“Don’t talk to me about the mer-creature!”
“I didn’t mention him.”
“You meant him and you damn well know it!” He cast a rageful look upon the traitor but was immediately overcome with shame. “Forgive me,” he muttered.
“There is nothing to forgive. You fell in love. Surely, there is no shame in that?”
“All along, I thought he was an idiot, that he was somehow not of this world. I had no idea how right I had been the entire time,” Hawk sighed. How did he always manage to ruin everything? “I’m so angry at him for lying to me this whole time,” he continued. “And at myself for not being satisfied with what I had and expecting the worst. But I... how could I have anticipateda fishtail???”
“And how could he tell you the truth about that? You would have either dismissed him for a lunatic or exposed his entire species to predation!”
“I nearly dismissed him for a lunatic anyways,” Hawk mumbled, entirely unhelpfully.
“Samuel!” She tilted his face up by his chin, her thumb stroking over the point of his beard as if by that movement to instill some sense into him. “Are you not listening to me at all? You love him! I’ve never seen you look happier than when he was here. And I believe it was more than obvious he loved you very much: he left his home and his people for you!”
“What are you saying?”
“What I’m saying, my purposefully daft friend, is you should fight for him! Go after him! Find him again!”
“And where do I look, pray tell? The entire wide ocean?”
With a long-suffering sigh, Elizabeth pulled up a chair and sat next to him, her hands taking a hold of his.
“Has it occurred to you that if one of them can come on land that it’s very likely there are others living among us at this very moment?”
“Mermaids masquerading as humans?”
“Is it so hard to believe after all you’ve seen? Such an ally could help you locate Silver again, facilitate a meeting between the two of you.”
“No, but... how would I go about locating one? They could be anyone! I can’t very well have the entire island walk the plank!” He paused. “Actually...”
“Think, Hawk! What was the one thing Silver was always obsessing about?”
“His huge cock?”
“Notyou- he!”
“Um... his hair?”
“That’s right, his hair! I remember you telling me that he kept going on about his hair even though you were convinced his best feature was his... eyes.”
“He does have such beautiful eyes,” Hawk sighed. “They change colors with the tides... Goddamn, I was an imbecile!”
“Right, so...” Elizabeth gave Hawk another hard look, as if waiting to see if he’d come to the logical conclusion on his own. With a sigh at his obstinacy, she went on, “So, you start with whomever has the most beautiful hair in Port Royal!”
“You?”
“For god’s sake, Hawk! NotI! And if you don’t stop flirting with me, I’m afraid you and Henry will come to blows,” she laughed, squeezing his hand.
“I don’t know anything about hair!” Hawk exploded in a panic. “I’m a pirate, not a hairdresser,! You must come with me, or else I’m going to execute Plan A.”
“Which one was Plan A?”
“Making everyone walk the plank!”
Elizabeth quickly rose. “I’ll get my hat.”
Could there really be more mermaids in Port Royal? Hawk wondered as they made their way up the street. For what purpose? To steal away with human riches? If that were the case, he was certain that far more treasure had been lost to the sea than it would be possible to steal from land.
