Kitabı oku: «A mermaid and a corsair», sayfa 3

Mermaid’s captive

It was dark underwater. Then a light glimmered in the distance. Merediana was actively raking the water masses with her fin. Clumps of algae and coral grew all around. The mermaid swam between them as if through a tunnel.

The swim had been going on for about an hour. Desmond would have to drown. He did not immediately realize that he was living underwater against the laws of nature. People suffocate here. And he’s still alive. Do we have Cassandra’s amulet to thank for that? Or was it the embrace of the Princess of the Sea? Until Merediana releases him, will he not suffocate?

The mermaid hummed a song on the way about the pleasure of drowning handsome boys.

“How I love to drag someone handsome to the bottom, hug and kiss him and watch him suffocate and then become a skeleton on the bottom.”

Is she kidding? Can’t she see that Desmond isn’t drowning?

Merediana laughed. She pressed her lips against her captive’s for a moment. The kiss brought unexpected pleasure. Desmond was taken aback. Was the mermaid trying to give him artificial respiration or was this a kiss of love?

“Yes, you won’t drown,” Merediana concluded. “There are strong people. They have a harder time than the weak.”

On the way they began to meet flocks of motley fish. All of them, seeing Merediana, gave way to her. Even fish are afraid to swim close to her, but Desmond fell into her arms. The mermaid fluttered him like a doll, dragging him behind her, and he could not resist her. His whole body felt as if it were restrained. He was neither alive nor dead. What a trap he’d fallen into! Hadn’t he been warned how dangerous Merediana was!

The bottom appeared below. Plantations of seaweed stretched across it. In their thickets glimpsed the bones of human skeletons. Were all the drowned men victims of Merediana? Among them there was a chest full of gold. Here was a pirate’s dream of sunken treasure, but there was no way to retrieve it.

Desmond was a little disappointed in the sea kingdom. Where are the palaces, temples and various wonders? It’s just an ordinary, dreary bottom. It doesn’t look like a fairytale sea kingdom at all.

There was a surprise ahead. The shining gate, decorated with bas-reliefs in the form of heads of magical creatures, turned out to be the entrance to the real Underwater Kingdom. It turned out that the dreary thickets of seaweed were only the suburbs of the sea paradise. Beyond the gate stretched fabulous underwater gardens and pyramids of pearls.

Merediana swam up to the golden heads on the gate.

“I have brought a prisoner, let us both through!”

The golden faces suddenly came to life and gave the mermaid smirks that made Desmond’s blood run cold.

“Be careful, Merediana! They look too predatory!” He wanted to warn, but all he got out of his mouth was a gurgle. The water bubbled with bubbles.

“He is a prisoner! It is another one!” The faces sang out. “You have too many amusements! Leave them outside the gate when you’ve had your fill. Prostitutes are no good to anyone here.”

“This is a corsair and a mermaid kidnapper! A violator of the law of the sea! He will be judged by the sea king himself, for he has kidnapped the Princess of the Sea.”

“Wow!” The faces whistled, and winked at Desmond, saying, in their opinion, he is a hero for daring to do such a thing.

“You don’t know what’s going on the surface!” Merediana was angry. “Are you blind?”

The eyes of the golden faces were monochrome and golden, but they could not be called sightless. They seemed to see even more than they should.

“We don’t like to observe the surface. There are bad memories there.”

“It is not there, but in the sky!”

“The sky stretches right over the sea. How can you look at the surface and not see it?”

“I respect your grief, but the fall was a long time ago. Stop moaning and open the gate!”

The gate creaked reluctantly. Merediana sailed through the narrow gate and dragged Desmond through.

“Ouch!” one of the faces tried to bite his arm. Desmond was surprised to find that his voice could now be heard under water.

“They are biters,” Merediana nodded. “I don’t like them, but you can’t swim into the Underworld without their permission.”

She waved her fins more vigorously. The gate slammed shut, catching a piece of Desmond’s sleeve. If Merediana hadn’t swim at double speed, the pirate’s arm would have been elbow-deep in the teeth of the living faces.

The golden heads snorted in displeasure.

