by B. J. Smash
My achy, itchy legs soon began to change right before her very eyes. The scales magically appeared, leaving my soft, smooth skin behind, and my blue tail thumped out and over the back of the tub. She inhaled sharply and grabbed the doorknob for support. “I suspected as much!” she said a little loudly, and then she lowered her voice. “You’re a mermaid…”
I had to smile then; I could not help it. The look on her face was downright priceless.
“Oh, Zinnia! You’re a mermaid,” she said again, full of excitement. I knew she’d be jealous.
A small laugh escaped my mouth. “Only for now. The spell will wear off soon, I’m afraid. And then it is back to being boring, old Zinnia, with no friends and no boyfriend.” The tears spilled out then. I hated and I despised crying. But it had to be done. “Oh, Ivy. She killed him. She killed my Eadgar. And I don’t want to live without him.” I covered my face so that she couldn’t see me. She had never seen me cry.
“Who killed him? Magella?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the tub.
“Yes. I hate her so much. I am not getting back on that boat, Ivy. No one can make me. I will die first.”
“I did hear that you might have someone now. Drumm told me. He was so happy for you.”
“Drumm? Happy for me?” I dropped my hands.
“Oh, sure—he always thought you’d been controlled by the Fae. He never really blamed you for what you did.”
For some reason, this made me feel better. I recalled the harsh, severe scolding I had received from the king of the elven—who just happened to be Ivy’s grandfather, an older gentleman with a long gray beard and one heck of a royal robe.
He was very sore with me, but he’d softened and told me that he could see some good in me, but if I didn’t change soon, I’d be a hard-hearted person for the rest of my life. I had told him that in Aggie’s book of spells, there were some written premonitions. Things that foretold the future of the Seaforths. I told him that it said that Ivy and I were meant to be enemies.
What he had told me next, had probably changed my life. Not right away, of course, but after I pondered over it for a while. He was the one that got me thinking about karma. “A premonition is something that can be. It does not necessarily have to be. We can control our fate with our actions. What bad you put out to the universe, will come back to you. And it goes without saying, what good you put out to the universe, will come back to you. You see, you should never ever let another person’s opinion define you. You must define yourself, and be the person that you want to be. Regardless of what anyone or anything says.”
A wise man he definitely was. And I’ve kept those words in my memory. Word for word.
But it all didn’t matter now. Eadgar was gone. He was gone, and I couldn’t stand to be Magella’s prisoner any longer.
Suddenly the phone rang. Gran’s mumbled voice could be heard as she walked up the stairs and down the hallway. Ivy’s eyes jolted open. “She can’t see you. Not yet.” Quickly, she stood and left the bathroom.
“Ivy, it’s Clover. She wants to talk to Zinnia,” Gran’s voice mumbled.
“I’ll hand the phone to her,” Ivy volunteered. “She’s almost done with her bath.”
Gran clumped back down the hallway and stairs, as Ivy re-entered the bathroom and shut the door. While she talked to my Aunt Clover, she observed the end of my tail. I could tell that she thought it was the niftiest thing ever.
“Oh really?” Ivy scowled. “Okay, you tell her.” She handed me the phone, and I reluctantly took it.
“Hello?” I said, not knowing what to expect.
“Zinnia. As soon as you are done taking your bath, you must come down to the café,” my aunt said rather firmly.
My only thought was, what did I do now?
“What’s wrong, Aunt Clover?” I asked.
“Just come down. And hurry it up,” she answered. Then she hung up the phone.
I handed Ivy the phone, and she reached into the closet and got me a pink towel. “I’ll wait downstairs.” She turned and left, closing the bathroom door behind her.
What could possibly be wrong now? I haven’t been here for more than an hour, and I was already in some sort of trouble. Good Lord. It didn’t matter. My life was over anyway. I drained the tub and waited for my legs to dry and return to normal. When they did, I got out and dried off with the towel. I didn’t bother to look in the mirror; I didn’t care what I looked like. I knew my hair was a mess. I could see the brown snarls laying on my chest, and I probably looked like a crazy woman. I dressed and went downstairs.
