Mutante: Chapter 23
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
“Sleep,” Robert instructed. “You’re safe now.”
“Mhm. Wake me up if—” She frowned. “If—if you need me to—” She yawned. “—to do—something.”
He laughed, and Rosie snuggled closer, enjoying the sound of his laugh in his chest. “Of course.”
Before she could ask about his laughter, sleep dragged her down.
The sound of Robert’s voice next to her ear woke her up. “Rosie, we’re here.”
“Here?” she asked, blinking up at him. Awkwardly, she realized she had nestled into his chest and her tail was now curled around his middle. With a blush, she looked around, sitting up and disentangling herself.
He gestured to the cave opening above them. “The cave.”
“Oh, right.” She yawned again. “That was quick.”
Thomas chuckled. “Only because you slept through the whole thing. I am quite glad that you rested, though, Miss Rose. That was impressive magic you did back there.”
Rose sat up straight, nearly knocking into Robert’s chin. “The path! I forgot to hold up the path!”
“It’s all right. It stayed anyway,” Robert said. “I would have woken you up if it had disappeared. Trust me. I have no desire to fight my way through that mess.”
“I’m so sorry that I—that the path—I couldn’t keep it wide enough before, and—” She swallowed hard. “It’s my fault you all were in danger.”
“You are the one who saved us, Miss Rose,” Thomas said sternly. “and no one could have predicted that Lady Rina would send such persistent sharks against us. Anyone in your position would have been frightened.”
“But you told me to calm down, and I didn’t,” she said, unable to look either of them in the eye.
Robert clasped her hand. “I couldn’t have stayed calm if it had been me. Those sharks were scary.”
“Indeed. You did quite well, especially as you are so new to magic,” Thomas put in.
Rosie bit her lip. “But—”
“No,” Robert said, shaking his head. “No buts. You did your best, didn’t you? Yeah, you got scared, but you overcame your fear when it really mattered. You’ll do better the next time.”
Rosie glanced up at him. “You really don’t blame me? I put you, Waterdancer, and Thomas in terrible danger.”
“Of course I don’t blame you,” he said. “Your response was perfectly natural.”
“What about you, Thomas?” she asked, meeting his gaze. “I wouldn’t blame you if you’re angry with me.”
“No, Miss Rose. I am not angry with you. If I sounded harsh earlier, it was because I was trying to shock you out of your fear, not because I was angry.”
Rosie held his gaze for a moment before turning back to Robert and studying his face. Neither of them held any hint of censure. “Ok, then.” She yawned again. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m still so tired.”
Robert smiled. “Might have something to do with holding up a ten tail-length tunnel against a pack of sharks.” He gestured to the cave mouth. “You can lie down up there. Although Thomas says you should eat again.”
“Do you want to come with us tonight, Thomas?” Rosie asked and then yawned again.
Thomas shook his head. “No, Miss Rose. I am a bit concerned by Lady Rina’s latest measures. I do not believe we are at risk right now, but I would prefer that one of us keep watch. As I do not require sleep, I am the optimal person to do so. Waterdancer and I have reached an understanding. We shall call you should it become necessary.”
Rosie was too tired to ask how in the world a magic mirror could understand a seahorse, let alone communicate with him, so she merely nodded and slowly swam up into the cave. Every part of her ached, and her arms and tail were as limp as sea anemone tentacles swaying in the current. If magic was like this all the time, how in the world did witches survive?
Maybe magic was like a muscle and she just needed to exercise her muscles more?
With a heave, she pulled herself out onto the beach and then just lay there, hardly able to even force the change.
“C’mon,” Robert said, having managed to beat her to the transformation and stand, despite having waited for her to reach the beach before coming up himself.
Rosie groaned. “Just let me lie here. I can sleep like this.”
Robert shook his head fondly. “I’ll set out the picnic blanket and some food, but then you’ll have to move.”
She waved a hand in acknowledgement and then drifted back to sleep.
Rosie awoke to the sensation of someone stroking her shoulder.
