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Pearl

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The moon was a day away from completion. Beams of heavenly white light fell gracefully on the lapping water, and I brushed a lock of my hair back behind my ear.

" You should not come out here anymore. It is too cold for humans," Conchita chided me, her voice lilting and teasing.

At her words, I glanced back at the imposing castle on the water. I sat on the beach's edge, and my sisters had crawled up on the sand to lay on their bellies beside me as I had described the magical fables of a man who could command the sea to part, and another who had been one of the only survivors of a time when the world was nothing but ocean. They were enraptured with the stories and listened intently, exclaiming at the exciting parts. I had grown skilled at describing places and tales using movements and facial expressions. Though there was still the longing, emptiness that throbbed from the missing part of my soul--my voice-, I realized how happy I was. My bond with my sisters had strengthened, and the cold air that froze my skin was dull in the comparision to the warm, safe feeling I felt from their radiating love.

" Shhh! You'll wake the rest of them," Conchita chided as Sirenia let out a particularly loud giggle as I flexed my toes.

We sat in comfortable silence for several moments, watching the beautiful landscape that surrounded us. I wished they would sing, but knew better then to ask. The six heavenly voices of my sisters would draw out the dead if they uttered a single note.

I thought about my grandmother and mimicked adding oyster shells to my tail, signifying her. Recognition happened almost instantaneously; my sisters guessed my signals nearly as well as I performed them.

" She is doing...well," Meryliese said haltingly, scooping up a handful of sand.

No one else elaborated, and for a moment there was silence.

" She had a vision," Chella said suddenly, and at once all of my sisters glared at her.

I sat up straighter, instantly curious. My grandmother was a renown wise woman in Norkindas, and anything she foresaw was respected and held high. I motioned for Chella to go on.



" Chella," Emeralia said quietly, one of the first times she had spoken that evening.

Chella glanced at the others and abruptly focused her gaze elsewhere. My eyes narrowed and I rose from the moist sand, standing on my legs as water washed over my feet. The familar, agonizing pangs shot through my feet, but I clenched my teeth and ignored them as best as I gazed at each of my sisters in the eye.

" Pearl, sit back down. You're hurting yourself and not proving any points," Oceania said quietly, making an annoyingly correct point.

I sat down back down, my feet instantly relieving themselves of the harsh pain they endured. Conchita took a deep breath, and suddenly I was scared. They were acting so differently..did I want to know what this prophecy was? My anger at them refusing to tell me melted away to replace a child-like state of worry.

" Two moons ago, Grandmother had a vision. There were many sharks chasing a tiny fish. The sharks gained on the fish, thought the fish swam faster and harder. It finally escaped the sharks, only to swim into a net and be hauled up to a human dinner," Conchita said slowly, watching my expression as she told me.

They thought the fish was me. My heart pounded inside my ribcage, and I fervently shook my head. I wasn't the fish. I couldn't be.

" Pearl, but what if you are the fish! Grandmother won't elaborate at all, all that she does is look sad and shakes her head whenever we ask her!," Sirenia burst out, her lovely voice being carried by the wind.

No one bothered to hush her this time, and I felt my own shoulders begin to shake. Had Grandmother prophecied for me or for another unfortunate?

" Maybe Pearl is the fish," Chella suddenly spoke up, studying me with her brown eyes. " But she is the fish that swam willingly into the fisherman's net, and perhaps the fisherman could not bear to part with such a lovely fish, and put it in one of these rivers that Pearl has told us of. Where the fish swam away, up stream to a small pond where she lived happily."

All of my sisters turned to look at her, and as she sat there next to me, her regal brown eyes watching my expression quietly, I realized exactly what kind of queen Chella would be. The kind that the merfolk would unite under, the kind that would inspire nations to leap to do her bidding at the slightest wave of her hand. I had never noticed how strong and wise my sister was until she was given the chance to be allowed to do so.

I smiled and placed my hand on her cheek. A tear dripped down my cheek, but this one came from happiness. It no longer seemed to matter that I had no words to speak with, for there was no way I could describe the amount of love I felt.

Our peace was abruptly shattered with the bark of a hound. Fear gripped me; why had I convinced them to stray fromd deep water? All of my sisters gasped and scrambled for the water's edge, pulling themselves along with their hands as their pale bellies scraped against the sand.Chella lingered for a moment as the lantern came closer. I realized that there were two men who accompanied the light and the hound. The dog barked again, sensing Chella and me's presence. With his moist, dark nose to the ground, it barked excitedly and raced toward us.

" Quiet your damn hound, Holger, or I'll shoot it for you. It's bad enough we're out here, the palace guards could come out here any moment. What's it barking at, the sea?," one of the men asked as he swung the lantern in our direction.

