To Enchant a Mermaid

by S. L. Williams

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Sarai

  I rocked in the middle of the cage with my head in between my knees and my hands over my ears. The goddess only knew how long I had hung there like a trapped bird stripped of her wings.

  I raised my head and looked around the room. Isabis’ stone table was overpacked with red clay pots, fragrant dried herbs, black and red candles, and a large metal spike. Whatever Etan was boiling in a great iron pot smelled like mildew and sour milk, or maybe the odor emanated from the gore he still hadn’t cleaned. Isabis’ blood lay in puddles on the floor. From the cage, it looked thick and black like tar.

  I turned and looked at the door. The sun had long set, and the shadows in the house seemed to writhe from the corners of the room. They crept toward me, close enough to study the new creature in their home. How many had they seen caged before they were slaughtered?

  I turned my back to the room and placed my head in between my knees. Kamryn didn’t come for me. He said he would get me out if things went wrong. He promised.

  A burst of anger overshadowed my sorrow. I wasn’t mad at Kamryn. I was furious with myself. How could I truly believe he would choose me over his family? That was his blood. It didn’t matter that we shared a special connection. The bond between siblings would always be stronger.

  I let my mind spiral down into the dark abyss where sorrow and regret patiently waited. I could sit here and scream until my throat was raw. I could kick and pull in the bars until my fingers bled. I could do all of that, but it wouldn’t change anything. My eyes were so swollen I could barely see, my mouth was parchment-dry, and I had accepted that no one was coming for me.

  You wanted this, the voice in my head mocked. I couldn’t argue with the truth. I’d known the consequences, and I chose to ignore them anyway. What was it Father had said that day? A hard head makes a soft tail.

  The tears I thought had long dried spilled down my cheeks. They filled the tiny cuts on my face and made them sting. What I would give to be back in Rotan in Father’s study. I wouldn’t argue with my sisters. I would try to get along better with Grandmother. I would listen. If only I could go back.

  They had all been right. The surface wasn’t for me. These people didn’t care about me, and they never would.

  “Princess,” someone called from the writhing darkness. “Hold on. He’s coming.”

  I turned my head from side to side, unable to locate the source of the voice. I grasped the bars and searched the room. “Who are you?” I mouthed.

  “My name has been long forgotten.” She softly sighed. “Don’t cry. You will see the sun rise again.”

  The darkness began to shimmer, and a translucent woman materialized from the shadows. Like Cyntheria and the other residents of Irkalla, the woman had a semi-solid appearance. A shade, she was one of Kamryn’s silent servants.

  “Where is Kamryn?” I held onto the rusted bars with both hands. “Tell me!”

  I shook them as if I had the strength to pull them apart. I knew they wouldn’t budge. The rust would only flake and coat my hands. I had spent hours trying.

  The shade stared up at me with those milk-white eyes that resembled those of old, dead fish. “He cannot find you through the fog.”

  “It’s Etan. He placed a spell on the marsh.” It had been Etan all along. I’d had to sit in my metal prison and listen to his gloating all afternoon and well into the evening.

  It was Etan who had conjured the apparitions in the marsh. He was the one who had summoned the fog that separated us. He had placed a sleeping spell on Phadrah and had left Rylo tied to a tree. If it weren’t for the spirits of the lake’s gift, I too would have been lost. I had been ignorant to the truth when it had been in front of me the entire time.

  The coin. Of course! How could I forget?

  I reached into my pocket and dug out the golden coin. It shined even in the dim light of the room. I stuck my arm through the space between the bars and handed her the coin. “Take this to Kamryn. It will help clear the fog.”

  She melted back into the shadows, and once again, I was left alone. I sat back down on the cage floor and suppressed the urge to break down again.

  Patience. I have to be patient.

  Hope bloomed inside of me, and I couldn’t help but smile. If I could sing, I would have. Kamryn was coming. He hadn’t turned his back on me. He hadn’t lied. He chose me. I laid back against the bars and closed my eyes. There was nothing left to do but wait.

