A mermaid and a corsair

“We need to remove the shackles, which are magical, deceive the guards, and then convince the Nephilims to let us go.”

“What are Nephilims?

“That’s what I call the winged heads on the gates of the Underworld, but the mermaids themselves call them something else. Mevellines, I think. Mermaids have exquisite speech and terms of their own. Mermaids and newts are the nobility of the underwater world, and monsters like these,” Tiel nodded at the octopuses, “are common people.”

“We’re the villains, because we have to work,” Desmond felt a painful whiplash on his back. It was one of the overseers who had swum close to him and noticed that he was slacking off.

“Get to work, Earthman! Be quickly!” The octopus’ many eyes flashed with such anger that Desmond thought it best to work hard.

The algae had to be plucked up by the roots and then tied into fancy sheaves. In a fraction of a minute a new algae would grow in place of the plucked ones. The work on the plantations never stopped. You could labor here forever and the land would remain uncultivated.

“I’ll be damned for messing with a mermaid!” Desmond swore through his teeth as the insolent algae pinched his fingers.

The cursing made Desmond a desirable target for punishment. He received whips and whiplashes that caused wounds and burns to blossom on his skin.

“The pirate captain had become a slave. Oh, my!”

Desmond looked back at the voice and spotted his longtime foe. The one-eyed captain of “The Mockingbird” was giving him an unkind look. What a meeting! Spike had become his nemesis when they’d shared the proceeds on Pion. And now the enemy was here. They were both slaves on the same plantation. The black patch from Spike’s eye was gone, and a scorpion had taken up residence in the empty eye socket. It had gnawed so deeply into his eyelid that it seemed like a second eye.

How many more enemies from land could one meet in the sea kingdom! Desmond had a bad feeling. Spike had definitely spotted him and recognized him. For now they both labor under the whips of the overseers. But if the octopuses let their guard down, there would be a fight.

Cassandra’s amulet vibrated on Desmond’s chest like a second heart. The magical thing was sensitive to approaching danger.

Merediana had come to see the work. She behaved with the utmost arrogance. It would seem from the outside that she didn’t know Desmond at all.

“I’ll get out of here, get to land, and get a love elixir so strong she won’t be able to live without me. Cassandra can make such elixirs,” Desmond muttered to himself. He had to have something to comfort himself with.

Cassandra could make a magic elixir, but Cassandra was far away. He needed the potion right here, right now. Desmond was going crazy at the sight of Merediana. She had sent him to work on the seaweed plantations while she rode like an overseer in a shell phaeton pulled by giant crabs. The reins in her hands were made of purple seaweed. Where did such seaweed grow? Desmond had seen endless plantations of blue and green algae, sometimes white. But there was no red.

Merediana was chasing crabs with her whip. So he wasn’t the only one in bondage. Desmond felt the blow of the whip just then. The monster overseers noticed he was distracted from his work again. There was no need to ogle Merediana, but he couldn’t help himself. If you can’t see her, there’s nothing to live for. He was ensnared by her on a deep mental level. The fact that his body was in her physical slavery no longer mattered. Worst of all, his soul remained enslaved. Even if he accomplished a fantastic feat and escaped from the sea kingdom, his heart would remain enslaved to the sea king’s daughter.

How funny! He wanted to ensnare her, but he was ensnared himself. It’s best not to make any deals with supernatural creatures. Any ventures against magical creatures will lead you into a trap.

According to Merediana, a mermaid is a sea deity. She wants to be worshipped, and at the same time Desmond’s heart beat like a caged bird. He could barely keep his cool and weed the seaweed.

Does Merediana see right through him? Was that probably the reason she was looking at him with such disdain? Pirates in love can only elicit laughter and squeamishness from mermaids. What did he expect? Even if on land, his handsome looks made women admire him, in the sea, he’s just food for the fish. It’s full of beautiful newts. Not even angels can match Laor’s beauty alone.

Then why do sea princesses choose Earth guys for their amusement? Maybe they like to torture earthlings.

The monster overlords behaved more and more harshly. Whips made of seaweed, which made the flesh decompose, were whipped incessantly. Slaves mutilated by the whipping were fed to the fish. Instead of an underwater palace, he was in an underwater hell. And he feared he would fall prey to the queens of the sea.

“Why did you anger the mermaids so much that they sent you here?” Dor was suddenly interested in him.

“Do you have to anger them to do that?” Desmond said, risking a whip of seaweed.

“They usually like pirates. The eldest daughter of the sea king, Princess Yasmin, even married a pirate and now lives with him on the islands of the Between Worlds.”

“Is it really?” Desmond stared greedily after Merediana. Maybe he has a chance.

The Sea Princess traveled back and forth to the plantations in a crab carriage. He didn’t think she’d come here just for him. Somehow Desmond was sure she wanted to see him tortured.

After all, he had kidnapped her and wanted to sell her to the King of Opal. If he had known from the beginning that the kidnapped princess would turn out to be such a magical beauty! Then he would have kidnapped her just for himself.

