Fated Bonds

Lilith's eyes fluttered open as she tried to adjust her eyes to the brightness in her room.

She just had the most wonderful dream she had had in days. There was a man and they were hugging and then he placed his lips on hers. Her cheeks were stained with pink.

That dream had been recurring for the past few months but she never caught a good glance at the man.

She knew he had sandy blonde hair and he was muscular but why couldn't she ever see his face she mused silently.

Her door opened ever so slightly.

"Princess, Her Royal Highness the queen requests your presence." A servant said bowing slightly.

"You may rise for I have heard, I will be with her in a few minutes". Lilith said.

Moving around she started about her day and she was feeling excited about a new day and had a good feeling about how it was all going to play out.

As she swam to her mother's palace she saw the guards in front of the double doors and gave a small smile.

Her eyes roam around the walls like they always do. Always finding things to keep her intrigued.

"Mother," she said, bowing.

"My dear Lilith, come closer, let me see you."

Lilith steps closer to her mother with a huge smile on her face. She runs her hand through Lilith's thick seaweed-like hair.

"Your hair's quite thick aren't you going to get it cut?"

"No Mom I love how wild and unrestrained it is," she said

"You don't want to get a Wolfie either?"

"Yes Mum I'm good"

A long silence followed.

"Mom…"

"Yes, my darling"

"Has any news been released on my mate from the oracle?" Lilith asked nervously, fiddling with her fingers.

"Ah yes, that's perhaps the reason I called you here."

Lilith's eyes glittered in delight and happiness.

"The oracle says you should go to the orifices immediately with his face and some details about him have been shown," Mother said.

Lilith squealed in happiness, bowing her head down as she saw her mother staring at her incredulously.

Lilith left her mother's palace swimming as fast as she could to the oracle. She reached the oracle offering her greetings as she repeated the same words she had been repeating ever since her 18th birthday.

And then he appeared.

The same man that she was always seeing in her dreams in full form. He was beautiful and surprisingly he had legs. He was human.

She drank his figure hungrily and noticed he was on a boat. His veins popped out as he lifted a barrel. She looked in wonder at the image carefully carving it inside her head and then she noticed the mark on his arm. It was the same as the mark on the side of her stomach.

She marveled at this discovery, eager to share the good news with her mother and everyone else.

Lilith rushed outside as fast as she could, running to tell him about the discovery she had found.

She went to her friend Finn's house.

She knocked eagerly and excitedly and as Finn opened the door she ran into his arms giggling.

"What's this excitement all about? Don't tell me you missed me that much" Finn said.

"I found him, I found him," Lilith said.

"Him? Who are we talking about" He said, distancing himself from her.

"My mate duh," Lilith said giggling.

Finn's smile immediately turned upside down, his jaw tight and his hand clenching.

"That's nice," He said with a visibly fake smile but Lilith was too deep in her emotions to notice.

"So who is he then?" Finn said dryly.

"He's a human, In the oracle I  had…"

"Human?" Finn asked her.

Lilith scowled at him for interrupting her and for being really "positive".

"He bears the mark Finn," Lilith said.

"Good for you Li,l," He said, giving her a tight smile.

"I have to go to the cove to get some things so you need to leave. I'll talk to you later bye" Finn said, escorting Lilith out of his house and shutting the door abruptly as soon as she was on the porch.

As he shut the door he revealed how stupid he was to think he and Lilith could be mates when he, as he had checked many times, did not have the mark of the mated upon him.

He gave a bitter chuckle as he remembered how excited she had been as she told him about the man.

Never had she ever given him a smile that bright before.

He sighed, willing himself and musing that the possibility she would even find him was as slim as finding a slim pufferfish.

"She will never find him even I'll make sure of that," A part of his mind said.

He shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts he was having and questioning the what-ifs of what would happen if she didn't meet the man.

Lilith was confused at why Finn had displayed such a reaction. She passed a message to her maid to tell her mom she was going out to the shore and then she swam to the surface.

She went to the island that was just east of Maid's Cove. As soon as she left the water. She willed for her tail to disappear and waited a few minutes so she would be able to use her legs.

She stood up and began walking around the forest, wondering how beautiful Greenland was.

Her thick hair covered her intimate parts as she walked around the island occasionally stopping to pick flowers.

A break of a branch sounded and Lilith turned to see no one. She heard loud footsteps approaching and quickly hid.

"I swear mate I saw someone passing through these parts'' one of them said in a deep gruff voice.

"Maybe it was just a deer," the other replied.

"Deers don't walk you fool," the deep-voiced one said.

