Later on that evening, we were lying on the blanket sharing languages from our different cultures. Celeste was very attentive and eager to learn. After our intimate moment under the waterfall, we curled up together in the den, and I held her until she drifted off to sleep. By the time she woke up from her nap, I had already crafted another spear and caught a few fish to roast.

I was enjoying my time alone with her. I found her culture just as impressive as that of the Zaqwar. Mer communicated mostly in pictures, with touch, sign language, and their telepathic connection to each other. Sirens were pretty much the same but were empathic beings who fed off the emotions of others, using their abilities for both good and evil.

I took the stick and wrote the word for mother in the damp sand and then watched as she pronounced it with precise accuracy. She learned quickly, but I wasn’t surprised. She was determined and studious by nature, but her kind were extremely intelligent beings.

“What is your mother like?” she asked.

I sighed. “She’s kind to everyone. She loves to sew and she makes dresses and costumes for the little girls in our village so they can play pretend. She was a teacher when the Zaqwar landed here, and she was very young when they took her.”

“She got away. She’s strong.”

“Yes.”

“Does she miss Drokkil?”

“Yes, but she doesn’t know that I’m going to help him escape. She would have forbidden me from doing so if I had told her. She’s afraid of losing us both.”

“What will Haugar do to your brother in the prison?”

“Keep him locked up because he can. Make an example of him. Make him fight in the pits,” I replied.

“The pits?”

“The prisoners are forced to fight each other for sport. The village people watch for entertainment.”

“Then this is risky. You risk being captured too.”

“It’s a risk I must take. My brother would do the same for me. He already has. He’s there because he drew them further out to let me get away.”

“Will Zaqwar and the men of the Quag ever get along? Like peace…a peace treaty? Surely they have something you need and vice versa.”

I rolled over on my back and looked up at the uneven surfaces on the ceiling of the den. “We share the same resources. We don’t wish for anything they have. I don’t know if there will ever be peace. They want us to submit. Become one Quag. One King. That didn’t work before. The men of the different regions of the Quag aren’t that fond of each other either. We tolerate each other because we live on the same island. It works just fine for us until someone does something from one village that angers another.”

“Like imprisoning men?” she offered. “Shouldn’t your brother’s capture not make your leader angry?”

“My brother and I and two others were hunting within Rockming territory for food. We first spotted the deer on our territory. After all the tracking we’d done, we weren’t ready to let it go when it crossed territory lines. Big mistake. Zaqwarians were hunting too. When they started tracking me, my brother distracted them. He was taken because of his Zaqwar blood. I got away. The other two hunters were killed on sight. I haven’t been home since. I couldn’t return without my brother,” I replied.

“But Zaqwar didn’t have to kill…” Her little fists were balled up in aggravation. “You were only hunting for food.”

“In Volming, we enforce similar territory rules. If caught on our territory hunting from our food source, and you’re not one of us, consequences follow,” I explained.

“Surely your leader can understand the need for food, why you crossed territories, and help you get your brother back.”

I shook my head. “No. He will not send an army to free one man. This is something I must do.”

“Trading is common in the Quag. You have something Zaqwar wants,” she stated, looking down at the ground as she spoke.

I knew what she was thinking. I’d told her I was going to trade her for my brother, but I couldn’t do that. No. Zaqwar didn't deserve her. I wasn't entirely sure if I did either.

“It is common. We are both well rested. We’ll leave tonight. I won’t take you to Rockming. I’m going to take you to my village. I want you to stay there,” I told her.

“But I want to stay with you. To help you,” she said.

“You’re so innocent, Celeste. You can’t help me and I won’t trade you.”

She sighed. “I can…there must be something.” She sat upright and grabbed her bag of jewels. “The jewels. Just give them the jewels for your brother. I can get more if you need them.”

“And then they’ll know that I took you and the jewels. I never had any intentions of picking up a mermaid. I just wanted that prince to pay for slaughtering my fellow warriors. When I saw you, I got this idea to hold you as ransom and trade you. To the Zaqwar, the only thing more valuable than those jewels is your ability to have many babies for them.” I swallowed, ashamed to admit my selfish plans to her even though I had abandoned them.

“But if you give them the jewels—only the jewels—they’ll just think the mermaid got away,” she said.

“And that’s what I want them to think. You can’t go with me. You won’t change my mind, spellsinger. You won’t go with me to Rockming. I’m taking you to my village where no one will harm you.”

She was dead silent for a long while. Her lips were pouted and I could only imagine the millions of ways she was thinking of to convince me to let her help me.

“You’ll lose another day if you change directions,” she exclaimed. “They could be fighting your brother in the pits right now.”

“Drokkil might bleed, but he will live. He is a warrior."

“I will go to your village,” she stated. “One condition…”

I smiled. I couldn’t help it. The little Siren was negotiating with me. “What’s your condition?”

“You promise to come back to me. We have unfinished business.” She grinned.

“Of course we do.” I pulled her close and kissed her lips.