Little Red for Mr. Rydding Hood: The Lost World of Agartha 1

Chapter 14

— soon, they were nothing

but nightmares

“We’re sorry! It was our fault,” Samantha said to her the next morning. Ayet was with her again and five of the other children.

“Sorry,” Ayet added and apologetically looked up at her with her innocent eyes. Samantha pouted beside her, and the sincerity of their apology was too clear in their small faces.

“Apology accepted.” Her hand reached out to stroke Samantha’s hair. The little girl didn’t step back and just let her. However, her own gesture reminded Princess Loaisa of Mr. Hood’s gesture towards her yesterday. “It’s nothing to me, but I really hope you won’t do it again. Not to me and not to anyone.”

They both nodded in unison. The other kids watched them with confusion, so Princess Loaisa smiled at them.

“Nana Sora said you got sick last night. That’s why we’re sorry. Are you okay now?”

She smiled and nodded to Samantha. She even bent down to level with them and let them touch her forehead. She was honestly feeling better now.

“You won’t tell Nana what we did, right?”

“But Nana Sora already did!” Ayet answered for her. The little girl swiftly shook her head. The pout remained, and her forehead creased.

“Not the reason why.”

“Why?” One of the other kids behind them and the one with curly hair.

Samantha and Ayet both pursed her lips together, not wanting to share their secrets with the other kids. It must be because it was only the both of them who understood each other.

“I won’t tell,” Princess Loaisa reassured them. It took them a full minute to realize Princess Loaisa was telling the truth. They gave her such a huge smile that melted her. She was dumbfounded when they ran to her and wrapped their short arms around her waist. She chuckled when the rest of the kids mimicked them. Even those who were playing in the distance ran to them to join their circle.

Nana Sora walked to them with a smile, once again letting her wrinkles visible to everyone even from a distance.

“Oh, you must really be sorry!” The words were for Ayet and Samantha, and the two kids pouted guiltily. Princess Loaisa caressed their hair to reassure them again. “How are you feeling now, dear?”

“Fine.” She smiled. “Margaret told you?” She looked around for her, but she was nowhere in sight. She had a feeling she was at the back again and into the cliff.

The old lady laughed. “Margaret talks to me and Andres. But mostly, she will only speak when she’s on the cliff.”

She nodded, not knowing what to say. Margaret must have only talked to people she trusted, and the two elders looked trustworthy enough. Besides, they looked like they were the father and mother of this group. All humans in Kent were their children, and Princess Loaisa truly felt she was one of them now. She could feel it.

“Her bottle has a medicine to help calm her down if she has an anxiety attack,” Nana Sora added, reminding Princess Loaisa of the water she drank last night.

That must have been the reason they fell asleep again after the dream and had fallen sound asleep until morning. She was the only one sleeping in the cottage again when she woke up earlier.

“She’s on the cliff if you want to talk to her.”

The children who were circling her let go of her and distanced themselves from her. At first, she thought it was to free her and let her go anywhere else she wanted to go, and as Nana Sora mentioned, the cliff. But when she saw the frown on Samantha’s face, she realized it was because of Margaret being a ‘merman’s bride’.

Yet, she could not see the reason to be afraid of it. No matter how true that was. There were half-humans in Agartha who were the offsprings of humans and other creatures. They were free beings like everyone else. Most of them lived in Mercia, and even humans treat them fairly. At least according to the stories she heard from the people in the palace who made transactions in Mercia.

She stopped her own thoughts.

That was the reason. Pure humans in Northumbria treated them fairly because they were in Northumbria and Saxon. There was an agreement tying them together through the Mercian Royal House.

While people here in Mindanao, particularly in Kent, were not part of that agreement. Not the good side of the agreement, unfortunately, because they were the ‘offer’. The sacrifice. Their lives to seal the deal. That was the horrifying part of the freedom humans in Northumbria never experienced. And sadly, not everyone was aware of this dreadful side of the charter. Humans as prey to save other human beings.

Princess Loaisa saw the sincerity of Samantha for her apology and her guilt she had a fever for staying for long in the stream. But when she excused herself to see Margaret on the cliff, she made a face. The little girl purposely widened her eyes at Princess Loaisa as if to say, ‘we told you right? Didn’t you listen? She’s a merman’s bride!’

But Princess Loaisa only smiled at them. Samantha shrugged and shook her head disappointedly. Princess Loaisa felt bad for their opinion towards Samantha and the other creatures. She wanted to enlighten them. It should not be like that.

But then she knew where they were all coming from. Their kind of living here was enough proof to be unfair to the other creatures.

She continued walking to the cliff, stopping at the side where she met Mr. Hood yesterday. His coat was in her arms. She was carefully carrying it since she left the cottage and even when she ate her breakfast in the tent.

When she reached the cliff, she was in total awe at the scenery. It was true that unfamiliar places were beautiful for the fresh eyes. Princess Loaisa was used to the river and the sea of Northumbria. She liked to see during hours where they almost had the same color. It fascinated her, as always.

But the view up the cliff was something else. It was a beauty that caught everyone’s eyes despite the unfamiliarity. The cliff wasn’t high but wasn’t too low either. But of course, enough to kill anyone who would fall from the top. The crystal ocean was clear and blue, while the blue sky was full of large clouds. They met at the end, a very far distance, but Princess Loaisa longed to see that end.

She stepped forward, mesmerized, and hypnotized by the beauty. Until she saw Margaret sitting on the bench meters ahead of her. She was staring ahead. Unlike Princess Loaisa, who had to keep her hair in place, Margaret’s hair was in place behind her because they were braided. It seemed like Princess Loaisa was not the only one who was hypnotized by the beauty of nature before their eyes.

