Free Sprite (Annabelle's Story Part One) by Leigh Michael

you mean?”
    “It’s kind of hard to talk about. It’s about my family.”
    In response, I sat quietly and waited for him to go on. I didn’t want to pressure him into talking about something that was too difficult for him.
    He collected himself first, eyes downcast. “When I was just a boy the Trackers attacked me and my family while we returned from a trip to visit the Mami Wata. Even though we were protected my little sister and my mother were both captured.”
    “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”
    “Thanks, like I said, it was a long time ago.”
    Even still, I saw the hurt in his eyes as he continued. “Normally, the rescue party wouldn’t include the King and his son, but my grandfather and my dad insisted on going due to their grief.”
    This time, it was my turn to show my solidarity. Just like Adrian, I rested my hand on his arm.
    “I wanted to go, too,” he added. “But my family told me that I was too young.”
    So kicking and screaming, YaYa forced Adrian to stay behind. He watched the others leave. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t ever watch them return. Adrian soon became the last male left in Triton’s bloodline.
    I really had no response. Watching Adrian’s face as he told the story was almost unbearable.
    Finally, I was able to muster a quiet, “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay. Really. I’m just happy that I’ll now have the opportunity to avenge my family. YaYa hopes one day I’ll start my own family with someone who can help strengthen our bloodline. Someone like… you.”
    “Me?” I said, with a choked laugh. “Not only do I have a boyfriend, but I’m still not convinced I have any of the affinities you guys say I do.”
    “I guess we shall see,” he said confidently, ignoring my reference to Blake. “How ‘bout we get started before YaYa has someone track us down? Besides, this convo is too heavy for the morning hours.”
    I readily agreed, happy to put an end to our now awkward situation.
    It was odd though; as we left the room I realized that Natasha had slipped out quietly at some point.
     
     

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
    Day one.
    When we first got to Tritonis I saw the horse ring and stables, but I hadn’t noticed the obstacle course that extended behind it.
    I was an adventurous girl. I liked a challenge. I actually enjoyed swim practice, pushing myself to the limit. I figured even if I didn’t quite believe in all this mumbo jumbo, I could still have some fun with the training.
    Before we got started, Adrian wanted to slowly swim through all the points in the course. I wanted to just give it a try, but he insisted I followed him first.
    The start reminded me of a fifty-yard dash: just a straight swim to the second obstacle.
    Here, there was a wall with a hole about chest-high big enough for an average-sized merman to fit through. Once through that hole, another wall waited about two feet away with another hole on the far side. In total we zigzagged through four walls with holes at varying heights.
    After we emerged from the last hole, Adrian demonstrated in slow motion the sharp left turn. He exaggerated what’d happen if I wasn’t quick enough as he dramatically bounced off the large rock on the other side. I tried to hide my smile from him.
    We moved straight ahead to the third obstacle. It looked like a huge boulder. But right before we got to it, the earth cut away for us to swim underneath. The thing was, it was a tight squeeze, even for a girl my size. It was definitely a one merfolk at a time portion of the course. Adrian led the way, taking his time. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew a grin stretched across it as I pushed him from behind. Tight spaces were not my friend.
    Next, we swam toward the right about ten or so yards before we entered a jet stream. It shot us forward another four hundred yards before we rolled out to the right. The key was to time this perfectly so we weren’t thrown off course.
    The fifth obstacle consisted of five hurdles about three feet