To Enchant a Mermaid

by S. L. Williams

  “Selfish.” Of course, it was for his own benefit. He didn’t care about what happened to my family. I doubted he even cared for Etan.

  “Call me what you want, it doesn’t mean much if it’s coming from someone I care nothing for.” He shrugged.

  My face twisted in disgust. “Get out.”

  “Do you really want me gone?” He stretched his legs.

  “Yes. It’s not as if you were going to help me.” I rose from the ground and walked over to the window that faced the mountainside. Music still played even though daylight was only a few hours away.

  “I don’t help for free. Nothing in this world is free except the air you breathe.” He yawned.

  “I don’t have coin to pay you with.” I closed the window and drew the curtains. We were instantly shrouded in darkness.

  Kamryn snapped, and every candle in the room simultaneously lit up. “I don’t take payment in coin.” His eyes filled with wicked delight.

  I clenched my jaw and fought back tears. He was picking on me. “I don’t have anything.”

  The light vanished from his eyes. “You have a bed.” The teasing tone was gone.

  “What?” I walked to the other side of the room farthest away from the chaise.

  “Let me in your bed, and I shall deliver your message.” He stood up and followed me.

  “You want to take me to bed for a letter?” My stomach twisted at the thought.

  He shook his head. “No. I want the bed, not you.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  A vein at his temple throbbed. “You may have grown since I last saw you, but you are still childish.” He sat down and bounced on the bed.

  “That really was you.” I sat down at the vanity and stared at him. He could shift into multiple animals. That was incredible.

  “Of course, Sarai of Rotan. Your memory may be terrible, but I remember you.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When it dispersed, a furry white creature with pointed ears was in his place.

  I jumped to my feet and ran to the bed. He was as cute as the day I had seen him in the garden with Mother. He had the same wide eyes and little black-tipped ears. His tail gently flicked back and forth like smoke. “It’s so hard to believe you can turn into this.”

  I ran a hand down his back. His fur was warm and so soft, softer than the velvet that lined my cloak. His nose twitched, and his tail grew twice its size.

  “Give me some space.” He walked to the other side of the bed and turned back into a man.

  “I thought it all had been a dream.” I sat down and dug my fingers into the bed. I shivered at the memory of his mother’s touch. “But dreams don’t hurt.”

  “No, it wasn’t a dream.” He sighed and shook his head. “I wish it had been. Go on, write your letter and leave me alone. My head is beginning to ache.”

  He lifted the covers and curled into a ball. I walked to the wooden desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and an elegant ruby-encrusted feather I had found earlier in the day.

  I hastily wrote a short and to-the-point reply.

  “Dearest sister,

  You don’t know how good it feels to hear from you. It has only been a matter of weeks but it feels like years. There are things happening right now that I cannot explain. I can’t come home, not now. I have lost something dear to me and I have to figure out a way to get it back. I love you with all my heart. I just ask that you endure until I come back.

  Love,

  Sarai.”

  The tears I had struggled to hold back all evening streamed down my cheeks. I felt like the chain that anchored me to my family had snapped, and I was aimlessly floating through the world. I missed Father and his lectures, I would do anything to hear Caressa fuss about her missing combs, and I longed to swim through the coral gardens with Gia. I had taken everything for granted, and now I had nothing.

  Once done, I folded the paper in half, went to the bed, and curled into a ball.

  It took me a while to fall asleep, but when I did, I dreamed I was riding on the back of a great silver owl who wore a golden crown. We flew over fields, valleys, and mountains. Everything was on fire. The forests, the houses, and even the rivers and lakes.

  The world was burning, and there was nothing I could do but watch from the safety of Kamryn’s back.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sarai

  Kamryn left before the sun rose, the letter clasped in his bright yellow beak. As soon as he disappeared, I stripped off the silver dress I had been wearing since the night before.

