All The Mermaids In The Sea

by Robert W Cabell

  The two-legger would not be much different from a seal. Some seals were selkies who shed their skins and danced on two legs beneath each full moon. From time to time, they took lovers from the world of men. That was what selkies called the two-leggers—men. So Helmi set to work to cure this beautiful … man. She had no servants here at her father’s palace, no loving selkies to play in the cavern and disturb her father’s solitude. Once he had chosen the sleep of stone, she knew he wanted to be left in peace, and when she came to visit him, so did she. She would have to care for the two-legger alone.

  Once she had dried off and her tail had transformed into legs, she gathered some sleeping furs to make a soft warm pallet for him by the water’s edge. Without too much difficulty, she rolled him gently on to the soft furs. Next she boiled some water over the nearby fire she’d started, cleansed the gash in his head, and cleaned the matted, bloody hair away from the wound. It was a deep cut, but clean. She applied a salve of sea cucumber guts, crushed horseshoe crab legs, anemone oil, and powdered narwhal horn from the medicine kit she always kept replenished and available in the cavern. In a matter of minutes, the gash closed and shrank to a small pink scar.

  While her patient slept, Helmi gathered some local fare to make a thick stew of oysters, shrimp, and codfish with fresh kelp. Once it started to boil, she added some seal milk to the rich broth to blend the flavors together. The aroma grew strong and fragrant as the poor man began to stir. She had subconsciously kept herself from gazing at that glorious face and into those warm, green eyes. Yet, whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see was his blue-black hair, his ivory skin, and his emerald eyes staring into her soul.

  Suddenly the soft moans and muttering stopped as a deep, rich voice asked from behind her, “Where am I?”

  She looked up from her cooking pot and saw his face once more through the steaming vapors as if through a billowy cloud. He was sitting up on the plush pallet of furs looking straight back at her. Once again those eyes caught her by surprise with a spell as tight and powerful as any her magic net could cast.

  “Where am I?” he repeated more steadily, his voice gaining strength and deepening in timbre as his eyes scanned the cavern. It was the controlled and steady stare of a warrior taking in the gold strewn in every direction across the floors and chests spilling over with centuries of gifts and offerings of treasure.

  “Are you a Valarynk? Is this Valhalla, the hall of the fallen heroes?” he gasped as she stared back at him soundlessly, unaware of her goddess beauty. “Am I dead?”

  “No, you are not dead,” she answered, finally finding her voice to respond. She was a little annoyed at the thought that anyone she had saved could even think such a thought. “There was a storm. Your ship was split by lightening, and your head was …”

  “Smashed by a trunk …” he gasped suddenly. “Yes! I remember. But then everything went black. I should have drowned. How did I come to be here?” Then he looked around carefully again and turned back to gaze at her. It made her tremble in a way she had never done before. “This is nowhere in the realm of men, and you are no mortal beauty. How can a man see and touch such things and still live?”

  Slowly, with a grace that only immortals can accomplish, Helmi rose and stepped through the veil of steam rising from her simmering stew. Without a thought, she extinguished the flame with a wave of her hand and glided to his side as he stared deeply into her eyes. “You are in my father’s palace beneath the sea, and you are safe.”

  “My ship?”

  “One ship was damaged and crashed upon the rocks; the other two survived the giant waves. I calmed the storm and stilled the waters before I brought you here to heal you.”

  “Who are you?” he whispered in awe.

  “I have many names in many lands, but your people call me Helmi, youngest daughter of King Aegir, ruler of all the oceans,” she replied with a touch of pride as she thought about the stature of her family.

  “Then you truly are a goddess!” he cried and fell to the floor to bow to her.

  “And who are you?” she asked feeling awkward at the way he responded to her.

  “I am Prince Valdemar of Denmark, great goddess!”

  Then Helmi smiled. She threw her head back and filled the cavern with delightful silver peals of laughter and charming giggles.

