by Jenni James
Dress. It was such a funny word. Keel had mentioned that was what the store owner had called it.
She smiled as his arms wrapped around her, pulling her in just a bit closer. She felt his chest expand as he took a deep breath of air. This was perfection. Just like this, sitting together in the twinkling twilight on the land as humans. The quiet, darkened street reminded her much of the faded colors of the ocean at night. Everything looked blue and gray and purple. But the similarities ended there. Where she was used to soft, more rounded buildings, these tall, flat structures were fascinating, each with reflecting windows to peek out to the human world from within.
If she looked toward where they had come from, she could just make out the horizon of the darkened beach below them. Closing her eyes, she listened to the soft, gentle pull of the waves as they broke upon the sand. Quiet humming and clicking sounds could be heard above them as the landfolk spoke to each other, their open windows allowing the sound to travel to her. But for the most part, there was simply no one around. Just peaceful, quiet solitude.
“We shall sleep out here tonight, and then tomorrow, I will work on gathering us some food.”
“Food?” Ugh. Her stomach churned at the thought. “I could not possibly eat a thing at the moment.”
Keel’s deep chuckle caused her heart to hammer a bit more than normal. It was so different to hear him speak above the water like this. It would take some getting used to.
“You may not be hungry now, but I promise you, my dearest, you will be quite famished on the morrow.”
“Does it have something to do with the transformation?” she asked him.
“Yes. Your insides are still too new to comprehend the use or need of sustenance. Your body is experiencing a bit of shock from the pain. But by morning, after you have sufficiently rested, it is all you will think about.”
He was simply too good to her, thinking of each one of her needs before she knew what she would want next. How was such a male to be in existence? He would clearly make the perfect husband for some lucky mermaid one day. Her grin grew as she brought her exhausted legs forward, rustling the dress a bit, and snuggled in tighter as she turned a fraction on her side.
Sleep sounded so very wonderful, and Keel made the most perfect pillow she had ever known. Closing her eyes, she allowed the soft, rustling breeze to remind her she had finally made it. They were human. A surge of glee swept through her, and then she calmed back down.
He whispered quietly above her. “Sleep, my beautiful one. Tomorrow, we shall awaken early to procure better sleeping arrangements. As of now, I fear to walk to any hotel with your legs being so very tender. So we will sleep this soreness off and face the challenges in the morning with much better ease.”
“Thank you,” she murmured into his chest.
“You are most welcome.”
She yawned. “You know I could not do this without you. You are simply wonderful.”
“I would have never allowed you to do this alone. Think nothing of it.”
“But I cannot.” Pearl yawned again, her speech slurring a bit as the fatigue began to tug upon her. “I will never forget all you have done for me. Never.”
She barely heard his reply, “Hush,” before all went dark.
IT ONLY FELT LIKE a few minutes since she had fallen asleep, but it must have been hours because the next thing Pearl remembered was waking to a hand shaking her quite forcefully and the loud prattle of someone very displeased they were there.
THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF the sun blinded Pearl briefly as Keel sat up, shifting them both to a sitting position, and then protectively placed his arm around her. She was so disoriented. Everything looked completely different during the day. Brighter, so much lighter in color. She could make out flashes of peaches, creams, pinks, and whites everywhere.
What time was it? How long had they been asleep?
The noises of several humans seemed to burst into her awareness all at once. Chattering, clicking voices could be heard all about them.
She brushed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. The great hulk of a man gesturing for them to leave and pointing up at a building behind them seemed very agitated. He must have been the one to wake them up.
“Keel, let us go.” She took his hand and stood up, and then felt the world around her feet shift and wobble.
Instantly, Keel’s arms wrapped around her waist, and he allowed the dizziness to subside a bit. “You are not used to this yet. We need a few more minutes.”
The man began to shout.
“We do not have a few more minutes. We must go now,” Pearl said.
Instead of listening to her, Keel attempted to communicate with the man, but he only became angrier.
Landfolk really had no idea what they were saying. She looked around and noticed that they had drawn a small crowd of onlookers. None of them seemed very pleased. Were humans actually this cruel toward those they did not know?
The man clasped Keel’s shoulder and pushed him a few feet away, causing Pearl to stagger. In the short second of losing Keel’s support, she attempted to catch her balance, but was unable. She fell to the ground, causing a collective gasp in the crowd. She blushed as the man began to laugh down at her. Never had she felt so humiliated.
“How dare you treat the princess that way?” Keel was livid.
“Keel!” She shouted the warning too late as she attempted to scramble to her new feet again.
Keel stepped forward and punched the man’s jaw. His head reeled back and he stumbled a few paces before righting himself.
Keel was instantly in front of Pearl, his arms out, daring anyone to cause her to fall again. “Do not touch her!” he warned.
Even though no one understood the words, they most certainly grasped his message.
Except one man. The great, hulking brute rubbed his jaw and lunged at Keel, but years of the finest royal training only made it easy for the angry merprince to outmaster the human. He met the man head on. Two more swift jabs later, and the man was lying out cold.