“You haven’t fed us! You haven’t paid the tribute for the passage to the Undersea Kingdom or sacrificed to us! We will report you to the Sea King Seal!”

Merediana turned around and flashed her tongue at them. Desmond flinched. Her tongue was a bifurcated stinger.

“They’ll report me to my father!” She pouted capriciously. “My father will punish them himself! I am his favorite daughter… after Yasmin.”

Merediana frowned.

“It’s strange that until Yasmin went to live on the islands of the Between Worlds, I wasn’t the foremost of the sea queens. The first seat in the sea court was only vacated by a pirate in Yasmin’s care, that’s the only reason you’re still alive,” Merediana shook Desmond like a toy. “I respect pirates. Without them, I wouldn’t be the most important of all the sea queens.”

And by far the strongest! Desmond was horrified at how much physical strength lay in the graceful mermaid’s frail body. Merediana could crush not only him, but his entire pirate crew with one fingernail. She could crush a ship and an entire fortress with her hands. Only magic can make a slender mermaid stronger than a giant. Surprisingly, with such strength, Merediana could not free herself from either the cube or the rune-stained chest.

The runes of the nameless morgen were far more powerful than the mermaid’s magic. Where is this morgen now? Why isn’t he rushing to the rescue? He should have sensed by now that the mermaid had freed herself. So why isn’t he rushing to help his business partner?

Desmond caught himself thinking that he didn’t want the release. The mermaid’s closeness was so sweet that he wished he could remain captive forever. If the fetters were Merediana’s embrace, he would gladly become her eternal captive.

That’s how people get dragged into the Underworld! It’s all due to the enchantment of the magical creatures of the sea. Proximity to them is like a magnet or a drug. You can step off a cliff or drown with them.

Merediana’s purple hair waving in the water was softer than silk. The mermaid’s skin was phosphorescent. The scarlet scales on her tail shimmered. Merediana was the most beautiful creature not only in the underwater world, but in the entire universe! If she wanted to keep him captive, he would be happy. Desmond was ready to give up his career as a pirate (if only criminal activity can be called a career), his dreams of glory, and even his long-standing enmity with the rulers of Mirid. He was even willing to drown for Merediana. He had to fall in love so hard at first sight!

Desmond thought that if Merediana were to leave him now, he would not return to land. Better to die in the water where she lived than to live on the surface of the water without her.

Cassandra would explain such a condition by saying that the pirate was bewitched by mermaid magic. Therefore, Desmond would not ask Cassandra’s opinion.

Beyond the golden gate stretched the underwater gardens. All the trees and bushes here were blue, blue, and rarely white. Pyramids of shells and pearls moved suspiciously, as if whole hordes of monsters lurked inside.

Paths of pearls twisted around a cluster of underwater flowers. Desmond wondered what the paths were for if the underwater creatures did not walk, but swam.

The water flowers turned out to be alive and predatory. They greedily caught the passing fry. One large flower the size of a hut tried to catch Desmond’s foot.

“Don’t dare!” Merediana hissed at him, and the petals of the predatory flower immediately froze.

“I am the mistress of this sea, and everything and everyone here is subject to me, so no one has the right to trespass on my prey,” Merediana explained to the captive.

“So I am your prey?” Desmond was flattered. “I’ve never been preyed upon by a pretty girl before.”

“But the Coast Guard must have hunted you in regiments.”

“That’s right.”

How did Merediana know so much about life up there? Did she often swim dangerously close to people? It doesn’t look like it! A miracle like her would only be caught for her jewelry. Desmond’s heart squeezed when he imagined that someone might try to catch the sea queen with a net just to pick the jewels out of her skin.

He was probably worrying for nothing. Merediana would probably tear the net and use destructive sea magic against the hunters.

But she couldn’t break the chest, and she didn’t break the cube either. She needed a helper. Probably, fate itself sent her a corsair, who fell in love with the mermaid at first sight.

The intimacy with the queen of the sea drove Desmond crazy. That’s who he would be willing to do any feat for. He had once agreed to use her himself as a precious cargo. Now if a mermaid sent him to kill the King of Opal himself, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it.

