Meri met my gaze as she readied to dive over the side and join me. Then someone grabbed her and pulled her back.
How dare they stop my girls from coming back to their mother?
With a sweep of my arms, I sent another current rushing to the surface. The ship leaned sideways until the mast dug into a neighboring wave. Somehow, it righted itself. It had to be Arild’s doing. He truly was worthy of me, but his tenacity grew tiresome. Waiting for what I wanted was not in my nature.
I stirred up the sea and the sky before I called to Arild.
“This is your doing, my love. Choose to join me, and I’ll spare your men.”
I wasn’t sure I’d really decided to do that, but it sounded like something he might want to hear.
He didn’t answer me. Instead, I heard him shout orders to release the cargo. His treasures meant nothing.
Why is he so difficult?
He would be mine . . . one way or another.
Arild
After we’d lost two men, I insisted everyone get securely lashed to the ship in some way. We used enough rope to allow movement, but not enough to get tangled. Meri almost fell overboard, too, but we’d managed to save her.
The way we’d nearly capsized at that last wave made me take drastic action and toss our spoils. The voice I’d heard, though, gave me doubt it would be enough.
Every time I caught a glance from Mara or Meri, they seemed peaceful. As if they were just waiting for the inevitable.
Mara had warned me. Would it all stop if I agreed to join Isca?
I didn’t have time to give it more thought as all our treasures slipped overboard. We needed to lighten the ship quickly.
Every man grabbed what he could while fighting for balance. I could see the disgust on their faces as they lost everything they’d earned from the summer raids. If I could manage to keep us all alive, I’d make it up to them.
“This won’t work,” Mara said to me. She didn’t even lift her voice, I heard it in my mind like a shimmery ray of sunshine—warm and glowing. It was the same way Isca’s voice had drawn me.
“Why are you here?” I screamed over the maelstrom, even though I’d moved closer to her without realizing it.
“To find you.” She grinned at me. “Our mother will call us back, but for now, we wait until you decide.”
Their mother?
My eyelids drooped along with my hope. There wasn’t a way to survive this. Not for me.
Before I could reconsider my decision, the wind carried a scream to my ears. I spun to see Dag trapped between the ship’s hull and a large crate.
A wave washed the deck once more, and water filled the area where Dag struggled. He was too far for any of us to reach. Someone would need to cut his ropes to save him.
I wouldn’t let anyone else risk themselves. There was only one way to keep the men safe, and I knew what I had to do. A certain amount of peace filled me, knowing I’d go down to the depths of the sea having at least allowed most of my friends to carry on.
With the dagger on my belt, I cut through the ropes holding me to the base of the mast, and fought my way to Dag, grabbing onto the side of the hull as I pulled myself along.
Each time the ship tilted, Dag’s area flooded. I had to work fast.
Holding my breath, I went under and assessed how he was caught. The rope that tied him safely to the ship was caught under the loose crate.
I came up for air. If I cut the rope, he’d go overboard with me. Instead, I crawled over the bigger man and practically sat on his chest. I wedged myself between the crate and the hull, pushing with my feet against the ship as my back shoved the crate off the rope.
Dag grabbed the rope and pulled at the same time. Two more waves washed over us before the crate finally shifted enough, and Dag scrambled back in freedom.
I smiled at him and reached out my arm. He grasped my forearm tightly and pulled me safely away from the edge.
“Release the maids,” I yelled into his ear over the wind.
His brows pinched as he yanked back to stare into my face.
I smiled and nodded.
It was an odd request, I knew, and one he would think cruel. I wasn’t known for making sacrifices like that. Dag hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded in acknowledgment, even if he didn’t understand.
I watched him make his way toward the women. Meri kept her eyes glued to his, but Mara watched me. My jaw ached with how hard I clenched my teeth.
When Dag cut their ropes, Meri immediately threw herself overboard. Mara arched a brow at me, waiting.
I gave one last glance at my men, and dove over the side.
Isca
Finally.
I watched as Arild tumbled end over end in the waves near the surface. Meri swam to my side, but Mara hadn’t arrived yet. If she didn’t arrive soon, I’d crack that ship apart. Even though I had what I wanted, those humans would not keep one of my girls.
Mara’s sleek scales glittered as she darted through the waves toward Arild. She took hold of his arm and balanced him next to her.
I narrowed my eyes as I watched. It was unexpected for any of my maids to interfere in my business. That was something I’d need to monitor.
Arild held his breath and didn’t seem as though he could stay conscious much longer. I still needed him to agree to my terms, so I created the air-filled bubble again. He gasped and heaved in the necessary substance for his human form.
“Good work, girls.” They had done their job, and I wanted to make sure Arild realized it as well. “Does this mean you’ll be my prince?” I asked, turning my attention in his direction.
“I’m prepared to give my life if you’ll spare my men. Stop the storm and let them sail home in safety.”
Begging wasn’t new. I’d heard pleas for every bargain imaginable, but never had anyone stopped to negotiate on behalf of someone else. A slight tug at the back of my mind wondered if his character might be too good. I couldn’t have that kind of attitude infecting my fortress.
