The Selkie's Song

by Nancy M Bell

  “Fine.” She exhaled loudly through her nose. “What is it you exalted ones want with me?”

  “I am not at liberty to disclose that. You must come with me, no more argument. If you do not come willingly, then so be it.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? So be it?”

  “It means my store of patience is rapidly coming to an end.” Silken reached out a long fingered hand and gripped her arm with surprising strength. “Come, we go.”

  “Wait,” Sarie’s voice was lost in the whirl of wind that rushed past Bella.

  Vertigo robbed her of the ability to shriek her defiance. Her stomach rose into her throat, the thunder of her pulse roared in her ears. She clung to the selkie king who seemed to be the only stable thing in the maelstrom she found herself in. Bella stumbled to her knees in the abrupt silence that descended without warning. She shook her head to clear it and pushed the hair out of her face.

  “What the bleeding hell do you think you’re doing?” She raged, staggering upright.

  “Be silent,” a tall, thin, unearthly beautiful woman commanded.

  “Like bloody hell, I will! Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”

  “Bella,” Vear Du cautioned.

  Her gaze swung to where he sat imprisoned on the far side of the cavern. “You fecking buggers,” she swore. “Turn him loose this instance. Bother and damn, what is wrong with you people?”

  “Bella,” he tried again.

  The tall woman waved a hand in his direction. “Belt up,” she commanded.

  Vear Du shrugged and shook his head at Bella.

  Before she could protest the woman’s silencing of Vear, two mermen dragged her closer to the shimmering slice of crystal suspended above the cavern floor. Beneath it was a fathomless well of deep water.

  “There is no need to struggle so, daughter of Eve. Be still.” The woman waved her hand again and Bella found she had no control over her body. Seething inwardly, she was placed on the crystal. “Now then, to answer your rather rude question, I am the High Priestess of the Witches of Longrock. It is my dubious honour to oversee this inquest. It would be in your best interest, human child, to answer truthfully and not speak unless spoken to.”

  Bella glared at the witch, her throat contorted with the effort to force words past the spell of silence. Her gaze fell on the familiar figure of Jan Tregeagle seated on the far side of the cavern. Her mouth twisted into a rictus of a snarl. He met her gaze and winked. If I could move I’d strangle the bugger with my bare hands!

  A crash from the other side sent her whirling about. Vear Du struggled with his jailers, heaving his broad shoulders about and sending things flying hither and yon. If only she could move and help him….

  “Arabella, listen to me.”

  She glanced down to find Jan Tregeagle had sidled up beside her. “Listen well. Yon big one is my friend, of sorts. I have told the Council that you tricked me into helping you seduce the selkie. You must go along with the ruse. It will throw you in a bad light, but what do you care of the opinion of such as these gathered here. It will make it go easier on the selkie. Can you do this for him? If you love him as you say you do, then….” he broke off and vanished into the milling crowd of shouting Council members. When he suddenly popped up back at his former spot, the selkie ceased his struggles and allowed himself to be escorted back to his former place. He glanced at Bella and lifted an eyebrow. She nodded and swallowed hard. She glared at Jan Tregeagle, it was all his fault anyway.

  The High Priestess returned to her dais and smoothed the filmy skirts of her garment. Long pale limbs and her high breasts were clearly visible through the material. She glanced at Bella. “You are not the only one who can entice males, and I can promise a much more entertaining experience I assure you. Now, back to the matter at hand.”

  Bella fought to keep her expression neutral while her mind raced. Was it better to tell the actual truth? That Tregeagle creature helped her seduce Vear, totally against her will. Well, all right, it was what she desired, but still…. What good would it do to lie and say she tricked the bastard into helping her? It just didn’t make sense. How could it possibly help Vear?

