Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Come play.
When these words came to me, I stopped swimming abruptly.
Jorie, Ha-Lah and the dolphins were swirling on, distance forming between us, but three dolphins at the end of the school broke off, swum to me, beyond me…
They then turned, surged up all about me, causing the waters to churn and bubble and propel me with them, and I heard it again.
Come play.
By the gods!
Just as Ha-Lah said!
They could speak to me!
I kicked and struck out with my arms as one dashed over the top of me from one side to the other, one doing the same below, and then another over me, then one raced in front of me.
I liked this “play.”
I liked it very much.
Thus, I laughed, joined in and swam with the dolphins.
Jorie made his way back, curved around, took position beside me and guided me deeper into the pod.
Some of the dolphins rose up, breaking the surface, only to dive back down, causing effervescent white foam and bubbles to form around us that tingled as you swam through them and just felt…
Happy.
My brother and I swam side by side, skimming through it.
“How do you feel, my little sister?” Jorie asked.
I turned my head to my handsome brother.
And answered with complete honesty, “Like I’ve finally come home.”
His smile could light up the sea.
Then we both struck forward.
And we played with the dolphins.
I held the rope tight in my hands as they heaved me up.
When I made the deck, Mars caught me in his arms in the cocoon of a large sheet of toweling and pulled me aboard, dropping to his behind on the deck and holding me against the warmth of his chest.
My tail flipped and flopped on the wood as I looked up at my husband to see his eyes locked on my fin.
“But of course, it’s beautiful,” he muttered.
I started to smile at his words, and then I winced.
“Steady, angelfish,” Jorie’s voice could be heard above me. “We talked about this. Just breathe through it, Silence.”
We had talked about it.
But faith, the pain of the split was blinding, and each scale reentering my skin felt like thousands of little cuts.
“I do not like this,” Mars stated on a rumble, and I knew I was not hiding the unpleasantness of the sensations.
“It will be over in moments, and eventually she’ll get so used to it, she’ll barely feel it,” Jorie assured.
“She’s feeling it now,” Mars noted in a threatening tone.
I had been.
But suddenly, I wasn’t.
I looked down to my legs which looked like naught but my legs. No marks from where the scales had pushed through. Not even a whisper of my lovely caudal left.
I missed it, and I cuddled closer to the warmth of Mars, for I didn’t feel the cold in The Deep, but I felt it on the deck.
I looked up to my brother.
“Can we do that again soon?” I requested.
He burst with laughter.
I decided, and was delighted, that meant yes.
“And this weariness?” I heard Mars ask as I rode before him, in his arms, atop Hephaestus, on our way back to the Citadel.
And I did it with my eyelids drooping.
“She has had much activity. It doesn’t seem thus, for in the doing, it seems easy. But in truth, swimming requires the use of your whole body at all times you’re doing it, and she is not accustomed to this. She will become so, my brother, and this weariness after a swim will fade,” Jorie explained.
As I was, indeed, weary, I did not take issue with my husband and brother speaking about me when I was right there.
Instead, I peeked through my flagging eyes and noted with great relief that we’d made the bottom of the lane to the Citadel. I was gladdened by the seeing of it, for all I wished to do was find our bed, crawl into it and take a nap that would last until supper.
I was so tired, along the way, I hadn’t even glanced around to enjoy the cheerful hustle and bustle of Sky Bay that always so heartened me when we rode through it.
Indeed, I nearly fell asleep riding the long lane up to the Citadel.
We were almost there when I heard Jorie say, “If I did not like him so, his overprotection would be irksome.”
“His sister is my wife and his wife is my sister. This is the man you would wish for both, no?” Mars replied, and I knew they were talking about True.
Thus, suddenly excited to share with my cousin about my day, I forced my eyes open, raised my head, looked forward and saw True striding purposefully around the large fire that rose in the courtyard in front of the Citadel.
It was then I found that my adventure had been so delightful, my desire to share about it beat back the fatigue and I aimed a beaming smile to my cousin.