It wasn’t long until we were in the car and headed back to the café. The leaves had fallen from the trees and were scattered over the ground, winter was on its way. Ivy had made me put on a short, stylish red wool coat that Gran had bought me over the Internet while I was away.
Father drove and when we pulled up to the café, I noticed he didn’t seem so concerned about me. Was he mad at me too?
We got out of the car, and there weren’t many people around. This was good, because I’d rather not be around too many people right now. Ivy held the door, and Father motioned for me to go first. I saw Aunt Clover at the counter, but she wasn’t scowling. Instead, she had a beautiful smile on her face. The café had been emptied, and no one was around.
She pointed to the back corner of the room, and I turned to look.
My hands went up to my face, and a faint sigh escaped my lips. This couldn’t be! I slowly walked toward the back corner, and laughter bubbled up inside me. Sitting at the table with Drumm was Eadgar.
“Oh my God,” I said. “It’s you!”
His face beamed with radiance, and he smiled at me. “Zinnia.” He stood, and I noticed that he had jeans and a white T-shirt on. He had to have stolen them from somebody’s clothesline or something, but he looked hotter than hot. It was then that I wished that I’d have combed my hair.
I jumped into his arms and he swung me around the café, kissing my face and hair. And then he locked eyes with my father and set me down, and grabbed my hand instead.
“How are you alive? I thought she killed you,” I said.
He smiled and said, “She try, but Nicoli and the others were waiting for me in ocean. Magella had use cloak on herself, and she be invisible. But they had seen clouds fast approaching boat. They did not want to take any chance, and reached the boat right after she did.” He cupped my chin. “When I fell into water, they were there to revive me. I live.”
I hugged him close and melted right into his body. I didn’t let go for the longest time, and then finally my father cleared his throat. I drew back, and we all sat down at the table. My grandparents came down to join us, and Gran made sure the “CLOSED” sign was in the window. Aunt Clover and Gran cooked us a fabulous meal of lobster, corn on the cob, and tossed salad. Eadgar had thought we would eat the lobster raw, but he was surprised when Gran brought it out cooked. He ate it anyway and I think he enjoyed it, but it was hard to tell.
We had an excellent time that night. But things did not end here. I would soon be tested one more time.
Chapter Fourteen
Eadgar stayed with me at Gran’s house. He slept in Ivy’s bed, and she slept up at Ian’s. He had around ten guest rooms available, and so it was no problem. We had a great time playing board games and such. Eadgar had never played board games before. He taught us a game with shells but it was more of a magic trick, and he had to keep showing Granddad the same trick over and over. Granddad was stumped.
The time came when I would soon be returning to Magella’s boat, and we all fell into a deep discussion about this. We sat around the fireplace in Gran’s living room. She sat in her favorite red Victorian velvet chair. My father, Ivy, and Drumm sat on the matching couch, and Granddad sat in a brown leather chair. Eadgar and I squeezed together in another brown leather chair, and we were enjoying the tight fit. His arm was around me and I leaned up against him, feeling his well-toned body against mine. He was nice and warm, and he s
melled like the fresh ocean air on a warm day at the beach.
“My people could possibly do something. We are not supposed to interfere with any punishment of others. But it could be that we can come up with something,” Eadgar said. “It is just…the black cord on Zinnia’s wrist…” He touched the rope, and his fingers went through it. It was not really a rope after all, but binding magic. “This cord is hard magic to fight.”
“Izadora says she cannot interfere. I keep asking, but she keeps refusing. Even if she wanted to, she cannot,” Granddad said. I could picture him walking up to Izadora’s or taking the four-wheeler up every day just to pester her. Yes, I could see him doing that. He was persistent.
But my punishment would be so. According to the laws of magic, I would have to fulfill that sentence. There was no possible way around this.
Ivy joined the conversation and said, “Drumm and I recently went to the land of the elven.”
I knew it! “I think I saw you flying overhead,” I said.