  “So, daughter of Eve, Jan Tregeagle has testified on behalf of the accused that you coerced him into helping you seduce the selkie for your own selfish purposes. He resisted your rather feeble attempts to compromise his integrity, and you in a rage, went down to the sea and called up Jan Tregeagle. In exchange for some deviant sexual pleasures which we will not go into again here, you bribed said Tregeagle to give you the power to make the accused lust for you with uncontrollable desires. Being wise to the devious nature of mortals, you were required to fulfil your side of the bargain first. He then imbued you with the power to make the accused ignore, or forget, his duty. The accused was overcome by the sex magic evoked by the distasteful acts you engaged in with Tregeagle and he had no control over his actions. Is this true?”

  Bella gulped and found she could speak and move again. She glanced at Vear out of the corner of her eye. His face was twisted with pain and regret and he refused to lift his head. Tregeagle was grinning broadly and stroking himself. The High Priestess glared in his direction and his hand stilled, although his eyes remained bright with lust.

  “Be still, disgusting creature,” she commanded. “Now, daughter of Eve, speak. Either admit your debauchery and condemn yourself, or say it is false and leave the selkie to face his fate.”

  “What do you mean?” Bella blinked in confusion. Was the witch saying that all Bella had to do was admit to something she hadn’t done, well not really, and Vear would be free? If she didn’t what would happen to him? What did she mean ‘leave him to his fate?’

  The High Priestess sighed. “You are the most tiresome mortal I have met in a long time. I mean if you say the Tregeagle testimony is false, the demon will be made to pay a penance and the accused will be imprisoned indefinitely until such time as the Council deems he may be trusted to walk in the worlds again. If, and I do doubt it having seen you, the testimony is correct and true, the selkie’s penalty will be minimal and you will bear the brunt of this Council’s wrath. How say you?”

  Bella hesitated. She could save Vear, and she did love him so. But what would the Council do to her? She glanced at the assembled court; most of them looked bored to tears, with the exception of the mermen. What could they do to her anyway? She was mortal and not really under their power. She pushed the thought of the witch’s spell of immobility to the back of her mind. Vear sat with his head bowed and refused to look at her. Bella lifted her head and stared at the High Priestess.

  “Fine, you’ve found me out. Yes, I tricked Jan Tregeagle into helping me seduce the selkie. I offered him exotic and forbidden sexual acts knowing his deviant nature would render him unable to resist the opportunity. I took that sex magic into my body and used it to engage in unnatural relations with the selkie. The accused was a victim only, never the perpetrator of the acts. I am a daughter of Eve and a mortal. You have no jurisdiction over me, so judge my conduct if you will, but you cannot harm me.” She glared at the assembled Council and the mermen in particular.

  A buzz of protest broke out. The high-pitched voices of the mermen raised in protest. Vear Du raised his head and met her gaze. Tears glistened in his huge dark eyes. Bella’s heart twisted painfully in her chest. How could she live never seeing him again? It just wasn’t fair, so it wasn’t.

  “Silence, before I ban the lot of you,” the High Priestess roared. “Come, let us convene and decide the fate of those who have transgressed against the rules of the Council.”

  Bella smothered a gasp as the Council members winked out leaving only her, Vear Du, Jan Tregeagle, and a gaggle of guards representing the various factions of the Council. The juvenile mermen crowded close to her, hissing and fingering her trousers. “Evil, daughter of Eve, consorting with murdering selkies.” The words hissed from their thin-lipped mouths. “Unnatural things we could do to you. Pleasant for
us, painful for you. Make your selkie lover watch, so we would.” They scampered away trailing thin reed-like laughter behind them as a young warlock approached.

  “Thank you,” she whispered to him.

  “Don’t be thanking me yet, wench.” He grinned. “I just wanted to get a closer look at the selkie’s doxy. See what is so enchanting he has forgotten his reason.” The warlock leaned over her and licked her neck. Bella squealed but couldn’t move away. His long fingers plucked at the neck of her blouse and slipped inside. A snake-like tongue flicked over the curve of her breast. “Hmmm, yes, I can taste the allure, but….”

  “Get away from her, you.” The swarm of piskies pushed the warlock back. He retreated, but held her gaze and licked the fingers of the hand that caressed her breast one by one.

  “Yes, sweet-fleshed you are,” he murmured. “You must tell me of the pleasures you enjoyed with the little whore,” he spoke to Jan Tregeagle.