Chella threw herself across the damp sand and crawled into icy water. I didn't hestitate, and dove after her, ignoring the freezing shock as I submerged myself completely in the water a split second before the light of the lantern touched my head. The yellow light shone on the water above me, then moved away. I stayed submerged as the freezing water cut the feeling away from my feet and toes. I dived down deeper without the grace my sisters poessessed, feeling clunky. I knew that my sisters had dove down far into the deep, everlasting blue ocean now, and that my boorish human way of swimming wouldn't let me catch up to them. I felt tiny fish rub their silky bodies against mine as I swam, and for a moment I felt like a mermaid again.

I swam deeper and deeper, relishing the feeling of being one with the sea. How was it possible to love two places so much? I was caught between two worlds, worlds that would never be able to give me complete happiness because one could not imitate the other.

And then, suddenly, there was a hammering from somewhere inside my body. It started with my throat throbbing, but I ignored it and kept swimming. It spread through the rest of my body and I halted midstroke as pain wracked my body.My throat burned and my head spun and I steadily felt darkness sweep over me until thin hands grabbed waist and jerked me up to the surface.

I opened my mouth and sucked in air before realizing it. Air.

" Pearl?," Meryliese asked me with concern, her voice far away as my head throbbed.

Slowly the world returned to normal, and I realized how far out to sea I was. I had swam deeper and farther then I had thought possible for a human, half a mile out from the palace.

I nodded my head, trying to signal that I was alright. Stupid, I thought, and suddenly felt more concious of my legs then I ever had been. Humans need air. I had not even given that concept half a thought as I had dived down.

" Pearl? Are you ok? The others have always chided me for being slow, but I'm glad I was. Something was nagging for me to turn around, I don't know what it was. It was just a feeling, almost a voice in my head telling me that I had to go help you and make sure that you were alright."

I nodded, and Meryliese quietly swam back with me to shore. My teeth chattered as the cold wind whipped the moisture off of my face, and Meryliese gripped me tightly with her long pale fingers as she steadily swam.

" Be safe, Pearl," she told me as she halted in the shallows. I hesistantly made sure my foot touched sand, and hugged her.

" There is a ball tomorrow night. It might not be safe for you to come..someone might see you. I forgot to tell the others that," I quickly told her, remembering that bit of information due to the close call with the hound.

Meryliese's eyes widened in surprise. " Then the night after," she confirmed, and eased herself back into the water, her tail briefly flicking up into the air.

Hugging my arms to my body, I hauled myself out of the water and stepped up on to the beach. Though I had enjoyed being in the water, the biting wind now made me think otherwise. Slipping through the palace while wet had also proven to be a problem. Like the Sea Witch had told me, I stepped more quietly and swiftly then any human lass ever could, but that didn't make me invisible from the roaming palace guards. I recalled the first night I had met my sisters, and shuddered at the memory of Balduin. Maybe I would just walk down the beach a bit and dry off.

The sun still had time before it came up, and I acted on my idea. I wrung out my soaking night dress as I walked, and the wind flapped it behind me. As I walked, I noticed that my own feet followed a set of footprints, including a dog's paw prints.

The men with the lantern. I halted in my steps, wondering if I should turn back. It wouldn't do me any good to be caught out here late at night by myself; Balduin had clearly insinuated that proper human girls did not do such a thing. But then again, what were these men doing out so late at night? Their voices had held the crisp accent of human nobility, educated and drawling, not the sort of men who would be scavenging the beach so late.

I quickened my pace and kept my eyes on their tracks. They had clearly continued to walk along the water's edge, and already the tide had begun to wash their tracks away. It was either done by coincidence or in hope that anyone trying to follow them would lose their trail.

Time passed. Soon my night dress was no longer sopping wet, only damp. Snot ran from my nose and my teeth chattered, and I wished I had enough foresight to bring dry clothes with me. The trail eventually disappeared into the tide, much to my chargrine, but I kept on following.

A cottage suddenly came into view, with a tiny gold light winking from within. I heard the hound bark once, but no one shushed it, and I approached the cottage silently with caution.

Eventually I came close enough that light shined on my face from underneath the shutters of the window, and I heard several men talking. I pressed my back to the wall and listened, taking in every word.

" Well we best be getting back to the palace-It'll be a big day tomorrow. We only came to confirm that Balduin had secured you an invitation for the ball," one of the men chuckled.

" Aye, it will be! With the prince finally dead and Balduin next in line for the throne! We'll finally have our rewards and high places in the castle for loyalty!," another laughed.

" The adviser, Lord Erik. He suspects too much, it'll be hell trying to slit his throat. It's not as if he respects you in the first place, Ulrik," a third speaker spoke up.

