by Walleye
Maryellen frowned. “It said. ‘Bravo!’ And it clapped its paws together.”
The fairy sighed. She knew who had just met her charge, but she couldn’t come out and say it. The rules wouldn’t allow it. Instead she said. “The next time the Beast talks to you, don’t run, but talk to him.”
Maryellen considered this and realized the reason for this advice. “You mean this creature is involved in this fairytale in some way?”
“Yes.” The fairy replied. “It is.” Boy. That was almost a whopper of a lie, but it had to be done as she couldn’t reveal too many details. “Please. Try and talk to him next time.”
Maryellen nodded. “All right. I’ll try and talk to him. Did you want to share a fish for breakfast with me?”
The fairy nodded back. She could only hope the second meeting would go better than the first one had with the Beast.
When an angry Johnathan got back to the drawbridge the Gate Keeper Stanley asked. “And how was your swim, Milord?”
“Just peachy. Grrr.” Johnathan growled and stormed past him, leaving the old man to stare after him.
Johnathan couldn’t believe it. He had been beguiled to listen to a siren, a monster who lured sailors to their deaths on the rocks by her singing, and what was worse she was scared of him and saw him only as another monster. Well, to the blazes with her.
However during the rest of the day as much as he kept trying to push the image of her face out of his mind he found it wouldn’t go away. It was like it was stuck there. He grunted in disgust. It had to be due to the magic in her siren voice.
After he had eaten lunch which was a good hot soup which he ate using a specially bent spoon which he had designed so that he spilled only half of it on the table, he decided he’d go to the library and see if there was anything he could do to get the siren out of his mind.
His Keeper of Records Joseph who was the grey-haired librarian as well as the Keeper of the Bestiary which described all the magical creatures which had ever existed brought him three leather-bound books which contained descriptions of sirens.
Johnathan frowned after he finished the first book. Sirens were described as being winged women. Women with wings? Like angels? That didn’t seem right.
The other two books agreed with the first. Sirens were women who had wings but had no fishtails. Where had he gotten the idea that mermaids were sirens who lured men to their deaths?
When he asked for and got books on mermaids he found that for the most part they were considered to be friendly and often warned sailors of danger ahead. There were a couple of claims that they had lured the ships onto rocks with their songs but mostly they were depicted as well disposed towards humans.
Could he have made a mistake? He asked the Keeper. “Joseph, why did I think mermaids were sirens? Sirens are women with wings while mermaids have fishtails.”
Joseph a partly bald-headed man who had been the Keeper for years replied. “Young master, I suppose it is because sirens live on islands near the sea. Now mermaids live in the sea and I suppose sailors who heard a siren’s call near an island and saw a mermaid in the sea thought the mermaid was trying to entice them to their deaths.” He shrugged. “It would be a natural mistake.”
Johnathan considered this before he told him. “I think I saw one in the river this morning? Would it even be possible for her to be a mermaid? You just told me that they live in the sea. Do they live in other bodies of water too?””
The Keeper smiled. “Yes, they do. There are stories of them venturing up rivers and residing in lakes. In fact I have an account in one of my books where the Lord of Lorntie actually talked to one in his lake and she claimed that she had lived there undetected in his lake for many years.”
Before Johnathan could ask anymore he was interrupted by the Major Domo, Stephens, a beanpole of a man with the announcement that a new Princess had arrived, sent once more by his Mother to try and break the curse.
Johnathan sighed in resignation. ‘Great.’ He thought. ‘Another one. Another would be failure.’ “Might as well get it over with. Thank you for your help, Joseph.”
Back in his room he put his formal attire on and went downstairs to greet her. This one didn’t even make it out of her coach so he never even saw what she looked like. She took one look out one of the windows and ordered. “Driver, turn around immediately.”
As he watched the coach speed its way erratically down the carriage lane as if both driver and horses were equally upset by his looks, he felt his rage growing.
“I luv yu two.” He called out sarcastically as the coach careened out onto the main road, almost knocking the sign post over. “Fluffy headed idiot.” He growled as he stormed back into the castle
That night as he dined he refused to look in the direction of the empty chair at the other end of the table where she would’ve sat. Since he was alone he wasn’t as scrupulous in following dining etiquette. As he slurped and swallowed he smiled at what her imagined reaction would have been to his uncouth behavior.
The young woman if she’d been there would’ve been aghast at his poor table manners as he ate his roast pork right from the bone. Since she wasn’t, he didn’t see why he should care. In contempt he tossed the bones to the eager dogs roaming beneath the table where they fought happily over them.
At the end of his meal he did use the napkins and water bowl to wipe his face and paws off. He’d had his rebellious moment and now that it was over with he didn’t want to totally scandalize the staff.
The server asked with a tremor to his voice. “Do you want a glass of wine tonight, young master?” The other night the young master had drunk several bottles.
Johnathan almost demanded the bottle but seeing the servant’s fearful anticipation he decided he’d surprise them all. “Just one glass of champagne thank you.” The surprised reaction of the servant was worth it. He thought.