“I don’t like leaving ghost ships on the surface,” Merediana hummed, “but a ship that dares to take a sleeping mermaid aboard will meet a dire fate.”

“Don’t tell me I’ll be without a ship. I’m already without one. If you remember, you dragged me to the bottom.”

“And you, if you remember, you stole me out of the sea.”

“It wasn’t me.”

“It was Udo! That’s what I thought! A simple man couldn’t have been so clever.”

Is it an insult that the Princess of the Sea called him a simple man? He’s not a simple man. He’s a brave pirate captain. Even as a corsair, it wasn’t easy to become a captain. If the mermaid knew how much effort he had put in. The respect of the pirates had to be earned too. However, now that the pirate captain has been kidnapped by a mermaid, it is unlikely that any of the crew will wait for his return or look for him at the bottom. Most likely, he will be put into the drowning and a new captain will be chosen. The enviable spot won’t stay empty for long. The crew might even fight over the rank of captain.

“So you don’t know how to draw sea runes?” Merediana concluded.

“You guessed right.”

“Then you’re perfect for me.”

“Suited for what?”

“It is to annoy my father and sisters.”

“I thought you needed a personal bodyguard.”

“I already have bodyguards – sea dragons.”

Merediana whistled musically, and immediately the huge silhouettes of blue water dragons rose from behind the pearly pyramids.

“These are the Morags – sea dragons,” she introduced. “They are the authorized bodyguards of the Sea King’s daughters.”

The Morags squinted suspiciously at Desmond.

“Where were they when Udo kidnapped you?”

The morgen who held a grudge against Merediana was probably named Udo, though he didn’t introduce himself to Desmond.

The mermaid was suddenly angry.

“It is none of your business, corsair!” She hissed, squeezing Desmond’s shoulder painfully. Her claws dug into the flesh to the bone.

Desmond felt the pain. The dragons sniffed at the smell of blood, but did not dare to attack. Merediana’s presence made them behave.

“I see, we can’t ask you about your business. You have secrets from the sea king and the bodyguards of the queens.”

“You talk so much! I should tear out your tongue!”

Merediana’s eyes glittered in a way that could have frightened him.

“Don’t you need a companion?”

“If I do, I’ll talk to the singing shells or the magic psaltery.”

“But they can’t tell you about the land, but I can. I’m the only earthling here.”

“How self-assured you are!” Merediana snorted. “I’d like to drown you, but you don’t.”

The mermaid glanced at his amulet.

“Is it a gift from your beloved?” She asked.

Is she jealous? Desmond’s heart thumped with joy.

“No, it’s not from my lover. A fortune-teller made it for me. It’s a good luck charm. Well, I’ve had good luck. I’ve met the Princess of the Sea.”

Not long ago he would have called Cassandra a girlfriend, but now, under Merediana’s iridescent gaze, that was impossible.

“So you want me to tell you about the land? Your shells can’t do that.”

“I’ve swam to land before, there’s nothing particularly interesting there.”

“That’s because you’ve only been to the shores. Everything interesting is inside the continents.”

“I’ve been inside, too.”

“Can you conjure up legs instead of fins?”

“No, I can’t. You are a stupid corsair!”

“Why am I stupid?”

“Don’t you know that all sea creatures can enter the world through springs, pools, fountains, any kind of water vessels? If you run away, for example, I can reach you through any pitcher or bowl you want to drink from. A webbed hand will swim out of there and strangle you.

“It’s that simple!”

“You humans are vulnerable until you learn to do without water. After all, we Morgens own the water.”

“It’s so easy for mermaids to catch and drown boys! Is that how you’ve caught every prisoner that escapes from you?”

“No one’s ever escaped from me, and I’ve lived for over a hundred years.”

“You’re that much older than me? What a surprise!”

“Humans have a short lifespan, but we Morgens are immortal beings.”

“So you’ll still be alive even after I’m dead?”

“And I don’t need your stories about the earth. If I want to know about the wonders of the earth, the observation mirrors will tell me everything.”

