man.’
‘Conor,’ I said.
She looked confused and turned her head like a baffled puppy. ‘What does Conor mean?’
‘It’s my name. I am Conor.’
‘Oh,’ she said, placing her hand up over her face, laughing. ‘Oh, I’m very pleased to meet you, Conor,’ she said and then did a little curtsey.
‘And yours?’
‘And my what?’ she said, again with that head tilt.
‘Your name? What’s your name?’
‘Oh’ – giggle – ‘my name is Graysea.’
‘It is a pleasure to meet you, Graysea.’
‘And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Conor.’
‘You already said that.’
‘Did I? Oops.’
‘So tell me, Graysea, where am I and how long have I been here?’
‘Oh, so many questions. Which answer do you want first?’
‘I don’t mind, either.’
‘OK,’ she said. ‘Um… what were the questions again?’
‘Let’s start with where am I?’
‘You’re in the Grotto of Health.’
‘And where is that?’
That question stymied her for a minute before she came up with, ‘In the Grotto of Health.’
‘OK, how long have I been here?’
‘Ever since I brought you here.’
That was not quite an answer to my question but it was a nugget of information. ‘You brought me here?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘And where did you find me?’
‘In the water.’
‘And what were you doing in the water?’
‘Flying.’
‘Don’t you mean swimming?’
‘I don’t think so.’
I took a deep breath and started again. ‘So you were flying in the water when you just came across me drowning?’
‘Oh no, I saw Tughe Tine drop you. That’s why I came.’
‘You saw the dragon drop me?’
‘Oh, everyone did. We don’t see Moran very often – usually only once every twenty years at the blood fete.’
‘What happens at the blood fete?’
‘That’s when Moran gives dragon blood to the King so he won’t grow old. Don’t you know about that?’
‘I’ve heard something about it.’
This seemed to please her. I sat up higher in bed and as I did I winced where my side hurt. Graysea unabashedly pulled back my sheet and asked me where it hurt. I pointed to my side and she told me to ‘Scoot over.’ Then she sat next to me in the bed, placed her hand on my rib, put her feet up on the bed and crossed her ankles. With her free hand she placed into her mouth a silvery shell that was hanging around her neck by a string of tiny pearls. I watched as her neck thickened, then three slits appeared that began to open and close like a beached fish gasping for air. When I looked down I wasn’t that surprised to see that her feet had changed into one fin. Her fingers, now webbed, pressed hard against my rib. That caused a sharp stab of pain that instantly disappeared as Graysea made a deep gasping noise. She reached up and removed the shell from her mouth and by the time I looked at her fin, it was feet again.
‘Oh, that one was broken,’ she said, getting up and rubbing her own side. ‘I’m sorry we missed that.’
I covered myself up and then flexed the rib. It didn’t hurt at all. ‘How did you do that?’
‘I took your hurt and then lost it during The Change. That’s what we do here. It took quite a few of us a long time to heal you. What happened?’
‘Have you ever seen a hawk swoop down and catch a rabbit?’
Graysea nodded yes, but wrinkled her nose to show that she didn’t like it.
‘Well, that’s what happened to me.’
‘You said lots of funny things in your sleep.’
‘Like what?’
‘Mostly you said “Brendan, Araf and Tuan”.’
I wasn’t expecting that and her words stabbed me with a pain worse than my broken rib. I tried to push the thought of them being burned alive out of my mind. I knew I would have to deal with the emotions of that loss – but later – I didn’t have the strength now. I turned my face away from Graysea and slammed my eyelids closed, willing them not to leak. When I looked back, Graysea was upset.
‘Oh, oh what have I done?’
‘No, it’s OK. They are friends that I have lost. It’s not your fault.’
‘Oh, no, I’m not supposed to upset patients. Oh, I have to get matron.’ She turned and ran out of the room. There was no way to stop her.
A couple of minutes later the older nurse came in and stood at the foot of my bed with her arms crossed. ‘Graysea says that you are upset.’
‘I think she is more upset than me.’
‘What happened? What did you do to her?’
‘I didn’t do anything. She just mentioned the names I have been speaking in my sleep for the last… How long have I been here?’
‘Nine days.’
‘Wow, I’ve been here for nine days?’
‘What did you say to her?’
‘Oh, nothing, she just said the names of my companions that… they were killed during my… adventure. She took me by surprise and I turned away for a second. Honest, I told her it was OK but she bolted out of the room.’
The matron uncrossed her arms and her countenance softened. ‘She is a sensitive little fishy.’ She pushed the sheet away from my feet, held both ankles and closed her eyes performing what I presumed was some sort of examination. ‘So how did you like your chat with our Graysea?’
‘It was… interesting.’
‘I bet. I should have warned you about the rule of having a successful conversation with her.’
‘And what would that be?’
‘Don’t ask her any questions.’
We both laughed. ‘Hey, sorry about screaming when I first saw you. I really-’
She waved her hand and cut me off. ‘Don’t give it a second thought. If I had seen me when I expected her – I would have screamed too.’ She came behind me and held my head with both hands; when I started to talk she shushed me again. ‘Actually there are some mornings I want to scream when I look in the mirror.’
‘Can I ask you a couple of questions?’
‘You can ask.’
‘You are mermaids – right?’
‹ whight='0%' width='5%'›‘Oh my, that is word I haven’t heard in a long while, but yes – I am Mertain.’ She pulled my sheet away. ‘OK, Faerie, let’s see if you can walk.’
‘You wouldn’t have my clothes around, would you?’
‘It’s nothing that I have never seen before.’
