Mermaid 7



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Pearl

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I didn't think anything out of the ordinary when Father called me to the throne room. My marriage was soon, and I assumed he was merely planning to tell me the life of a Queen.

It was different when I gazed upon his face. There was no one else in the room save for us, my grandmother, and my seven sisters. No guards. Something was drastically wrong.

" Pearl, have you or have you not been hoarding human items in the human shipwreck, the Sunset?," my father, King Oceanius, lord of the sea, regarded me with the frozen look he reserved for criminals.

My sisters stared at me, their eyes boring into my head. I was speechless. Who had found the wreck? Who had seen me? The punishment for harboring human objects was exile, it was the law of the Ocean. I had never thought that I would be caught, never even fathomed the possibility. But here it was, standing in front of me.

" How do you know," were the only words that could come out of my lips. Condemning, but I had come ill-prepared for this little meeting.

My father's gaze hardened, and he picked up an object I had not seen until this moment. I gasped, then covered my mouth. It was Erik's dagger.

" Do you recognize it, seventh daughter? You were seen using it," he said calmly.

Then his eyes narrowed, and filled with sorrow. " By the ocean, Pearl! You've destroyed your life, do you know that? You're no better then a human! Be glad your mother isn't here to see how you've betrayed our world!"

I gaped at him and all my sisters, who looked impassively. My grandmother gazed at me, pity in her eyes. She stood strong behind my father though, supporting him. They still stared at me, shocked at my behavior. I bit my lip until it bled, keeping my eyes downcast. Don't become upset, I told myself.

" Father, I didn't mean...," I began.

He shook his head. " Be glad that your marriage is so close, Pearl. Once you leave, you will not be allowed back in this land."

At that I stared. Not allowed back in Norkindas? But...this land was my life, my home. My summer visits home were the only thing that I had been able to comfort myself with. I was doomed to marry the most handsome merman in the ocean, and to be isolated from all those I loved. Why had I never truly studied the consequences of my human habits before now? I had assumed that I never would be caught, and if I was-why, I was the youngest princess, I hadn't believed the rules would truly apply to me.

" Father, no. You cannot do this to me!"

My father's gaze hardened once more, and he shook his head. " The question is, how could you do this to me, Pearl? For years I have done nothing but try to protect you from those monsters above, and what do you do but defy me? And this," he shouted, pulling up the dagger.

" I've been told of your passion for this object! That you've handled this alone would call for your death, but it's more then that. You've met one of them, haven't you? That worried look you take on when someone speaks of a dead human. By the ocean, what have you done, Pearl?," my father whispered.

A pain ripped through me, and I could not look at my father any longer. I turned to my grandmother, the wisest person in the sea. "Grandmother, you can help me! Tell him to let me come back, I cannot leave my home forever," I cried, falling at her feet. " Ma Cahill-grandalia de l'mere," I whispered.

My grandmother drew in a ragged breath, and my heart sank. She agreed with him.

" Pearl, we love you-the kingdom loves you, more then the sea itself. But you have defied the rule of our people. Other merfolk have seen you. Your love for humans and their belongings is both unnatural and forbidden."

Sorrow keened through me, and I held back a sob. I rose and looked at all of them--My father, my grandmother, Conchita, Emeralia, sirenia, Oceania, Chella, Meryliese.

" Why," Emeralia finally broke out. She was the sister I was closest with, and her gaze tore me apart.

I didn't answer her question, and turned back toward my father instead.

" Father...please....," I tried one last time.

He gazed at me, but shook his head.

" As soon as the trade treaty is settled, you will go to the Baltic and never come back. You will become dead to us."

" I'm your daughter!," I nearly screamed, desperate for reassurance of his love. If mermaids could cry, tears would of riveted down my face.

My father looked at me with sorrow once more, then shook his head as his gaze resumed the coldness.

" I have only six daughters."

I stared at all of them. An ancient, foolish law was worth more then I was. I cast my eyes downward, and curtsied.

" I am sorry to disturb you, your majesties," I said cooly, treating them with the same knowledge.

At that, I turned around and fled. Out into the open water, as fast and as far as I could. I had to get away.

As I swam, I thought about my mother. Alia of the Kingdom of the Sea. Maroon hair, purple eyes. " Alia loved all her girls, I know that for sure. But you, little Pearl, you were different...."

Had I been different enough that she would of loved me regardless? Would she be ashamed of me, as my former family was? Would she of cast me to the Baltic forever, even when I was already making a sacrifice for my family and my kingdom by marrying Kalius?

I swam for miles, up and east. When I at last broke the surface, I inhaled a gulp of air, savoring as a human would. Gazing at the starry sky above me, I wondered which world I belonged in. By body it was the sea, by mind it was the land.

Glancing out to the horizon, I saw with surprise a palace. A castle, they call them in the human land. I had never seen it before; then again, I had never swam this far away from the palace-I had been swimming all day. Curious, I dove down and began swimming toward the shore. Any common sense I had left I threw to the sea. Sand brushed my stomach, and I swam upwards. I took a hesitant breath of air, and my hair floated around me like a maroon cloud.