He went back to his room cradling the single glass in one paw and sat down to read a book he had taken from the library on mermaids. The information in the different books was so contradictory he decided he would be better off asking the mermaid herself.
This led him to conclude that if she was still there tomorrow, he’d try and speak with her. With this resolved in his mind, he fell right asleep and he slept very soundly all night.
The next morning he surprised Richards and Phillips by getting right out of bed as he found he was anxious to see if she was still there. They were quite shocked as he was actually friendly to his two servants.
“Do you think that he’s drunk?” Phillips whispered to his friend Richards.
“If he is, it is such an improvement over his usual morning sulks.” Richards whispered back. “That I will have the steward give him a bottle of whatever it was he drank last night every night before he goes to his night’s rest.”
Later that morning as Johnathan approached the river he told himself to not get too excited and that he should expect not to find her there anymore. She had no reason to hang around there after being scared by him.
He stood on the bank and scanned the surface of the river pool and as expected there was nothing to see.
He had no way of knowing that mermaids had very good vision under water that enabled them to see objects outside the water something like the archer fish had so they could shoot down grasshoppers on branches and that mermaids were also able to shift their own colors slightly to blend in with their background.
Maryellen was indeed close by and she was watching him intently from under some lily pads. The beast was back. Why? Was he hunting her? She scrutinized him closely.
In spite of his scary appearance with his horns, claws, and fangs there was something noble about him. Part of it was due to the way he held himself erect and another part was in his flashing blue eyes. He was extremely muscular and he radiated confidence in every move that he made.
Johnathan, unaware of being observed, sighed in disgust. Once again he’d gotten his hopes up that something new and
different would happen. You would think that he would know better by now after so many failures.
He went back to the pavilion and disrobed. At least he would get a decent bath for all of his troubles.
He stood on the bank and looked around again. Once more he saw nothing. He hopped down from the bank onto the beach and strode towards the river.
The mermaid watched him come with apprehension. Had he seen her? Was it time to flee or was it time to become part of this fairytale? She decided to wait and see.
As she watched the beast waded right in up to his waist and sank down into the water. Silver fish raced by her, coming to investigate this intruder. She winced, just partly opening one eye as she watched. In spite of what the fairy had told her she almost expected him to be torn to pieces by them just like Python had been.
Johnathan shivered and suppressed a snort of laughter as the lead fishes tickled him along his belly and back. Losing interest the fish swam away and Johnathan used his paws to splash water all over himself just before he sank down up to his neck. This felt perfect.
For a half an hour Maryellen watched as he swam, dived, cavorted, and played in the water, sending waves across the pool. Finally he got out of the water, shook himself like a dog, went in to the pavilion, got a towel and dried himself off.
He drew his robe on and turned to gaze out over the river where she lay hidden. She watched unmoving as his gaze roamed before it came to rest on her hiding spot and he paused.
She froze as he leaned forward and frowned. “I can see you under water there, you know because as a beast I have the vision of an eagle.” He had been watching her surreptitiously while he had been swimming. This time he wouldn’t chase her away.
He paused and knelt so that one knee was on the ground but his gaze never left hers. “I think you can hear me as the books all say you mermaids have exceptional hearing under water. I want you to know I have no designs on you other than to talk to you.”
He paused but her dark shadow below the surface didn’t move. He decided that he had to reassure her.
“Why do I want to talk to you?” He spread his hands out. “Because I am lonely for female company, lonely for a woman who will just talk to me and not scream at the sight of me.” He took one paw and pulled a ring off a finger of the other one. He placed it in the shallow water just off the beach sand. “As a token of my good intentions, I leave you my ring.”
He stood. “Take it if you will talk to me. But if you don’t I will not coerce you. You have my word for that.” Again there was no response.
He said just before he turned away. “I will be back tomorrow morning at this time to receive your answer.”
She watched him walk away and after he was gone she turned to look at the ring which was reflecting sunlight as small ripples of water passed over it. After several minutes she finally lifted her head out of the water and looked around.
The only motion she saw was that from the flitting of the birds in the trees and the lifting of the canvas tent sides of the pavilion flapping around in occasional puffs of wind. The only other sounds she heard were associated with these movements in the wind with the background noises being those of the river as it flowed on its way over the rocks.
She waited a few minutes more before she moved towards the ring where it lay in the shallows. She stopped when she felt the tip of her tail touch the bottom and looked around again. Nothing had changed.
She knew that the closer she went to the shore the more vulnerable she could become as more of her would be exposed by the shallower water. She decided to brave getting closer and finally while lying on her stomach she could see the ring about two feet from the furthest she could reach. Did she try for it or leave it?
Just then a two-foot long red bird landed on the beach with a flutter of wings. It looked at her. “Twirp?” It said and took two steps towards the ring. It paused and cocked its head as it examined this shiny object.
