He breathed a sigh of relief when Claire called from behind that they were ready. Lucy joined him and took his hand for the walk back to the palace. The walk was mostly silent. Michael had planned to use the walk to give the girls a good stern lecture about obedience and staying put, but the oddity of the day overwhelmed him. An hour before, he had been trying to think of a way to save his kingdom from an evil king intent on taking his future throne. Now he was leading his nieces and an injured, naked woman back through the forest toward his home. It would be a miracle if he could simply make it through the rest of the day without shattering what little was left of his reputation. Leading a half-naked woman out of the bushes while she wore his shirt would certainly lead to more than a little gossip, even among the few servants they still kept.
The going was slow, and Claire complained that the woman was taking too long and that she was growing tired, too.
“We’re almost there,” he called back several times before she told him to stop making false promises. He stopped walking and leaned against a tree to think.
“All right, here’s what we’ll do,” he said as he scrunched his eyes closed. “The garden is just over that hill. I’ll watch Lucy as she runs to the palace and gets Bithiah. Lucy, bring Bithiah back here. Tell her that I say it’s more than urgent. And to bring one of your grandmother’s old gowns, one she doesn’t wear anymore. Have her tell Grandmother that . . . someone needs it.”
While he watched Lucy scamper over the hill, it took all of his strength not to turn and study the young woman’s face. He wanted so much to see those piercing blue eyes and her oval face framed by ringlets of hair so pale it was nearly white. And though he had been young, only sixteen at the time, and rather in a stupor from his near-death experience, it had been impossible to miss the hunger in those eyes. It was a hunger he had never been able to forget, despite the years of war and loss.
“Why are we all the way out here, Miss Lucy? I thought you said they were close!”
“We’re over here, Bithiah!” Michael called in a low voice.
“There is a reason I stay in the palace—” Bithiah puffed. She stopped and stared, however, when Lucy pulled her off the path and over to where Michael’s little party was hiding. He could see her surprise double when she took in the girl wearing his shirt.
“I see,” she finally said.
Michael could have hugged her. His mother might have fainted on the spot. He never would have heard the end of her lectures. Never mind that he was trying to help a bleeding woman.
But Bithiah said nothing about his indecency, or about the fact that the woman he was helping was a very beautiful woman at that. Instead, she shooed him away to the next hill over while she got the girl properly dressed. Michael played with his ring nervously while he waited, pulling it on and off until his finger hurt.
“Now,” Bithiah said as she emerged from the trees and handed him his shirt, “if you do not mind me saying, I think it might be best if you return with Lucy. Claire and I will take her in separately so no one knows she was with you.”
“Thank you,” Michael said, grinning. And he meant it.
“I have one question before you go, though, Your Highness.”
“Yes?” He paused, his hand already wrapped around Lucy’s.
“Do you not know how she got here?”
He shook his head.
“Well, thank the Maker someone found her at least.”
Michael didn’t respond as he pulled a protesting Lucy back to the palace. Mermaid or human, right now she was simply another mouth to feed in a house that couldn’t afford to feed itself.
12
What People Do
Arianna’s thoughts were still hazy, but the screaming pain in her right fin woke her before she could protest. Scrunching her eyes shut, she fought to remember. Why did she have the vague notion of leaving the water? And why had the prince looked so different in her dreams? There had been nothing soft or boyish about him in her strange visions. There had also been a strange amount of detail when it came to the forest, which she had never visited before. She’d even walked, and while she’d walked, she had stepped on some sort of squishy brown blob that had smelled deceptively sweet.
Another stab of pain snapped Arianna’s eyes wide open.
It wasn’t a dream. Or if it was, she was still asleep. She was lying in a small stone room that overlooked the ocean. The room was scantily furnished with one spindly chair in the far corner and a little square table beside the bed. A small round window was cut into the wall above the bed she was laid out upon. Rather, the bed she was bound to. Cloth rags had been tied around her arms and her . . . ankles, securing her to the bed. So now she had legs again?
The previous day returned to Arianna in a flash. Her aunt was missing. The frill shark had caught her. Her fins had turned to legs once more, and she’d fallen asleep under a pile of seaweed.
And now she was tied to a bed.
Pushing herself up, she strained to look out the window. From the height of the window and the shadow that was cast down onto the sea below, she could only be in the Sun Palace.
The ocean looked as peaceful as it ever had. Had it looked that gentle and calming yesterday when her aunt had disappeared and the shark from the Deeps had tried to kill her? Then a shiver ran down her back. Were the humans trying to kill her, too? What did they want with her? Her foot was wrapped, but what if they simply wanted her healed in order to kill her publicly as the enemy? Her aunt had told her stories of hangings and all other sorts of human justice.
No. No, she needed to find a way out now.
Arianna began to tug at her bonds, cautiously at first, but as the ties held, her breath began to come in and out too fast. She jerked and pulled harder and harder until the cloth strips cut into her wrists and legs. As she yanked at the knots, her father’s warnings of all the things the humans would do to her flooded her mind. At that moment, however, voices sounded outside the room, and three humans walked in.
Arianna froze, as did the men and the woman.
