Chapter 9
"You don't have to go. You can stay here."
Caro frowned. "Are you kidding? Our best friend gets her powers and becomes princess of an entire planet. I wouldn't miss it at any price."
The other girls agreed.
Katharina turned to Kirk. "You wanna come, too?"
"We would be honored to witness this event, your majesty."
She looked pained. "I have a deal. You three join us and you stop calling me by any title. Deal?"
They nodded. "Deal."
"Do we start from here?" Verena asked.
Katharina shook her head. "Too dangerous. Let's go to the place where the first portal appeared. No one will see us there."
So the went to the basement. Now the three men noticed the signs on the wall.
"You can read that?" McCoy asked in disbelieve.
"I am their princess. I should be able to read the language of my people."
"How is this pronounced?" Spock asked curiously.
"You wouldn't be able to hear me. Puvlagonian is spoken in frequencies too high for humans to hear. I don't know about your hearing but I believe it's not that important. It's a very weird language."
"It's ShowTime, K. Open the portal."
Katharina nodded and put her hand together near her heart. There was a small, light blue shimmer at first but it grew bigger until there was a spherical, light blue diamond with a silver setting on a long necklace between her hands.
She extended her right hand, palm up, and the amulet hovered over her palm.
There was a flash of light and in front of them appeared a round, blue gleaming portal out of thin air.
Katharina put the necklace over her head and stepped through it, motioning them to follow her.
When they were through they found themselves on a rocky island surrounded by water.
"Kathi, what is this place? Where's the castle?" Sorena was confused.
"You know that I'm not able to know where exactly we land before we step into the other world. We are at Mermaid Island. To go to the castle you have to swim this way through the sea, up the river and into the lake. From the shore it's only a small walk."
"Why is it called Mermaid Island?" Kirk asked.
Katharina pointed mutely at one of the water-filled pools in the rocks. Inside the water stood a wooden stake. And tied on the stake was a skeleton. It was human from head to waist but the hips were smaller and instead of legs there was only a lengthening of the spine.
"What happened here?" asked McCoy shocked.
"Just what happens when you combine humans with magic," came a voice.
They looked at the source. On a smaller cliff sat a young girl. Her skin was pale and her hair had a silver color. Her chest was covered by a bikini top which was made out of silver fish scales. But instead of legs she had a muscular silver fishtail which ended in a broad fin.
Katharina smiled and went over to the mermaid and hugged her. "Silver, it's so nice to see you."
Silver returned the hug. "Glad to see you too, K. Who are these guys?"
They introduced themselves. Kirk wanted to know what Silver meant. "You mean humans did this?"
She nodded. "There are potions which require scales or hair or tears. They captured us just to get those things. But instead of letting us free afterwards they tied us there and left us to rot. There's not enough water in there to survive but enough to let us die a slow and painful death," she said contemptuously.
"Silver, could you get us to the castle?"
"There's a boat close-by. Bring it into the water and I'll swim you to the shore."
So she did. Silver shoved the boat through the water in an amazing speed. When they reached a wooden jetty she said good-bye and disappeared beneath the surface.
In front of them a beautiful landscape with green hills around a sparkling lake under a blue sky with a shining sun extended. They stood near a small village, which lined the way to the castle on the top of the highest hill.
"Welcome to the main village. We need to get up there for the ceremony but we have to wait for Marie, my lady-in-waiting. She's going to pick us up," Katharina explained.
Only a short time later they were approached by a monkey-like creature. It looked like a chimpanzee if it hadn't been for the long tail and the large bat wings on its back.
"Marie, it's nice to see you again," Katharina shouted.
The creature walked over on its hands and feet but more and more straightened up. The wings and the tail disappeared beneath a medieval servant's dress with a brown skirt, white top, black corsage and a white apron. The body became the one of a teenage girl and the features of her face turned human too. Soon the creature had transformed into a girl with amber eyes and long black hair which hid the right half of her face.
She smiled and bowed to them. "I am glad to see you too, Princess. I see you have brought guests. We should go. We have to prepare you for the coronation."
"What kind of preparations?" McCoy wanted to know.
"First she's going to bath. We use special bath salts for occasions like this. Then we leave her alone for meditation. Magic can only be received by a clear mind. In this time we can get something to eat in case you are hungry."
They reached the castle and were greeted by a man with short black hair. His skin was almost white and his eyes had a brown-greenish color. He smiled when he saw Katharina, exposing a pair of fangs.
She ran to him and jumped into his arms. He swirled her around then sat her down and hugged her.
The three spacemen looked at each other and Spock raised an eyebrow. They had never seen Rina act this emotional.
"Guys, this is Saren, my great-grandfather. Where's Grannie, Grandpa?"
"She had to get something done in the village. She'll be there later. She promised, Little one."
They went into the large hall. They met Katharina's cousin Leni, a paraplegic, 6-year-old and a very cheerful child.
Marie touched Katharina on the arm. "We have to go, Princess."
Katharina nodded and handed Leni to McCoy. They left for Katharina's room.
A woman passed. She shot the child a stern look. "Don't bother our guests, Helena."
Leni lowered her gaze. "Yes, Mother." Another stern look. "Narzissa."
"What was that?"
Leni looked sadly into McCoy's eyes. "I'm to address her by her name. My mother refuses to acknowledge that she has brought a disabled child to this world. I am worthless for her. That's why I and K fit together so well. We are both considered a shame for the family."
"Because she's half-human?" Kirk probed.
"That too. But I think the true reason is that she's too smart for them. She has a mind of her own and doesn't just do what she's told." Leni looked down again, a sad expression on her usual so cheery face.
McCoy gently ruffled her black curls. "Don't bother, Sunshine. I've never seen such an archaic attitude."
"Perhaps it's because Katharina comes from another world that she is so nice to me and doesn't care that I can't walk. She's nearly the only one apart from my siblings Noxi and Zora. And Marie's been always nice too."
"What exactly is Marie?"
"I'm a ghoul," came the servant's voice from behind them. "I'm another kind of undead. A green blooded demon if you wish. And before you ask, my bloods green because it makes it easier for us to exist beside the vampires. They can only drink red blood because they need the iron. So I'm perfectly safe."
They talked for a moment longer before Marie left again to help Katharina with her dress.
It was time to get started.