“We saw you, too. Well, at least now I know it was you,” she said, “Anyway, the elven say they will not interfere. But they don’t know that Magella tried to kill a merperson. Maybe this would entice them to get involved.”
“It may,” Drumm said, nodding his blond head, “but it is highly doubtful. The laws of this sort of thing are set in stone. There is a line that we cannot cross.”
Gran sighed and rubbed her temples. “This is a sure mess.”
I cleared my throat, this was very hard for me to say. “I just want to say…I’m sorry. Sorry for involving you all. And, I am sorry that I put myself in this position.”
“Don’t apologize. It is not necessary,” Drumm said. And I couldn’t believe that he was the one telling me this. After all, I almost wiped out his people.
I nodded but said, “It is necessary. I just wanted to say…I’m sorry.” Now this shocked them all, I knew. Zinnia Seaforth never apologized. When I did, it usually was not sincere, and everyone knew it. But this time—this time I meant it from my heart.
A few minutes passed, and we were all silent. We were jolted from our seats when there was a loud knock at the door. Bang, bang, bang.
Gran stood to answer it but the door flew open, and a voice could be heard from the foyer. “Oh, you don’t have to knock, Mother! I live here!” Into the living room walked none other than GG Edmund, and following close behind him—Augusta Seaforth.
Her hair was a shiny gray but neatly combed and pinned with bobby pins. A nice burgundy-colored fashion hat sat atop her head with one lone black feather, and she wore a matching burgundy coat. She carried with her a black umbrella with a wooden handle. But that was nothing. Her eyes caught me off guard, and without realizing it, I gasped. One eye was greenish-blue, and the other…white! But it wasn’t just plain white; it shimmered different colors like an opal. Freaky.
She had a scowl on her face that would scare a group of hyenas, but when she saw my granddad, a brilliant smile spread out on her lips.
Granddad hopped out of his seat like he had a fire under his butt. “Gran-mama!” he called out. “I haven’t seen you in so long!” I snickered under my breath; he called this frightening woman with more power than she knew what to do with “Gran-mama.”
She opened her arms up wide for a hug. If I had to guess, she stood to be right under five feet tall, and when he fell in for a hug, his legs had to bend.
“My dear grandson! How are you?” She had a kind voice.
GG Edmund looked to me and then Ivy. “Well? Where are my hugs?” We both stood and walked over, hugging him at the same time. “Group hug,” he said. He was a cute old man with white hair that flew about everywhere and big, black-framed glasses.
When all the hugs and hellos were said, we seated ourselves. Gran stood to give Aggie her chair. Something Gran wouldn’t do for anyone else, I’m sure.
She pulled two wooden chairs in from the kitchen for GG Edmund and herself. Everyone offered GG Edmund their seats, but he wouldn’t have it. “My backside sits just as good in this chair as it would in those.”
I had to smile. He was always refusing any special treatment.
Before I could introduce Eadgar, Aggie looked to us and said brusquely, “There is a mermaid in the house. Two, if I am not mistaken.”
“Nothing escapes Mother.” GG Edmund sighed. “That’s why we’re here. Remember, Mother?”
“Yes, of course, but I didn’t expect her to have a merman with her, and, why, she herself is a mermaid. Can’t you see it, Monty?”
Ivy had told me that Aggie preferred to call GG Edmund by his real name, which was Montague, but she shortened it to Monty.
“Oh, Mother, call me Edmund, will you?” GG Edmund said.
“No,” she simply replied.
“And, yes, I can see it,” GG Edmund said.
To this confirmation about my being a mermaid, Gran clasped her hands to her mouth. “Land sakes!” she said. “I knew he was a merman, but you—a mermaid. Well I’ll be darned.”
“Just how would you expect them to meet, if she wasn’t a mermaid?” Granddad piped in.
“I don’t know, maybe she sat on the rocks out in the ocean, and she met him while fishing or something. But you figured it out and you didn’t tell me?” She scolded my granddad. And as they bickered back and forth, Aggie spoke up.
“While this is all entertaining and such, I would just as soon get on with the problem at hand.”
My grandparents quickly stopped talking, folded their hands in their laps, and listened.