Lilith hid behind the tree carefully breathing to make sure no one saw her. Something began to crawl up her shoulder reaching her neck. She turned carefully and saw a millipede creeping up her face.

"Arghh" she screamed, throwing the creature far away from her.

The men turned and they were shocked to see the girl in the woods with no clothes on.

Lilith began to run as fast as she could through the first; she was still very far away from the water so her only option was to run.

The men chased after her. Lilith's breath sped up when she realized they were catching up to her. Adrenaline flowed through her veins and she ran even faster.

All of a sudden everywhere went black.

"Where did you say you found her?" Kent said.

"She was running through the forest Sir," The man replied.

"With no clothes on?" He asked.

"Naked as the day she was born" One of them replied.

Kent mused and wondered where such a girl would even have come from.

A low moan sounds from Lilith who lay on the floor.

The men stepped back fearing she might be a witch or even worse she was mad and a cannibal.

Lilith opened her eyes to see three men staring at her two with fear and the other with surprise and amusement.

She blinked twice to study her environment and suddenly woke up slowly looking properly at the other man who seemed not as scared as the other two.

She studied his face closely, wondering where she had seen him before.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at him mouth wide and tears of joy coming out of her eyes.

Kent looked at Lilith in surprise and then amusement as he saw her crying he just looked confused.

"Go back to the ship and get clothes so she can be covered up."

"Yes Sir"

The two men left, leaving Lilith and Kent alone. Lilith openly stared at Kent with her wide eyes which left Kent feeling like she was a predator.

He later snapped back as he realized she was a random stranger whom they had found naked in the woods.

"Who are you?" He said with a voice laced with a twinge of disgust.

"I-" Lilith began to speak, confused and surprised at how croaky her voice sounded.

Her cheeks are stained with red wondering perhaps whether her mate thinks she's weird.

Kent looked at the strange girl in disgust and wondered why her cheeks were stained red or why she was not meeting his eyes.

"Who sent you here? Who are you, I ask again". Kent said unsheathing a dagger from the side of his breeches.

"Do not fear for I am not here to hurt you…"  Lilith said slowly.

Wondering how to explain how she came here without him discovering her identity.  She couldn't risk getting her people in trouble just because of him.

"My ship…scattered…waves…everyone gone…abandoned…rescued…boom boom…sinking…swim here…try to survive," Lilith said gesticulating her arms so he could believe her fake sob story of how she got on this island.

"So you mean to tell me that you got shipwrecked and everyone abandoned you when the ship was fixed to a fault and you tried to sneak into it but something bad had happened and no one survived except you and you swam back to the island trying to survive" Kent looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

She nodded affirming what he had just said.

"Why are not wearing any clothes then?"  He said immediately remembering she was naked his eyes roamed up and down her body.

"Clothes…wet…itchy…rashes…remove," Lilith said.

The men rush back with a sack dress for her to wear and like a bit of proper gentlemen unlike when they knocked her out with a coconut. They turned away and allowed her to dress up.

Kent's eyes scan sleepily over her body and he sees the mark by the side. His eyebrows creased together as he wondered why she had the same time of mark he had on his arm.

"Sir, Miss Donna was looking for you," One of the men said.

His jaw clenched and unclenched "And for what reason may that be isn't she happy I fulfilled her request by bringing her to the sea."

Meanwhile, Lilith decides to stay with Kent and progress their love. She decided to spend more time with him and see whether he was truly the one for her and she was the one for him.

The oracle had given a brief description of how her mate would look like. It showed his face and with an eerie voice, he gave brief details about him.

Kent. That was his name the oracle said and he was a pirate or at least he used to be. It didn't matter to her.

She ought to be scared because she had heard many gory stories about pirates using mermaids for depreciating things and even grilling them to make merfolk stew. She shuddered at that remembrance. But she wasn't scared of him; she wanted to go.

"Can I follow you guys?"A small voice sounded while the men and Kent talked.

"Huh? You'll just be extra baggage" Kent said disapprovingly.

"No I could work as a scullery maid or a cook or even both," Lilith said casting her eyes down.

"Sir we could use some help. We're running low on staff and some of them have seasickness so they can't cook."

"Fine. You can come with us but you will not be paid daily wages," Kent said and began walking away.

"Thank you so much," she said, bowing slightly.

The men also started walking away with their boots entering into the sand while Lilith felt the Sandy beach between her toes enjoying the feeling she quickly discovered that they were soon leaving her behind so she walked fast to meet up.

And then they started walking towards the ship.