I shook my head and scoffed at myself. Of course he’d come to me with ridiculous human ideals. They could be overcome.
“That wasn’t an agreement. I’m not asking to take your life, I’m offering to give you one.”
It didn’t hurt to allow the ship to remain intact. The men had proven worthy adversaries, and it actually pleased me that I might play with them again sometime. Though, he hadn’t agreed, and the terms had to be clear, or there would be a loophole for him to wiggle through.
“Take my life, but becoming your prince still doesn’t suit me.”
The boy was far more impressive than I’d given him credit for.
“Fine, I’ll sweeten the deal, but you have to sign the contract before I’ll stop the storm. Since you seem to love the humans so much, I’ll allow you three days ashore every thirty years.”
His brows pinched together as if he still wasn’t sure he liked what I’d generously offered.
“Don’t worry, it’s only for three hundred years. Merfolk don’t live forever, after all. Besides, you’ll still have your pretty face. Think of it, time will fly by with all the fun we’ll have in thirty years. You might even lose your silly connection to such limited creatures.”
I watched as he tilted his chin and stared at the ship still battling the storm over our heads. With a sigh, I examined my beautiful nails while I waited.
“What happens if I still say no?”
A grumble rattled my chest at his impudence. “Then you’ll drown, but not until after you watch your ship crack apart and all those men die. If you want to save their lives, my sweet, you’ve got to pay the toll.”
“Fine, I agree.”
With a flash, I produced a scroll and unfurled it to expose the terms of our deal. He gave one more quick glance over his head, then signed his name with the quill hovering near his hand.
I closed my eyes and savored the sweet taste of victory. One last item, and then I’d quell the seas.
“Cho
rdata Bellana,
Fortress of Fire, uphold this decree.
Membrumix Infearus,
Enitor Parturus,
Ad vitam to me.”
Flashes of light, vibrant and more beautiful than fireworks, sizzled through the water as the bubble surrounding Arild burst.
Arild
As soon as I’d finished my name, I felt the difference. Isca chanted those strange words, then I was blinded. Based on how deeply underwater we were, the glaring light didn’t make sense.
Suddenly, my shoulders were wrenched in one direction, and my feet in another. My stomach and all my insides swirled and fought against each other.
The worst pain attacked my legs. Each joint separated, so they hung uselessly. I wondered if they were even still attached. Dizziness clouded my thoughts when a constriction began in my lower body and knitted my two limbs into one. My spine jerked as if being stretched to my feet. I stopped breathing, hoping I’d succumb to death, but I didn’t.
When the flashing lights stopped, and the darkness descended once more, I heaved from exhaustion, then gasped. Breath came to me, even though I no longer floated inside Isca’s bubble.
Mara and Meri both hovered a few feet in front of me, smiles splitting their faces and beaming with pride.
“So handsome.” Isca’s voice rattled through me from somewhere over my shoulder. She sounded impressed.
I was afraid to look at myself. Instead, I tilted my chin toward the skies. Sunbeams angled through the surface, where placid waters replaced the hurricane of moments before.
If nothing else, Isca appeared to be a woman of her word.
“Let’s go, I’ve had enough of this petty, surface business,” Isca said.
Mara and Meri gave a flick of their tails and glided smoothly by me on either side, quick to follow.
No longer under their scrutiny, I took the chance to glance at myself. I’d always had a solid build like my fellow warriors, but one that needed more bulk, I’d thought.
No longer, since my chest had broadened and my muscles strengthened in a way that would pull me easily through the waters.
I closed my eyes for a split second before I continued.
Green scales with flecks of teal and blue began just under my belly button. Glittering in the low light, they covered my entire lower body, which ended in a split tail. I bent my legs upward, in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before, and my whole lower half curled forward.
That explained the pain in my knees. The joints I’d had before were gone and replaced with muscles and sinew that moved like . . . a fish’s.
“Come, Arild, you can admire my work later,” Isca called.
I turned to face her, surprised by the ease of the movement. “I want to go to the surface first. You agreed to save my men, I want to see them.”
Whatever fear I should have felt now that I was a member of the sea queen’s court didn’t register. Thankfully, my mind was still my own.
In less time than it should have taken her to reach me, Isca floated in front of my face. Her hand came up and cupped the side of my cheek. I felt the bristle of my beard under her fingers and couldn’t help the grin. When I’d finally managed to grow a man’s beard, I’d relished the maturity I’d believed it gave me. At least I still had that.
“We’ll all go and see off your former life. It’s good to have closure,” Isca cooed into my ear.
A shudder rolled through me that I didn’t bother to hide, and she laughed.
I followed her to the surface, my new appendage gliding me easily through the sea. Mara and Meri surfaced as well. The four of us watched as, one by one, the men on my ship slowly moved away from the sides of the hull, accepting my death. They began to secure what cargo they had left to leave without me.
Minutes later, they hoisted the large square sail, and it billowed as the wind caught hold. A deep ache squeezed my chest as the ship—and my life as a human—vanished into the horizon.
Meri disappeared from my side then propelled herself from the waters into the air, spinning, then slicing back under the surface with a graceful arch.
“You should try it. It’s fun,” Mara said playfully. Then she mimicked her sister as I watched.
