PROLOGUE
The ship beat its way over the waves, unaware of what lay in the depths beneath it. Toiling upon the deck – murmuring of tales from Triton's kingdom – were the crew. They were a scaly-skinned, underfed mob, but that didn't stop their chatter. They spoke of the sea king, and of his daughters. His beautiful daughters, who wore nothing but a ring of seashells about their necks… Daughters who had voices so powerful that they could cause men to throw themselves from their ships in the hope of being with the ocean's beauties.
"Pah! Mermaids!" the crown prince scoffed as he leant over the side of the ship, foam spraying into his blue eyes and turning to salt in his black hair. "What a load of rubbish!"
"Careful Eric; you don't want to anger the sea god," Grimsby warned, "After all, it is his waters we are treading."
"Nay!" interrupted a bearded sailor. "You needn't worry yourselves about Triton's wrath –" his eyes sparkled as he continued – "it be his merwomen, with their siren songs, that you should be wary of."
Grimsby tsked, waving a hand dismissively as his face paled. The ship jolted, and he turned to face the ocean, hanging his head over the railing. A slight sneer crept onto Eric's features at the sight, but he held back his jeering remark, and instead sought the sailor again.
"Siren songs?" he asked, his scowl deepening.
"Aye. It's said they lure men away with their voices."
"How?"
"Well, I ain't ever heard one," the sailor said, crossing his arms. "But, it is said that any man who hears a mermaid sing, is driven mad with lust."
"And then?" Eric probed.
"They throw themselves overboard."
Eric rapped his fingernails on the wood of the ship.
"And then?" he pushed impatiently.
"Well no one ain't lived to say." The sailor eyed Eric curiously, noting that this answer did not please the prince. "They do say though…"
"Yes?"
"They say that… that the mermaids drown the sailors, and then they feast upon the flesh."
Eric nodded and stepped slightly closer, glancing at Grimsby.
"Has anyone ever killed one?" Eric murmured.
The sailor scratched his beard and they both cringed as Grimsby's seasickness became vocally apparent.
"Nay, lad," the sailor replied softly, moving closer to Eric's ear. "I've heard talk of catching merwomen though."
Eric's lips opened, and his face was filled with childlike wonder.
"It is said that if you want to capture a mermaid, you must first capture her heart."
Eric nodded again and motioned for the sailor to carry on with his duties. His thoughts drifted to the sea floor, and the kingdom that supposedly lay there, as he stared out into the dazzling blue.