"I always thought they were rumours you know, that Aeron captured a human family and brought them here," Myra fed me a paste made from the herbs that the healer had prescribed. "Maybe I never imagined him to do something like this. I certainly did not expect him to go beyond the boundaries of Odalis."

I looked at her but did not say anything. Myra wiped the corner of my mouth with one of her wet fingers- mers did not have the ability to remain dry in the water unlike the faeries and also me, I supposed, courtesy to the spell- they needed water in their gills to survive. She smiled, "Don't worry. Ryan will do everything to rescue your family. His too."

"He captured Ryan's parents too?"

"Yes. They went to the king-" she clicked her tongue, "Aeron," she corrected herself. Maybe she did not like to address him as the king- I would not too. "They assumed Aeron will stop looking for Ryan and release the humans- your kin, if they came back and went to him. Instead, Aeron made King Aadish and Lady Eleanor prisoners too." Myra fed me the remaining paste.

I gulped down the paste while contemplating her words.

Were Ryan's parents kept at the same prison as mine or were they kept separately? Any clue, any direction as to where they were would be a blessing.

Myra patted me on the side of my good arm.

I glanced over to her. "Thank you," I started, "For letting me stay here, for taking care of me. It must be really hard and dangerous for you to keep a human in your house." I knew it was hard for her, for the healer to keep aside their hatred for my kind and instead provide for my well-being; and I really was grateful.

Myra smiled. "Venus, I don't despise your kind- I have no reason to do so. Actually," she thought for a while, weighing her words. Then, "It's you who should hate us- it is you whose family has been taken away by the fae. I am surprised that you don't."

That elicited a mock laugh out of me. But, as though she was right, and though my bones screamed hatred for Aeron, I did not want to loathe the entire fae kind for something they did not do. I told her so.

Myra tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. Her lips twisted. "I can see why Ryan would like you," Myra said circling me- her red hair like a halo around her head and her tail a flash of red and yellow.

I snorted at her words.

Myra gave me a puzzled look. "These herbs will help to reduce your hunger and thirst but in case you feel hungry, Ryan has gone to The Obsidian to bring some fae food." She plopped on a couch similar to mine.

"I would assume that human food is similar to fae food. Except the fae, everyone of us consumes raw food. Your kind don't eat anything raw, do they?" Myra added.

Well, sushi included raw fish but I never liked it anyway. "No," I said. Then, I remembered another thing- a place perhaps, she mentioned.

"Where is The Obsidian?" I had learned about the City and about almost all places of Kingdom of Water from the book Ryan had given me- even about the Mer Colony, where Myra's house was- but there was no mention of The Obsidian.

"You are better off not knowing." Myra kept the oyster shell bowl on a stool and reclined back on her couch, facing me.

She was probably right, but my inquisitive nature had already been triggered. Yes, I knew it was not always good but there was the fear of my curiosity blurring my judgements. So, I asked Myra about The Obsidian again, before I lost my resistance and did something bad- like going into the canals all by myself, in search of it.

She kept a firm hand over my shoulder. "Venus," she said smiling, "Know that The Obsidian is a trading place- like a market. I cannot tell you anything besides this. Ryan would not appreciate that either."

A trading place. That only piqued my curiosity. But I knew that the fae could be cruel while trading and because of that, I tried not to think about The Obsidian anymore.

Neither of us said anything for a while. Only Myra's last sentence dangled infront of me like a bait. I took one of the pearls from a small box that Myra had pulled out from the wardrobe, and was fidgeting with it, while she was doing a more worthwhile job of braiding those pearls in her hair.

As seconds passed, I found myself growing restless. I put that pearl down, then again took it back. I could not stop thinking about The Obsidian- I wanted to know more about it...and I almost wanted to go there. Hearing the name of the place, I had a feeling it was not totally safe- well, nothing here was safe for me- but I had a feeling that The Obsidian was a place where the creatures of Kingdom of Water went when they wanted to do something shady, where they knew nobody would care or look twice at them. That was probably why Ryan had gone to The Obsidian to bring food, and not to the City Market.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked her.

"The Obsidian? No...," she knit her brows together and said after some thought, "I'll not call that place dangerous but I'll not call it safe either. Especially for you."

"Have you ever gone there?"

"Once," Myra grinned.