Maryellen made up mind and reacted. She used her tail to propel herself out of the water and her right hand snatched the ring. The bird jumped backwards with a startled squawk and flapped up into the air.
The mermaid spun herself around, using her hands planted in the sand with the ring gripped tightly in her right fist. She launched herself using her momentum and landed on her side with a splash in the deeper water of the river pool. The bird watched hopefully for a moment but when she didn’t reemerge it shook its head and flapped off.
Underwater Maryellen examined the ring up close. It had a gold band with a white almost rounded, faceted stone with an ‘H’ in the middle of it. Around the stone was coiled a red dragon with folded wings and its nose almost touched the tip of its tail.
She found by trying it on that the ring was too big for all of her fingers except for her thumb where it fit snugly. She admired the ring and the way it reflected the sunlight. The flashes attracted some of the silver fish who nosed it before swimming off. Apparently there was no magic in it; at least there was no harmful magic.
She realized that now she was committed to a meeting with the creature. Part of her just wanted to swim back home which was not going to happen, but a greater part of her was enjoying this adventure and couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say to her. His need to talk because of his loneliness was something she understood very well.
Back at the front gate Stanley the Gate Keeper asked as Johnathan entered the castle. “How was your swim today, Milord?”
“It was good.” Johnathan replied. “Tomorrow will tell how good.” He left Stanley scratching his head.
Johnathan spent the rest of the morning discussing the state of the finances of his duchy with various officials and the royal bookkeeper. Becoming a beast had not ended his ducal responsibilities his mother the Queen had declared.
Consumed in the first weeks by the thoughts of his curse and his attempts to end it he’d neglected his ducal duties. His Mother had soon put a stop to that by ordering him to do his job or she’d give the title to his cousin Elliot. Since he couldn’t stand the thought of his duchy being run by anyone else he’d pulled himself together.
That episode had concluded with the duchy’s books showing a profit as for once in his life he had paid attention to what was written there. It was amazing how motivating the right threat could be.
After having lunch Johnathan went to the ducal court where he would rule on disputes and other problems brought to his attention.
He took grim amusement in the fact that in his present form his subjects took his rulings much more seriously than they had before when he had been human. In one case he’d ended a possible protest over his ruling by raising an eyebrow and allowing his fangs to show. Sometimes being a beast had its advantages.
Since no young lady had presented herself during the day to run screaming from him he found himself dining alone again that night. It didn’t bother him as much as it had previous nights as he was looking forward to possibly seeing the mermaid.
However the disturbing thought came that maybe she didn’t want anything to do with him and had left the ring where’d he’d put it. Then there was the even more disturbing thought that something else might have taken the ring and the missing ring would give him false hope only to have it dashed to pieces on the hard rocks of reality.
He growled at himself. He’d been stupid. Maybe if she was still there but didn’t have the ring he could provide her with chalk and a slate to write on so she could at least leave him a message. Relieved with the thought of this possible solution he went to sleep soon after that. He dreamed that she was smiling at him and laughing at one of his jokes.
The mermaid also was thinking about the beast. Who was he? What did he want? Could he tell her more about this fairytale she now found herself in?
She went to sleep a little puzzled as she hadn’t seen her fairy friend all day. She hoped she was okay.
Thistledown hadn’t meant to stay away but while she was cleaning up after having breakfast that morning
Supervisor Lark herself appeared before her in all her radiant golden glory. “Thistledown, why are you still here?” She snapped and then she noticed the changes in Thistledown’s aurora. “Oh no. You didn’t?”
Thistledown knew there was no way she could hide her participant status in the fairytale from her superior said. “I made a mistake and when I tried to fix it, everything got worse. Now I’m stuck in this story until it’s over and the Magic Council seems to have given their approval.”
The Supervisor glared angrily at her. “We’ll see about that.” She raised her wand and cast a spell on the fairy. Thistledown felt the magic around her responding and saw the Supervisor’s expression go from angry to stunned.
“You are now indeed part of this story and I see the mark of the Councils approval.” She declared in wonder as she stared at the glow of magic at the end of her wand.
Thistledown refrained from saying. ‘I told you so.’ Instead she said. “I’m afraid I’m stuck here until this tale ends.”
The Supervisor Fairy cast another spell and frowned as she studied the results. “You appear to be correct, but it seems you have a few days before your interactions will be required in this tale. I don’t understand but apparently the Magic Council wants to see you as I just got a message from them. Come on. Let’s go.”
“Do we have to right now?” Thistledown protested. “Maryellen is about to meet the Beast and I wanted to be here to see it.”
“Ouch.” She cried as the Supervisor pinched her ear and started dragging her away.
“Yes, we do. Now come along!” The Supervisor snapped. “Never keep the Council waiting. It just isn’t done.” She dragged a protesting Thistledown behind her, never once letting go of her ear.
Getting To Know You
Johnathan awoke as soon as the dawn sunlight penetrated through his bedroom windows and started warming his face. He was actually up and out of his bed before Richards even came through the door he was so anxious to get going.