  “What is the matter, goddess?” The prince suddenly sat up and stared at her in wonder and alarm.

  “Well, it’s just that I spend all my time with dolphins, seals, and whales. They’re not impressed with me at all, and here you are, a grand and handsome prince, bowing and scraping to me like some silly sardine!” Helmi fell into another fit of laughter. For a moment, the prince was hurt and even a little shocked, but the silvery trumpet sound of her laughter and her glorious face smiling and giggling was so infectious that he soon joined her in her amusement.

  The Vision

  “What does a land prince do?” Helmi asked after their laughter had subsided. She felt a wonderful urge to know all about this handsome man.

  “Well, what does a sea goddess do?” he asked her in return, every bit as fascinated with her beauty as she was with his.

  “I’m not a goddess,” she told him. “I’m just the daughter of a king, as you are the son of a king. We do live much longer than you land people. It must have something to do with walking around on those legs of yours all your lives. We simply soar through the water like birds through the air for most of our lives, and that keeps us young.”

  He chuckled at her, and she giggled back.

  “Well swimming in your sea would have been the death of me if you hadn’t come to my rescue,” he said with a warm smile. But suddenly his gaze became distant and he jumped to his feet. “My wedding!” he cried as he began to pace back and forth in distress. “My God! Without the wedding we will go to war! I have to know what’s happening to my country!”

  “Calm yourself!” Helmi cried. “Nothing can be solved by ranting and raving. Tell me what is the matter, and I may be able to aid you.”

  “I was on the way to my wedding when the storm came out of nowhere and seemed to attack my ship!”

  “The storm felt unnatural to me as well, which is why I surfaced to calm it,” Helmi replied.

  “And if you hadn’t, all of my ships would have sunk, and my men and I would have drowned. Worst of all, Norway would have thought we had abandoned the treaty and slighted their royal princess!”

  “You and the princess of Norway are to be married?” Helmi asked as a little dagger seemed to pierce her heart.

  “Yes, to seal our two kingdoms and prevent a great war.”

  “Do you love her?” she asked him.

  “We have never met,” he replied sadly. “But one of royal blood is seldom allowed to marry for love.”

  “I must know more of this,” she said as she looked at him gravely and rose to pick up a giant pearly Orb that was the size of a large melon.

  “What is that?” he asked as she sank beside him holding it on her lap.

  “It is the Orb of Nerus—the pearl that was created at the birth of Venus,” she said solemnly. “It shows those who control its power whatever they wish to see, be it past, present, or future.”

  “Does it always show the truth?” he asked.

  “Yes, and its vision is not to be ignored,” she told him as she began to gaze deep into its depths.

  She saw two-leggers of every kind fighting and fleeing, and burning fishing villages. She saw cannons firing from one vessel to another. Hundreds of dead sailors were sinking into the kelp forest of her sea.

  Then the image faltered and changed. She saw Valdemar holding the hand of a female of his kind who was wearing a long, flowing gown of white. People around them were cheering, waving, and strewing flower petals in front of them as they walked.

  The image shifted again and the couple stood apart, aloof but friendly, with two young males between them. Then the pearl faded and grew solid and dark. Helmi knew what the imag
es meant.

  “You are so beautiful, and you saved my life,” he said softly. He then grew serious and asked, “What did you see? May I stay here with you, or must I go back?” Valdemar went straight to the point in a way that showed both courage and wisdom.

  “If you do not return soon, there will be a great war with much suffering and many deaths,” she whispered. “Your fate is a great one above the waves and must not be lost to the sea. I will take you back at once.”

  “Wait!” he cried, and reached out to touch her arm gently. “Can’t I stay with you a few moments longer?”

  Helmi turned to refuse him, but the moment she saw the question and longing in his eyes, her body responded with a fire that swept through her, and they melted into each other’s arms.