The palaces of humans are beautiful, and far more grand then anything merfolk have built. A marble stair case led out into the balcony, and then into the sea. Craning my neck, I realized that a ballroom lay beyond it. Being careful not to get near the flaming torches, I ran my fingers across the marble architecture. Stone shells had been carved for decoration, despite it was the back end of the castle. Gazing around me, I saw that there were other fine buildings along the ocean, although none went directly into it, like the palace.

Under any other circumstances, I never would of ventured this close. But I was angry, and anger blurs so many things. But my father had exiled me, and there was no more reason to obey his wishes-or live for that matter. Everything I loved most in the world had been snatched away from me, save for this legendary world of humans. I went closer towards the stairs.

It was truly a beautiful structure, and soon only my tail remained in the water. I gazed at the architecture, marveling at the humans who waited inside.

The night was lonely, and the wind was cold. I shivered, and eased myself out of the light, into the small shallows. The stairs led directly into the sea, and I stayed within five feet of them, so the water did not even rise to my hips. The small waves came in and out, gently spilling water on the first few steps, and spraying me with a fine mist.

I should not of sung. But that night, when there was nothing left in the world that anyone could offer, there was one last gift that could comfort me. I have said it before--my voice is beautiful. It soothes merchildren and mighty beasts alike, and it soothed myself at dire times. There were no humans around, and I was confident the sea would cover my voice.

The light of the full, pale moon shone down on me when I first began singing. My voice was pure and sweet, and I merely vocalized. The chilly air filled with my voice, and I closed my eyes, feeling more at peace. I sang for my sorrow, the only way a mermaid can express it. I did not know who lay inside this magnificent, and if they would care. But no one else in the sea seemed to care either, and I sang for myself.



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Erik

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I've made it a habit of going to the balcony at twilight. And that night, I needed it more then ever. I was accompanying the prince tomorrow on some trip he wished to make, and Catherine had been watching me like, ironically, a cat. Her keen green eyes continued to search me when she believed I wasn't looking, and it was all I could do but demand what she was looking for. The palace life, though relaxing, made me miss the sea. For something that nearly killed me, I should of been repelled by it. But if anything, I was drawn even more. I hadn't been on a boat in a year. Sighing, I left the empty ballroom and strode out to the balcony. My polished leather boots clicked the magnificent floor, and a painted ceiling of cherubs grinned up above me. My blue tunic rippled in the wind against my muscles as I first stepped outside from the shelter of the palace. I never would of guess this was the way my life would of turned out.

Leaning against the balcony, I inhaled and closed my eyes, remembering all of my thoughts from the past. My family had refused to come to the palace, and though I sent them monthly amounts of money to keep them well kept, we were no longer close. I was now a Lord, and a favorite of the Prince Christian. How different were things now.

Then I heard it. At first I thought it was the wind or the waves keening against the rocks. But then it rose above the noise, and I heard it clearly. It was ethereal; the voice of something higher then an angel, something that would make a god weep at it's beauty. Sorrow shone in the voice, yet it only increased it's beauty, if that was possible. It was pure and innocent and untouched, the sound all of the angels in heaven could not imitate even for a moment.

It was the sound of my dream.

I whirled around, searching for the source. The ballroom was empty; and besides, it came from out here. My breath caught and I wildly glanced out into the glittering sea--the only place it could of came from.

I raced down the steps, and the voice suddenly halted. I didn't stop, and my boots splashed down into the shallows. Searching in the darkness, I suddenly saw a glimmer of purple disappearing into the water. It was the only thing I needed; Without a second thought, I in after her...I was sure it was her.

I had grown up swimming, and my skills had increased in the years. I swam faster then any other man I knew, and certainly more then any woman. But even as I groped at the water, she was beyond me. There had been a girl; I was certain of it! It had been her!

I came up for air a moment later; my expensive clothes were soaked and most likely ruined. I was waist deep in the water, and it would be pointless to go further. I slicked back my light brown hair, and searched along the edge of the palace, and in the rocks that could hide a man or woman from anyone's sight. I felt her presence, and knew with frustration that she was hiding herself from me. Why?

" Where are you?," I called out to the ocean, frustrated. The ocean merely lapped at my waist, and the reflection of the moon glittered in the water.

" Why do you haunt me like this?," I shouted out again, fully aware that I sounded like some mad poet.

Once again, no answer. The night air was freezing, but I ignored it. I listened for any answer, anything at all, but the sea mocked me. I waited longer, at least fifteen minutes, staring at the rocks to see if they would betray any movement. We had a bond, even then. It was something like love, and yet stronger ; it would have to of been, in order to unite two people who were of different worlds. I didn't know what she was, or who she was but for the girl in my dream. But I could feel her there, watching me from the darkness somewhere.

I heard voices floating down from the ballroom. They would be out here soon, and rumors would be started why the Prince's advisor was soaked and talking to the ocean, I thought wryly. If there had been one thing I learned, it was this: Nobles love to gossip.

Staring out onto the mighty ocean, I spoke one last time.

" I come out here every night. If you would come again. I wouldn't chase you...but just to know that you're out there."

I heard no answer, but I didn't expect one.

With that, I turned and climbed the stairs.