“Have you ever been on a boat before?” Kyungsoo loosened the ropes on the dock throwing them into the boat. He gave a slight push before settling down across from the girl who faced away from him and towards the ocean.

            Taura shook her head with her chin resting on her knees. She avoided the young man’s stern brown eyes always feeling like she was being judged when she looked into them. The boat rocked unsteadily as Kyungsoo tried to gain the momentum he needed to row them out to where all the other fishermen were. Taura’s hand clung to side with unnecessary force causing some of the wood to crack.

            “What was that? Did you hear that?”

            The mermaid shut her eyes trying to loosen her grip without making a sound. She felt some of the wood chips lodged in her skin and carefully tried to pick them out with her fingers. Taura shook her head once more to Kyungsoo’s question.

            “Is that a no to everything I ask you then? All you ever do is shake your head.” Kyungsoo muttered as he continued to row seeing Taura slowly turn her back to him. He rolled his eyes seeing her shake her head left and right.

            “See! No again.” Kyungsoo scoffed before muttering more things to himself that pertained to his grandfather, Kyung Jin.

            Taura shuffled her feet in front of her noticing how small of a fishing boat it was for two people. If she were to stretch out her legs, she’d take up at least half of the boat.

             The only boats Taura was familiar with growing up was ships and those were a hundred times bigger than the one she sat in. They were grand vessels with canvas masts and sides as high as a building. She was always told to stay away from. Ships were supposedly dangerous.

             Taura mainly took interest in the mermaid figureheads nestled under the bowsprit of the ship. Her teachers told her how much humans feared mermaids, mistaking them for sirens, and saw them as bad omens so it intrigued her as to why they would mount them on their ships.

            On one of her walks to the dock with Kyungsoo, he noticed her interest in the figurehead and explained. “She means good weather,” he pointed to the bare ed mermaid on the ship, “Sailors believe having a mermaid on their ship is the greatest protection a man can have on water…they’re supposed to calm the sea, prevent storms…”

            Taura lay in the small boat as the waves rocked her to and fro. She could hear lightning crackle all around her mixed with the angry applause of the roaring waves that hit her from all sides. She cowered at the loud sounds and struggled to free her arms and legs from their binding. If she were to capsize, God forbid…she wouldn’t be able to survive if she couldn’t swim.

            The throbbing in her legs and the heaviness of the wet silk that draped her body didn’t help either as she thrashed around in the small space. Her elbows and bare feet red from continuously hitting the sides of the boat she feared that her movements would soon break the fragile wood.

            Finally giving up, Taura cried out at the top of her lungs for someone to save her. “Help me! Please! Anybody!”

            *~*~*~*

            Sehun swam back and forth yelling out orders to the twenty some sirens and mermaids he’d garnered from Venillia with the help of Haemon and his mother. He made it to the city in record time finding his mother immediately who was surprised to see him. The prince informed her of what happened and Talya was quick to act calling upon Haemon to help her get the best men on the job.

             “Half of you will follow Talya east and search there while the rest of you will follow me west! There’s a storm raging out there so I can’t guarantee this is going to be easy or safe. It at any time you feel in danger then fall back…the last thing I want is more people getting hurt.”

            Talya and Haemon nodded at Sehun’s orders before wishing everyone good luck and for a safe trip. “We’re looking for the princess remember that! If she’s in human form bring her to the nearest land mass as quickly as possible but if not bring her immediately back here is that understood!”

             “Then let’s go!” Sehun ushered his half of