“If I could trade places with her I would!” The sting of Mom’s rejection was a needle in my heart. Naira would always be her baby.
Mom stiffened. “I’m not going to talk about this anymore. I’m going to be with my baby.” She pulled away from Tammer and disappeared into their room. Tammer gazed at the doorway before holding his head in his hands.
Are you going to be okay? I thought and he shook his head.
“Elan’s upset, but it’s…” he trailed off.
Concerning?
Frightening. He looked straight at me. I think she might be having a mental breakdown. His words were terrifying.
Thayde glanced nervously at Tammer. She has to be just, Thayde searched for the words, afraid.
There’s nothing really wrong with Mom, is there?
Tammer looked defeated. “Honestly, I don’t know. She’s different. She thinks she’s the only one going through this. I’m very worried.”
Shirley, Naira’s nanny and the Riddick Family housekeeper, brought Tammer a goblet of water and he took it from her as if it was the last thing he wanted.
“I’m sorry she spoke to you like that. She’s not herself at the moment.” He swallowed all of the water in two gulps and handed the glass back to Shirley. “Excuse me,” he said, and followed Mom back to his little girl.
I leaned against Thayde and his arms circled me. “What do we do?” He asked.
The last thing I wanted to do was admit to myself I didn’t know. I considered my options and allowed him to read my mind as I did. I could wait for Aletheia and her friend to arrive and counsel me. I’d already pulled all the memories I knew to see if there was anything like this in our histories. Again, it was all just speculation. I wondered if I could force her to heal – try and ‘cure’ her myself. Thayde clicked his tongue.
I don’t think it’s wise to do that, Morgan. There are rules to merpeople meddling with the dying. It’s frowned upon because the results can be disastrous.
She can’t be dying! I thought, shuddering at the thought of losing my baby sister.
Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but you and I both know she is. His arms tightened. As The Link, I don’t think the rules apply to you, but with it being a possibility that something awful could happen, is it a chance you’re willing to take?
I’ll wait for Aletheia.
Aletheia arrived within hours and embraced me as though she hadn’t seen me in years. She was accompanied by her fiancé, Lars, who bowed gallantly before pulling me into a giant bear hug. The two lovers met during our time in Idaho and had been together since. Though a wedding date had not been set, the entire family eagerly awaited the announcement.
My attention shifted to a woman who hung on the edge of our little group, patiently waiting to be introduced. Aletheia linked her arm through hers and brought her forward.
“Morgan, this is my friend, Hadassah.”
To say she was beautiful wouldn’t be saying much; everyone from the merworld looked as if they’d walked out of the pages of Vogue. However, Hadassah was not typical. Tall, muscular yet voluptuous, she was graceful and walked with a confidence that made everyone turn their heads. Power radiated from her, her ebony skin actually glowed. Violet colored eyes such as Aletheia’s bore into mine as she regarded me from where she stood. Her long, velvet-like hair hung around her like a black shawl and she extended her hand in a way that made me feel lucky to have been offered it.
“It is an honor to finally meet you,” her African voice was flavored with honey – the earthiness was intoxicating.
“How do you do?” I asked, smiling as best I could despite the circumstances. It must not have been enough to mask my worry.
“Your sister is very ill,” she answered, erasing my smile. “I apologize for my bluntness, but she was never intended to make it pass her fifteenth birthday.”
“I’m not so sure she’ll make it to the end of this week.” I admitted.
“Hadassah and I were in lessons together,” Aletheia was quiet, “we do not know more than speculation from the teachings and gossip. This situation has never been dealt with before.”
I nodded. She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.
“Can’t I just fix her?” I asked. “You know, will her body to recover?”
“Not in this case,” Hadassah shook her head. “You are in unfamiliar territory and it would not be wise to treat it as if it were familiar.”
“You cannot just ‘fix’ everything,” Aletheia continued. “Despite the fact that you’re The Link, not everything is fixable.”