?”

“She comes from Seattle,” he said. “And with a last name like McDonald she is probably from some form of Celtic descent. Her hair and pale skin tone tend to support that as well.”

“But you took no time to research her lineage?” he insisted. “If there is any gifted blood in the line, we must determine who injected it and when. You know Sirenia has been seeking the offspring of her twelve children who were forced to live as humans. If your bride stems from that lot, she may try to reclaim her for her own.”

“Well, she can’t have her,” Mark said then. “I would never surrender Chelsea to anyone else, least of all the sea-witch. There must be something we can do.”

“Calm down, Caerulus,” he said. “We do not yet know if it’s the cause.”

“Chelsea told me she has always known she belonged to the sea,” Mark said worriedly. “I told her we should test her seer abilities now that she has the gift, but Sirenia never even crossed my mind. We cannot allow that female to continue attacking my mate, father. Something must be done regardless of her motivations.”

“I have a meeting with the witch this afternoon,” he replied. “I don’t suggest you stay. You are far too angry to attend.”

“As you wish,” he agreed. “Chelsea and I will be in my home. You may come to us there once your meeting is done.”

“You’ve got the girl in your domain?” he smirked. “You really did convince her right away, didn’t you?”

“That’s another reason why we must discover her origins,” Mark said with a nod. “I will do a spell of revelation as soon as may be. But at least now I have some idea what I’m looking for.”

“I’ll see you soon then, my son,” he said with a nod.

*****

When Chelsea stepped through the golden doorway, she felt a sucking sensation and her vision momentarily blurred. Then she found herself standing in the living room of a really nice home. The foyer floor looked to be made of aged oak. The walls were painted the color of sea foam. The furniture was expensive yet comfortable in taste. Chelsea approved.

Out of idle curiosity, Chelsea moved to look out the picture window across the room, and saw the ocean outside, just as if she were viewing an aquarium. However fascinating that might be, however, she remembered Mark’s warning about not risking herself by opening the doors or windows, and contented herself with moving on to explore the house instead.

The great part about having a multi-dimensional house was that a person could probably have as much space for it as they wanted. This place, for example, had stairs leading up to five different floors, and one of the ‘floors’ was actually a dimensional door leading out into a beautiful garden. Chelsea wasn’t sure if this garden was part of the world at large, or perhaps some other place entirely. Perhaps it was in the land of the gods for all she knew.

She finally found the bedroom at the top of the fifth set of stairs. Thoroughly exhausted with her efforts to get there, she curled up on the ample bed with its velvety coverlet and drifted off to sleep. In her dreams, she was under the sea. A dark castle, which seemed to be made of obsidian or some other dark material, loomed ominously above her. Four tiger sharks bit at her tail insistently, pushing her onward into the structure.

When she opened her eyes, Mark was just stepping through the door. The ominous nightmare drifted from her thoughts, leaving her with much more carnal ideas in its wake. “Hey, you,” she smiled. “What did you find out?”