"I went there for snakeskin," she continued, "You cannot get pure snakeskin in the City Market, and the clothing and other items made out of it, which by the way you can get in the City, are not affordable by everyone." Myra stopped braiding her hair and looked herself at the mirror. When she was satisfied, she said, "That's why I had to go to The Obsidian."

"What did you need snakeskin for?"

Myra blushed, her cheeks turning red like her hair. I did not even know mermaids could blush.

"My fiancé's birthday was a week after," she admitted, like it explained everything.

I did not know what to say, so I remained silent. But there was something in her purple eyes- a longing, which prompted me to ask, "Where is he now?"

"Seb is in prison," her voice was wobbly as she said, "Seb was in the army, but when Aeron betrayed King Aadish- when he betrayed us all, he along with some other soldiers- both mers and fae, protested. They--"

Myra took a long sigh. "They did not want to fight for that treacherous shark and resigned from the army. After some days, they were taken to the prison. The soldiers' families were devasted. They were not allowed in the City- they still are not, and whatever they had left was used up in the necessities." I realized that her voice has gone from wobbly to that of a subdued thunder.

"How are they at present? Are they better?"

"They tell me that they are. I breed fish and when I got to know about their situation from Seb's mother, I started giving out free fishes to every family of the soldiers, even the fae, who had to suffer so badly." Hunting was illegal in the kingdom, restricted only to the butchers and the King- even the other Royals or the Nobilities were not permitted to do so. So, Myra giving them fishes was the only option those soldiers' kin had that could save them from starving, unless of course, some of them chose the illegal path.

"You did good," I assured her. "Atleast now they are getting food."

"Yes, and they trade half the fish at The Obsidian for other necessary things," Myra added, smiling a little.

I looked at her- at her humble smile. She helped all those families and now she was helping Ryan and me too, and it surprised me how she helped others with all her heart, not wanting anything in return and not feeling the least bit superior. I did not think I could be so selfless ever, but I appreciated her for her goodness.

"You are looking at me like you are seeing a giant octopus," she chuckled. "Do I look so bad?"

"Oh no, no. I am-you don't look bad," I curved my lips in an awkward smile.

"I was thinking of something. I just--," I started, "-I just wanted to say that you will soon get Seb back and the other families will get their family member back too," Myra smiled and her mouth opened but before she could say anything, I added, "I am sure the nature will take notice of your selflessness and reward you abundantly. Who knows, maybe you will soon be able to meet your fiancé."

Myra floated to me and taking my good hand in hers, said, "Your words mean a lot, Venus. I'm glad to have met you."

I did nothing but flash a genuine smile at her.

Myra floated to the window and looked outside. "You know," she said, "Some of us are so afraid of Aeron. They listen to him and grunt about his decisions in their minds. And most creatures do not even care- Aeron rewards those who listen to him- as you had said, abundantly."

Myra continued, "I need to admit that he takes good care of his army, though, in return for that, he wants them to lose their conscience. It doesn't matter- I doubt the huge chunk of soldiers who are still with him had any conscience to begin with."

I admitted, "Aeron belongs to the Royal family- he is after all, the brother of the former king, Aadish; so the faeries or mers do not see any harm as to why they should not obey him."

It was true- betrayals were not uncommon in royal courts. My thoughts were broken when Myra said, "I suppose it bugs me so much, since I have known Ryan for so long- he was pretty shattered when Aeron did that- they used to be very close."

"I didn't---" I started but Myra cut me off.

"And I suppose I can't blame others for giving in to his whims. Life is dear to everyone and Aeron has the ability to take that, and after what happened with the soldiers, no one dares to cross him."

"I did not know he has that much power."

"Every king has. But with power of all the Kings, Aeron is most powerful." Myra adjusted one of the pearls in her hair.

"What do you mean 'power of all the kings'?"

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then realization struck. "I forgot you did not know. King Aadish had left Odalis before that happened. Few months after Aeron had taken over this kingdom, he went to battle and defeated the kings of all the kingdoms- all in one day."

"What? How?" My mouth fell open in astonishment.

"Everyone says that it was not the ordinary army of the Kingdom of Water. Word is that he spent those months gathering an army of some vicious creature and training them to obey his commands- those creatures haven't been seen ever since. I must say that it worked in his favour only- not one king expected that attack, not one king was prepared for an attack. We all thought he took over this kingdom due to some vengeance against King Aadish. How wrong we were!" Myra sighed loudly.