  Someday, My Love

  Helmi stroked his sweet face as he slept blissfully in her arms. She had never known such feelings, and she was terrified she might never know them again. But the Orb had shown her the future, and she knew she must obey its vision. It had shown her one last glimpse that she had not shared with him, a glimpse that gave her the courage to gently disengage him from her arms and rise to gather her things.

  “It is time, my love. We must act now, or I shall never have the strength to let you go.”

  Valdemar sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Helmi knew the very sound of his voice would weaken her resolve, so before he could speak a word, she quickly cast her net around him, sealing him in a sphere of power. She dove into the palace waters and instantly transformed back into a mermaid. Floating the net across the cavern floor on a narrow wave, she drew it down into the sea behind her.

  Swiftly and determinedly, she swam through the dark tunnel that led to the cave entrance. Finally, she swam out into the ocean’s depths. The palace was hundreds of fathoms deep and could never be reached by men without Neptune’s net.

  She knew she mustn’t falter, so she did not look back at the prince as she towed him along behind her. She called some dolphins to attend her, to keep her mind off what she was about to lose, and to give her prince a formal escort to the surface.

  Suddenly Helmi heard an unnatural, evil sound—a sound no fish, mammal, or other creature of the ocean could make. It was a cackling, grating sound that made her tail quiver with revulsion. She glanced around quickly to find the source.

  It was the Sea Hag! She was the witch of the sea … an immortal being, though not a divine creature of the Creator’s design. There she was below, bloated, bone-white, and blotchy, covered in barnacles and dressed in kelp in gross imitation of mermaid fashion. She cackled again as she slapped something upon her head, then she shrieked with glee. The shrill sound vibrated through the water to torment all creatures within the sound of her cry. The object upon the old Sea Hag’s head sparkled and glistened in sharp contrast to the greasy gray hair that clung in matted patches around her skull. It was a delicate gold crown scattered with sapphires and pearls. The jeweled circlet was perched precariously upon her head as she squatted in the wreckage of a ship. The Hag’s claws were digging through a small chest of jewels lying across her fleshy lap, and all the pieces of the puzzle snapped into place.

  “Hag!” Helmi roared across the canyon. As she swam toward the creature, she ordered some of the dolphins to guard the prince in her net and others to swim ahead toward the shore and find a boat.

  “Why, if it isn’t the Little Mermaid,” cooed the Hag as she held up another bauble from the chest to look at, then draped it—a string of glowing pearls—over her bloated body.

  “Put those jewels down!” Helmi commanded realizing they must have been wedding gifts from Valdemar to his royal bride. “They were meant for another and shall be returned to her.”

  “No they will not!” she cackled. “They are mine! I found them! Since when do you care about treasure and the world of men?” The Hag strained to see what Helmi had left behind under the care of the dolphins. “Oh, I see we have a new pet in our net. A pretty little man-child, isn’t he? Well I might trade a few jewels for him if you like.” She purred, and her eyes gleamed with another evil thought besides greed.

  “This man is a prince among his kind,” Helmi began. She raised her voice as her tail began to twitch with anger. “He shall be returned to the world above safe and unharmed.”

  “Don’t start ordering me about, you little sardine,” snarled the Hag. “Your father is no longer king of the ocean, and I shall do as I please—little mermaid princess or not!”

  “You were the one who caused the storm!” Helmi’s voice began to ring with power as she snatched the Trident from her girdle and made it grow to full size.

  “What of it?” hissed the Hag. “I told you I shall do as I please, and I meant it!”

  “Hold your tongue, Hag!” Helmi’s voice seemed to suddenly fill every corner of the ocean as she swelled to titanic size along with her Trident. “Do I look like a little mermaid to you now?” she asked with a voice the size of thunder. Then she stabbed the Trident at the Hag, pinning her leg to the ocean floor between its spikes.

  “Never mention my father without his name, title, and full respect, or I shall turn you into a million snails. You will be cleaning the scum off the ocean floor for eternity! I am now queen of these oceans, and I will obliterate you if I ever find you in the waters of my personal seas again.”