  I took a deep breath and tried to steady my rapidly beating heart. His presence had been nerve-racking. I felt like he watched every move I made—even with his eyes closed.

  I went back to bed and sank into the too-soft mattress. I tossed and turned for hours, but sleep refused to find me. When the sun finally rose, I was already dressed and headed out of the suffocating space. Xio never came back to the room, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.

  After aimlessly wandering the halls, I ended up outside in a dying garden. Birds pecked at the cracked ground, and frogs croaked from the dry grass that surrounded a leafless tree.

  As I sat there, a flash of light shot through the sky. I kept my eyes on it until it disappeared behind a cluster of trees. I had seen countless falling stars on my hidden trips to the surface, but I had never seen one this close before.

  I had to see what it looked like once it burned out.

  I jumped to my feet, careful not to trip on my robes, and took off toward the glowing sphere. I pushed through bushes and climbed over fallen trees for several long minutes. The light had fallen farther than I originally believed, and by the time I found where it had landed, I was sweaty and out of breath.

  The heat in the clearing was suffocating. The air around the light shifted like the ocean’s waves. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck. My hair felt heavy on my head. The sweet scent of the shea butter Xio had used to condition my scalp filled the air.

  The heat made it impossible for me to get close. The ball of light was too bright to look at directly.

  Go back, a voice in the back of my mind whispered, and a deep sense of unease came over me. The trees across from the clearing shook, and branches cracked. An awful odor permeated the air.

  Go. Now, the wind seemed to whisper in my ear.

  The smell grew unbearable. My nose began to run, and my eyes burned. I wanted to see the star, but I couldn’t force myself through the stench. My stomach was weak, and it didn’t help that I hadn’t eaten anything before venturing off.

  I walked out of the hot clearing and back into the cool shade of the surrounding trees. The world continued to show me how ignorant I truly was.

  I was in a forest, hungry, unarmed, and alone with creatures that could easily hunt me down. If the ocean was full of predators, the land had to have them too.

  Why would I leave the safety of the palace? Xio would have advised against it. My sisters would never dare do something so nescient.

  Stupid. Stupid girl, the sea hag’s voice bounced around my mind.

  I continued to walk, sure I was heading in the direction I had come from, this time paying attention to my surroundings.

  It seemed like centuries had passed since the day I left. It was difficult to believe that, weeks ago, I had been worried about who I was going to marry. If someone would have told me I would be here one day, I would have laughed and called them crazy.

  A loud snap pulled me from my thoughts. Fear triggered my flight response, and my mind registered I was prey before I could comprehend what was happening.

  I ran until my lungs felt like they would collapse. The forest had grown dark, the trees taller and closer together. It was quiet, and my haggard breathing seemed too loud to my ears. My silver slippers were ragged, my legs were scratched and slightly bleeding, and my robe was filthy.

  I inspected my surroundings. Sunlight trickled down through the leaves and made glorious
patterns on the forest floor. It would have been beautiful under different circumstances—if I hadn’t been alone and vulnerable.

  Anxiety crept in and stole the magic from the forest. Every shadow was suspect. Every snap of a twig had me jumping out of my skin. I didn’t know where I came from or which way I should go, but I knew I couldn’t stay there.

  I started to walk. One foot in front of the other, I reminded myself. Breathe.

  A low moan echoed around me. The sound wound itself around my ears and morphed into a terrible wail. Goosebumps burst across my arms, and my stomach dropped to the forest floor.

  “Run!” The warning was a horn in my head.

  Adrenaline flooded my system, and I bolted through the forest like a startled animal. My ribs ached, and my legs burned from exertion, but I couldn’t stop. I knew, without a doubt, that if I stopped, I would never make it out of this forest. If I stopped, I would never see my family. If I stopped, I—

  Keep going, the voice pushed when I began to slow down. Don’t look back.