The crowd roared to life. They were angry. However, one woman in a beautiful pink dress appeared to be particularly upset, as if she were related to the man on the ground. Her words came fast and crisp, and her face took on a very menacing look. She stood there with her hands on her hips, and the more she spoke, the redder her features became.
“We will leave,” Pearl tried to assure her.
Keel placed an arm around her waist. “How do you feel? Do you think you can walk now?”
Did she have any choice? “Yes.”
“I am so sorry. I know we had talked about practicing walking while it was dark and I had hoped to do so, but it would seem it is too late for that now.”
Was he really apologizing to her at this time? “Yes, I see that. Let us go.”
Suddenly, the angry woman grabbed at Pearl’s arm, holding it fast as she continued to shout.
Pearl yanked at the hand, and just before Keel was about to react, she heard a loud, deeper bellow behind them. Instantly, the crowd hushed and moved several steps away. Even the woman looked toward the ground and stepped back.
Turning around, she was astonished to see the handsome prince from the day before walking toward them. Keel must have recognized him as well because he quickly pulled her behind him.
Good kettlefish! What in the world had she got them both into? Her heart began to hammer in her chest as he approached and stopped right in front of them.
THE PRINCE’S SMILE ASTONISHED Pearl even more than his actual presence. In fact, Drake seemed so completely excited to see her again that even his deep voice rose a few notches and his clicking sounds blended together almost charmingly as he spoke.
He gestured for the crowd to leave them alone and they quickly dispersed, leaving them on the cobblestone path. Once all were out of earshot, he then stepped around an outraged Keel and took Pearl’s hand in his, and then motioned for Keel to follow as he began to take them up the walkway and out of the st
reet altogether.
“Just a minute there. Where are you taking her?” Keel asked, pulling on her arm, causing them both to stop.
Drake began to chatter and point up toward the palace spires that could be seen over the tops of the village buildings. Again, his mannerisms seemed so friendly and inviting. It was nearly impossible to believe this was the same man who had attempted to capture her not even twenty-four hours ago.
“I think he is planning to take us to his castle.”
“Or his personal prison cell.” Keel shook his head. “Wait. That is his castle? Are you implying he is royalty?”
“Of course he is.” She smiled as Drake stopped talking and looked down upon her. “He told me so when we met yesterday.”
All at once, Drake wrapped her up in his arms and murmured happy nonsense in her ear.
Keel looked like he was about to murder someone.
Perhaps the prince had not meant to harm her at all. Perhaps he had meant to carry her so she could come on land, since it would have been impossible to walk with her fins. Drake released her and gave an adorably boyish grin. Truly, the man seemed quite harmless.
“Let us go. I do not trust him,” Keel whispered tersely as he held his hand out to her again. “It is time to have our real adventure. One that does not involve humans who are attempting to lure us to our doom.”
“Lure us to our doom?” She laughed. She had to. What was with him? “Heavens, I have never known you to be so skittish around anyone before.”
“There is nothing humorous about my skittishness,” he huffed. “I am merely speaking the truth. You saw the anger moments ago—humans are not good. I do not trust that man especially. Something is completely off about him.”
Drake did not force them up the hill. Instead, he paused and allowed them to continue to work their way through their argument. Patiently. Too patiently for a man who was attempting to murder them, she might have added had Keel’s irrationality and prejudice against all humans not gotten the better of him.
“We are leaving now!” Keel said.
Pearl laughed again as Keel glanced over at the prince and then back at her. He moved her a few paces across the way, so as to not be overheard. “Why must you go to such lengths?” she asked. “There is no possible way Drake can understand a word we are speaking.”
Keel seemed to catch only one word that she spoke. “Drake?” he asked, looking amazed.
“Yes.”
“You go by first names now?”
“Yes. We exchanged names yesterday. It was all well received.”
“Until he picked you up, of course.”
“Yes, well . . . until then.” She rolled her eyes. This was nonsense anyway. “What would you have us do? Go back to the bench and make everyone angry with us again because we do not talk like them and they are as afraid of outsiders as we are? Clearly Drake does not mean us harm. I believe we misread the situation yesterday. How do we truly know he was attempting to capture me?”
Keel threw his hands in the air. “He deceitfully lured you in for a kiss and then snatched you up in his arms as soon as you fell for his ploy.”
“Yes. But we do not know why, and to assume the worst is not doing anyone any favors.” She glanced over at the waiting man on the other side of the cobblestone street. He grinned and beckoned them to join him. When she looked back, the utter disbelief in Keel’s eyes caused her to jolt. “What?”
He shook his head and took a deep breath, his hand raking through his hair.
The almost disgust at her eagerness caused her to pause. She glanced over at Drake again briefly and then watched as Keel’s large shoulders slumped. What if he was correct? What if this prince—who clearly knew that she had been a mermaid—was only intent upon making sport with her, using her to satisfy his curiosity? The pull to be with the humans and experience what they knew and how they lived was not as clear anymore.
