by Charles Lamb
“Take revenge?” Alex asked, not liking the implications of the comment.
“Oh, these days they simply relieve them of their purses, while the lucky ones might receive a few moments of pleasure in the process. Every now and then, a sailor disappears, some found later, floating in the sea. There is never any proof that the mermaids drowned him, but there is almost always a tale of misbehavior on his part,” Cassie added casually.
“Do we have a mermaid bar in Windfall?” Alex asked, curious as to why he had never heard of it before.
“Most likely, however, you are not permitted in such places!” Cassie replied with emphasis on the last.
Following the path from town, Abrianna led the way as they traveled along the edge of the bay until Alex could see a two-story structure of wood and stone. There was a beautiful, hand-carved wooden sign, depicting a topless woman from the waist up, playing what appeared to be a lyre and singing.
“Sirens are the same as mermaids, aren’t they?” Alex asked as they entered the tavern.
“Absolutely not!” someone answered from inside.
As his eyes grew accustom to the darker interior, a stunningly beautiful redhead stood a few steps away, eyeing Alex as if he was a treat to be devoured. Her outfit barely covered her goods.
“Sirens are a winged creature, though they too love the sea. It is the siren’s song that draws the sailors to us,” the redhead finished with an evil smile.
“May I get you a table?’ a blonde asked, just as alluring and immodestly dressed as the redhead eyeing Alex.
“Yes, please,” Alex replied, seeing the appeal of this place as he scanned the room. Everywhere he looked, there were scantily clad women wandering among the tables of men, providing drink or sitting and socializing. He was beginning to appreciate the lure of the place, until Cassie’s steely gaze that brought him back to earth.
“Um, yeah. Let’s take a seat,” he added, following the blonde, with Cassie at his side running interference. All four sat, with Cassie sliding her chair to be closer to Alex.
“And what can I get for you?” the redhead asked as she came around Alex’s left side and attempted to sit in Alex’s lap. It was Cassie’s arm she found nudging her away.
“Nymph,” the girl responded, as if swearing at Cassie.
“Mermaid,” Cassie replied, making the word sound an insult.
“Ladies! May we have a pitcher of ale please?” Abrianna interrupted.
The two redheads glared at one another for a second, and then the mermaid made a show of spinning in place and heading to the bar, almost losing her top in the process.
“Cassie, we need information. Angering the mermaids is not going to help us get what we need. Let her flirt with Alex and see what we can learn,” Abrianna whispered.
“Fine!” Cassie replied, her green eyes flashing.
A few moments later the redhead returned, her tray carrying a pitcher and four mugs. This time, she walked to the far side of Alex, on his right, standing between him and Leander. Serving Alex first, she saved Cassie for last, sliding the empty mug across the table so it tumbled into her lap.
“So sorry,” she said absently as she poured for the others.
Holding her tongue, Cassie placed the mug on the table, holding on to it to prevent any further accidents. After serving Alex and Leander, the mermaid set the pitcher near the women, letting them fend for themselves.
“Now what else can I do for you?” she asked while sliding up next to Alex and running her arm around his shoulders. Alex could see the fire in Cassie’s eyes, but she held her tongue.
“How long have you worked here?” Alex asked as he raised his left hand to touch the mermaids arm affectionately.
“A year,” she replied, confused at the question.
“Ah, then you were here when the two men from Great Vale were killed?” Alex asked.
As she started to withdraw her arm, Alex grasped it in a firm grip, while slipping his free arm around her waist. Tugging until she realized she could not get free, she then relaxed.
“Yes, I know the men you speak of,” The mermaid replied.
“What can you tell us?” Abrianna asked, while glancing at Cassie, who was staring daggers at the mermaid in Alex’s grasp.
“They came in asking a lot of questions, spreading money around.”
“What kind of questions?” Leander asked.
The mermaid scanned the room, as if looking for help, before replying.
“They wanted to know what we had heard from sailors on the trader’s ships. Everyone knows that the men come here for company, and drunken sailors talk. About everything,” she replied.
Before she could say any more, Alex felt the presence of several others behind him and even more around the table.
“Is there a problem here?” a brunette asked, her jet black hair framing a face so stunning as to startle Alex, breaking his concentration. The knife in her hand was being held in an uncomfortably threatening and familiar position. The reaction caused him to go into defensive mode, gathering the free energy around him in preparation of action.
“Apologies white wizard, we did not know,” the brunette uttered as she backed away. Alex realized he must be glowing white to the magical mermaids. Although the mermaids around his table knew what had just happened, the men at the surrounding tables took no notice of the exchange.
With that, Alex released the redhead, although she made no effort to retreat from his side.
“It’s alright, we were just talking,” he replied.
With a signal from the redheaded mermaid at his side, the others went back to their duties while she pulled up a chair from a nearby table and slid in between Alex and Leander.
“What do you want to know?” she asked Alex, all of her previous insolence suddenly evaporated.
“Why the change in attitude?’ Alex asked, with the others watching intensely.
“You are powerful?” she asked in return.