  An angry roar shook the forest. Whatever pursued me was massive and had foregone any attempt of stealth. Branches cracked, and a heavy thud sounded right behind me. The ground shook, and I stumbled over the newly dislodged rocks. I crashed to the ground and struggled to catch the breath that had been knocked from my lungs.

  Something pierced my ankle and deposited fire into my veins. I dug my nails into the ground and tried to crawl away from the beast. Lightning shot up my calf as it dragged me across the ground.

  I looked back and screamed. A black mass of smoke with shining red eyes had its claws curled around my leg. When I looked into its eyes, terror like nothing I ever felt before surged through my body and dissolved my bones.

  Death. Its eyes promised a slow and terrible death.

  “I will ssssuck the marrow from your bonessss.” Its voice was hardly more than a whisper, yet louder than thunder. “It hassss been ssso long.”

  The fire in my leg spread to the rest of my body. I could hear my blood boiling, louder than the monster’s heavy breathing. My tears felt like ice against my cheeks.

  “Yes, crryy for meee, pretty one. I will devour your deliciousss screams,” it sang.

  The pain came in increasing waves. Each peak robbed me of the ability to breathe. Black dots filled my vision, and the pain became too much to bear.

  “Sarai!” I heard someone call my name, but I was too far gone to answer.

  A wave of darkness crashed over me. Too weak to fight back, I allowed it to pull me into its cold depths.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Etan

  My walls were red from the setting sun’s light. It would be night soon and still no sign of Sarai.

  The door creaked open, and someone shuffled into the room. I didn’t look up from the bowl of water I had sitting on my desk. “Have you heard anything?”

  “No,” Rylo and Xiomara unanimously answered.

  “None of the servants saw her leave.” A pair of boots appeared in my line of vision.

  “The lead the soldiers found led us to a dead end,” he croaked, voice hoarse from yelling commands all day. “It’s as if she vanished into thin air.”

  I stared into the bowl and pictured her face. The water remained still, refusing to show me where she went. I wasn’t the best at scrying, but I usually managed to pick up something.

  “Last night, I saw her with Kamryn. Her mood changed after their encounter.” I slammed my fists against my desk. “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

  I should have stayed with her, or at least left a guard behind. Who knew what lies he had whispered in her ear. He could have convinced her to do anything or go anywhere.

  “Kamryn wouldn’t—" Rylo tried to defend him.

  “We don’t know what he is capable of.” I pushed away the scrying bowl and stood from my seat. That was Rylo’s weakness. His desire to see the best in others would get him killed one day.

  I didn’t put anything past anyone, especially not Kamryn. He was able to remain hidden when one wished to find him. He could be anywhere or in any of the seven circles.

  “Etan,” Rylo stepped in my way, “we found this.”

  He pulled a piece of stained fabric from his pocket. Xiomara gagged and turned her head. It took me much longer to register what he had just shown me. It was a slipper, or what remained of a slipper, and it was stained with dark green streaks.

  “Look closely.” Rylo pushed it into my hands.

  As soon as I touched the ratty velvet, I knew. “The Sobasom.”

  There was no denying the stench of rotted meat that saturated the slipper. My mind conjured images of the red-eyed beasts that seemed to have been birthed from the darkest pits of the Void.

  “If he got to her…” Rylo shook his head.

  She’s alive, I reassured myself. “Gather a fresh search party. We will find her.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sarai

  “Get away from me!” I screamed at the mass of writhing shadows that were wrapped around my tail. “Let me go!”

  “Sarai!”

  A loud crash woke me from my nightmare. I sat up and looked down at my legs where a thin black sheet was tangled around my ankles. My heart slammed against my chest, and I was drenched in a cold sweat.

  It was a dream. Only a dream. I took a deep breath and cried out in pain. I felt as if I had been tied and dragged through…

  “The forest.” I pulled off the sheets and looked down at my legs. I hissed and clenched the sheets between my hands. An ugly purple gash ran from my knee down to the top of my foot. My vision blurred, and my head felt light.