It was the older man who moved first. After a few rapid blinks at Arianna, he grabbed the skinny chair, pulled it over to her bed, and set a bag down beside him. Arianna twisted as far away from him as she could while tied to the bedposts, but he simply scooted closer still.
“It would be wise to hold still,” the young man said.
For the first time, Arianna looked directly at his face, and was so surprised that she nearly stopped fighting. Her visions hadn’t been dreams! Prince Michael had really been the one to find her on the beach! But how different he looked up close!
“If you don’t stop fighting us,” he continued, “we’ll have to put you to sleep again.”
Again? How many times had they put her to sleep? And what sort of dark magic did one use to do that? A little ripple of fear put some tension back into her arms, and she twisted away from the man in the chair again. He huffed and turned back to look imploringly at the woman.
Was she the one who would put Arianna to sleep?
“Your Highness,” the woman said to Prince Michael. “You’ll do no good with such threats! And, you.” The woman turned back to Arianna.
In an instant, Arianna knew exactly who she was. Though she had never seen the head housekeeper up close, for she had only ever caught glimpses of her on the terrace, Arianna knew the authoritative voice well.
“If you do not let our healer see you, you will lose that foot. Would you like that?”
Arianna wasn’t sure, as she had just acquired it.
Bithiah’s voice was firm, but there was a lilt to it that Arianna liked. It was calming, almost musical. With a sigh, Arianna let herself go limp, cringing when the older man’s cold hands unwrapped the bloodied bandage from her ankle.
To distract herself from the pain, Arianna glanced up at Prince Michael. He met her eyes but didn’t smile.
“I’ll need salt water,” the old man said as he laid her foot down again and scratched
at his gray mustache. “It’s not as deep as it looked at first. Still,” he turned back to the others, “you’ll need to keep her off her feet for at least three weeks. Maybe more. I’ve got just enough of the Guaarote powder left to make her a salve. Mix it with aloe every day and apply it to the wound. She should be able to hobble in a few days, but it would be best to wait the whole three weeks before letting her stand.” His shoulders drooped. “This is the last of the powder I have left. Take care that it is used properly.”
Bithiah nodded, but the prince only frowned harder, as though the healer’s lack of powder was her fault.
Perhaps it was, but Arianna certainly hadn’t asked for it.
Soon enough, Bithiah had fetched a bowl of cloudy water and handed it to the healer. Arianna wondered with trepidation and exhilaration if the water might bring back her fins. Then they would have to let her go!
The only change that the water brought, however, was a renewal of the pain, and Arianna screamed silently as he dipped her foot in the bowl again and again. A cool rag was placed on her head, but nothing could take away the stabbing.
Only when she thought she would pass out did the pain begin to ebb. She finally looked down through tearstained eyes at the man, who was gently rubbing a purple and green salve on her ankle. Arianna let herself fall limply back onto the bed. The sweat on her skin suddenly made her feel cold, but she didn’t care.
“I am finished for today,” the man finally said, putting away the cloth he had used to apply the salve. “I will be back in a week to see her.”
“How is she to get about, then?” Prince Michael asked.
Arianna stared at him. He wanted her to walk? Where exactly did he want her to go? Unless it was to the ocean, she was not interested in the slightest.
“After several weeks,” the healer said, fussing with his instruments, “she should be able to use a crutch of sorts. I’m sure you can piece one together or find a suitable branch in the forest.”
“Then that’s what we will have to do.”
“Michael!” Bithiah said, briefly forgetting his title, it seemed. “That is enough.” She stood and beckoned to him. “Come with me.”
Without arguing, the prince stood and followed her. The healer paused his packing and looked confused, but Bithiah promised him she would see to his payment in the entryway. Then she led the prince into the hall.
Their whispers were low. Humans probably wouldn’t have been able to hear their words through the thick wooden door, but her ears were quite sensitive enough.
“She is not what you think she is,” the prince said in a hard voice.
“Pardon me, but I know exactly what she is, Your Highness.”
Bithiah knew, too? How many mermaids did they keep around the palace?
“I do not know how the girl got legs,” Bithiah continued, “but it is ridiculous to expect her to use a crutch so soon.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Prince Michael asked in a tired voice. “We don’t have the coin for this. The price of the healer alone will cost us another week’s horse feed. I don’t understand why crutches are so objectionable. Surely they’ll be easy to—”
“That girl will not be able to walk on crutches properly because she hardly knows how to walk! Michael, you are always saying the Maker sees and knows all. Perhaps now is the time to actually believe it. Besides,” she said more softly, “Rolf fashioned a contraption for the sailors during the war, a little chair on wheels that can be pushed about. I will have him make one for her.”
“I don’t have the time to push her around. Nor does anyone else around here.”
“Mermaid or no, confining her to that room for weeks on end is unfair.”
After a long moment, the prince sighed. “Fine then. Have him make one. And . . .” he paused, “invite her to supper tonight. If she’s here, she might as well eat with the rest of us.”
As the servant bid the prince a good evening, Arianna laid her head back on the strange, flat pillow and frowned. How many times had she imagined him inviting her up to supper? But in her mind, he had always done it with a shy smile and an extended hand, his curly brown hair trying to fall in his eyes. Nothing like the reluctant sigh he’d just given the servant.
