243 Cari's Tale

"Told me what? Is there something I need to know?" Snow asked again, his answers not been given yet, throwing it into further confusion.

"Be careful Astrid. Do not be quick to celebrate or have you forgotten what the mer folks did?" A softer, calmer voice entered their minds. 

Snow and Astrid looked puzzled in their mind by the new voice that entered. 

"White-Fire?"

"Mother!"

"Who else would it be, if not for me?"

"White-Fire, I missed you. Thanks for saving me back then," Astrid's face lit up with joy in her mind just from hearing the familiar voice once more. 

"Hello dear. It is what we are for as your beasts companion. Protecting you is my duty."

"Thank you. And I have definitely not forgotten what the merfolks did. I even met my grandmother."

"Seriously?" Both of them echoed in her mind at the same time. 

"Yes, but can we discuss that later? For now, I just need to know more and not be quick to judge. What would a merman be doing here?"

"Okay. Whenever you want to talk, just reach out," White-Fire assured her. 

"Speaking of which, master. Look."

It was at this point in time that Astrid blinked and focus her mind and attention on the young merman. 

"If you are a merman, what are you doing here?" Brad spoke after recovering from the shock and finding his long lost voice. 

"I... I–I was branded as an outcast," the merman finally confessed. 

"Ahh!"

"Ohh!"

"Wow. This would be the first merman outcast we have seen."

The murmurings continued and Astrid could not help but wonder if these people were actually cowards afraid to voice out their opinions.

The next thing she did left Jareth shocked. With a smile plastered on her face, she stretched forth her hand for the merman to take.

Cari looked up at her, his eyes were filled with astonishment as he had never expected her to do that and finally, after some seconds he did and stood up with her help.

Jareth noticed the gaze Cari gave Astrid and he eyed him but for a split second before he turned around to face Brad.

"What now?"

"What now?" Brad repeated. 

"Yes, what now? You have heard him. How do you carry out your judgment?" Jareth asked Brad, putting him in a difficult position.

Normally he had always had Clive there to make the decisions. This was the first time a hefty problem was placed before him for him to handle.

And honestly, he wasn't expecting for the question to be thrown at him, so he stuttered a bit at first before getting himself and speaking well.

"First, I need to be sure he is telling the truth."

"And how would you do that?" Jareth asked, crossing his arms in front of him as he stared at the second in command.

"Hmm." Jareth looked thoughtful as he tried to appraise the situation before him.

"Do you have any idea?" Brad finally asked.

It took everything within him to ask that as he found it belittling and embarrassing for him to be asking for n outsiders help.

"From legends told, there should be a mark to prove he is an outcast. Outcasts from the mer world are always branded on a certain part of their body. Do you have that?"

He turned to Cari and his brows arched in a silent question, awaiting his answer. 

Cari simply nodded at him and stepped forward. He pulled the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing up to expose his right hand. There at the back of his wrist was a symbol.

Everyone gaped at the sight in front of them. The shock displayed on their faces really showed that they were feeling bad for him. Why though?

What was on his right arm looked like a mark that was painfully engraved. It was a blue merman with two spears crossed on top of the drawing.

It was a beautiful tattoo honestly, but then it represented something bad, something that would be branded on him for life.

"I was cast out of the ocean and cursed to live on my own and fend for myself. I only needed food to eat and something to wear to protect from the harsh weather conditions. That was why I snuck in. Forgive me for trespassing."

Hearing his story only made Astrid feel more pity towards him. Jareth on the other hand showed no form of emotion on his blank face. 

He returned his gaze to Brad, awaiting his decision after hearing part of the merman's tale. Brad caught sight of his gaze, although he wore a blank expression, his eyes had a deep questioning gaze.

It was as though he was silently telling him to ask a question or was he questioning him? Brad wasn't sure of the look but when he carefully thought about what Cari said, his eyes lit up as though he found a good idea.

"Ahem!" he cleared his throat and looked up at him."What did you do, for them to exile you? I want to hear your offence."

"I was set up by a friend I was trying to help. He liked a fair mermaid, daughter to one of the high lords and I was to help him secretly meet with her, but unfortunately, we were caught when I went to deliver the message to the mermaid. Her father thought I was kidnapping her by pretending to lure her away and when I told him the truth, they went to ask for my friend. Rather than supporting me, he denied."

The look on everyone's face as he told his story was pitiable. Everyone had a different kind of expressions displayed on their faces.

Some had anger, pain, pity, sadness… Name it. They just couldn't believe people like this still existed in other kingdoms.

They could relate to the situation because most of them faced similar situations, betrayal, forced accusations. It was only a few that were actually guilty of their crimes to tell you how useless the world worked.