“I’ve got the food ready. Do you really want to eat right there? I’d rather you were out of the water before you go back to sleep, just in case something magical shows up, but you can eat there first.”
Rosie forced a weary smile. “No, it’s fine. I’ll come sit with you.”
As Robert helped her over to the blanket, she couldn’t help but compare their first night in the cave to this one. They had been practically strangers. And then yesterday he had been so kind. When they first met, she had thought him rude and arrogant and shallow. How wrong she had been. He had set out the food and created a nest of blankets nearby so she could go back to sleep the moment she was done eating. Even her father wasn’t this thoughtful, and he was known to be an attentive husband. And yet they would go back to their separate lives before long.
She sighed.
“What?” Robert asked.
“Do you ever wish that things could just go on as they have been?”
His expression grew guarded. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, not things with your father, obviously, but this, here . . . it feels impossible to go back home.”
“Oh.” He set his wrap down and stared meditatively at the ground. “I always feel that way a bit. Being in the forest is so . . . . It makes you feel so alive. And that feeling is only heightened because we’re doing something important and dangerous right now.” He gave a little shrug and met her eyes. “I’m never a huge fan of returning to sit at my father’s bedside. I love him, but it’s just—hard.” He gave her a bright smile, though his eyes remained sad. “I’ve really enjoyed meeting you, though.”
“I’m sorry about your father,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “I am glad I met you too—I really don’t know what I would have done without all your help.”
His smile grew genuine. “Every princess needs a knight, after all. I’m just glad I was around to give aid.”
“Me too.”
Rosie withdrew her hand and tried to focus on eating, but her thoughts kept slipping back to tomorrow and returning to Atlantia. She just didn’t want to deal with any of it.
“You look stressed. Everything ok?” Robert asked.
She shrugged. “Just dreading going home.”
“Yeah. I sometimes think that’s why I spend so much time in the forest.”
“At least you have a reason to be in the forest so often. I can’t hardly leave my house, let alone go off on adventures.” She lay back on the blanket, staring up at the roof of the cave. It was too hard to look at him, to see the pity on his face.
Robert scooted over and laid down next to her. “Why not?”
Rosie grimaced. “We’re—well, my father is on the council, and my mother is determined that he stays on the council. That means we have to behave appropriately.”
“What does that have to do with adventures?” he asked, a frown in his voice.
Rosie picked out a constellation of algae; looking at it from this angle, it almost looked like a starfish. “‘Unpredictability in a councilman’s family makes him appear unpredictable, which is something no one wants in a council member,'” she quoted, her voice rising in imitation of her mother’s own dulcet tones.
“But—don’t people want council members who are brave and willing to face difficult circumstances?”
Rosie snorted. “I doubt that has anything to do with it. Sometimes it seems like the council is just a popularity contest. Most of the old families just like to keep one of their around so they have someone to represent their interests.” She risked a glance at Robert, who was staring at her as though she had just kicked Waterdancer.
“You can’t mean that,” he said fiercely. “The council in Atlantia advises the king and helps make the laws. They decide what’s best for the kingdom. If they’re not known for bravery or wisdom, why are they on the council?” He shook his head. “The king wouldn’t keep them around.”
She sighed. “Welcome to the world of politics. I mean, my father is wise and probably brave, although I wouldn’t know about that.”
Robert twined their fingers together. “If he’s anything like his daughter, he’s brave.”
“And he is—or was?—married to the daughter of the head of the Witches’ Council.”
Robert stared at her. “Your grandmother was head of the Witches’ Council?” he asked incredulously.
“There’s a reason no one has been able to break the curse. She was the most powerful good witch in all of Aquaria before I—before the tiara changed her.”
Robert shifted restlessly. “My family isn’t near that powerful. I mean, compared to you, I feel like some country bumpkin.”
She smiled. “Power isn’t everything. Besides, I like you the way you are.” The smile slid from her face. “And if you knew what it was like, you might not wish to be in my position.”
“What do you mean?”
She returned her attention to the algae—now finding an angelfish. “Everyone watching you. No time ever on your own. And everyone having an opinion on what you do or say.” She bit her lip, trying to keep the words from tumbling out. “Sometimes it feels like—”
“Like what?” He squeezed her hand hesitantly.
