Ben had spent a day in his house and he was now quite convinced that he was back home and no longer in captivity. It would take a few more days for the nights to look a little different because the darkness as a free man had so much in common with the darkness as a captive - all pitch black and cold. But one thing he was very happy and grateful for was the fact that Tara was spending the night with him. In captivity, he never slept early. So even after midnight, he was still wide awake, checking every now and then to see if she was still there. He had to touch her to make sure and man, was her skin cold. After enduring several such touches in silence, Tara turned and snuggled close.
"I'm not leaving," she murmured in assurance.
"Glad to hear," Ben whispered in reply, expecting to hear the echo of his voice, forgetting that he was no longer in an empty room.
"Hmm," was her only response and then silence reigned for a few minutes.
"Can I ask you a question?", Ben suddenly said and immediately, he felt Tara stiffen in his arms.
"Okay," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
"And you promise to provide a straightforward answer?", he asked.
"I'll try."
"No no, that's not good enough."
"But what would you have me say? I don't even know what question you'd like me to answer. By the way, I don't think I'll be able to provide an answer if it's about..."
"Thansa! What's the deal with that guy, anyway? Really, who is he? Cause I know it's a he."
"Just forget about it."
"No, ma'am. I can't. I spent five horrible days in that horrible place and I think I deserve, if nothing, at least a tiny bit of information. So who's this Thansa guy? Was he one of the guys that held me captive?"
There was no response and he thought perhaps she had fallen asleep. He sighed and was going to make up his mind to fall asleep too, in a few minutes when she suddenly raised herself onto her elbows. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was looking directly at him. And he was sure that she wasn't smiling.
"Benjamin, have I ever asked anything of you before?"
"Not really," he quietly replied.
"Then I'd like you to kindly grant me this one wish: Let.. It.. Go."
"But..."
"You heard me, Ben. Let it go. And that includes talking to Lisha about it. okay?"
"Okay," Ben agreed with a sigh albeit reluctantly.
With a kiss to his lips, she laid back down to sleep, leaving him wide awake and wondering whether he really should keep his promise.
*****
With the semi-permanent absence of her elder sister, Lisha was now the undisputed operational leader of the enclave. Though Maana recognized Lina as her favourite, Lisha was still the leader by virtue of seniority and rascality. Lina, more often than not, went out of her way to avoid fighting with her, provided it was nothing to do with bottles and inscribed tablets - the latest item she was collecting, from old shipwrecks.
Once a week or so, Rana would pay a visit to the enclave, just to avoid falling victim to the negative effects a long stay on the warm land could have on a mermaid's body. For the rest of the week, Lisha would reign unchallenged while their mother would spend more time resting. The poor woman was aging faster than the rate at which the younger mermaids were growing. Despite several efforts to make her act her age, Prisha was still very much like a baby, falling victim to Braana's tricks and constantly being controlled by that younger sister of hers. This worried their mother to no end, though Lisha had her own private plans on how such behaviors would be swiftly corrected. But even though she'd have loved to start enforcing martial law as soon as practicable, here she was, far from home and trailing after a merman, one of Thansa's men to be exact. He seemed to be on a hunt for snails and she had been following him for the past hour or so, saying and doing nothing to attract his attention. But she wasn't fooled by his silence either. She knew that he was aware of her presence and sooner or later, he'd be forced to acknowledge her.
The trailing game continued for a few more minutes until the merman got fed up and suddenly whirled around, almost startling Lisha.
"Why are you following me?", he demanded, not the model of happiness.
"I don't mean any harm," she replied with an arrogant toss of her head and a careless swish of her caudal fin. "I just would like you to deliver a message to Lord Thansa."
"Do I look like a messenger to you?"
"No. But the message is urgent. I might run into him days later and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be referred to, in our conversation, as the one who prevented him from receiving an urgent message that you were asked to deliver many weeks ago."
"What's the message?", he growled, quite aware that he'd been entrapped.
"Come closer," Lisha beckoned authoritatively.
He bit his lip in anger, but eventually swam closer.
"What's the message?", he growled again.
She didn't reply immediately. Instead, she ran her eyes up and down his entire frame, noticing the scar that he had acquired when he missed her at the shipwreck.
"Now, this is what I want you to tell Lord Thansa. Listen carefully. If you like, I can pull your ears for you. You are to tell him that I have important information, the person who messed up the Ben mission to be exact. But I would like to talk to him alone. He'll find me just after surface dawn, waiting near the southern tip of Podeo..."
"Podeo? Why Podeo? That's open ground."
"That's the message you are to convey," Lisha returned. "Hopefully, Podeo wasn't the only thing you picked from all I just said. Now, get going. Shoo."
He gnashed his teeth in rage and focused fury-filled eyes on her, but she held his gaze without blinking.
"Careful, girl," he finally warned through gritted teeth.
"Oh thank you. Or perhaps you could act as my bodyguard?"
But he had already swam off.
"Loser," she muttered beneath her breath as she turned and began making her way home.
*****
It was like a parade, a slow match to be precise. All throughout the journey to the little church, Tara had been giddy to no end. Now that they had stepped out of the car, she was almost dizzy with excitement, so she held on tightly to Ben's arm while Joey brought up the rear. All were appropriately dressed for the occasion, but there was a small part of Tara that still could not believe what was going on. She would never have expected it to happen so soon, if ever. She was just going to be content with having her man back, but he had been the one who suddenly brought up the issue and she was too surprised to do anything but nod in agreement. Now, it was about to come to fruition and she was very happy, to say the least.
"Sure you still wanna go ahead with this?", Ben asked as they approached the beaming priest. She shot him an are-you-crazy look and tightened her grip on his arm. Ben smiled in response and they came to a halt in front of the priest, turning to face each other. He was quite surprised as Tara closed her eyes just as the priest began to read out the vows, but a smile was on her face - a happy smile. The husband-to-be was now being asked if he would take Tara Mullsh (her father's name) to be his lovely wedded wife, to live with her for better for worse, in sickness and in health, to cherish and to love, till death do them part. Ben remained silent and Tara's eyes quickly flew open, a worried look taking over her face.
"Yes, I do," he finally said, chuckling as she sighed in relief. He immediately got a playful punch to the chest for his trouble.
"I forgot to add in peace and tranquillity," the priest said, eliciting a round of laughter from everyone present, which was just the four of them. It was the couple's idea that they have a strictly private wedding, devoid of guests. Recent events had brought them closer and they felt the need to share such a happy moment between themselves alone. Hopefully, their friends would understand when they finally get the news.
"I do," Tara proclaimed even before the priest could finish reading out her vows.
"By the power vested in me, I pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride.. even though it may not be your first time."
Joey chuckled at this, but the couple was dead serious and very much occupied in a lips and tongues duel. He felt a little pang of jealousy as he watched them. When on Earth was he going to get a woman of his own? But to add salt to injury, Ben and Tara still continued to enjoy their endless kiss.
"Hey hey, break it off," he intervened. "Save the rest for the bedroom, okay? Let's just sign this register and get outta here."
"Don't mind him, he's just jealous," Ben said to his new bride as he folded her into his arms.
"Aww sorry, Joey," Tara cooed. "But I think Lisha likes you. Maybe you guys could..."
"Over my dead body," he muttered beneath his breath, causing another round of laughter.