I was not of the mind for such frivolity, and slipped below the waves. Mara and Meri’s iridescent purple scales glinted as they sped away and then back to me. Isca waited not far off.
“My men will sing songs of me,” I said to none of them in particular, trying to soothe myself.
I sighed. Testing out my tail, I gave it a flick and propelled faster than I expected. I leaned to the left and barrel-rolled, followed by a somersault. The tail, which had tortured me when it formed, now gave me more freedom than I’d understood possible.
Mara smiled at me. I curved my lips in return, but my thoughts stirred. Perhaps I could find a way to break the curse during my three days ashore—in thirty years. Until then, I had to accept what I could no longer change as I followed the three women into the deep.
ALSO BY KELLY N JANE
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MEGARA’S DISCORD
BY J. MCCARTHY
A MELANCHOLIC RETELLING OF HERCULES
Photographer: Lecia McDermott
Model: Sera Do
The sun is shining while Hercules and I lounge in our favorite Grecian Field; we are laughing and having a good time. We come here often; everything is perfect and calm. We splay across a blanket with some baskets of food and wine. The sun feels hot on my face, the wine cold in my goblet, and the food tastes delicious on my tongue. Perfection doesn’t even cover it.
“Meg, you should’ve seen what happened today!” Hercules says, caressing my arm and dropping a kiss on my cheek as he beams at me for a moment. He kisses my shoulder as he reaches across me to grab another piece of bread. His smile is contagious. The Gods know how much I love this man-- the man who gave up immortality to be with me, the man who time and time again has saved my life more times than I can count.
After all these years, the man still looks at me like the sun rises and falls with my existence. As if I were the greatest gift he had ever received in his life. His devastating smile does things to me as it ripples across my body, his touch ignites within me like a fire. Hercules beams as he launches to his feet and embarks on an overzealous retelling of the crazy thing that happened today while he was performing his daring heroics. He is such an engaging and infectious storyteller. Yet I can’t understand half of what he says because I am so focused on those lips of his. I want to feel them everywhere.
Being a resident hero of the Greeks, Hercules has a unique job. As amazing as that is, he is gone for days and sometimes months at a time. Unless he believes it is too dangerous, he lets me tag along. However, we have faced peril many times. He always bails me out of trouble, always figures out how to save me. Except for the last time, when I died.
Ever since that day, Hercules has been home more, only taking missions close to home, and has kept an ever-present eye on me. It has unfortunately given me a complex; I have become so needy and clingy it is obnoxious. I am terrified, and I can tell he is too. We have developed a strange sense of codependency that developed out this fear. Hercules has made a lot of enemies over the years. My recent horrible death resulted from those adversaries. Thank our lucky stars that no one knows where we live, so trouble hasn’t come knocking as of late. However, people are now able to pick me out of a crowd. They have tried to use me against him; one such example of this is my death.
There has been a group of followers, a cult that has stood up the last couple years in honor of Eris, the Goddess of Discord. They have been holding dangerous sacrifices and rituals, endangering the surrounding areas of their cult locations, as well as terrorizing the villages and disturbing ancient burial grounds that have ties to the Goddess, and unearthing sacred talismans and items to use in the rituals.
I was one
such unlucky partygoer. Hercules and I had been in a remote area of the countryside on a trip to destroy a monster. We worked the mission because tales told of the monster had an appetite for pretty young brunettes. It was my plan, but Hercules blames himself every day. He used me as bait, and the monster came. It had been a trap and the Cult of Discord captured me. They used me as a sacrificial lamb on the Altar of Eris in the Cave of Discord.
Before I even knew what had happened, I found myself swimming in the River Styx.
“Isn’t that crazy, Meg?” Hercules says, landing on the blanket next to me. I smile, I’d heard half of what he said while lost in my own thoughts, but I got the gist of the story. My lips spread into a grin. Staring down into his beautiful blue eyes, I thought I might drown in his beauty. The man truly was a God, immortal or not.
“How is it you get yourself in these compromising positions?” I smirk, biting my lip as I let him find the dirty joke on my mind. Hercules’ gaze turns sensual, and he rolls on top of me. He kisses me deeply and nuzzles his head into my hair, running his fingers across my exposed collarbone. I shiver with pleasure and longing, the sleeve of my toga sliding down my arm to reveal more flesh.
“You heard nothing I said, did you Megara?” he whispers huskily in my ear, his tongue dancing on the lobe. It garners a fevered sigh from my lips. He says my name like it is the most beautiful word in the universe, the husky way he said it about did me in on the spot.
He whispers my name again, just the way I like it, making my eyes close. Then he laughs and lifts me into a headlock. “The question is Megara, how are you going to get out of this compromising position?” he jokes.
I gasp, “That is not fair! You can’t tease me and take advantage like that!”
Hercules laughs.“Megara, it looks like you haven’t trained while I’ve been gone like you are supposed to!” he teases.
“My training. Oh that, I totally haven’t been training.” Ever since I died, Hercules has been teaching me self-defense tactics. I play it off like I have just been lazy or sick. The truth is, I don’t remember if I have or not.
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