  “Thank the gods you’re awake.” A woman bent down and picked up a fallen tray. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was just trying to clean up and the cup slipp—" She put down the tray and rushed to my side. “Lay down. I don’t want you reopening that wound.”

  “Where am I?” I pushed her hand away when she tried to ease me back onto the pillows.

  “Irkalla. You are lucky to be alive. The poison didn’t spread to your heart because the salt in your blood weakened the potency.” She pulled off the sheet and studied the wound.

  The last thing I remembered was those long claws and the fire that burned me from the inside out. I had been alone with the creature. I just knew I was going to die. “How did Kamryn find me?” I mouthed.

  “Hmm?” She looked up and gracefully leaped to her feet. “Damn, I forgot!” She ran out of the room without another word.

  Cyntheria looked different than the last time I was here. Her body was more solid than shadow, and she seemed livelier.

  It wasn’t long before the door slammed open, and Cyntheria entered with a scowl on her face, followed by a calm and collected Kamryn.

  “You seem to sleep a lot for a fish.” He walked to the side of the bed.

  “How did I end up here?” I sat up and pulled the sheet back over my legs, suddenly conscious of the way my colorful scales contrasted against my brown skin.

  “I found you on the forest floor. I knew you had a taste for monsters, but the Sobasom seems a little extreme.”

  I shivered and pulled the sheet up to my chest. I couldn’t believe such a monster existed. I would never look at another shadow the same. “What was that thing?”

  “A wicked creature who lives in the depths of the oldest forests. They like to terrorize their prey before draining them of their adrenaline-rich blood.” He looked at his nails.

  “You saved me…” I looked down at my covered legs. He had brought me to Irkalla after expressing his dislike of visitors, and he’d stopped the poison from killing me.

  “No, the forest folk saved you. Now it seems you are in their debt.” He snapped his long fingers. “Cyntheria, go get some food and lightly salted water.”

  “On it.” She bowed and ran out.

  He turned back to look at me with hard eyes. “Why were you in the forest alone? Has my brother already run you off?”
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  “No.” I shook my head and instantly regretted doing so when my temples began to throb. “I saw a light fall from the sky.”

  His back straightened. “And you chased it?”

  “Yes, I wanted to see what it looked like.” I grabbed a pillow and pulled it to my chest. “I didn’t know that it would be so hot.”

  “Even if you got close, the heat from the fall would have been unbearable.” He crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “What you saw wasn’t a star. It was Naga.”

  “I made a mistake. I didn’t know there were creatures like that in the forest.”

  “That mistake could have cost you your life. The Sobasom are dangerous. They hunt from the trees and blend in with the shadows so they are difficult to spot. They usually hunt in packs in the deepest pockets of the forest.”

  “I only saw one.” And one was enough. If an entire pack had been after me, I wouldn’t have made it out.

  “You shouldn’t have seen any at all. They never venture that far out, especially not alone.” He walked to the window and closed the shutters.

  Pain shot up my hip when I tried to move. I grabbed my leg and breathed through my nose.

  Kamryn was back at my side in seconds. “I couldn’t retrieve all of the poison, but your body will get rid of the remaining toxins. Cyntheria will bring you a tonic that will help speed up the process.”

  “I have to tell Etan where I am. I need to get back.”

  His mouth twisted into a scowl. “The gate will not open until later on this evening, and traveling by night is dangerous. You will have to wait until tomorrow.”

  “They will worry.” I chewed on my lip. I didn’t want to stay here with Kamryn, but I didn’t want to go back into the forest, especially not at night.

  “Drink the tonic. Rest. We will have a full dinner in a few hours.” He swept out of the room in a flurry of bright red robes.

  I looked around the room. It was simple compared to the rest of the palace. Black curtains, a matching rug, an immense wooden bed with black sheets, and a desk with an elegantly carved stool. I liked it. The simplicity of the room was a nice change after the sensory overload of the past few days.