“Observation mirrors? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“People don’t know anything about anything. If you get a mermaid thing, it’s useless to you. But if a mermaid gets a harp from a sunken ship, it will play and report to the underwater people about everything that happened on earth and with its masters, and with its owners, and with itself. Bring me your friend’s comb, and I will tell you all about her. Her comb will tell me all her heartfelt secrets.”

“Cassandra is not my girlfriend!”

“So her name is Cassandra,” the mermaid looked questioningly at the amulet. It glowed and blinked more and more alarmingly.

“She is Cassandra!” Merediana repeated in a high-pitched voice.

Desmond thought her singsong voice echoed across the sea bottom and could be heard as far away as the coast. It was as if Cassandra had heard a mermaid’s call.

Perhaps his imagination was running wild.

“I don’t like coastal sorcerers,” Merediana interjected. “They’re all frauds, liars, and lechers. They’ve fooled so many pirates!”

“Are mermaids more honorable? Don’t you drown fishermen and sailors by the thousands? Don’t you play your shell flutes to cause storms and send whole armadas to the bottom?”

Merediana was silent for a long time. Apparently, she was tormented by her conscience.

“You’re too soft-hearted for a pirate,” she said at last. “How many have you killed in sea battles yourself? It was all for profit.”

“And what do mermaids drown people for? Is it for fun?”

“It is for love!”

Merediana suddenly turned around and pressed her lips to his. The kiss stunned him. For the sake of it Desmond was ready to become dumb as a fish for eternity and not to judge Merediana for anything else. A mermaid’s kiss is pure magic!

It was like Desmond was floating in the sky instead of drowning underwater. Too bad the kiss didn’t last long. Someone was calling Merediana. Somewhere in the distance, a horn was blowing.

“They are Marshals of the sea!” She determined by ear. “It seemed the court was seriously concerned about my disappearance, even though I hadn’t been gone long. They sent a whole army after me. If you had brought me to shore, the coast would be in trouble.”

“What can Morgens armies do on land?” Desmond asked brazenly.

The answer stunned him.

“They can flood the whole country!”

Yes, Merediana was best not to be confronted. He had the nerve to kidnap such a marvel! She alone could flood an entire continent. He didn’t doubt it. And armies of monsters would have come to the rescue.

“Are you going to put me on trial right away? Or will you find Udo first?”

“I’ll find someone to investigate, but in the meantime, you’ll be my hostage.”

How sweet that sounds! Desmond prepared himself for the pleasures of paradise in the company of a mermaid, but a very different fate awaited him.

As soon as the magical gardens were behind him, the vast blue seaweed plantations appeared ahead. They stretched into infinity and resembled earthly fields with crops. A path ran between the stubble. Desmond thought he saw creatures hiding in the seaweed. On earth such creatures would be called leprechauns, but what were they called here?

Merediana dragged Desmond swimming over the algae plantations. The plants appeared to be alive. The seaweeds deftly wrapped themselves around Desmond’s knees. They were as strong as ropes.

“It is not now!” Merediana pulled her captive out of the net of algae and floated a little higher so they wouldn’t reach Desmond’s legs again.

Contrary to expectations, the plantations did not appear to be endless. At the end of them was a huge pyramid decorated with large pearls. Mermaids, tritons, and other creepy creatures like large octopuses swarmed toward Merediana.

“Your Highness!”

“Where have you been swimming for so long?”

“Who is that with you?”

The questions came in a chorus, but Merediana imperiously stopped all inquiries.

“Stop being a hypocrite! You’ve already seen everything in the observation mirrors. This corsair has broken all the laws of the sea, disregarded his treaty with the sea king, conspired with the traitors of my dynasty, tried to kidnap the daughter of the sea king. He will be tried by King Seal himself.”

“But your highness,” muttered an octopus dressed like a waving priest’s robe. “His sea majesty, King Seal is busy negotiating with the ocean dynasty. He won’t be free for another century at the earliest.”

Desmond was relieved. He’ll be dead in a century.

“I’ll hurry my father,” Merediana tossed Desmond into the tentacles of the large octopuses, which resembled the slave traders of Pion. The tentacles immediately wrapped a strong net around Desmond.