Rosie shrugged. “I don’t know. I just—the thought of going home and having my mother and the townspeople see my tail, and dealing with all the whispers about me being a witch—I just don’t want to do it.” She closed her eyes. “Oh, sea stars! Mother will insist I talk to the council and I’m going to have to explain it all over again to them, and they’ll probably assign some kind of tutor or training and what if I fail at that just like I’ve failed at so many of the ladylike arts Mother has enrolled me in?” She shifted to face him. “I’m not graceful! I can’t be graceful! It’s just not in me. And no one ever believes that I’m not trying to sabotage their dance or whatever.”
Robert frowned. “Why do you have to be graceful?”
She glared at him. “Have you ever heard of a clumsy councilman’s daughter?”
He hesitated before a wide smile broke over his face. “Just one. She’s pretty great though—I’d consider her my best friend—but she doesn’t give herself near enough credit.”
Rosie stared at him, unable to decide if she should smack him or kiss him. Best friend? She turned back to the algae. “Well, other than me—”
“Frankly, I’ve never heard about any of the other councilmen’s families. Ever. I don’t think it’s as important as your mother thinks it is.” He threw his free hand in the air. “Who cares what kind of families they have if they’re good men?”
“Mother says you can tell a lot about a person by what kind of family they were raised in or what kind they currently have.”
“I suppose that’s true. But not everyone is just like their family. Some of us just don’t fit in, no matter how hard we try,” he said lightly.
She squeezed his hand. “That’s ok.”
“Really though, if you’re worried about all those people trying to tell you how to run your life, maybe you should stop worrying.”
Rosie scoffed. “Just stop worrying. When I know that I and my tail will be the talk of town for months if not years.”
“Yup. The brave thing to do is to not let other people run your life, even when they think they know what’s best for you. Of course, if they’re trustworthy, you should listen to them, but it’s still up to you if you want to accept their suggestions. It’s your life. Decide what you want to do. And if you don’t want to ignore everything your mother wants you to do, I bet you could come to some sort of compromise with her. I mean, she’s your mother. She kinda gets a say—but not the whole say.”
“Hmm.” Rosie continued her quest for shapes. “Do you think that algae looks like a dolphin?” she asked, pointing towards one corner.
“Huh?” Robert frowned at her.
She huffed. “The algae in the corner. Doesn’t it look like a dolphin?”
“Rosie, you can just tell me you don’t want to talk about this right now. You don’t have to come up with excuses to change the subject,” he said, his tone edged with hurt.
Rosie sighed. “I’m not trying to find a polite way to change the subject. I just—I don’t know how to do what you’re talking about. It’s hard to think about it. I’m not that brave. And besides, you know what townspeople are like—they talk all the time. You can’t ever escape the talk.”
“Yeah, but maybe you can decide that they don’t really know you, regardless of what they’ve heard, and if they were someone whose opinion really mattered, they would come and tell it to your face, respectfully,” he said as though tasting the words for the first time. “I mean, I don’t have to let the talk about my family being cowards drive me towards brilliant adventures. I can go on adventures just because I like ’em. It’s kind of silly to let them decide how I should run my life, isn’t it? It’s not as though they know me. And they don’t know how my grandfather really died. And, frankly, even if I performed some feat that was good enough for them, they’d still be waiting to pounce on the next mistake I made. They’re not worth all that energy, are they?”
“No, the people in your town certainly aren’t worth all that,” Rosie said.
“And the people in your town?” Robert prompted.
She sighed again, allowing herself for just a moment to imagine a world where she didn’t have to pander to every single person in town, to be public property. It was . . . . Tears filled her eyes. It was a glorious, magical fairytale. But . . . Stonefishes and Kingfishers were prominent citizens and had been so for generations. It was her responsibility to keep up their reputation.
“I know you’re brave enough,” he said, turning his head to look at her. “So, who do you want to be? What do you want out of life?”
She shook her head, tears beginning to spill out. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I have a responsibility to Aquaria.”