  Sometime later, the sound of heavy footsteps roused me from my troubled sleep. My back was bruised from the bars, and my eyes felt like someone had thrown sand in them. The door creaked open.

  “Did you get everything I asked for?” I heard Isabis growl.

  “Yes. The dirt from a virgin man’s grave, dried snake skin, yellow jacket honey, and the feather of a crow hatched beneath the full moon.” Etan’s voice was strained. He sounded out of breath, as if speaking was difficult.

  “And the powdered unicorn horn?” They walked into the room, and my head began to spin.

  Dymphna? I blinked twice and ran a dirty hand down my face. I wasn’t seeing an illusion. It was the curandera standing at the door with her face twisted into a scowl.

  “I-I didn’t grind it down, love.” Etan flinched when Dymphna raised her hand and placed it on the doorframe.

  “I feel like you want me to fail, Etan. Do you want the spell to go wrong? Do you want me gone?” Her voice conjured images of the snakes that watched from the branches of the marsh.

  It’s all an illusion, Etan had told me himself that day we had gone to the lake. It had all been fake. The lake, the tree, the curandera. It had all been an illusion. It all made sense in a horrible “you should have seen it from the beginning” way. I should have known when I touched the lake and felt its lack of life.

  “No!” Etan cowered.

  Dymphna’s—no, Isabis’ hand was a blur as it came down across Etan’s cheek. “Then do what I asked you to do and do it right.” Spittle flew from her mouth.

  Etan cradled his cheek in his hand and stared up at her with wide, wet eyes. “I’m sorry. I will fix it.” He ran out the door and into the night.

  “Worthless creatures.” The wicked woman shook her head and walked to the table. “Males are all the same.” She lined up her ingredients and grabbed a dark glass bottle. “Useless.”

  How could Etan believe she would ever help him? It was obvious she didn’t think he was worth the dried blood beneath her nails.

  “I can’t stand any of them. The scent of their fear is horrendous. The taste unpleasant to the pallet.” She uncorked the jar and sniffed the contents. “All the lies they tell make them sour. I’ll be glad when they are all gone.”

  She looked up at the cage, and our eyes met. She smiled, and the hair on the back of my neck rose in response. Isabis was evil and misery made flesh. How could the gods create such an evil creature?

  “Does my new appearance shock you? Your little stunt a few weeks ago almost drained me. I had to walk around looking like an old crone for days. No matter how much blood I consumed, I couldn’t change.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Thankfully, I found a cure to the little curse you tried to place on me. Your blood is truly miraculous. I feel so alive.”

  She poured the contents of the bottle over her head. “I do have to say that Etan has been semi-helpful. I didn’t believe this plan of his would work. I was worried when I heard you ran off with his brother, but he managed to get you here after all. I didn’t want to hurt Kamryn. He is precious indeed.”

  Anger rose, quick and hot, within me. My hands began to shake. She had no right to even talk about Kamryn. To even think of him was an insult. If she touched him…

  “Yes, I know about you and your little…situation. You managed to melt the ice that coated his dying heart. And he’s handsome. I always enjoyed the company of a pretty man, but that’s why I’m here now.” She held a hand against her heart and frowned. “But for him, I m
ight reconsider.”

  I didn’t know everything in this world. In truth, I didn’t know much at all. But there was one thing I knew without doubt: Kamryn would never involve himself with such a monster.

  “Isabis,” I mouthed her name. “I’ll kill you.”

  “What was that, love?” She placed her fingers against her throat. “I’m terrible at reading lips.”

  I rose to my feet and placed my face against the bars. “I will kill you.”

  “Oh, don’t be so serious! Kamryn will forget about you. He’s not like me and you. He’s like the others.” Her eyes glossed over, and she stared at the opposite wall. “They don’t feel like we do. They don’t really care. One minute, you are their sun. The next, you’re just another star among countless others.” The glass bottle shattered in her hand.

  The door creaked open, and Etan crept in holding a jar full of iridescent dust. “Freshly ground.”

  “Finally, something done right.” Isabis took the jar and gathered the items from the table in her long arms. “Bring the fish.”