“Dor,” Merediana beckoned to the huge morgen that looked like a sea giant. “Let him be a slave on your plantations until my father passes judgment on him.”

“But…” The blue-skinned monster named Dor hesitated. “He’s quite handsome. Handsome men are usually sacrificed in the temple of Darunon. Or they are given to mermaids for fun. Are you sure you don’t want to keep him or give him to your sisters as a gift?”

“Don’t talk too much!” Merediana was furious. “He’s a slave from now on! You must be strict with him! Let him work on the sea plantations and realize how free pirates live without the interests of the sea king.”

What a mess! Desmond looked hopefully at Merediana, but she turned away from him. It looks like he really did not go to the paradise of mermaid love, but to the sea hell.

Slaves of the sea kingdom

The slave branding and collar were not the limit of Desmond’s dreams, but they were what awaited him. The brand proved to be red-hot even in the water. It hissed and wriggled like a living thing. It must be magical. It wasn’t the only one the wardens had. Dor brought three different brandings. One branded victims for the temple, one branded slaves for the sea plantations, one branded workers for the underwater mines. All those branded were doomed.

“People are treated like cattle here,” Desmond said noisily.

“Do you think a captured pirate would be treated more gently on the surface?” Merediana arched her purple eyebrows haughtily. What a beauty she was! Desmond’s heart sank at the sight of her riding a huge seahorse. The curvature on its back was as if it had been specially adapted as a saddle for a mermaid. Merediana curled her tail into a ring and pulled on the reins.

Was she really going to leave? Wouldn’t she want to make the captured pirate her personal slave? Desmond had never encountered such pronounced female indifference before. If only a mermaid could be called a woman.

The branding had indeed turned out to be magical. While the tentacles of the octopus overseers held the young man tightly, Dor tried to cauterize his forehead with the brand, but nothing worked. The brand hissed and dug into Desmond’s skin, but it couldn’t make a mark on him.

“Was he enchanted?” Dor scratched the back of his head with a long tentacle.

“You just don’t know how to do anything, you assholes!” Merediana was angry.

The overseers were afraid of her anger. She must have whipped them more than once herself. By the way, the whip, made of a live sea serpent, looked great in her hand. It coiled around Merediana’s wrist like a bracelet, then it hissed, wriggling in her palm.

And a mermaid like that wants to dump him as a slave on a plantation instead of keeping him for her. Her slave he’d be more willing to be. Desmond could not understand himself. He had never wanted to be anyone’s slave until now, and now the mermaid had waved her purple tail in front of him and made his head spin. Earthly beauties are far from her.

Merediana tightened the reins of seaweed and made the skate swim closer.

“It’s done like this!” Merediana ripped open the shirt on her captive’s chest and placed her hand where his heart should have been beating. Her claws and webbing were suddenly red-hot. Desmond felt his skin burn. A large burn spread across his chest, the mark of a mermaid’s palm.

Oh, my God! Merediana had branded her mark on him. Well, maybe she’ll take him with her after all. The sea queen’s look was unyielding. It’s obvious she wants to punish him for kidnapping an eminent person.

“Let him work hard. Don’t let him chill,” she told Dor.

The monster bowed courteously.

“If I find out you didn’t treat him too harshly…” Merediana squinted, her eyes turning into two red slits. Desmond felt dizzy.

“And if my sisters want him, don’t give him to them. Everyone knows their sympathy for beautiful earthlings.”

Merediana’s character turned out to be very unhealthy. How could such a beautiful woman be so mean! If only he had been warned that the Princess of the Sea was such a nuisance!

“If you want to be my master, you’ll be my slave!” She turned to Desmond.

Desmond laughed.

“Do you think it is fun?”

“All the aristocrats and courtesans and earthly princesses told me that in a streamlined form. Only the mermaid said it directly. You’re honest, but impractical. I’m not a galley slave, I’m not shackled. I can swim back to the surface.”

Not so. Her magical power made him kneel on the sea bottom.

“I could sell you as a galley slave, too, and threaten the captain that I’ll send a storm every time you’re treated too gently.”

“You’re better than the princesses of Earth! They didn’t think of that, just threatened me with war if I didn’t marry them.”