How strange! He’s her slave, and he only dreams of kidnapping her again. If one day he gets free, it will only be to steal her away from the Underwater Kingdom. Princess Merediana has become his obsession.

“You haven’t seen the other princesses yet,” Tiel intercepted Desmond’s longing gaze. “They are all rare beauties, but they are dangerous to be close to. They torture and kill their earthly lovers.”

“Do they have earthly lovers?” Desmond felt hopeful.

“I just called them that. They probably just like torturing handsome Earth boys.”

“Then why didn’t they pick you to torture?”

“I’m not very handsome, and I have scars. Mermaids only appreciate exceptional earthly beauty. They steal the youngest and most pampered aristocrats from the shore or from ships to play with them for long periods of time. I once saw them torture a beautiful prince to death. Have you ever seen a real prince in your life? I’ve never seen one on the surface, but here, in the claws of mermaids, I have.”

Desmond was silent. Talking about royalty and princes was more painful to him than being hit with a whip.

“Princes, too, are slaves to their origins and courtly conventions,” he muttered. “So it makes no difference to be a slave in the palace or on the plantations. Both the heir to the throne and the mermaid’s servant are slaves to the same degree.”

“You must have taken some prince hostage who told you how hard it was for him to be the heir to the throne,” Tiel suggested.

Desmond laughed in response. His laughter attracted Merediana. The mermaid swam up to him in anger. Her huge crabs moved their claws near Desmond’s face.

“Is the slave having fun?” She wondered.

Desmond didn’t know what to say. The situation did look comical from the outside. He was bending his back on a plantation and laughing at something!

Merediana took his silence as an insult and slashed him across the cheek with her whip. The pain burned worse than fire. The red seaweed whip must have been enchanted. Its blow caused the skin to burst and split open, exposing bone. Blood trickled thinly across the water. The flocks of predatory fish that swam past the plantations immediately became alert.

Before Desmond could panic, a miracle happened. The scar on his cheek closed instantly. The skin melted back together.

Merediana stared at him in bewilderment.

“This slave really is special. There’s a reason masks say…” she furrowed her purple eyebrows. “I’m taking him for myself!”

“Wasn’t he yours before?” The handsome triton gave the corsair a murderous look.

Laor did his best to follow the Princess like a bodyguard. For the chance to be near her, he would definitely kill. Desmond sensed the hatred emanating from the newt. Had Laor not realized that Merediana didn’t care about her captive? Yes, she might use him for some magical experiments, but she wouldn’t look at him as a boyfriend. Too bad! You’d go to great lengths to get her attention.

“Swim to the temple! Tell the priests I’ll sacrifice to their gods tonight,” Merediana shamelessly shoved the newt away from her.

Laor clearly did not like to play the role of an errand boy, but he obeyed without complaint and swam to the columns of the ominous temple.

That’s how sacrifices are made. Desmond was interested. He wondered what rituals the sea queens participate in.

“How do you like your new estate?” Merediana sneered, looking down at Desmond arrogantly. He was standing just below her crab carriage, which floated in the water just above the seaweed and his head. The Sea Princess was showing with all her appearance that her rank was superior to both overseers and slaves. It’s not even clear without a show!

“Is it a new estate?” Desmond grimaced.

“Well, it is a place of work,” the Princess corrected herself. “Or what do you humans call a physical work site?”

“Pirates like me don’t work, but take what others have earned.”

“Well, then, I’ve made an honest laborer out of a pirate. Are you grateful to me? Who else but me could set you on the righteous path?”

“No one’s ever tried. I’ve been dead for a long time. You overdid it, pulling me out of sin.”

“But I got you out and made you work honestly on the sea plantations instead of robbing them. Of all the Sea King’s daughters, I am the only one unique. My sisters should bow to me.”

She and her sisters seem to have a strained relationship, Desmond realized. Apparently, Merediana wanted to be the sole heir to the sea throne. Maybe she would offer him a deal to kidnap and sell all her sisters to King of Opal. Then she could be befriended as a customer. Desmond tensed, but Merediana was in no hurry to make a deal with him.

“So you like it here? Do you know what this area is?”

“It’s a seaside plantation! They rot the workers alive!”

“You think you’d be better off in the Earth penal colony?”

“I wasn’t planning on going there.”

“The only way for a pirate to go is to hard labor.”

Merediana clutched her seaweed whip warily.

– There’s also the scaffold,” Desmond said helpfully.

“And which path would you choose?”

“It is a free sea.”

“It’s not forever, unless you make a new contract with the sea king, offering him something mutually beneficial. Not many people would interest him.”

“I’ve already made a contract with you.”

“You fell into my claws and became my slave,” Merediana clarified, sipping the sea-grass tea the helpful jellyfish had served her. “Making a contract is something else.”

“So let’s make a contract. Let’s become partners.”

“It’s too late for that. I need you more as a slave.”

“So you do need me!”