“Rosie, you have a responsibility to be yourself for Aquaria. Some fake person can’t help the country. No one wants a fake.”
A sob built in her throat. “Yes, they do. My mother and everyone else around want the perfect version of me. The only people that ever wanted me just for me were Grandma Essie and Aunt Rina.”
“I want the real you. They aren’t the only ones—I want the real you. I like you with all your imperfections. They’re what makes you interesting. And if your mother or anyone else can’t see that, well, then they shouldn’t get a say in your life.”
Tears kept spilling from her eyes no matter how hard she tried to stem them, and her chest ached. “It doesn’t matter now because I’ll have my responsibilities to Aquaria and to the Witches’ Council, and somehow, I’ll have to figure out this mutante stuff. It’s—” She brushed the tears from her face with her free hand. “It’s too much. I’m too much.”
Robert sat up, leaned over her, and looked her in the eye. “I think it’s just right. You’re just right.”
She covered her face with her hand, but he gently moved it. “I can’t—my family has responsibilities; I can’t just go back on generations of tradition.”
“Yes, you can. You’re allowed to be yourself. You’re a change-maker—that means, by definition, things will change around you. Might as well decide how you want them to change. Like Farfandal said, ride the beast, don’t be dragged along by it.”
Rosie held his gaze, searching his emerald eyes and finding only absolute sincerity. What if he was right? What if she could choose to be her own person? If she was doomed to change the situation, why not turn things in her favor?
“I’ll—I’ll think about it.”
Robert smiled at her. “I hope you do. You deserve more than to just be dragged along through that.” He laid down again beside her.
“Thanks. I—it’s been really nice having you around. I hope we can stay in touch.”
“I’d like that.”
Rosie squeezed his hand as another yawn nearly cracked her jaw.
“Do you think you can sleep now?” he asked. “You probably should . . . . It sounds like you’ll need to be at your best tomorrow.”
Rosie shivered, thinking of the consequences if she failed. “What if I just can’t do it? I mean, I couldn’t get the path to work, and—”
Robert scoffed. “I’d say you did just fine with the path. Besides, spending the night worrying you might fail is a surefire way to ensure you do fail.” He clicked his tongue. “Maybe what you need is a bedtime story.”
“A—a bedtime story?”
“Well, I have been known to tell a mean bedtime story. My brother and sister say I’m the best storyteller in the house,” he said modestly.
She laughed incredulously. “You want to tell me a bedtime story?”
“Only if you ask very nicely,” he said with a smirk. “Then I’ll consider sharing my exceptional talents with you.”
She eyed him. “You’ll consider it?”
“Yup,” he said. “I’ll consider it. But only because I like you, and friends should do favors for friends.”
Rosie nodded. “That’s—” She yawned again. “That’s very true. Friends do favors for friends.”
“Well then, would you like a bedtime story?”
Rosie almost demurred. She didn’t want Robert to see her as a little girl. Probably because he needed her to be highly competent tomorrow, and she didn’t want to add to his worry. But . . . . Spending the night obsessing about tomorrow sounded wretched. Internally, she shook her head at herself and then turned to look at him. “Please, sir knight, if you would be so kind, would you tell me a bedtime story?”
He chuckled. “Of course, Princess. But first—” He sat up and pulled the blankets over to them, carefully spreading two on her. “You don’t want to get cold.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be warm,” she said with another shiver. Just the thought of tomorrow was enough to freeze her blood.
He scooted next to her and pulled a blanket over himself. “I’ll help keep you warm. Now, what sort of story would you like?”
After providing several options and scoffing at her suggestions, Robert began the tale of two fish who accidentally got caught in a tidepool and ended up becoming friends with an octopus in their quest to return home. Rosie listened intently for the first part, but gradually her yawns increased and Robert’s voice became a pleasant background hum. He was warm, and she was safe.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was a bit long. I love these little points of realization and deepening relationship. I hope you’re enjoying them as well 😉
Also, I just discovered that the link was broken for Chapter 22. Sorry about that! It should be fixed now.
See you on Saturday!