“Very!” Cassie replied before Alex could.
“We have need of a wizard such as you. There are problems here, things that we cannot correct ourselves, though many have tried. One such as you could right many wrongs, should you choose to do so,” she replied, never removing her eyes from Alex. All the flirtiness was gone now; in its place was an earnest plea for help.
“Perhaps. What can you tell me about the men I spoke of?” he asked, not wanting to commit to anything without understanding exactly what he was being invited into.
“These things are entwined. They wanted to know about which trading houses were honorable and which were aligned with the darker elements of the region. These elements are the same ones I speak of, preying on myself and my sisters.”
“In what manner?” Leander asked the mermaid.
“We have been pressed to dispose of certain sailors, and a sea captain or two. We have even been put upon to see that certain vessels never make port again,” she answered, this time turning to face Leander as she did so.
“You have abilities. How can they force you?” Cassie asked, showing concern for the first time.
“Yes, we have great influence over human men, but they send other creatures immune to our ways. If we refuse their demands, we lose sisters to the sea, devoured by despicable creatures controlled by dark magic.”
“And you know which of these houses are involved?’ Abrianna asked.
“Yes, and that is what we told the men. We had learned of the Windfall plan to attack Great Vale and the efforts of Prince Renfeld to rule in the east. He has allies here in the west and we heard rumors of the plot against Lady Amelia as she arrived. We told all this to the two men, and they left straight away, anxious to return and report their findings. I understand they were killed before they ever reached the Inn of Serenity, where she was staying.”
“Meaning someone either followed them here or they were betrayed while here?” Alex commented.
“My sisters would never betray us. It had to be someone fro
m the outside, either a patron or a spy.”
Alex sat back from the table and scanned the room. There had to be forty or fifty sailors in the tavern, all in various stages of drunkenness. While he watched, more men entered the bar every few minutes, as it grew darker outside. It would be easy to plant spies into the crowd, their job to watch over the mermaids and gather additional information from the drunks as they did so.
“What is your name, and please tell me it’s not Ariel?” Alex asked as he returned his attention to the redheaded mermaid.
“I know an Ariel, but I am not she. I am Kelby. Why do you ask?”
“Not important,” Alex replied, noting that a singing crab joke would be wasted on this audience.
“So, Kelby, which houses are in league with Renfeld?” Abrianna asked, obviously shrugging off another of Alex’s private jokes.
“Just one. The House of Drakon.”
Chapter 5
Rather than risk the trip back to the port after dark, considering what happened to Amelia’s bodyguards, Kelby suggested that the group take rooms in the tavern for the night. In addition, one of her sisters delivered a message to Cassie’s Quest, written in Alex’s hand for Captain Yeagars, explaining their delay on returning to the ship.
For the moment at least, the mermaids were treating the four as honored guests. The implied promise of Alex’s intervention in the oppression they were enduring was incentive enough to be exceptionally cooperative. Privately, Alex wasn’t exactly sure if he could do anything on their behalf, but it was at least implied that they shared a common enemy.
“Let’s go someplace more private,” Kelby suggested as she rose from her chair, indicating the stairs on the far wall.
As everyone followed suit, Alex paused as he looked over at the bar where one of the mermaids was pouring drinks to be delivered by another. Stopping in place, he turned to Kelby.
“Only mermaids work in this bar?” he asked.
“Yes,” the little redhead replied, confused at the question.
“You don’t happen to serve coffee?” he asked, thinking it too much to ask for.
“What’s coffee?’ the mermaid replied as she shook her head at the question before continuing on her way.
Ushered upstairs into the mermaids’ private quarters and away from the general population below, the group met with several of the women, each imparting what little they knew about the Drakon operation. By now, Alex had confirmed his earlier suspicions and believed Tantalus was the mystery conspirator in Amelia’s kidnaping.
While Leander and Abrianna were more than comfortable with the situation, Alex could tell Cassie was not in the least happy with the circumstances.
“Why must we stay here tonight?” she asked during one of the breaks in interviews.
“It isn’t safe to travel right now. I am sure Tantalus is well aware we are talking to the mermaids and will have his assassins out in force.”
“Let them come, it’s been too long since I’ve been in a good fight,” she replied sharply. The comment brought an image to mind of the first time Alex had seen his bride-to-be. She was encased in plate armor, sword in hand, ready to take on four of Renfeld’s minions by herself.
Since Alex and Cassie became involved, her uncle had placed her in classes intended on teaching her self-control for her wilder side. The inner nymph had a tendency to be rash and emotional, traits she initially turned to combat and weapons training. He had no doubt she meant what she said, but there was something else.
“What is really bothering you?” Alex asked. The question brought a blush to her cheeks and she looked away before turning to reply.
“I don’t like the way they look at you!” she whispered, while indicating the mermaids.
“Welcome to my world,” Alex replied with a laugh.
“This is different. What mermaid wouldn’t want a wizard as her lover? Her child would be amazing!”
“And every man wants to be with a nymph. Please, let’s just curb the jealousy and remember we are here to find your mom,” he replied more sympathetically.