I knew what creature she was talking about. That same creature had attacked us the previous day. "What happened then?" I pressed.

"It is said that it only took a few minutes for a battle to end, and on each battlefield, there lay only the bones and shredded bodies of the opposing army. Those creatures had torn and eaten their enemies in such a horrible manner." Myra grimaced, squeezing her eyes shut.

"All the kings died that day and Aeron gained their power as he won each battle. We all mourned- everyone in every kingdom, except that shark." Myra sneered at no one in particular. "Every time I see that heinous faerie, hatred boils up in my heart like lava boiling in a volcano."

I chose not to comment on that. Instead, I asked her one of the many questions I wanted the answer of. "How does Aeron run those kingdoms from here?"

"He does not. The heir to the previous kings run their respective kingdoms and then they report to Aeron."

"Oh."

A weird silence laced with sadness fell around us until Myra mentioned that it was very late and Ryan had still not returned from The Obsidian.

"I am going to go check how he fares. You stay here and be careful," she said and flipped her tail, turning around towards the door.

"I want to go with you." I stood up from the couch.

Myra stopped just outside the door and faced me. "No."

"Why? What can happen? You will be there, will you not?" I asked her, but even as I did, something felt foreign inside me. I had never known myself to take risks willingly and there I was doing exactly that.

"I don't know Venus. Ryan-"

"---Oh, forget about him. We are not afraid of him, are we?" I smirked.

Myra giggled, "No we are not."

"So, let me go with you." I could feel excitement bubbling up within me.

"First let me know about your hand," she said crossing her arms.

I moved my hand a little, with some difficulty. The pain was still there but I could manage it. "It's manageable."

"Why don't I believe you?" she raised one eyebrow.

"Trust me, I'll be fine. And it will be good for me, I think, to go out a bit. I'll forget about the wound. Staying here all day, I feel like I am being locked up and everything here is so new to me-I-if I stay here with both of you gone, I am sure I'll never stop stressing." I tried to be as convincing as possible, though what I said was true.

Myra pursed her lips and then said, "Okay. But change your clothes first."

I looked at what I was wearing- a trouser and a shirt- what I wore to sleep two days ago. The trouser was mostly fine but the shirt was covered in blood and dirt and the sleeves had burned down. I frowned.

"Now, stop frowning and wrap this around your abdomen." Myra gave me a scrap of soft cloth. I took it and frowned more. My dirt-covered shirt was better than the piece of clothing I was supposed to wrap around myself.

"You are frowning more. Maybe you will like this," she held up what looked like a leather crop top. And smirked. The top looked like it was made from snakeskin.

"This---" I did not know what to say. "You are giving this to me?" I finally said.

She shrugged. "You can wear this. I have two more."

Myra swam to me and took the one she had earlier given me. When I looked at her in confusion, she chuckled, "This one will look better on you."

I examined it for sometime and then nodded at her.

"I'll be at the hall," she said and went out of the room.

I was left with the top in my hand. I liked the colour of the top- grey and green. Small, broken pieces of seashells were woven into the material. I removed my clothing, put on the new one, tied it at the neck and at the back, then looked at the mirror. I looked bad. The top Myra had given me fell over my abdomen and very surprisingly, looked nice on me- though somewhat uncomfortable- but my hair was in tangles and I was covered in dirt.

I expected to find fresh-water at the lavatory but when I did not, I became frustrated and almost wished the spell had not prevented me from getting wet in the water. But then I took a deep breath and thought of asking Myra where to get fresh-water for washing myself, later. First, I needed to untangle the mess of my hair.

After it took forever to comb my hair, I put it up in a simple braid and went to the hall.

"You look---" Myra did not finish the sentence.

"I know," I groaned. "Do you know where can I find fresh-water?"

"Come," she said and took me to a room at the back of her house. "Fresh-water is stored here. Sorry, I completely forgot..."

I waved my hand doing a 'does-not-matter' gesture. Myra smiled and went outside.

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Hope you liked Chapter 21 of 'A World of Treason and Tides'.

So, I decided to publish one last chapter in this month of February and before my exam, where I definitely am gonna destroy myself. (:
Wish me the best xD.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter to provide more insight to Aeron, and also so that we can all get to know Myra a little more. I hope you liked her. <3

Do not forget to vote and comment if you liked this chapter. 😊