  “Forgive me!” cried the Hag in terror. “Do not destroy me, my queen. I have suffered enough these past few centuries. I beg you for mercy!”

  “I will spare you, Sea Hag, but I feel no pity for you. You are hereby banished to the depths of the ocean, and if you ever rise above a thousand fathoms, I shall have you sliced into a thousand pieces and fed to the crabs! Now go!” And with that she called up a mighty current that snatched the Hag off the ocean floor and carried her far out to sea into the depths of the abyssal plains.

  Helmi slowly shrank back to her normal size, as did the Trident. She placed it back in the loop of her girdle. Before she swam back to the prince, she swam down into the wreck and gathered all the wedding jewels into the little chest.

  Helmi said nothing to Valdemar as they rose to the surface. She towed the net to a large rock where a pod of dolphins waited with a small rowboat.

  The Mermaid Queen commanded the water to lift the net gently upon the rock. When she was sure it was safe, she released the sphere of power, leaving the net clear and dry.

  Valdemar crawled out of the net with a grace she did not equate with land dwellers, and turned to kneel to her in homage. “You are as fierce as you are beautiful,” he pronounced, “and yet merciful even when you need not be. If I can be half the ruler you are, my people will be very fortunate.”

  “I think you will be a splendid king, Valdemar, and I will bless the waters of your kingdom with bountiful catches and calm waters all the days of your reign.”

  “I thank you for such a mighty gift with all my heart, my queen, for in truth, I leave it behind with you as I go to my wedding.”

  “I will keep your heart, my love. For you shall be my only love no matter how many thousands of years I shall live.” She looked with longing into his eyes. “I have but one request,” she said solemnly. “If you should ever be free to come to me in some distant time, come to this rock on the night of the summer solstice.” Then she handed him a ring … a simple band of ivory. “It is magic,” she said as he took it from her hand. “It was made

  from a narwhal’s horn. If you toss it into the sea, I will come to you.”

  “I may be too old for you by then,” he sighed.

  “Never too old for me, my love.” She smiled at him, although her heart was filled with sadness. Then Helmi’s voice grew strong again and she continued, “Besides, I will make you my king, give you back your youth and vigor, and have you rule the oceans with me for a thousand years.” Then she raised herself up on a wave and took his hand to press it to her cheek.

  “Then I shall come to you if ever I can,” he vowed.

  Helmi smiled
, and with a splash, she was gone.

  Valdemar loaded the chest into the boat and rowed back to land. His arrival was greeted with great celebration. He covered his absence by showing them the chest of bridal gifts nestled in the bottom of his small boat and telling them a story of diving overboard to rescue them. The wedding was held immediately with all pomp and splendor, uniting the kingdoms of the bride and groom in peace and harmony.

  His wife was plain and shy, and though he never loved her, he was kind and gentle to her. Like all women, she had hoped for love, but found that was one thing they would never share. True to her duty, she bore him two strong and worthy sons, and then moved to her own castle on a distant royal estate. Valdemar raised his sons, and the years drifted by.

  On the day Valdemar’s eldest son reached legal age, the castle bustled with great celebration. Crowds of subjects from every corner of the kingdom thronged in the streets, cheering and celebrating the crown prince’s birthday. It reminded Valdemar of

  the way they had celebrated his return so many years ago. He decided then that he had done his duty for his family and country. The next summer solstice was less than three months away, and he had much to do.

  Valdemar was a member of the Knights Templar and knew their inner workings and secrets well. He withdrew a princely sum from the royal treasury, along with a few land deeds, which he deposited into the vaults of the Knights’ order. The deeds were for property on Funen Island and various other small estates throughout his kingdom. With these he created a new royal duchy for a fictitious distant cousin who had the same name as his own. Should the Little Mermaid have forgotten him, he still wanted to withdraw from the public world. Either way, superb strategist that he was, he felt he had taken a precaution that could be useful in the future no matter what occurred.