My heart skipped a beat as I remained frozen against the wall. I had not expected to hear anything like this.

Ulrik took no offense and let out a loud laugh. " Tis no matter if he respects me or not, as long as I manage to kill him. You know that as well as I do, Holger. Lord Baludin's correct in thinking that lazy fisherman would start all sorts of questions if anything were to happen to the prince. It'll look like nothing more then a suicide from guilt of killing the prince."

" Aye, and won't all of Denmark marvel at that! The very man who helped save the prince kills him in the end--no one ever even think to guess Balduin has ordered it to be done. Aye, we're to have a fine new prince who will make an even finer king. It'll be high places for us in the court and lovely ladies to court when all of this is over--tomorrow night is the ball. There are no diversions to the plan this time. Everything is perfect. The prince won't live past sunset tomorrow."

My heart hammered so loudly I couldn't believe the men hadn't heard it. I rose quietly, desperately wondering how fast I could run to the palace. I had to warn Erik and Christian, they'd believe me, Erik would never doubt me. I hardly felt the intense pain that throbbed in my feet as my mind mulled over how I was to present the sheer treachery of Lord Balduin's plan. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice the piece of driftwood laying on the ground until I tripped over it and crashed down onto the sand. I gave a silent yelp of pain that swam through me anew, and hastily stood back up. A few feet away inside the cabin, the hound barked.

" Did you hear that?," Holger asked the other men as a hush went through the cottage.

My heart pounded. I had only heard three men, but could there be more? Did it even matter if there were more? I was sure they could outrun me and catch me swiftly, and if they did......

Chairs screeched as they were pushed across the wooden floor, and I heard their boots clack on the ground as they strode toward the door. I remembered back when I was with the Keahi, so long ago, and felt the same surge of terror rack through my body. I turned and ran.

" Look!," I heard Ulrik shout sixty feet behind me.

My bare feet dug into the sand as I veered up the dunes. I knew they had muskets, and to go to the ocean at the current moment was a folly. The moment I rose for a breath of air they'd blow my head out of the water with the crude guns, if they didn't dive into the water after me themselves.

I heard the loud, distinctive bang of a musket go off, and the men cursing behind me. The man named Holgar ran quicker then others, and within moments he had closed the gap to ten feet. The hound snapped at my heels, and I desperately flung myself over the dune, praying that some kind of safety awaited me.

None did. There was only the a little arrangement of cottages of Copenhagen, and beyond it the main market and greater city.

I continued to run in vain, praying and hoping against hope that I could get to one of the cottages in time and beg mercy. Or better yet, try to slip into the main city, which had the early rising venders setting up their markets. I knew that the sun would be rising soon,and that I was so close to escaping with freedom I could taste it.

My dreams abruptly shattered as Ulrik's greasy hands closed around my arm. I stumbled and fell to the ground, my head cracking against the cobblestones. A hazy red cloud briefly swarmed the world, then cleared out of necessity. Ulrik's leering face grinned at me, revealing white teeth. With the coming light and apart from the cold glint in his eyes, I was surprised at how unthreatening he looked. He looked like one of the many courteous lords that swarmed the court of Copenhagen, not the killer who was plotting his future king's death. And Erik's. I had to warn Erik!

" You're a pretty little thing. It's too bad you don't know what's good for you, or you wouldn't of followed us from the palace," Ulrik told me, removing a jeweled dagger that hung at his side as the hound panted with excitement.

He placed the cool blade on my throat, and I opened my mouth to scream, pathetically knowing that no sound would come out, and I would die in silence and fear with secrets that would chanage the fate of a nation on my tongue.

" Stop!"

A scream ripped through the air as I mouthed the exact word. Ulrik glanced up in surprise, temporarily slacking his grip on the dagger. My hand flew reflexively to my throat, but it hadn't been my voice that had pierced the air. I wrenched my head around to see who had saved me a few more moments of life.

A boy with dirty blonde hair and shining hazel eyes raced towards us, practically slipping on the damp cobblestones as he darted towards me.

" Oh, milord! What is it that you do to my fair lady sister? Surely she has created no hideous crime that deserves such a death," the boy asked in flowery speech, then instantly bowed.

He rose briefly as Ulrik gaped at him, unsure of what to do. I stared myself, studying the boy. His scraggly clothes, skinny body, and dirty face showed that he could be no one from the palace. Even the kitchen boys were well fed and well dressed. He was no more then ten human years, and I was certainly not his sister, nor had I ever seen him before.

" Your sister has meddled in affairs not concerning her, and I'm afraid that nothing save for my knife can guarantee her silence. Scurry along, beggar boy, before I decide to rid society of your existence as well."