She looks at him too indifferently. Only the occasional flicker of cunning was in her eyes.

What’s she up to? It’s hard being a mermaid’s slave. It is better a scourge on land than to be a captive at sea.

Unless the mermaid loves you, whispered the voice of dreams, but how can you expect her to love you? Mermaids are emotionless. They themselves are delightful and in love, but their heart is colder than a fish. He wondered if Merediana had a dead fish in her chest. It was an obvious assumption. Why else would the scaly beauty be so cold? The earthly princesses were the ones who wouldn’t let him pass. He was the most enviable groom in the Mediterranean until the morgens ravaged his kingdom with floods. He must hide who he is from Merediana, or she will surely bring an army of morgens to his native shores and bring him to the flooded country to mock him. Look what your homeland has become.

She is a beautiful pest!

Good thing Merediana didn’t try to find out who he was or where he came from. She wasn’t interested. To a sea princess, he’s just a corsair.

“Are you happy to be in the claws of a mermaid, pirate?” Merediana played with her whip. The algae were opening up outgrowths as if they were fans.

“I didn’t think the mermaid would turn out to be a planter!”

“You thought the mermaid would turn out to be a valuable cargo that could be sold profitably to the royal collection.”

Here she shamed him. Desmond frowned guiltily.

“Someday your work on the sea plantations will break you, and you will stop being so proud.”

Merediana made the crabs turn around and dragged her luxurious carriage toward the sea temple. What on earth was she doing in that temple?

Desmond had heard all sorts of tales of creepy sea gods who were best never to be awakened or called from the depths. They could help, but the cost would be enormous.

Merediana swam away. For Desmond it was as if the sun had set. To look at her was the only pleasure in his hopeless life of slavery. In an hour on the sea plantations, he was as tired as if he’d worked years in the mines. Perhaps even hauling boulders in the quarry was not as hard as fighting the living and predatory algae.

The hot tropical sun did not scorch the sea plantations, but the water itself suffocated the slaves, making them unable to breathe. Desmond wondered how he hadn’t been suffocated underwater. The slaves must be fed some magical herb that kept them from drowning in the Underworld. Cassandra said that the miracle herb could be dug under the sand at the edge of the sea. The portion of the herb you eat determines how long you can breathe underwater. But the herb is so bitter that not everyone can chew it. The elite prefer to buy elixirs that allow them to breathe in the water. Cassandra’s customers were not only pirates, but also coastal aristocrats who needed to make the occasional trip to the sea realm for some reason.

Desmond was pondering that he wouldn’t be able to live long in the underwater plantations when he noticed living skeletons working under the blows of an algae whip. The skeletons had scraps of clothing with galloons hanging from them. Apparently they were former seafarers.

“If the princess needs it, she will make her slaves immortal so that their labor on the plantations will last forever,” Tiel explained. “Immortality is not a gift, but a punishment. Your body rots, your bones crumble to dust, and you still have to work.”

Desmond’s heart sank into his heels. He’d rather die. But Merediana won’t let him die. She wants him to suffer.

Promenade

There was no escape from the barracks. The walls of the barracks were made up of eyeballed, living jellyfish clutched together by long tentacles.

The multicolored eyes glared brazenly, not allowing the slaves to be left alone for a second. You feel like you’re in a circle of sleepy spies.

“Those bastards snitch on everything, so it’s best not to talk in the barracks,” Tiel confirmed, and went to sleep.

Desmond couldn’t sleep a wink. The amulet began to burn his chest. It burned like a miniature sun pressed against his skin. Cassandra probably recognized that her ward corsair was in trouble. Sea sorceresses have various ways of getting the latest news from the sea bottom. Cassandra claimed she could hear the whispers of the waves. Allegedly, the waves brought her gossip from the sea palace.

Desmond did not believe in this nonsense, but since he had fallen into the claws of a mermaid, he had become more reasonable. The Underwater Kingdom is indeed full of all sorts of wonders. Living algae braid the network of people’s bodies and tear them apart, multicolored eyes of jellyfish sparkle from the wall like a scattering of precious stones. Can a wall of jellyfish be called a hedge?

Instead of the corn tortillas given to slaves on land, bowls of seaweed were distributed underwater. Desmond realized it was best not to eat them. Those slaves who ate seaweed had eyes as blank as a zombie’s. Apparently, the food is not meant to fill the stomach, but to enslave the mind.

Desmond hadn’t felt hunger since being at the bottom. Tiel also gave his portion of food to the other slaves.

“You can go as long as you want without food in the Underworld,” he explained. “Only those who have tasted the local food and become addicted to it begin to feel hungry.”

“And I don’t think anyone in the Underwater Kingdom is thirsty at all. There’s water everywhere.”

“It is wrong! Princesses drink nectar from water lilies and lotuses. And in the royal palace they serve exquisite magical wines, I don’t know what they are made of, obviously not from grapes.”

“I wish I could be in the palace of the sea king,” Desmond sighed dreamily. Surely Merediana lived there.

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