“What do they care about a pirate?”

Desmond wanted to argue that he wasn’t a pirate, or at least he hadn’t always been a pirate, but decided not to say anything. It was better that the mermaid didn’t know that. Or else she would decide to sell him to his family for a large ransom or blackmail the king with such a prisoner. She can’t read minds, apparently. Or can she? Her eyes are too perceptive.

And he thinks she’s better than the princesses of Earth. All princesses are the same bore, Earth or sea.

“Oh, I have forgotten,” Merediana slipped her hand under his arm and pulled out a shining scroll. “You’ve broken a maritime treaty, and even though you have a favorable contract, you’re still liable.”

The glittering scroll stretched into a ribbon in her hands, and the ribbon wrapped around the captive’s wrists and ankles.

“It is so much for shackles!” The mermaid snarled.

The shimmering scroll was indeed able to change its shape and transformed into a kind of shackles. You can’t run far in these shackles. They glow brightly underwater, attracting unnecessary attention.

“He’s shackled like a privileged hostage,” Dor squinted suspiciously.

“It’s only until the trial. Make sure he doesn’t try to escape before the sea king judges him. I’ll try to arrange with my father for the trial to take place as soon as possible.”

“And what happens after the trial?” Desmond felt suddenly unable to speak. Only gurgling bubbles came out of his mouth. Merediana smiled slyly. She must have blocked his speech with her magic.

“Slaves are supposed to be silent,” she said, her crowned head held high and proud. Her purple curls fluttered in the water like a storm.

Desmond stared at her dumbfounded. Would he never see her again? It was unlikely that she would personally appear at the trial. Most likely, the sea king himself and all the underwater executioners would torture and execute him. But Merediana will report to her father and ask that the kidnapper be dealt with severely.

“You will probably meet your former friends and enemies on the plantations. Many pirates and sailors end up here.” Merediana nodded at the shabby shadows bent on the seaweed plantations. They themselves no longer resembled workers, but slouching water monsters. Were they all former pirates and current slaves of the sea kingdom?

An incredibly beautiful newt swam up to Desmond and gave him a stern look.

“Should we sacrifice him to Darunon’s followers right away so that he wouldn’t further annoy your highness?” The triton nodded at the temple behind the plantations, with huge tentacles wrapped around its pillars.

It must have been the temple where Darunon’s so-called followers dwelt. Desmond had heard somewhere that Darunon was a terrifying sea god. His followers were probably monsters, too.

“It is not now, Laor,” Merediana, who was about to leave, turned the seahorse around and looked at the newt in surprise.

“Why aren’t you at the ceremony at the palace? You were supposed to help there.”

Laor tucked the blue strands of hair behind his ears in embarrassment. His ears were real shells. His tail sparkled with emerald scales. Apparently, the newt is an important person at court.

“And someone like you was appointed as an advisor to the sea king!” Merediana arched her elegant eyebrows. “You’d leave the council chamber at a difficult moment and swim after any mermaid!”

“It is not any mermaid, but you.”

Triton frowned guiltily.

Desmond had hoped with all his heart that Laor was Merediana’s brother, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Cassandra had said nothing about the sea king having sons. She only mentioned the names of his daughters.

For some reason, Desmond felt an unbearable hatred at the sight of the handsome Triton. If it weren’t for the shackles, he would have killed him. If only a newt could be killed. He thought sea creatures were immortal. Anyway, morgens are long-lived. Merediana herself has admitted to being well into her late teens. Laor must be her age. They both look about eighteen years old, and they both have eternity under their belts.

“What a pair they’d make!” Dor sighed as he watched Merediana and the newt swim away. “It is too bad the princess has already been promised to marry the ocean prince.”

“What do you say?” Desmond was so excited that he could have broken out of his magical shackles. The octopuses barely held him back. One overseer whipped him with a seaweed scourge. It hurt more than the whip.

Merediana, meanwhile, swam up to the temple and stroked the tentacles of a large kraken that wrapped around all the columns of the structure. Laor followed her. What a lucky fellow! Merediana had not driven him away. She’d just gotten rid of Desmond.