The boy's eyes briefly met mine, and with sudden shock I remembered one of Catherine's guards backhanding him. This was the beggar boy who I had seen at the church, the one who Father Josef had nursed back to health.

" Aye, my sister is but addled in the head, milord. Devils speak to her and she believes herself to be a fairy of the ocean that roams the beach at all hours. I was on my way to the market to see what odd jobs I might perform for the venders before the sun arose and the crowds began to come. Not even think, did I, to stop and see if my lovely yet fool sister had escaped. Alas, no man will have her, beautiful as she is, for she is mad as the moon. She barely understands what she hears, and what she does hear of it, she cannot speak. When our Lord almighty in heaven created her, he gave her so much beauty he forgot to give her a voice. Therefore, she wanders mad and silent," the beggar boy recited in flowery speech, sounding like one of the tale tellers Erik had told me of.

" She cannot speak?," Ulrik demanded, looking suspiciously at the beggar boy.

The hound whined, and the nobleman smacked it with the palm of his hand. The boy shook his head emphatically.

" Aye, wouldn't she of screamed for help otherwise? Surely that enough is proof- you were about to kill her, if there was ever a time for her to scream, it would be then. Look at her. Alas, I cannot even afford proper garments for her apart from a white shift. Whatever my fool sister has done to such a noble lord as yourself, I beg for you to ignore. She will be soundly whipped by our father, I guarantee that."

Ulrik removed his knife from my throat and studied me. For effect, I gazed around vacantly as if my life had not hung in the balance and I was nothing more then a simpleton. In truth, it wasn't so hard to do-my head swam from the hard tumble I had taken on the cobblestones. It was ironic my last meeting with the boy had entailed the same, only me saving him instead of the other way around.

" Women always scream when they are scared; I suppose you are right. She tried to steal a....a trinket of mine. Keep your fool sister closer next time, so I don't have to dirty my clothing on a chase to hunt her down," Ulrik said in a tight tone, kicking me as he rose.

" Oh thank you, kind sir. Might you take us in your employ? My sister is daft and fool, but she is able to do simple chores, when the devils do not take her senses and fly away with them. We are in need of food," the beggar boy went on, grabbing the palm of Ulrik in an attempt to kiss it.

Ulrik predictably jerked his hand away, disgusted. " Be glad your sister is alive, peasant. Do not overstep your luck," he told the beggar boy, and walked back towards the dunes, where I knew his companions had been watching the entire exchange.

The hound exchanged a last glance at me, as if it knew how wrong his master was. The beggar boy continued to play along with his charade as the lord disappeared from sight, kicking me.

" shame of a sister! That was royalty, not one of your crazy devils! You'd be better off dead, not a burden to me alive and having to care for! Oh, how God has cursed to me to have such a lack wit as a sister!," the beggar boy moaned dramatically.

I could scarcely believe the boy was so young. He continued to kick me and yell, his foot coming down on me more gently then it appeared. My head continued to throb and the red haze flooded my eyesight as I placed my head back down on the cool cobblestones. A single red drop of blood rolled down from my neck from where the dagger had slightly cut me, and I took a deep breath of air.

After awhile, the beggar boy stopped and leaned down. I dimly recalled Father Josef calling him Pedar.

" Milady! Are you alright? Forgive me, forgive me! Get up milady! You're heads bleeding, I've got to get you some place quick. Oh but that attire won't do, you look like a common whore on the main street of Copenhagen, if you don't mind me being so blunt. Oh that was a terribly blunt thing to say, I shouldn't of said that, my apologies milady, never did I mean to insinuate that you look like a common woman, it just sort of came out, but there's no way I can take you any place proper without a proper man thinking you'd be some injured whore, not that I'm saying you--," Pedar blabbled on, making my head spin.

I raised my hand to stop him, and he said something else I didn't hear. I knew I had to rise and go back to the palace. I had to warn Erik and Christian about Balduin. I had to get up off the dirty street and run as fast as I could, but my vision swam in red, and eventually cool darkness swept over me, and the world went black.

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A/N: Oh, a cliff hanger-I haven't written one of those in quite awhile. I'd just like to say that due to the extreme amount of homework and activities I have going on, not to mention my own novel I'm working on, I won't have much time to update this story. I have the rest of the story completely outlined, and I only have about four or five more chapters to do before Mermaid is over! I've enjoyed writing this story so much and it's taken me so long, it'll be odd when it's over. I've grown fond of all my characters, and of course, my reviewers! With a little luck and spare time and encouraging reviews( not that you guys don't give me wonderful reviews already), I'll be done by March at the latest.