Her heart clenched. In fact, if she were honest with herself, after the pain and scary experiences with both Drake and the villagers that morning, she was not sure if there was any hope left for the species. She wanted there to be! Oh, how she wished they were kind and caring and as excited as she was to have strangers amongst them.
Pearl allowed her eyes to trace Keel’s features and sighed. If he was correct, and he would know more than she, they were a brash, harsh people who enjoying belittling and harming others who were different from them. Even something as simple as speaking in another tongue did not waver their judgments.
All along, Keel had her best interests at heart. He was there constantly, steadfastly, to protect and care for her. And every part of him was begging her not to make this decision to follow the human. All of him loved her and saw her like nothing she had ever experienced before. She was safe with him. She knew she would always be safe with him.
How much foolishness must she put such a merman through before she saw him for who he was, too? This was enough. Pearl took a deep breath and stepped up to Keel. Her world shifted slightly when the beam of hope sparkled to life within his eyes. Slowly, she ran a hand over his hair and tenderly down his cheek.
“I am sorry,” she whispered. “Forgive me. You are correct. This needs not happen. None of this needs to be.”
“Pearl?” he asked as his hands found her shoulders.
“I have been so dimwitted. Though the human world is littered with fascinating beauty, there is too much savageness here to ever make me happy.”
His jaw dropped. “Are you jesting?”
Warmth spread over her heart and down her chest. “No.” She chuckled softly as she traced his jaw with her fingertips. “No. However, I believe I have just woken up.”
“Why? What has made you see reason?” He shook his head in amazement.
What did cause her to stop and reconsider just when her dreams seemed to be coming true? She shrugged. And then it hit her—she understood completely why her actions had taken an abrupt turn. “Because I knew if you were right, most likely my actions would harm you, and I could even lose you. And I cannot lose you. My heart would not know what to do if you were gone.”
“What are you saying, dear?”
She smiled as she felt the surprise of wet tears forming in her eyes. “I do not know. I have not had enough time to process any of this, but I believe I am most definitely in love with you.”
He kissed her then, wrapped her right up in his arms and kissed her.
But it was not meant to be. At least, not for long. For as soon as she forgot the world around her, she felt herself being snatched out of his arms and a large, rough knapsack being placed over her head.
“KEEL!”
“Yes. I am here!” Keel struggled against the bag and ties holding him hostage as he thrashed about on the ground. How dare that slimy monster touch his Pearl? As soon as he could get out of this blasted confinement, heads would roll. Never before had this much rage roared through his body.
Just when he finally had her seeing reason. Just when she was certain he was correct and the humans would only harm her—just when she actually admitted to her true feelings and love for him!—this happens.
Urgh.
He continued to struggle as he felt two men lift him and dump him into something hard and high, like a box above the ground. “Pearl!” he called out, worried that they were being separated from each other.
Then he heard the screams and the thump as they lifted her bag, landing it next to his.
All went silent.
“Pearl?” He nudged his way toward her as the men began to shout and the box rocked a bit. When she did not make a sound, a shot of terror raced through his heart. “Pearl? Are you well?”
They better not have harmed her!
Still, there was no sound. The box jolted suddenly, and it felt as though they were moving briskly, as if the contraption they were in had wheels of some sort. Keel flew back against a wall of the box as the apparatus picked up speed. He wasted no more time. Urgently, he worked at the
strong rope binding him into the bag, stretching and edging and attempting to expand movement in every which way he could. All the while, he inched closer and closer to the mermaid. “Pearl!” he shouted as he bumped into her.
He could feel her solid form move slightly from the impact, but she remained limp, silent, and lifeless.
“Pearl!”
What had they done to her?
Violently, he tugged and pulled as he attempted to remove himself. He had to save her. He had to! Curse this stupid land and its inane ability to harm those who walked upon it. It was too brutal for her softness. His breathing had increased so very much that he was becoming exceptionally warm in his covering, which caused him to panic more.
Was Pearl too hot as well?
Finally, as the wheeled box raced upwards, Keel was able to wriggle one arm out of the rope, which freed his hand enough to rip a tear in the fabric and find the wretched knot that was holding all of it together. He continued to call her name as he worked and bucked and plucked at the knot holding him captive. Eventually, he felt the thing loosen, and the whole of the rope seemed to melt around him. In an instant, the covering was off and he went to Pearl.
Locating her bindings, he began to free them as he cradled her upon his lap. “Pearl. Wake up. I need you to wake up, sweetheart. It will be deuced awkward to escape with you asleep in my arms.”
Just as he released the largest of the knots, the rolling box halted. Quickly, he began to remove the rope from around her and then pull the large sack up and over her head. He heard shouting, but did not waste a moment looking around before gently picking her up. As he turned the sleeping girl in his arms and hoisted her near his shoulder, he gasped at the sight of blood oozing upon the coarse brown fabric below.
As tenderly as possible, he held her head within his hand and cringed. So much crimson wetness seeped from her. How hard had they thrown her to cause such damage? His stomach churned at the brutality of the human race. Who would do such a thing to another living creature?