Nor in her dreams had he ever given her the cold stare he wore now as he walked back into the room. As the healer excused himself, the little room suddenly felt much smaller. The prince pulled the chair back a few feet and sat in it. He said nothing, only continued to study her.
Arianna swallowed. She wanted so much to study him back, to see those eyes of many colors. But she couldn’t raise her eyes, for just stronger than her desire to see him up close was a very real fear of what he was thinking.
“I know who you are,” he finally said.
She met his eyes then.
“Your brother told me about you,” he said in a slightly softer voice.
Arianna’s throat tightened.
“I also know that you saved my life on the day of the Great Drowning. And for that I will be ever grateful. But to be honest, thanks to your people, my kingdom is in shambles. The people are starving. We have no trade, and the Sun Crown is in more debt than you can fathom.”
She was sure she could fathom more than he knew, but he didn’t seem to notice her offense at his statement.
“As I said, I am grateful for the sacrifice you made to save myself and Claire. I know you were quite young, and what you did couldn’t have been easy.” He took a deep breath. “But I cannot ignore our times or situation. We have no extra resources to spare here, even at the palace. I will do my best to provide for you while you recover, but the moment you are well enough to walk, I expect you to earn your keep.” Then, without another word, he stood and was gone.
Arianna gawked at the open door. Did he really expect her to stay there? At any other time in her life, Arianna would have jumped at the chance to see the Sun Palace for herself. And to get to know him. But that was before her aunt had gone missing.
And for being grateful, he was rather rude.
No sooner had he gone, however, than Bithiah walked in. Without hesitating, as Arianna was sure many humans would have done when confronted with a mermaid, she drew the chair close to Arianna’s bed. She reached for the nearest tie that held Arianna’s wrist to the bedpost, but paused with her fingers on the knots.
“I am sorry for these.” She nodded at the knots. “But every time you would nearly awaken, you would thrash, and it was making your injury worse. I will let you loose now if you promise to be still.”
Arianna held Bithiah’s gaze for a long time. She knew the value of a promise, and she was convinced that Bithiah had no intention of hurting her. She would make it up to the servant somehow, she swore to herself. Even now, the lie she was about to utter made her mouth taste bitter. But she needed to find Renata. Finally, Arianna nodded.
“You do not have much use for words, do you?” Bithiah smiled a little as she began to untie Arianna’s wrists.
If Arianna had all the words she wished for, she would be having a long talk with the world as a whole.
“Nothing is wrong with quiet, child. Sometimes it is more persuasive than words. There will be much talk, more than enough tonight for you and others if Prince Lucas is at supper on time.” She stood and put her hands on her hips. “I will have my husband draw and bring you a bath, and I will send Noemi back to help you dress before supper.”
As soon as Bithiah was far enough gone that her footsteps disappeared, Arianna ripped the blanket off her legs and began to fumble with the knots on her new ankles. Shark bite or no shark bite, Arianna needed to get back to the ocean. She ignored the annoying questions that kept sounding in her head, like the one asking whether or not her legs would return to fins, or whether the shark would be waiting in the shadows to finish her off.
She would find Renata and then they would go, Arianna decided as she pulled the binding from her left ankle. They would make the swim even if it killed her, and she wou
ld never look back at this palace again.
As soon as she even touched the tie on her right ankle, however, Arianna let out a gasp. Her ankle hadn’t hurt so much after the healer had applied the salve, but touching it even a little sent bolts of pain up her leg and down into her foot. Grinding her teeth, she managed to pull out half of the knot. Before it was done, however, she was forced to lie back, panting and catching her breath. She glowered down at her new body.
Why had the Maker decided to make human bodies so frail? Her fins would have been healed up in just a few days with the proper healing songs. And why, she wondered as she studied her new legs, was she shaped differently than the last time she’d had legs? Those legs had been skinny and knobby. These legs had shape at the hips and below the knees.
So many oddities that Arianna had never even imagined. What on earth was a bath? Was it a punishment of sorts? Torture? Surely the prince didn’t hate her that much, not after he had paid the healer to save her life.
Once again, she looked around desperately for a way to escape, but there seemed none to be found. Her window, though overlooking the ocean, was not close enough to it that she might jump out and land in the water. And after the failed attempt to untie her leg, she knew without a doubt that walking would be quite impossible.
A knock sounded at the door, and Arianna threw the blanket over her legs again. When no one came in, however, she realized that they were probably waiting for a signal to enter. It was another five minutes and three more rounds of knocking before the door cracked open. An older man peeked in, and Arianna did her best to give him a smile as she gestured him in. He stared for a moment, before nodding as though suddenly remembering his task. Arianna gasped as an oblong bucket large enough to fit a human, or even a mermaid, was carried in by the old man and another younger man. Once the giant bucket was in the middle of the room, the two men brought in smaller buckets of more reasonable sizes. Each bucket was filled with what appeared to be water. Again and again they came and left until the giant bucket was halfway full.
Silent Mermaid: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 5) Page 8