Daughter of the Sea

A Novella

Stanza XII

With their romance now shattered by the ways of the world,
They parted oh-so-reluctantly.
Their hearts lay in pieces, utterly destroyed,
Now apart were the man and the daughter of the sea.

"NO!"

At the last possible moment, the sea king stayed his hand, the weapon of glistening metal shining within his grasp as his daughter threw herself from the water, landing at the prince's feet. The king's gaze grew even darker, his voice now as cold as ice as he spoke to his daughter. "Ariel, get out of my way! Now!"

She shook her head defiantly, her hands arms clinging tightly to her husband's leg, her eyes filled with both fear and a bravery her father had never witnessed in her before. "No, Veldre," she said, her voice trembling as the wind howled about, the waves crashing over her emerald fin. "I won't! If you want to kill him, you will have to kill me too!"

The prince felt his blood run cold at his wife's words. "Ariel, what are you doing?" he whispered as he knelt beside her, his lips near her ear. "Don't do this—"

"MOVE AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER, HUMAN!"

The sea king's face was now a terrifying shade of purple, his lip quivering with fury as he contemplated his daughter's actions. "Do it now!" he commanded, his eyes fixated upon the prince, the trident within his grasp now white hot. "If you have any honor at all, if you are indeed a man, then prove it! Die with dignity, not cowering behind my daughter's misguided—"

"I am not misguided!" she interjected, refusing to release her grip upon her husband's leg. Shaking her head, she looked upon the enraged sea king, her heart ensnared in the crushing grip of despair. "Please, Veldre! Please! Leave us be! We aren't hurting anybody! We just . . ." She paused, carefully choosing her words, her hand coming to rest upon the smooth, flat skin of her abdomen, the abdomen she knew would soon swell and grow alongside the new life now dwelling within her. "We just want to be a family! Is that too much to ask? To have what you and . . . and Mánawe—"

Something within the sea king snapped in that moment. At the mention of his beloved queen, he lost control of himself. Roaring in rage, he lunged forward from the water, his free hand gripping his daughter's wrist before hurling her across the beach. Caught off guard, she cried out in pain and fear as she slid along the sand, her pale skin and scales of jade becoming scratched and bloody as the jagged rocks and stones peppering the shoreline cut into her.

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN SPEAK HER NAME?!"

The prince let out a cry of anger at the sea king's actions, his hands clenched into tight fists as he rushed to his wife's side, his progress halting suddenly as the gleaming trident was thrust into his face once more, its triple prongs sparkling with intensity, as if the inanimate object was desperate to unleash its deadly power upon the mortal before it.

The sea king was now beyond all rational thought as he glared at his daughter, his anger overwhelming him, pushing aside any doubts as to what the effect of his words may be. It was bad enough, he told himself, that she had shamed him by disobeying the most sacred of their laws by making contact with a human. But to do what she had done—to lie with him, to willfully accept his seed, to desire to carry a . . . Such a thing was unprecedented, unheard of, and the ruler of the waves was damned if he was about to allow such a course of action to go unpunished.

"Look at yourself, Ariel!" he commanded. "Is this what your mother would have wanted?! For you to dishonor our people . . . our family by giving yourself to . . . to . . . this?! Do you think she would permit you to give birth to . . ." His face paled for an instant, as if he was about to be physically ill by the repulsive notion. "To whatever abomination is now growing within you?! DO YOU?!"

She stared at her father in disbelief, for the first time in her life now feeling utter fear in his presence, her right hand resting protectively upon her belly as she comprehended the underlying message beneath his words. "No!" she cried out, her hand trembling as it instinctively caressed the flesh above her womb. "You can't! I . . . I won't let you—"

"That is not your choice to make!" the sea king retorted as he slowly lowered his trident from before the prince's face, aiming it instead toward her abdomen. "You are my daughter," he stated, his voice softening slightly as he looked upon her with pity. "You are young and confused. You do not know what you—"

"I am old enough to make my own choices!" she shouted, now filled with unvarnished terror as she desperately looked for some way to escape. "I want this, Veldre! You . . . You cannot take this from me! It is forbidden—"

"Do not lecture me on what is permitted and what is not by our laws, Ariel!" the king retorted, his grip tightening upon his weapon. "I know very well that what I am about to do is a violation of all I have sworn to uphold. But I do it now because to permit that . . . that thing within you to live would be the greater evil. You may hate me now, Ariel, but one day, you will understand."