  Etan ran to the cage and unlocked the rusty door. It swung open with a hair-raising squeal. I scanned his body. I didn’t see any knives, but he always kept a few out of view. If I could get ahold of one...

  “Don’t do this.” I stared into his eyes, trying to stall. “She is using you. She is going to kill you.”

  “Shut up,” he growled. “Your mind games won’t work on me. I’m not Kamryn.”

  No, he wasn’t. He was nothing like Kamryn, and he would never be. He could collect all the power in the world, and he still wouldn’t compare.

  “Etan, please,” I begged. “Help me escape. I will go to Sirensia. I will make them break the curse.”

  “I don’t need your help.” He seized my ankle with two hands.

  I grabbed onto a bar and kicked as hard as I could with my free leg. My foot connected with his chin and sent him sprawling into the table.

  I hopped out of the cage and ran. As soon as my fingertips touched the wood, an intense shock ran down my spine and pinned me to the floor. I slammed my fist against the ground and cursed my slowness and lack of magic.

  “If something important needs to be done, do it yourself.” Isabis stepped into my line of vision. She opened the jar and dusted iridescent powder over my face. “Don’t try to run. I’m being hospitable, and you’re throwing it back in my face.” She used her foot to nudge my arm. “Now get up and act like the princess you are.”

  I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t feel. I wasn’t able to fight back when Isabis pulled me up by my braids and dragged me out the door. The powder she had thrown in my face had left me numb. I didn’t feel the cuts I knew I was acquiring from the jagged stones I was being dragged over. It was like the time I was cursed in Rotan.

  Isabis threw me in front of the fire as easily as one tossed a sack of grain onto a table. Etan shuffled into view. He had a wrapped bundle in his arms that he threw into the pit. The flames turned black, and an acrid odor filled the air.

  He backed away and bent down onto one knee. “Where’s Kamryn now?” His voice was low and raspy. “Look at you. Pitiful.”

  I hoped he saw how much I hated him in my eyes. The foolish boy, he was blind to what was before him. He didn’t realize he was as much of a prisoner as I was. His situation was worse. Isabis had him trapped in both body and soul.

  “Etan,” Isabis called in a high-pitched voice. “Come here, dear. I’m going to need you for the next bit.”

  Etan’s nostrils flared, and his spine snapped straight. All the savage confidence was drained and replaced with fear. He had heard the menace-laced words like I had. She needed him. Go. I used my eyes to signal in Isabis’ direction. Go see what she wants. Prove me right.

  “What do you need?” He tried to put some bass in his voice. “I can go in the house—”

  “Come here!” she roared.

  He scrambled out of my line of sight, but I had seen the look on his face. He was terrified.

  A strange silence fell over the clearing, as if the world was holding its breath. The fire, the restless shadows, even Etan’s heavy breathing stopped.

  “I-Isabis,” Etan stuttered. “We made a deal. You promised.”

  “And I changed my mind.” She sounded bored.

  “You lied. You never cared about me. You’re trying to get back to him!” The crunch of gravel was loud in my ears. Etan reappeared. He was backing away from the fire with his hands in the air. “I’m leaving.”

  “Stop being so emotional,” Isabis taunted him. “And bring me the girl.”

  “No.” He stood over me. “I did everything you asked me to do. I cut ties with my loved ones, and I found her. I gave you my heart.”

  “I asked for the girl.” She smiled. “Not your putrid heart.”

  He bent down and scooped me into his arms. “I’m leaving. Our deal’s off.”

  He began to slowly back away. I could hear the erratic beat of his heart over his staggered breathing. He was drained. Like Kamryn, Etan’s magic had boundaries. And it looked like he had reached his limit.

  “Don’t play these games with me.” Isabis sighed. “We all know how this will go. Come willingly, and the transition won’t hurt…as bad.”

  “Go to your precious Remikulan, ask him to help you.” Her eyes widened, as if he had spoken a forbidden word. “Isabis, I’m sorry.”

  Etan stumbled, and I went crashing to the ground. I heard something pop, but I wasn’t sure which part of my body had been hurt. I couldn’t call out to him. I couldn’t get up and help. All I could do was lie on the ground and watch as Isabis rushed toward us, snatched Etan by his neck, and held him over her head.