“Even so….” she replied before leaning in and kissing him. It was an act that every mermaid in the room watched with a keen eye.
“Does the line start here?” Kelby asked, as she took the seat on the other side of Alex.
“What did you learn?” Alex asked before Cassie could comment. Earlier, he had asked her to see if anyone remembered if or when Amelia had left the island, hoping she might be held nearby. While he had reports of her making the trip to Tazmain, he wanted to be sure.
“She was taken to the mainland. One of the sailors from a Drakon ship recalled the trip about a month ago.”
“So she was held here in Freeport first?” Alex asked, doing the math in his head over the delay between then and her arrival in Freeport.
“Apparently so, though the sailor did not know where, only that she was brought to the ship under the cover of darkness and taken to Tazmain where they disembarked.”
“How many were with her? Where did they go?” Cassie asked, anxious at the news.
“There were three men with her and he did not hear where their destination was, only that they required horses and supplies once they went ashore,” Kelby replied in a sympathetic tone.
“She is your mother?” the mermaid finally asked.
“Yes, she is,” Cassie replied emotionally.
“I lost my mother to the dark creature of the House of Drakon. I will help you find yours,” the redhead said. With that, she rose and headed back downstairs. Alex could sense an intensity in Kelby that bordered on obsession and he suspected she was quite headstrong. As she left, Leander and Abrianna returned from their discussions with the other mermaids.
“Any luck?” Abrianna asked as she sat.
“They took her to the mainland. Kelby’s sources say they landed in Tazmain and got horses there.”
“We can contact the Rangers in Tazmain and try to find their trail,” Leander proposed, noting how distressed Cassie was.
The four talked for a while longer before Cassie and Abrianna retired for the evening. Cassie was not at all satisfied with the sleeping accommodations, but with only two free rooms, she had her cousin’s needs to consider. While Abrianna and Leander’s relationship was blessed by the king, they were not at the same point as Cassie and Alex. That meant that the two would not be sleeping together now or in the near future.
Trusting in Alex’s good judgement and Leander’s chivalrous nature, she slowly made her way to the room provided. As Kelby, who had returned from below, led the women away, Leander leaned into Alex.
“Have you noticed how much the mermaid resembles Lady Cassandra? Shorter, but they could be sisters. Were I not entranced by Abrianna, I could see the attraction.”
“Leander my friend, observations like that have led to many a man’s early death!” Alex replied while indicating Cassie watching the two men talk as she turned the corner.
----*----
Leander and Alex spent part of the night reviewing all that they had learned from their day's work and the mermaids. Kelby had come by several times to check on the two men, but without Cassie present, her interest in Alex was much more subdued. Apparently, tormenting his fiancée was part of the fun.
“What’s with this sea creature Kelby keeps talking about? Is it a threat to the ship?” Alex asked Leander.
“While I am not as well read as Abrianna, I suspect it’s a Sea Dragon. If we are truly dealing with dark magic again, they are the minions of evil in the east. While not evil themselves, I am told they can be coerced by someone with special powers,” Leander replied.
As the two men talked, Kelby returned with a stack of papers, dropping them on the table between the two.
“We keep things the customers lose, mostly their money, but you might find something useful in this stack,” she said before turning and sauntering off.
Alex found he and Leander were both watching her without even realizing t
hey were staring. Both quickly recovered and began sorting through the pile.
“Look at this,” Leander said as he handed Alex a sheet.
Alex reviewed the paper Leander handed him. It appeared to be a ship’s manifest, tied to a shipment from the House of Drakon. The items listed were of no real interest, mostly fabrics and nonperishables headed to a port he was unfamiliar with. It was the shippers mark that had their attention. In the lower right corner was a seal, authenticating the document. It held a winged dragon rising out of the waves.
“If it is Tantalus, I would expect he would hold her someplace remote. Somewhere he could be certain of. He couldn’t afford rumors in town of his treachery,” Leander proposed.
“You don’t suppose Tantalus keeps any records on his holdings on the mainland? You know, estates, farms, mines,” Alex asked.
“I would imagine so,” Leander replied, catching the suggestion. What better place than somewhere he owned and controlled access to for hiding a hostage.
At that, Alex waved to Kelby, who was in the corner of the room, sitting and talking to other mermaids.
“Yes, Wizard Alex,” she asked, mixing respect with a familiarity he was sure was meant to insult.
“Leander and I are going to do a little research. Should Lady Cassandra come looking for me, please tell her I will be back shortly.”
“You going to House Drakon? Are you sure this is wise? No doubt Tantalus has men everywhere. Perhaps I should go with you?” she blurted out with some concern.
“That is not your concern, we will be fine. It’s best you stay here,” he replied.
With that, Alex made himself and Leander disappear in front of the mermaid.
“I will let Cassie know if she inquires,” the mermaid replied with a smile after they reappeared.
“Call her that at your own risk. I would hate for her to kill you, now that I am becoming so fond of you,” he replied with a smile. The two men started downstairs, and disappeared from view before reaching the bottom step.