She was now within the grasp of complete panic. Her eyes darted back and forth hurriedly along with her fin, her breath coming at a rapid pace as she looked in desperation toward her husband. "Eric, please!" she pleaded, knowing her begging was in vain. "Please! Don't let him! Don't let him take my—"

"ENOUGH!"

The sea king started as the powerful voice tore through the wind rushing about. His brow furrowed, he turned toward its source, his thinly-veiled rage fixating upon the prince.

"You dare speak to me in such a manner, human prince?!" His voice was little more than a whisper, yet it sounded across the beach as though he was roaring with all his might, every word painstakingly clear. "I will not stand by and permit you to—"

The prince glared at the sea king, his eyes bristling with anger as he wrapped his arms around his terrified wife. "I will not let you do anything to our child!" he shouted. "Do you understand?"

In spite of his anger, the sea king laughed mirthlessly, amused at the prince's boldness. "You are more courageous than I anticipated, speaking to me this way. Either that, or you are very, very stupid." His laughter fading away, the ruler of the waves shook his head impatiently. "Step aside, human, or your next breath will be your last."

Undaunted, the prince held his ground. "You seem to consider yourself a just, equitable ruler of your people. Is that a fair statement, Your Majesty?"

"Do not try to barter your way out of your situation with flattery," the king warned, his fingers curling about his trident. "How much more shame do you expect me to permit my daughter to bring upon my house? Your union is entirely unnatural, human! As is your seed! I am doing it a favor by extinguishing its life now before—"

"Stop it!"

The prince drew himself to his full height, his heart heavy, his head bowed low as he looked toward the sea king. "I . . . I would like to propose an agreement, Your Majesty. A treaty, if you will."

"Eric, what are you doing?"

His wife's voice rang in his ears, trepidation hanging from every syllable as she pondered just what he had in mind. Glancing back toward her, he smiled sadly. "What I need to do to keep you . . . you and the baby safe."

The sea king folded his arms, begrudgingly forced to admit to himself that his curiosity was piqued. "This had better not be a waste of my time, human."

The prince looked the sea king in the eye, swallowing slowly. "If you swear to me that nothing will happen to Ariel or . . ." He steadied himself, bracing himself for the anticipated interjection. "Or our baby, I . . . I will allow them to return to the sea forever. And I . . ." He ran his hand through his hair, forcing himself to say the hated words. "I swear I will never see her again as long as you live."

Silence descended upon the beach as the king and his daughter each reacted to the prince's words. It was she who finally spoke, her voice tinged with anguish as she fought to deny what she had just heard. "Eric, no! Please! Don't do this! Don't—"

He turned back to her, kneeling gently beside her once more, his hand caressing her cheek, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's the only way, Ariel," he whispered, kissing her brow, his other hand resting upon her abdomen. "It's the only way to save the baby."

She shook her head vigorously, her fiery hair cascading about her shoulders in protest. "No! We can still . . . We can follow your plan! We can escape! We can find somewhere—anywhere—where we can be together! We . . . We . . ."

Her voice trailed off as she realized just how futile her protests were, her fin curling about his leg as she was forced to confront the truth in her husband's words. Her father would never let them be, she begrudgingly admitted to herself. He would look for them no matter where they went, never resting until the child within her womb was . . .

The sea king's voice broke the silence. "What makes you think I have any interest in bargaining with you, prince? You have no leverage here! There is nothing to keep me from—"

The prince was on his feet once more, his voice ringing with a confidence he did not possess as he stared down his opponent. "I am giving your daughter back to you. Your honor will be restored. None among your people need know what we have done. But you must swear to me that the baby will not be harmed. That you will allow Ariel to deliver our child without interference." His gaze grew in intensity along with his voice. "Do you understand?!"