  “Don’t you dare say his name.” Her voice was the cool calm before a storm. “You’re not worthy.”

  “You know… it’s true.” He scratched at her hand. His face was beginning to take on an ugly gray tinge. “He didn’t… give a damn about you then… and doesn’t now. I’m all you have.”

  “Yes. You are.” Isabis frowned and tossed him into the pit as if he were kindling.

  No! I internally screamed. No. Gods, no. It was as if someone had taken the world and flipped it inside out. All of this was wrong. Isabis was bending all the rules. She had made a deal with him, and he had done as he was told.

  I watched in horror as Etan writhed within the heart of the flames. His screams were swallowed by the roar of the fire and the hollow laughs that rang through the clearing.

  “Spirits of the eighth!” Isabis yelled over the cacophony of sound. “I gift you the blood, bone, and flesh of a prince. Come forth.”

  A drawn-out howl split the air, and the ground shuddered as if the earth had taken a great staggering breath. Thick black smoke twisted and warped before us. It gathered and formed the shape of a man. He walked toward us, as quickly and quietly as the wind.

  “You called.” Its voice was deep and raspy as if it hadn’t been used in ages.

  “You know why I have summoned you. The gods deny me entrance to the cosmos.”

  “This surprises you.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.

  “I thought things would change with time.” She looked up at the sky. Her eyes filled with tears I didn’t believe the witch was capable of producing.

  “The gods do not forget, and they do not forgive.” It took a chest-rattling breath. “Why have you summoned me?”

  The creature was beginning to take shape. The edges of his body were slowly becoming solid, the features of his face more pronounced.

  “I have given you a body.” She swept her hand in his direction. “And I bring you a gift.” She pulled me up by the shoulder.

  I’m going to die. I knew it as soon as the monster looked me in my eyes. Evil. This is what Kamryn kept locked away in the other circles. It was no wonder he had laughed when I asked to be taken. I would have laughed too, if I had known.

  “I have no interest in a mortal girl.” It turned its head and faced the for
est.

  “She isn’t just any mortal.” Isabis looked down at me and frowned. “Can’t you feel it?” She threw me at its feet.

  This had to be karma for the things I had done. I had taken others’ free will with only a song. I left them vulnerable, incapable of controlling their own body or thoughts. Now it was me in that position. The gods had a sick sense of humor.

  The man bent down and placed a hand on the top of my head. “Open up, girl.” His voice filled the deepest corners of my mind. “You cannot hide from me. I’m already inside. I am the sorrow that keeps you up at night. I am your rage and guilt. You can’t run from me. You have nowhere to go. You have nothing. You are no one.”

  My vision grew blurry, and my head began to spin. It felt like a stone had been placed on my chest. It grew heavier with each breath. My ribs struggled against the pressure. I felt something pop in my head, and everything went black.

  “Oh, Sarai. Don’t try to hide. I’m inside now.” His voice echoed around me. “That’s what I like about you mortals. You feel so deeply.”

  I stood and looked around. The darkness seemed to go on forever. Not one bit of light shone in the space. I felt the way I had in Tramere’s court in the Undercity.

  “This can’t be all there is in this pretty head of yours.” His voice wrapped itself around me. “Now, let me see what you’re hiding.”

  Around me, the pitch-blackness began to lighten and a scene was revealed. A table where my family and Kamryn all dined together materialized from the shadows.

  Mother. Father. Kamryn. All of them looked happy, as if they had spent countless meals together. It was a scene I would have given anything to make real.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” The creature materialized at the head of the table wearing Etan’s face and crown. “Your family and friends. You hold them all in such high regard.”

  Glasses clinked, and silverware scraped against plates. They all comfortably talked and joked with each other. Mother fed Father off a fork, and Caressa poured Kamryn a drink from a clay pitcher.

  It’s only a dream. Caressa would never show such hospitality. And even though I knew what I was seeing wasn’t real, I couldn’t help but smile. It was all I wanted. My family and Kamryn safe and happy.