Ariel Slick writes original fiction including short stories, novels, and memoirs to spread the joy of imagination and creativity. She also helps clients achieve their fiction writing goals with her ghostwriting skills on Upwork.com and Guru.com. 

Rory the merman wants just one thing in this life: to become a good king and lead his tribe of mer-people who live in the ocean, but when a mysterious illness strikes and mermaids start dying, he begins to investigate why, and who is behind it. 

When he discovers that it is humans who are dumping toxic waste into the water, he is spurred by tragedy to go ashore and speak with the human king himself. When he makes a deal with the evil Sea Warlock, he receives a magic spell to turn him human for seven days.

There’s just one catch: he must kill a human. That will be pretty difficult to do considering he just fell in love with the king’s daughter...


The King and His Sea

Rory watched Rani talk with the men. She seemed so natural at it, gracefully lowering her head to acknowledge the men, laughing along with them, easily charming them. He smiled at her courage, her passion.


Rory realized that he was starting to feel a deep confusion. Looking at Rani, he knew he admired her zeal, her tenacity, and he had caught himself in a daydream about what it might be like to spend more than just a week with her. His admiration was slowly morphing into something else, which filled him with a sort of vague terror. He felt a twisting guilt, because he knew he should have told her about the Sea Warlock long ago, should have told her at the outset, because now, he knew that he cared about her. He cared deeply for this human, and he wanted more than just seven days with her. 


Chapter 40