  “Let her be,” Vear Du roared and rose to his full height, straining against the geas that bound him to the rock.

  “Jealous, are you, seal boy?” The warlock and the mermen taunted him.

  “Enough of your juvenile nonsense,” the High Priestess declared as the Council winked back into place.

  “You, be still.” She glared at Vear Du. “Now to the business at hand. Bring the accused to me.”

  Bella swallowed hard as the selkie was dragged to the dais and forced to his knees before the High Priestess. Please, please, let them believe me. Let them set him free. I don’t care what they do to me. Oh God, I love him so much. She choked back a sob.

  “So the Council has reached a decision. Much as it would delight me to remove you from the worlds, the consensus is that you were the victim in this travesty and such should not be unfairly punished. So much as it pains me, I must deliver a light sentence. You, Vear Du member of the selkie clan, are forbidden from walking the world of man for thirty years. You may only consort with those of your own kind and they are not pleased with your behavior at the moment, so that is no solace.” She grinned. “You will have no contact with the daughter of Eve, known as Arabella Angarrick. She is banished from your life.” The witch nodded to Silken and his queen who stepped forward and pulled Vear to his feet with rough hands. “No go. Take him from my sight,” she commanded.

  “Vear,” Bella screeched and struggled to reach him. “Vear! At least let me say goodbye,” she pleaded. “Vear, I love you. I will love you forever….”

  He raised his head, his dark eyes huge in his tortured face. “And I, you, Bella, my heart.” The words hung in the air even after the trio winked out of sight.

  Bella gave into the anguish sweeping through her. Her legs refused to hold her, she crumpled to the crystal disc, face buried in her hands. Hysterical sobs shook her body and she lost herself in the darkness of the pain in her chest. She registered the pain in her scalp as a hand pulled her head up and the sharp crack of an open palm on her cheek shocked her into silence.

  “Enough, then. Get up and accept your fate, little whore.” The merman king shook her hard enough to rattle her teeth.

  “I am not a whore,” she ground the words out between her teeth.

  “That, my dear, is a matter of opinion.” Small sharp teeth gleamed in his thin-lipped mouth. “Come with me.”

  He forced her off the crystal disc and to the foot of the dais where Vear had knelt only moments before. The merman forced her to her knees and pulled her head up by the hair so she had to look up at the High Priestess. Bella’s breath caught in her chest as her heart thundered behind her ribs. I will not faint, I will not puke. I won’t give them the satisfaction.

  The witch licked her lips, her gaze on Bella’s heaving chest. “You are a toothsome wench. I can see what the selkie saw in you, I suppose. But I digress….”

  Bella spat at her feet. “Get on with it, you bleeding bitch.”

  The merman twisted his hand in her hair and tugged, bringing tears to her eyes. “Manners, wench. Mind your manners in this court.”

  She glared up at the High Priestess and attempted to elbow the merman in his stones.

  The priestess laughed at the merman’s discomfort. “Arabella Angarrick, this Council finds you guilty of obscene and unnatural intercourse with not one, but two, magical creatures. This is a grave and horrific offense and will be punished accordingly. You will have no contact with the selkie known as Vear Du for the rest of your natural life. Since there must always be an option of recourse in any sentence, this is the one imposed here. An offspring of your intercourse with the selkie is the only one who can initiate contact between you. Since such an aberration can never be, it is safe to say you will never see, or speak with, the selkie again. You will leave this Council and never speak of what has taken place here after the sun sets on this day. Is that understood? You are forbidden from engaging in contact with any magical being or elemental. You will be bound by this geas until such time as it is mitigated. Which will not be in your lifetime,” she finished.

  The merman released his hold on her hair and Bella resisted the urge to rub her scalp and the crick in her neck. She got to her feet with as much dignity as possible.

  “I can go now?” She met the Priestess’ gaze squarely. The pain in her chest almost overwhelmed her and the knots in her stomach twisted. Vear, Vear. I have to see you again, if only to say goodbye. But how can I ever say goodbye?