“All right. That’s better,” Aggie said. Clearing her throat, she continued. “Now, what seems to be the problem?”
We all started to speak at once, but Aggie held up a long, bony hand to silence them. When everyone was quiet, she placed her hands on her lap, and I noticed a huge ruby ring on one of her fingers. This was probably what she considered to be her signet ring.
She said, “I hear my daughter, Magella, has been treating you unfair? If that is the case, I shall speak with her. I do understand that Zinnia here had stolen my book of spells, and that she tried to overtake the land of the elven. And furthermore, she attempted to drown them with a mighty wave from the sea.” She paused as everyone shook their heads, except me. I was too afraid to move.
“Well, if that be the case…I understand that she is serving her sentence on Magella’s boat. That she is to live there for twenty-eight days and then have two to three days ashore. That she is to work for Magella as penance. That she will be freed in one year. This is what I have been told. To me, that seems a fitting punishment. And so I ask, what is the problem here?” she said. “I will also add here that she did escape a more brutal punishment of being sentenced to live in a tree for three or four years. Only because she had been influenced and forced to do the bidding of an Unseelie Fae called Rodinand. But he did get a superb punishment from my great-granddaughter, Cora. Oh my. That was a good choice of a spell, I must say. The negative narcissist spell—genius.” She clucked her tongue.
My heart fell, and my body ached from disappointment. She was not about to help me. I noticed that Gran had a majorly confused look on her face when Cora was mentioned, and I can only imagine that she wished she knew what Aggie was talking about.
“Ma’am, if I may speak?” This was Eadgar.
“Go ahead, young man, speak your mind,” she said.
“Magella is not very good person. She—” he started to say, but Aggie interrupted.
“Yes. I know. She is my least favorite. Continue on.”
One side of Eadgar’s lips curved up into a smile, and he continued to speak. “She is not treating Zinnia with any fair…fair…” He was trying to think of the English word. “Fairness. She is very unkind. She abuse Zinnia. She—”
“Abuse, you say? It is not unheard of for a prisoner to be mentally whipped into shape, and occasionally, depending on the crime, some force can be used. It is our way, and, after all, she did break our laws.”
“No, no—she hold Zinnia to deck with her magic and ice pellets fall onto Zinnia. She did this for long time,” Eadgar said. To this, Gran’s mouth fell agape, and Granddad’s hands balled up into fists. My father growled or something, and then his lips were pursed so tightly they were white.
I do not know how Eadgar knew about this. Perhaps the merpeople had heard me yell out to Magella. I don’t know, but somehow they knew what she had done to me.
Aggie’s eyebrows went up. “You don’t say? Now this is some news that I can work with.” She stopped talking and sat there staring at nothing in particular. No one dared to speak.
After about five minutes, GG Edmund said, “Mother? Are you still with us?”
She snapped back from her thoughts, shook her head a few times, and said, “Yes…yes. I am here. I was just going over the documents and laws in my memory.”
I smiled. So, that is where I got my eidetic memory from. I knew exactly what she was talking about—although I had to imagine she had a lot more stored in her brain than I did mine.
“It seems to me that there may be something I can do.” She then turned to me, and we locked eyes. “You shouldn’t have stolen my book. And yet, Magella wrongfully had it in her possession. Even so, back to the matter at hand. You will get back on that boat. Don’t even try to skip out on your punishment. If you do, that black cord around your wrist will react. Let me tell you what will happen. I know the spell she has bound you with, and if you do not return, your limbs will start to fall asleep. Have you ever had that happen before? Pins and needles, and it will begin to feel like you are on fire.”
I nodded my head yes. My eyes were opened as wide as they could go, and my pulse had quickened at her description.
“Yes, they will fall asleep, and there will be no remedying it. After a short time you will be begging someone to put you out of your misery. And as time goes on, the very limbs that feel as though they are being pricked with pins and needles will implode.” She lowered her chin and focused her eyes so intently on mine that I thought she was searching my very soul. And perhaps she was. The white pearly eye shimmered as she stared me down.