The king scoffed at the prince's words. "What do you know of honor, human? You who stripped my daughter of hers now speak as though abandoning her will somehow make all right with the world once again. What am I to say when my kin inquire as to just how she is—"

The prince bristled at the king's words. "You may say whatever you wish." He leaned forward, his face mere inches from the sea king's. "Do you have any idea how painful this is for me, Your Majesty? Whether you wish to hear what I have to say is of no concern to me. I love your daughter, and I always will. But I . . . I will choose to live without her if it means that our child will live. Do you understand?"

The king nodded as he considered the prince's words. "You are much wiser than I thought," he conceded. A frown came upon his lips as he brought the trident to the prince's throat. "Very well. I agree to your terms. Provided, of course, that you agree to my own."

"Name them," the prince said, glancing back at his wife, his heart breaking as he saw her shake her head in sorrow, her lips silently mouthing the word "no" again and again without end.

The sea king inhaled slowly. "You are never to set foot upon the sea again. Ever. If I so much as hear rumors that you are contemplating travelling to a foreign land, I will destroy every vessel within your kingdom's fleet. Is that understood?"

"Veldre, no!" his daughter exclaimed, astounded that her father could be so cold-hearted. "Ne dána—"

"Agreed," the prince responded, a grim expression upon his countenance. "I swear to you on my love for your daughter: I will never desecrate your waters again so long as you live." He folded his arms. "Now, for some clarification of my terms."

The prince's expression grew dark. "If I ever, ever have any reason to believe that any harm has come to Ariel or to our child, I will consider our agreement null and void. I will come after your people without mercy. I will personally hunt down each and every member of your race until they are no more. Do you understand? Even if you destroy every single ship in the kingdom, I will still come after you. You will never escape from me until one of us is dead!"

The king raised an eyebrow as his daughter gasped in disbelief at the harsh words emanating from her husband's lips. Several moments of awkward silence passed when he finally spoke. "Let it be done as you have said, human. You have my word."

"And you, mine," the prince replied, bowing toward the king despite the animosity swelling within his spirit. Turning, he made his way to the figure of his wife, his spirit sinking as the reality of the negotiation he had just conducted began to weigh upon him.

She was sobbing uncontrollably as he carefully lifted her into his arms, her radiant fluke of jade shimmering in the sunlight. "This can't be happening!" she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Tell me this is just a horrible dream!"

"I wish I could," he said quietly as he pulled her close to him, their lips meeting one final time, their kiss lasting for what seemed hours before they finally pulled away from each other. "It will be all right, Ariel."

He felt his own eyes grow moist as he gently set her in the water gently flowing on and off the shore. Kneeling, he brought his face to her belly, his lips lightly kissing her pale skin as a pained expression crossed his face. "I don't know if you can hear me," he whispered toward the tiny child dwelling within his wife's womb. He laughed as he brushed a tear from the corner of his eye, forcing himself to maintain his composure. "You probably can't, but . . . Anyway, I just . . . I want you to know how much I love you. I promise I will think about you every single day. So when you're swimming, or floating, or whatever, just . . . Just know that your father loves you and wishes he could be with you."

She laughed along with him, her laugh quickly turning to cries as they embraced each other, not wanting the moment to end.

"We will see each other again," she whispered in his ear, her voice low so as to avoid the attention of her father. "I don't know how, or when, but . . . But someday, in our special place . . . I will be there."

"I'll be waiting for you," he whispered in reply, his grip upon her tightening as he spoke. "No matter how long it takes, I'll always wait for you."

She finally pulled away, casting a look of outrage toward her father as she swam into the waters off the shore. Just when she was about to plunge into the depths, she turned back one final time. Bringing her palm to her lips, she kissed her fingers, raising her hand toward her husband in a gesture of farewell, her voice ringing in his ears as she disappeared beneath the waves. "Threfalten e lemáicum, Eric . . . Goodbye, luvánathem . . ."

As his wife and her father vanished into the waters, the prince fell to the shore, his head buried in his hands as a cry of anguish tore at his throat, rising and falling with the tide as he sobbed uncontrollably, the life he had so carefully envisioned for himself and his family now ripped from his grasp . . . forever.

AN: More to come!