Of course, Margaret was well familiar with the place. But she was not making a step. She was sitting stiffly on the bench like she knew what was already on the edge of the vast ocean and sky. In fact, there was another bench in front, much closer to the elated edge.

Princess Loaisa noticed the huge, sleek shells used as a seat on the bench. Even the feet of it were made of shells, but smaller ones. They reflected lights from the sun, and she knew it could be seen from the ocean. It was too beautiful and shining like diamonds not to be noticed by anyone from the sea.

There was no need for explanation. Princess Loaisa knew what it was for, and perhaps who made it. What creature created it, rather.

From where she was standing, she could see the spiral stoned steps going down the shore. It was as intricate and unique as the shell bench. The sand used was white and glinting against the sunlight. Spotted and perfectly curved, like the exemplary sculptures in Malacañan Palace.

But despite the attraction, Margaret seemed reluctant to come near it to any of them.

“Can I join you?” she politely asked. Her voice was gentle, and she stepped closer beside the first bench to let her presence be known so as not to startle Margaret. She could tell she was not expecting anyone to come here. Especially not Princess Loaisa.

When their eyes met, she briefly glanced at her. There was indifference in her expression. She looked back to the sea.

She stayed for a minute, watching the scenery like her. But when Margaret did not glance at her again, she realized she was not welcomed. This was her space, anyway. Everyone left her alone here. Like how everyone let Princess Loaisa stay in the west field of Northumbria.

Suddenly, feeling unwelcome in a place she wanted to stay, disheartened Princess Loaisa. She had to remind herself it was not Malacañan Palace again and one way or another, she would not be welcome here as she was now. It was only a matter of time before the truth revealed itself. And Princess Loaisa wanted this place to welcome her as who she truly was.

“You can stay,” a soft voice said to the silence and gentle breeze when she was about to turn around. When she turned to Margaret, her eyes were directed ahead. Her lips were pursed like she did not mutter a word. It was when her head turned and she smiled at Princess Loaisa that she had confirmed the words indeed came from Margaret.

She was caught off guard by her speaking to her and her soft, feminine voice that she absentmindedly walked closer to her, and sat in the space she tapped for her. Mr. Hood’s coat was on her lap.

“This is a wonderful place," Princess Loaisa commented to break the silence. She pinched her fingertips when Margaret kept silent. "I wanted to thank you again for last night. Nana Sora said the drink you shared with me last night was your medicine."

"You needed it," Margaret then answered with a nod. "When I heard your struggling cry and the look on your face, I was reminded of my own nightmares. I saw myself in you."

"You've been having those kinds of dreams, too?"

"Nightmare." She smiled at her. "I believed they were half dreams and half-truths. Until they became real, and soon, they were nothing but nightmares." There was nothing in her tone but indifference.

"I didn't mean to pry, but is it about how they call you? The merman?"

Margaret spun her head back at her with wide eyes. Not a look of terror or surprise. It was longing. "I've not heard anyone say that word to me for years. It sounds foreign now."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't—"

"No," she stopped her. "It's fine. It just really sounds foreign. The merman's bride, right? They believed I was a bride — well, I was about to."

"What happened?" Princess Loaisa was hesitant to ask, but curiosity got the best of her. Margaret seemed willing to tell her story anyway. It was true she spoke while here. Why, she couldn't tell.

"Decisions change anyone's life. It didn't change mine a bit, but it changed something inside me. "

Princess Loaisa already had a feeling it was the merman.

"You must be curious," Margaret added. "It was a long story and what matters was the ending. Our ending? This..." She gestured herself to the surroundings. But Princess Loaisa couldn't understand.

If two people fell in love, which was obviously the case between them, why the ending was with someone being left alone in abandonment? Margaret must have these people around her, but it was clear on her face. She was left in abandonment by someone she loved. And Princess Loaisa had never been in love intimately. She had little knowledge of true love. Her only basis with it was her parents' love story. She had none of her own to relate with what possibly Margaret was feeling.

"Do you... have regrets?" Princess Loaisa asked. She didn't know where the question came from. It's probably her curiosity. Did she regret falling in love with anyone other than human beings like her? To the creature of the sea? To the creature that was different from them.

"You believed it's unusual?" Margaret asked back. "Our people believed it was. But they said people in Northumbria would accept it. It was a normal thing up there, right? So are the half-humans."

Princess Loaisa hoped she knew well enough about Northumbria as everyone else who lived there did. She did. But it was all based on the books and what she heard from the people. Nothing was witnessed by her own eyes.

With the freedom every creature in Northumbria had — as long as none acted superior against others — no one could guess which among the living were Agartha's natives. The creatures? The humans? They said the human populations in Northumbria were close to the population of every creature. But the creatures of the sea were immeasurable since they had the ocean, unlike the land of Agartha where every creature shared together.

"What happened then? You don't want to produce half-humans?" Princess Loaisa's voice was low. It would have passed as a joke but Margaret didn't seem the type to lame fancy jokes.

"That would be amazing, don't you think?" Her bright smile said it so. She was excited with the thought. "But I had to make choices. I believed it was always a must you choose family more than anything. My people."

"They don't like him? The merman?"

"I didn't like him at first either... But that wasn't the point. I told you, the ending was what matters most."

"And this is your ending?" she asked in disbelief. Though her sister likes scary tales, most of the love stories were happy endings. Princess Loaisa was too young and inexperienced to know tales were different from real life. Not all endings ended up happily. Especially not the story with two different races involved. It was rare, so are the half-humans.