  “You will go when I say you can. But first, since you are, by your own admission, a bawdy woman, you will be branded as such.” The High Priestess snapped her fingers.

  Bella gasped as her clothes fell away. She resisted the urge to cover herself and stood defiantly. Chill air pebbled her flesh and raised the hairs on her body. Nothing they could do could make her feel any worse. The witch traced a sigil in the air that glowed red, with a flick of her index finger the tracing attached itself to the curve of Bella’s left breast. It glowed for a moment and then faded.

  “You are now marked. Any magical being will know you for what you are and beware of you. Now be gone.”

  Before Bella could curse at her she was caught up in the whirlwind again. The next thing she was aware of Bella was standing naked in the middle of the beehive chamber attached to the fogue.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Bella, for the love of God, where are your clothes?” Sarie gaped at her.

  “Throw me a blanket,” Bella demanded. Her teeth chattered and her limbs shook uncontrollably. “What are you staring at?” she snarled at Gwin Scawin. The little piskie stood wide-eyed with his hands clapped over his mouth.

  “They’ve marked you,” he whispered, extending a shaking hand toward her.

  “What of it?” Bella growled.

  “Here.” Sarie draped a blanket around her. “What’s he talking about? What mark?”

  “The bitch of a High Priestess took my clothes and made some arcane mark that only magical beings can see, or some such nonsense,” Bella said.

  “Not nonsense, no it isn’t,” Gwin insisted. “Marked, you are. Marked as a bawdy woman, a Judy girl, a whore … oh my, oh my.”

  “What happened, Bella?” Sarie guided her to the cot and pushed her down on it.

  “It was awful. There was a whole lot of these strange creatures and that dreadful Tregeagle character was there.” She related the gist of what took place and glared at Gwin Scawen. “You might have warned me about how awful that bloody Council is. And what about the magic that was supposed to keep my safe. Where is Cormoran, anyway? I haven’t seen him in all this.”

  “’Tis not my fault. Don’t be blamin’ me! How was I, a lowly piskie, to know the big ones were going to summon you? It never happens, no it doesn’t. How was I to know?” He gazed up at her with tears swimming in his eyes. “Don’t be harsh with me, Mistress Bella.”

  “’Twasn’t the piskie’s fault,” Cormoran’s voice echoed up to the corbelled roof. “If you must rail at someone, then let it be me.” He stooped to enter the doorway and then
straightened, his head brushing the ceiling.

  Bella wrapped the blanket tighter around her. “What happened to your magical protection?”

  “I revealed your location at the request of Vear Du. There was talk … well, talk of some very unpleasant things that could happen to you. I couldn’t keep you hidden forever, at some point you must return to your everyday life. The selkie believed he could exonerate you if you could just appear before the Council and explain what happened and give your oath to never speak of it.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I warned him it would not go as he thought.”

  “You mean I confessed to those horrible things for nothing? I made it worse, not better?” Bella leaped to her feet and paced back and forth, the blanket swinging around her legs. “Why did I listen to that scut Tregeagle creature. I should have known he was up to no good.” She growled deep in her throat. “I could strangle the bugger, so I could.”

  “At least you have nothing more to fear from the Council,” Sarie offered in an attempt to calm her.

  “What does it matter? I will never see Vear again, ever,” she wailed and buried her face in her hands. The blanket slipped off her shoulders.

  Cormoran hissed and blanched. “They’ve marked you. No good can come of that.”

  “Bella, here, put some clothes on.” Sarie handed her a shirt and some trousers. “You lot, turn round for a bit.” She waved at the giant and the piskie.

  Bella let the blanket drop the rest of the way to the ground and pulled on the garments. “Fine, you can turn about now, I’m decent,” she declared. “Now, what am I to do? As you say, I can’t stay here forever.”

  “You must go home,” Sarie and Cormoran spoke together.

  Bella’s first reaction was to refuse, no way did she wish to go back to Da and his demands she marry Daniel Treliving. She considered her options and came up with very little. “Could I stay with you and your mum?” She looked at Sarie.